Articles
Monopoly And Underlying Interests – A Response To On Going Mediation Debate
The article "Breaking the Mediation Monopoly– A reply to Senior Advocate Sriram Panchu" by Gopal Sankaranarayanan, carried in these columns on 28-06-2022 made very interesting reading. In mediation, we learn about the concept of "positions" versus "underlying interests". Though Sriram Panchu and K. Kannan appear to have taken seemingly conflicting positions on the aspect of judges monopolising mediation, their underlying interests are clear – that the integrity and credibility of the...
U S Supreme Court: Derecognition Of The Constitutional Right To Abortion Is Feudalistic
Republican States wanting to ban abortions altogether or to impose severe restrictions on abortion were the ones who were pleading for reversal of Roe v Wade, a 7:2 judgement delivered 50 years ago. New laws made by some states banning abortions had been stayed by lower courts based on Roe. The previous Trump regime supporting orthodox Christian views had ensured a packed court for the reversal of Roe. At issue was whether the American women had a Constitutional right to seek abortion...
Breaking The Mediation Monopoly-A Reply to Senior Advocate Sriram Panchu
Mr Sriram Panchu and Mr Kannan need little introduction to the readers of these columns. One is a seasoned lawyer and the other a popular judge, and both of them are drawn together by their common passion for mediation, leading to institutions being established to popularize the practice. However, over the last week, we have seen their disagreement in these columns over recent developments in that arena. I, of course, stand in the shadow of these giants who enrolled as advocates around the...
Canada's And India's Unwritten Constitutional Principles: The Colonial Kinship
India and Canada were both historically British colonies, which later grew up to be mature democracies, and the similarities between the two "long last cousins", have been an area of interest for a long time. Over the last half-century, the Apex courts of the two countries have developed unwritten constitutional principles which are strikingly similar, with principles like 'rule of law', 'federalism', 'and separation of power', 'democracy', et al, being sacrosanct principles in ...
Restraining Payments "On-Demand": Liberal Or Restrictive Approach?
Employers under construction contracts often require contractors to furnish security in the form of guarantees or bonds. Performance bonds are the most commonly used security for this purpose and protect the employer against the contractor's default. While conditional performance bonds trigger contractor's liability only upon proof of breach, payment under 'on-demand' or unconditional performance bonds do not require breach to be established. As a matter of practice, the courts usually do...
By All Means, Let It Rain! Rain Is Welcome On The Entire Mediation Landscape, Not In Select Judicial Enclaves Questionably Acquired-A Response To Sr.Adv.K Kannan's Article
This is a response by Senior Advocate and Mediator Sriram Pancu to an article written by Senior Advocate and Mediator K Kannan which was published in LiveLaw on 22nd June under the headline "What The Dark Clouds Bring – Just Not Storm But Rain!"On 13th June 2022, the news portal The Wire carried my article titled "Thanks to Our Judges, Darkness Now Clouds India's Mediation Playing Field" wherein I spoke about unhealthy practices manifesting themselves in different ways - of judges using...
Maharashtra Political Crisis : Supreme Court's Call For Strengthening Anti-Defection Law Becomes Relevant Again
In the wake of the political crisis unfolding in Maharashtra, certain remarks made by the Supreme Court regarding the emerging trend of poaching of legislators and engineering of rebellion to destabilize elected governments assume relevance.The Court's remarks came in the cases related to Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, which witnessed scenes of a group of MLAs within the ruling coalition announcing a sudden rebellion, followed by the rebel MLAs remaining incommunicado and confining themselves in...
What The Dark Clouds Bring – Just Not Storm But Rain!
On June 13, Sriram Panchu wrote an article, for The Wire, captioned ' Thanks to Our Judges, Darkness Now Clouds India's Mediation PlayingField', Mr. Sriram is truly a shining star in the mediation firmament that dark clouds cannot still dim his effulgence. He writes with compelling logic and if he alludes to the higher judiciary as casting dark clouds, it cannot be brushed easily. Normally, one would believe that he has cross checked on facts about what he writes and therefore,...
Budhadev Karmaskar V. State Of West Bengal: A Brutum Fulmen?
Interestingly the Apex court releases certain directions for the rehabilitation of sex workers at the same time when Sanjay Leela Bhansali released his movie titled Gangubhai Kathiawadi narrating the story of the Matriarch of Kamathipura based on the book "Mafia Queens of Mumbai". The movie highlights the transition of Ganga to Gangu to Gangubhai, the life of a prostitute who unlike many in her profession had the courage to raise voice for her cause, which is none other than a dignified...
Plea Of Army For Exemption From RTI: An Approach Devoid Of Merits
In the landmark judgment of SP Gupta Vs Union of India (1981), Supreme Court of India held, "the concept of open government is the direct emanation from the right to know, which seems to be implicit in the right of free speech and expression guaranteed under article 19(1) of Constitution." Besides Apex court, many high courts and civil societies also pitched for the right to know for citizens. With these combined efforts, the celebrity Right to Information Act ,2005 came in its present...
Sexual Offences Against Women: Key Interventions
A country in which women are violated in broad daylight, thrown on streets after gory torture and muzzled and suffocated under the garb of sacrifice and societal obligations is nothing short of a failure to its very existence. India, unfortunately, is today at the center stage of the world's attention for this existential crisis that is casting its shadow upon over half its population. A flurry of laws, policies and mechanisms, over 70 years of amendment, re-amendment and judicial...