Articles
The Helpless Custodians!
Lately, there has been public distress about policing which calls for strong police reforms. The "2019 Data on Police Organization by Bureau of Police Research & Development" suggests that there is a shortage of policing resources and tools, and thus, to tackle the same, India not only needs an augmentation of budget and grants, but also an evaluated resourcing. This blog employs...
International Best Practices For Whistle-Blowers: What India Can Adopt?
Whistleblowing is an act whereby an individual discloses any unethical, illegal or unauthorised act of an individual to the public at large. The RTI Act, 2005 has come to be as 'twin sister' of whistleblowing. The Act has been used effectively to expose off the illegal activities. Much of the information that comes out through this is related to development projects, illegal...
Does Election Commission Possess The Power To De-Register A Political Party
In India, not every association requires to get itself registered by the Election Commission. Only an association or body of individual citizens of India referring to itself as a political party and intending to avail itself of the provisions of Part-IV-A which relates to registration of political parties of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, is required to get...
The Forgotten Hero Of India's Constitution Making: Remembering K.T. Shah On His Birth Anniversary
I shall not die, these seeds I've sown will save My name and reputation from the grave And men of sense and wisdom will proclaim When I have gone, my praises and my fame! -Persian poet Ferdowsi concluded the Shah Nama (The Books of Kings), a long epic poem that is still considered as the national epic of Iran, with the above verses. As far as contemporary India is concerned,...
Grappling With The Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2020
With the enactment of Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2020 ("the Gujarat Act" or "the Act") that came into effect from 29.08.2020, Gujarat became the fourth State to have a Land Grabbing Act. Andhra Pradesh was the first State to enact it in 1982 followed by Assam in 2011 and Karnataka in 2014. The Gujarat Act draws heavily and selectively from the earlier acts giving us a maze...
Plea Bargaining In India
Plea bargaining is an agreement in a criminal case in which a prosecutor and an accused arrange to settle the case against the accused. The accused agrees to plead guilty or no contest in exchange for some concession from the prosecutor, such as a reduced or lessor category of charge, or a reduced sentence.The Law Commission of India advocated the introduction of plea bargaining...
Rampant Misuse Of Criminal Justice System calls For Interventionist Approach From Supreme Court
The rampant misuse (if not abuse) of the Indian criminal justice system certainly calls for an interventionist approach from our Supreme Court (SC). A hands-off approach is no good and, in fact, seems to be encouraging those who want to take advantage of the law to inconvenience anyone who is perhaps an annoyance to them. I refer to the spate of First Information Reports (FIRs) filed by...
Cryptocurrency And Regulation Of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 And Legal Framework Ahead
A dubious concern in the banking finance sector in India today is the debate over according legal status to crypto/virtual currencies ("CCs"). The Reserve Bank of India ("RBI"), vide a notification[1] ("Notification"), directed all entities regulated by RBI not to deal in CCs or provide any services for facilitating any person in dealing or settling with CCs. As the...
Impeachment Trial Process And Significance Of Closing Arguments (Recollections From President Andrew Johnson's Trial)
An impeachment trial in USA is not a criminal trial, as understood in ordinary parlance. It was never intended to be conducted like criminal trials before courts of law, although, it partakes some trappings of such criminal trials like filing of articles of charges, opening statements by the parties, filing documentary evidence, witness testimony, closing arguments and...
Union Budget : Impact Of Finance Bill 2021 On Judicial Precedents
The Union Finance Minister's annual budget speech is the subject matter of great interest and debate for many. However, for professionals like advocates, chartered accountants, etc. the devil lies in the details. True to its nature, the Finance Bill, 2021 contains many such details which have the effect of over ruling several judicial precedents. The present article is an attempt...
Need To Fix Timeline In Judges Appointments In The Constitutional Courts
"Suppose you have reservations and send back the names to us, then we can reiterate or can look into your objections. But if you do not give comments for five months on a collegium recommendation, it is a matter of great concern," a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde told Attorney General K K Venugopal on Wednesday while hearing a Public...