Abhorrent Godhra

There was unrest and violence all across State of Gujarat…   It is only because of Mr. Sanjiv Bhatt and Mr. Haren Pandya, who unabashedly claimed to be privy to utterances made, Court was required to move into action taking serious note of same. But, after thorough investigation by SIT, falsity of such claim has […]

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How Gourango Lost His O

CAUTION: NOT ALL IS REVEALED, NOT ALL IS EXPLAINED “Bhai, I want you to come with me…” he paused, unsure. “Where to?” Gourango blurted out impatiently. “To the Nizamuddin Dargah. Today is Thursday. They have qawwali singers who shall sing for the Saint. I am going. I would be so honoured if you would come […]

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Review of Death Penalty XXVII

For awarding termination of natural life, a careful scrutiny is required. In short, ‘crime test’ and ‘criminal test’ required to be followed before awarding Capital Sentence, did not gather required attention of Trial Court as also High Court. It is true, all murders are inhuman. For imposing Capital Sentence, crime must be uncommon in nature […]

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Compensatory Jurisprudence of Constitutional Courts XIII : Res Ipsa Loquitur II

State Commission relied on principle of ‘res ipsa loquitur’ to affix liability for defect in an airbag system, having regard to nature of collision. National Commission affirmed this finding referring to certain photographs, which showed substantial frontal damage. We do not find any reason to interfere. We are dealing with a case where in a […]

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Political Vendetta

Bhagwati, CJ in Sheonandan Paswan v. State of Bihar, (1987) 1 SCC 288 observed, a complaint being initiated by reason of political vendetta is not in itself a ground for quashing criminal proceedings. It is well-established, a criminal prosecution, if otherwise justified and based upon adequate evidence, does not become vitiated on account of mala […]

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Disciplinary Proceedings VIII

Anil Kumar Upadhyay was serving as a Head Constable (Ministerial) in 15th Battalion of Sashastra Seema Bal, Bongaigaon. He was charged under Section 43 of The Shashastra Seema Bal Act, 2007 for entering Mahila Barrack at around 00:15 AM on intervening night of 14th-15th April, 2013. He was imposed punishment of ‘removal from service’. His […]

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Review of Death Penalty XXVI

Having regard to circumstances, preceding and following deceased being last seen together with accused, Court has no hesitation in holding, prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt all circumstances, so conclusive as to rule out possibility of any other hypothesis except guilt. We deem it proper to commute Death Sentence to Life Imprisonment.   The only […]

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Disciplinary Proceedings VII

M. Duraisamy was serving as a Postal Assistant. He committed fraud and admitted so. M. Duraisamy deposited entire defrauded amount. He was imposed penalty of ‘removal’. Central Administrative Tribunal modified punishment from ‘removal’ to ‘compulsory retirement’. Chairman & Managing Director, V.S.P. v. Goparaju Sri Prabhakara Hari Babu, (2008) 5 SCC 569 observed, once all procedural […]

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Domain Name I

According to Snapdeal, by offering for registration, domain names which include ‘Snapdeal’, Domain Name Registrars (DNRs) are facilitating infringement of Snapdeal’s registered mark and are also themselves infringers within meaning of Sections 28 and 29 of The Trade Marks Act, 1999. If domain names are deceptively similar to ‘Snapdeal’, GoDaddy is indulging in infringement of […]

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Name of God

It is quite extraordinary, how word mark ‘Ganesh’ was registered without any restriction or limitation. When a mark is registered, Registering Authority may do so without any condition or limitation. Absence of a disclaimer does not always vest an exclusive right over a word mark. In our case, registration of word mark ‘Ganesh’ was without […]

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Res Ipsa Loquitur I

The maxim ‘res ipsa loquitur’ is resorted to when an accident is shown to have occurred and cause of accident is primarily within knowledge of Defendant. The cause of accident being unknown does not prevent Plaintiff from recovering damages, if proper inference to be drawn from circumstances which are known is: it was caused by […]

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Preventive Detention Statute III

The distinction between a disturbance to ‘law and order’ and a disturbance to ‘public order’ has been clearly settled by a Constitution Bench in Ram Manohar Lohia v. State of Bihar, AIR 1966 SC 740. Court has held, every ‘disorder’ does not meet threshold of a disturbance to ‘public order’, unless it affects community at […]

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