Guesses & Conjectures I

August Bench of Hon’ble Judges A.K. Ganguly and Swatanter Kumar [Trishala Jain v. State of Uttaranchal, (2011) 6 SCC 47] once held: “guess as understood in its common parlance is an estimate without any specific information while calculations are always made with reference to specific data; guesstimate is an estimate based on a mixture of […]

Dr. Dang

If you live in New Delhi and if you find yourself approaching the Hauz Khas Market, you would surely notice Dr. Dang’s Lab/Dr. Dang’s Diagnostic Centre at the corner of the road. It has at least caught my attention several times. No can one forget the face-off between Dilip Kumar and Anupam Kher in the […]

Market Place of Ideas

There can be no quarrel about Supreme Court’s competence to quash criminal proceedings pending before Subordinate Courts. However, this power must be exercised sparingly and with circumspection. In S. Khushboo v. Kanniamal, (2010) 5 SCC 600 Supreme Court quashed several criminal proceedings initiated against actress Khushboo for comments she had made on pre-marital sex. Hon’ble […]

The Doctrine of Legitimate Expectation I

An aggrieved person is entitled to judicial review if he can show that a decision of the public authority deprives him of some benefit or advantage which in the past he had been permitted to enjoy and which he legitimately expected to be permitted to continue to enjoy until he was given reasons for withdrawal […]

Referred to Larger Bench I: The Rules of The Game Principle

In Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation v. Rajendra Bhimrao, (2001) 10 SCC 51 a Two-Judge Bench [Babu and Raju JJ] held, “the rules of the game, meaning thereby the criteria for selection, cannot be altered by the authorities concerned in the middle or after the process of selection has commenced.” In K. Manjusree, (2008) 3 SCC 512 […]

Powers of Review of NCDRC

Consumer Tribunals are creatures of a statute and derive their power from the express provisions of that statute. It is now settled law that District Consumer Forums and State Commissions have no power to recall or review their own orders [(2011) 9 SCC 541]. There is no provision in The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 granting […]

Section 19 of The Consumer Protection Act, 1986

As per the Second Proviso to Section 19 of The Consumer Protection Act, 1986, no appeal by a person, who is required to pay any amount in terms of an order of a State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, shall be entertained by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission unless the appellant deposits, in the prescribed […]

Thika Tenancy II

The Battle Royale between Mr. Jaideep Gupta and Mr. Harish Salve on “Thika Tenancy Laws” now stands concluded in Mr. Gupta’s favour. Congratulations, Sir. I saw it all. In Nemai Chandra Kumar v. Mani Square Limited, 2015 (2) SCALE 657 – Respondents, led by Mr. Salve, contended, under The Calcutta Thika Tenancy Act, 1949, by […]

Writ Against Order of Tribunals II

My Lord, Is a Writ Application maintainable against an Order of West Bengal Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal, refusing to initiate Contempt Proceedings against an Authority arrayed as a Respondent before the Tribunal? Yes. “Such a pristine question of law does not require any reference to the facts… We are unable to agree with the […]

DNA Tests: The Divide Between Science and Morality

“Case to Case Basis” is a grand excuse. In Ramkanya Bai v. Bharatram, (2010) 1 SCC 85 Hon’ble Justice Tarun Chatterjee rejected the application for a DNA test to be performed on the child of the Appellant-Wife. One fact that validated that rejection was the Respondent-Husband had made the paternity of the child a ‘prestige […]

Implied Exclusion of Part I of the Arbitration Act I

Hon’ble Justice Dipak Misra, while attempting to clear a ‘maze’ has perhaps created yet another in Harmony Innovation Shipping Limited v. Gupta Coal India Limited, [Civil Appeal No. 610 of 2015] . From the many Post-Bhatia cases dealing with implied exclusion, only two propositions became relatively well-established: (1) the choice of a foreign proper law, in […]

Article 136 and Criminal Appeals I

“It is essential to address the issue of propriety and the conceptual parameters or conceptions based on well-accepted norms and paradigms to exercise the power of this Court under Article 136 of the Constitution. In Arunachalam v. P.S.R. Sadhanatha, (1979) 2 SCC 297 it has been expressed thus: “The power is plenary in the sense that […]

The “First Strike” in Child Custody Battles I

In Surya Vadanan v. State of Tamil Nadu, [Criminal Appeal No. 395 of 2015] the custody of two minor girls, both British citizens, was in question. Following intense matrimonial discords, the mother had left U.K. and had come to India with her two daughters. She also instituted a proceeding in the Family Court at Coimbatore […]

In Re: Apar Gupta

Apar Gupta’s Post ______ It is easy to write about M.L. Sharma, easier to dismiss him. I invite you to fight, Apar, someone more suitable to your intelligence and passion: Mr. Ram Jethmalani. Ram Jethmalani’s interview with Karan Thapar is still not forgotten history. Mr. Jethmalani had said, “I will not do anything… but everything […]

Euclid’s Theorem I

Oft-Repeated Statement, Supreme Court Judges: “STATUTES SHOULD BE CONSTRUED NOT AS THEOREM OF EUCLID… WORDS MUST BE CONSTRUED WITH SOME IMAGINATION OF THE PURPOSES WHICH LIE BEHIND THEM“. Theorem of Euclid not purposively imagined? A strange notion has been harbored all these years that mathematics is purely mechanical. Euclid’s Theorem: “THERE ARE INFINITELY MANY PRIMES”. Without a […]

Journalism/Voyeurism

1999, Assassin Films produced “East is East“, commended as Best British Film at BAFTA Awards. Their recent production, “India’s Daugther”, has received much criticism. East is East. Theodore Bundy’s credentials as a criminal are shocking. Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth received requisite permission to interview him. I do not credit Reporters/Investigators/Politicians with the foresight, years […]

Bull in a China Shop

Only recently in Jacky v. Antony, (2014) 6 SCC 508 it was decided, “in no case, power under Article 226 can be exercised to question a plaint.” In Radhey Shyam v. Chabbi Nath, [Civil Appeal No. 2548 of 2009] it has been further held, “Judicial Orders of a Civil Court are not amenable to Writ […]

A Review of “Red Handed: 20 Criminal Cases That Shook India”

The objective, authored by Souvik Bhadra and Pingal Khan and published by Rupa Publications, appeals to those who are fond of trivia. They have done well to avoid the temptation of being verbose. On the downside, it lacks the forceful, biting insight that I was hoping to find. These facts one shall be happy to […]

‘Settled’ Principles of Interpretation

Hon’ble Justice Nariman has the penchant for stating what is ‘settled’. Sitting Judges have something to learn from the confidence of his authorship. “It is well settled that the provisions of a statute must be read harmoniously together.” “However, if this is not possible then it is settled law that where there is a conflict […]

Section 11(6) of the Arbitration Act II

“Even if the Arbitration Agreement was to specifically provide for any particular qualification(s) of an Arbitrator the same would not denude the power of Court, acting under Section 11(6), in an appropriate case, to depart there from. In Singh Builders Syndicate, (2009) 4 SCC 523 pendency of Arbitration proceedings for over a decade was found […]

The Last Word

A Diversion for Lawyers and Others