The Nature of Judicial Power: Chief Justice of India No. 59

Hon’ble Justice Parent High Court D.O.B. Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud* Bombay 11.11.1959 S.K. Kaul** Delhi 26.12.1958 S. Khanna* Delhi 14.05.1960 B.R. Gavai* Bombay 24.11.1960 S. Kant* P&H 10.02.1962 A. Bose** Calcutta 11.04.1959 A.S. Bopanna** Karnataka 20.05.1959 H. Roy Gauhati 01.02.1960 A.S. Oka Bombay 25.05.1960 V. Nath* Allahabad 24.09.1962 J.K. Maheshwari MP 29.06.1961 H. Kohli** Delhi 02.09.1959 […]

Stags and Whiskey

According to Defendants, in olden times, hunting was a favoured sport and when setting out to hunt, whisky was often carried. ‘Stags’ were among animals which were favourites. Both are an integral part of Scottish culture and cannot be separated. ‘Stag’ is an animal. Liquor, consumed in excess, may evoke animalistic tendencies. ‘Stags’ cannot, in […]

Review of Death Penalty XXXIX

The trial was conducted in a hurried manner without providing ample and proper opportunity. Bashira v. State of U.P., AIR 1968 SC 1313 had a matter remitted back to Sessions Court because trial was conducted in 13 days. The issue concerning importance of a fair trial was considered by this Court in Zahira v. State […]

The Fundamental Right to Marry

Supriyo @ Surpiya Chakraborty v. UoI Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1011 of 2022 My Lord, LGBTQ persons have a right to marry a person of their choice regardless of religion, gender and sexual orientation? No. A thing, an occurrence, or a practice is ‘Indian’ when it is present in India, takes place here, or is […]

Disjunctive, Conjunctive III

Utkal Contractors & Joinery (P) Ltd. v. State of Orissa, (1987) 3 SCC 279 lucidly explained, “It is again important to remember, Parliament does not waste its breath unnecessarily. Just as Parliament is not expected to use unnecessary expressions, Parliament is also not expected to express itself unnecessarily. Even as Parliament does not use any […]

Condonation of Delay XI: 479

Court has stepped in to ensure, substantive rights of private parties and State are not defeated simply due to technical considerations of delay. However, exercise of discretion must necessarily depend upon sufficiency of cause shown and degree of acceptability of ‘explanation’, length of delay being immaterial. Sometimes, due to want of sufficient cause being shown […]

Section 50 of The NDPS Act

State of Punjab v. Baldev Singh, (1999) 6 SCC 172 stated, Section 50 will come into play only in case of personal searches and not of bags. State of Himachal Pradesh v. Pawan Kumar, (2005) 4 SCC 350 stated, a bag or briefcase under no circumstances can be treated as part of the body of […]

Grounds of Arrest

The finer connotations and nuances of Section 19 of The Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002, left uncharted by this Court in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary, 2022 (10) SCALE 577, were still open to interpretation and resolution. Section 19 does not specify in clear terms as to how an arrested person is to be ‘informed’ of ‘grounds […]

Disciplinary Proceedings IX

P. Zadenga was employed in State Bank of India, Dawrpui Branch, Aizawl. He was a delinquent employee and contended, disciplinary proceedings should be either dropped or closed since criminal cases, arising from same set of transactions, were pending. It may be desirable or, in certain circumstances, advisable for disciplinary proceedings to be stayed when criminal […]

Medical Negligence and Consumer Law IV

Court cannot be oblivious of times when a warlike situation prevailed. It cannot also ignore or be blind to certain realities. In opinion of this Court, rather casual and superficial attention was paid to blood transfusion. These facts establish medical negligence. Bolam Test has gained widespread acceptance and application in Indian jurisprudence. CPL Ashish Kumar […]

Pardon Jurisprudence III

Regardless of arithmetical inconsistencies, it is not contested, Joseph has completed over 26 years of actual imprisonment. The latitude Constitution gives to Executive, under Articles 72 and 162, in regard to matters such as remission, commutation, et cetera, cannot be caged or boxed in form of guidelines, which are inflexible. The practical impact of a […]

Hudson, Emden, Eichleay

McDermott International Inc. v. Burn Standard Company Limited, (2006) 11 SCC 181 has referred to various methods of computation of damages. In particular, reference has been made to Hudson’s formula, Emden’s formula and Eichleay’s formula. The computation of damages should not be whimsical and absurd resulting in a windfall and bounty for one party. The […]

Contempt Jurisdiction XI

The object of discipline enforced in case of ‘Contempt of Court’ is to prevent undue interference with administration of justice. To establish ‘Contempt of Court’, it is sufficient to prove, conduct was ‘wilful’ and contemnor knew of all facts. To hold a person guilty of civil contempt, ‘wilful disobedience’ is an indispensable requirement. The expression or […]

Review of Death Penalty XXXVIII

Our mind got clouded with suspicion. We noticed few very serious lapses. High Court completely forgot, there was juvenile-Pritam Tiwari. As per witnesses, it was Pritam Tiwari who had come. Also, Chotkau v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (2023) 6 SCC 742. If Courts are to impart justice in a free, fair and effective manner, then […]

Language of Courts I

Government of Madhya Pradesh, in excercise of power under Section 272, CrPC, on 28.03.1974, declared Hindi to be language of each Court in State except High Court. There is no such requirement laid down in respect of a Charge Sheet under Section 173, CrPC. With availability of various software and artificial intelligence tools for making […]

Slight Divergence of Russell and Gary Born

Court did not in Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd. v. M/s. Navigant Technologies Pvt. Ltd., 2021 (1) SCR 1135 direct, a Dissenting Opinion to be treated as an Award. This approach is correct. There appears to be a slight divergence in thinking between Russell and Gary Born. It is evident, a Dissenting Opinion cannot […]

Test Identification Parade

We are conscious, M.P. Sharma v. Satish Chandra, AIR 1954 SC 300 came to be overruled in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, (2017) 10 SCC 1. M.P. Sharma had observed, privacy is not a right guaranteed by Indian Constitution. What is prohibited by Article 20(3) is procuring by compulsion, positive volitional evidentiary acts. It […]

Preventive Detention Statute V

Learned Counsel has placed strong reliance on Cherukuri Mani v. Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh, (2015) 13 SCC 722. We may say with profound respect, Cherukuri Mani does not lay down correct law. It appears, attention of Learned Judges was not invited to T. Devaki v. Government of Tamil Nadu, (1990) 2 SCC 456 […]

Non Est Factum

The plea of non est factum basically means, ‘it is not my deed’. In Re: Saunders v Anglia Building Society, (1970) 3 ALL ER 961. A. The person pleading non est factum must belong to “class of persons, who through no fault of their own, are unable to have any understanding of the purpose of […]

Strict Construction of Election Law

It is well-settled, where a right or a liability is created by a statue, which gives a special remedy for enforcing it, remedy provided must be availed of. It is also well-settled, if a statue provides for doing a thing to be done in a particular manner, it can be done in no other manner. […]

The Last Word

A Diversion for Lawyers and Others