“Possessory claim of Hindus to composite whole of disputed property stands on a better footing” is the decisive observation. Importantly, Supreme Court has in strongest terms castigated damage caused to the mosque in 1934, its desecration in 1949 leading to the ouster of Muslims, and the eventual demolition of the mosque on December 6, 1992. This, […]
Read more "The Nature of Judicial Power: Senior Advocate, Rakesh Dwivedi"Section 45 of The Evidence Act, 1872 allows for an opinion of an expert as a relevant fact when Court has to form an opinion upon a point of foreign law, science or art or as to identity of handwriting or finger impressions. In Murari Lal v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (1980) 1 SCC 704 […]
Read more "Experts V: Handwriting Experts"“Janmaasthan of Lord Ram is where Babri Mosque has been constructed.” Mikhail Tal, born on 09.11.1936, said once, “you must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5 and path leading out is only wide enough for one.” M Siddiq v. Mahant Suresh Das, [Civil Appeal Nos. 10866-10867 of 2010], pronounced on 09.11.2019, […]
Read more "The Nature of Judicial Power: Proprietary Claims of Religion"Tata HDCL proposed ‘Project: Camelot’ in Revenue Estate of Village Kansal, Tehsil Kharar, District Mohali, State of Punjab. “The Doctrine of Public Trust has been considered by this Court in M.C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath, (1997) 1 SCC 388. In Vellore Citizens’ Welfare Forum v. Union of India, (1996) 5 SCC 647 the Court considered […]
Read more "The Doctrine of Public Trust"“Where Courts find that the words appear to have been accidentally omitted, or if adopting a construction deprives certain existing words of all meaning, it is permissible to supply additional words but Courts should not easily read words which have not been expressly enacted. Court should construct the provisions harmoniously having regard to the context […]
Read more "Word Supply II"Section 5 of The Limitation Act is held applicable to Section 48 of The Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 as in Section 48 there is no express exclusion. Because of scheme of Act of 2005, it cannot be inferred, Section 5 of The Limitation Act is excluded. Section 29(2) of The Limitation Act […]
Read more "The Plea of Limitation XI: Inclusion of Section 5 of The Limitation Act, 1963"Khaki Files chronicles the adventures of Police Officer, Neeraj Kumar. He joined the IPS in 1976 and retired as Commissioner of Police, Delhi in 2013. Government of India recognized his good work by awarding him the Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1993 and the President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1999. Khaki Files comes after Dial […]
Read more "The Da Lakhvi Code"“The rule of interpretation of Contra Proferentem has been pressed into service. As observed in United India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pushpalaya Printers, 2004 (3) SCC 694 : “It is also settled position in law that if there is any ambiguity or a term is capable of two possible interpretations, one beneficial to the insured […]
Read more "The Contra Proferentem Rule V"“Judge who had rendered any decision in a smaller combination is not disqualified from being part of a Larger Bench when a Reference is made to the Larger Bench. Rather, it is a consistent practice prevailing in various High Courts as well as of this Court to include the same Judge/Judges in Larger Benches. Litigants […]
Read more "The Art of Recusal"“The principal issue involved in the matter is whether a Charitable Trust could maintain an action under the provisions of The Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The reliance was placed on Pratibha Pratisthan, (2017) 3 SCC 712 to hold that a Trust would not be a ‘person’ and consequently not a ‘consumer’. The definition of ‘person’ in terms […]
Read more "Referred to Larger Bench XIX: Trusts Not Consumers"It should be interesting to note, crushed capsules of poppy, ‘poppy husk’, even though isn’t ‘poppy straw’, bears the same meaning as ‘poppy straw’ under The NDPS Act. Baljinder Singh was driving a Qualis, PB-13-D-7000. Khushi Khan was sitting with the driver. The vehicle was searched, during which 7 bags of poppy husk, each weighing […]
Read more "238 Kilograms of Poppy Husk"“The same set of judicial precedents were cited and debated before us by both sides. The first in sequence is, Judgment of Constitution Bench in Mohammad Shujat Ali v. Union of India, (1975) 3 SCC 76. While referring to observations of Justice Brewer, “the very idea of classification is that of inequality”, it was recognized, […]
Read more "The Revival of Ray XXXI"Sudhir Krishnaswamy taught me at National Law School of India University, Bangalore in 2006. This book, first published in 2009, grew out of his Doctor of Philosophy in Law Dissertation at Oxford University. Extensively researched. Magnificently written. Excerpt, follows. _____ The Basic Structure Doctrine evolved in the context of challenges to the constitutionality of land […]
Read more "The Doctrine of Basic Structure I"On 1st March, 1954 United States conducted its largest ever nuclear weapon test, code-named Castle Bravo, at the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The explosion, more than 1,000 times as powerful as Hiroshima, reached a yield of 15 megatons. Sacred Games, Season 2 (2019, dir. Anurag Kashyap, Neeraj Ghaywan): Inspiration from reality isn’t new. […]
Read more "Sacred Games of Arthur Fleck"“Retail outlets for sale of arrack were started by Kerala State Beverages Corporation Limited in 1995, in view of decision taken by Government of Kerala to abolish arrack shops which were hitherto run by private parties. There is no dispute that a number of abkari workers lost their livelihood due to ban on arrack in […]
Read more "The Doctrine of Legitimate Expectation IV"“At the outset, it is required to be noted and does not seem to be in dispute, since last 22 years both the Appellant-Husband and the Respondent-Wife are residing separately. It also appears, all efforts to continue the marriage have failed and there is no possibility of re-union because of the strained relations. Thus, it […]
Read more "Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage I"“There can be no rule of law, there can be no democracy unless there is a strong, fearless and independent Judiciary. This independence and fearlessness is not only expected at the level of Superior Courts but also from District Judiciary. Most litigants only come in contact with District Judiciary. They cannot afford to come to […]
Read more "Purity of Character II"It was my request to Supreme Court that all while they let go of death in case after case, to not only explain always why those cases are not ‘rarest of rare’, but also explain whether death is a penalty or an award. In the last 11 months, I have briefly described 15 cases whereby […]
Read more "Review of Death Penalty XVI-XVII-XVIII"“It must be noted that though it may be a relevant consideration in sentencing that the evidence in a given case is circumstantial in nature, there is no bar on the award of the Death Sentence in cases based upon such evidence [Swamy Shraddananda v. State of Karnataka, (2007) 12 SCC 288; Ramesh v. State […]
Read more "Review of Death Penalty XV"The primary function of Courts is to interpret and apply laws according to will of those who made them and not to transgress into domain of policy-making. It is not for Court to pronounce policy. It cannot term a particular policy as fairer than the other. Courts must exercise restraint. “Untouchability though intended to be […]
Read more "Untouchability"
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