Review of Death Penalty XI

“We have minutely considered and gone through the entire evidence on record, as it is a case of Capital Punishment and Death Penalty. The crime is committed with extremist brutality and the collective conscious of the society would be shocked. All the family members were done to death in a diabolical and dastardly manner. We […]

Review of Death Penalty X

“Accused were awarded Death Penalty by Learned Sessions Court. High Court confirmed the Death Penalty so far as A1, A2 and A4 were concerned. The case rests on the deposition of two eye-witnesses, PW1 & PW8. Neither PW1 nor PW8 gave details about the description of the culprits – heights, hair, facial features, complexion, beard […]

Referred to Larger Bench XVII: Illegal Gratification I

Ravjit Singh Sethi received a phone call from Mrs. Neeraj Dutta [LDC, Delhi Vidyut Board]. She demanded Rupees Fifteen Thousand which was reduced to Rupees Ten Thousand. FIR. Rupees Ten Thousand was paid. Mrs. Neeraj Dutta handed over same to Yogesh Kumar [Driver]. Shadow Witness, S.K. Awasthi and Inspector O.D. Yadav arrived. Phenolphthalein Test. Hands […]

In Re: Death Penalty

Religion is complex; difficult to comprehend; often open to interpretation. Which religion considers death to be a penalty and which religion considers death to be an award? It can be reasonably concluded Criminal Law of India considers death to be a punishment. In recent times, there have been several Judgments of the Supreme Court of […]

The Revival of Ray XVII

“Another submission of Mr. Pritesh Kapur was that since it is the State Government which is the ‘owner of the minerals’ and the minerals that ‘vest’ in it, as held in Amritlal Nathubhai Shah, (1976) 4 SCC 108 while granting the licence, it can put conditions pertaining to movement and flow of such minerals as […]

The Proviso II / The Revival of Ray XVI

“In Dwarka Prasad v. Dwarka Das Saraf, (1976) 1 SCC 128 this Court held: “A proviso must be limited to the subject-matter of the enacting clause. It is a settled rule of construction, a proviso must prima facie be read and considered in relation to the principal matter to which it is a proviso. It […]

The Law on Compensation for Breach of Contract IV

“One neat question arises before this Court, which is, whether, when parties are governed by contract, a claim in quantum meruit under Section 70 of The Indian Contract Act, 1872 would be permissible. Section 70 occurs in Chapter V of The Contract Act. An early Judgment reported as Moselle Solomon v. Martin & Co., ILR […]

Fredda Brilliant Marshall

Fredda Brilliant was brilliant, indeed. Thus, her art adorns Supreme Court of India. Freda or Fredda? “One afternoon the sculptress, Freda Brilliant, and her husband, Herbert Marshall, dropped in to see me. She came in with open arms, pouring out a stream of endearments. ‘Darling, darling Khushy! How are you?’ They had been to an […]

Review of Death Penalty IX

Jagdish murdered his wife and children; one wife and five children, to be precise [20.08.2005]. Trial Court – Death Sentence [24.04.2006]; High Court – Death Sentence [27.06.2006]; Supreme Court – Death Sentence [18.09.2009]; President – Death Sentence [16.07.2014]. It was argued that Jagdish has been incarcerated for almost 14 Years and Death Sentence would mean […]

Section 7(5) of The Arbitration Act IV

“The principle of ‘incorporation by reference’ of an Arbitration Clause, from another document or contract, is a well-established principle in Arbitration Jurisprudence [Clements v. Devon Country Insurance Committee, [1918] 1 KB 94; Macleod Ross and Co. Ltd. v. Compagnie d’ Assurances Generales L’Helvetia of St Gall, [1952] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 12 (CA)]. This principle has […]

The Indo-European Extradition Treaty II

Following Hon’ble Justice Madan B. Lokur, Ministry of External Affairs corrected that India has an Extradition Treaty with Chile since 1897. Interestingly, India has an Extradition Treaty with Netherlands since 1898, with Switzerland since 1880, with Belgium since 1901. Thus, it is predictable that no fugitive or mastermind is going to flee to Chile, Netherlands, […]

Section 34 of The Arbitration Act I

“As far as Section 34 is concerned, the position is well-settled by now that the Court does not sit in appeal over the Arbitral Award and may interfere on merits on the limited ground provided under Section 34(2)(b)(ii). Arbitral Awards may not be interfered with if the view taken by the Arbitrator is a possible […]

Review of Death Penalty VIII

Accused was a 22-Year-Old B.SC. student at the time of incident, and used to impart tuitions in the town of Lahar and in the village where he used to live. He had no prior criminal history. Trial Court awarded Death Sentence. Learned Senior Counsel Sanjay R. Hegde drew attention to the fact he was just […]

Section 482 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 IV

“In Indian Oil Corpn, (2006) 6 SCC 736, a Two Judge Bench reviewed precedents on exercise of jurisdiction under Section 482. A criminal proceeding can be quashed where allegations made do not disclose commission of an offence under The Penal Code. Though law does not require a complaint to reproduce legal ingredients of a offence […]

Order 8, Rule 1 of The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 I

A suit was filed on 10.03.2017. Defendant was served with summons on 14.07.2017. 120 days from this date takes us to 11.11.2017. No written statement had been filed. However, an Order 7, Rule 11 application was filed. The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, 2015 came into force on […]

Contempt Jurisdiction II / The Revival of Ray XV

“It is high time we re-arranged our law so that the ancient but misleading term ‘Contempt of Court’ disappeared from the law’s vocabulary [Lord Scarman, Attorney-General v. British Broadcasting Corporation, [1980] 3 All ER 161]. It is important to remember that while considering the question of disobedience of an Order, what must be regarded is […]

I, Eye-Witness

Md. Aziz Ali, Md. Kutub Ali, Md. Mamud Ali and Samir Ali, fast asleep in their home in the early hours of the morning, oblivious to their imminent fate, were mercilessly murdered in a barbaric manner by armed accused, without any instigation or provocation. The incident took place at about 06.00 A.M. on 09.11.1995. Though […]

Referred to Larger Bench XVI: Decades of Decay

S. Azeez Basha v. Union of India, (1968) 1 SCR 833 observed, the words “establish and administer” in Article 30(1) must be read conjunctively and so read it gives the right to a religious minority to administer an educational institution provided it has been established by it; Article 30(1) cannot be read to mean, even […]

Section 405/406, Indian Penal Code II

“Turning to Section 405 read with Section 406, IPC we observe that the dispute arises out of a loan transaction between the parties. The law clearly recognizes a difference between simple payment/investment of money and entrustment of money or property. A mere breach of a promise, agreement or contract does not, ipso facto, constitute the […]

Tiny Habits of Police Investigation

The Detective Diaries is a continuation of his first book, Murder in the City. Discerning readers will spot changes in investigative techniques. I wish you a thrilling literary journey ahead. – Rajeev Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Kolkata [20/12/2018]. _____ At various stages of writing, I have received invaluable help from colleagues, past and present, for […]

The Last Word

A Diversion for Lawyers and Others