Articles
Who Will Impeach The Judges
Justice S. N. Shukla, a judge of Allahabad High Court retired on 17 July 2020. He was indicted in an alleged Medical college admissions scam highlighted in 2017. The alleged scam involved some Medical colleges that were not allowed to function by the Medical Council of India which is the regulating body for medical education in the country. It is said that a middleman allegedly assured...
Advocate-on-Record System: High Courts Lack Power To Restrict 'Right To Practice' Of Advocates
"Now, lawyers can practise in all courts." This was how 'The Hindu' reported the news of coming into effect of Section 30 of the Advocates Act on 15th June 2011. Though the Advocates Act became a law in 1961, Section 30, which can be termed as the heart of the statute, came into force only fifty years later.Gazette NotificationAOR Systems in High CourtsBasically, AOR system puts some...
Acceptability Of A 'Will' In Financial Institutions: Problems And Possible Solutions
Although a 'Will' is a legal instrument but when it comes to its acceptability, it is obviously not treated at par with that of the Succession Certificate or a letter of administration. Most of the financial institutions have internal policies which require treating of loan proposals/deceased settlement cases with extra care and caution whenever a 'Will' is involved. One of the reasons...
Honest Concurrent Use In Trade Mark Law
Eashan Ghosh's efforts with 'Imperfect Recollections: The Indian Supreme Court on Trade Mark Law', (Thomson Reuters, 2020) is highly commendable. It is not for a casual read over breakfast and requires attention to detail. Especially since, even the footnotes are meaningful. It is my belief, 'Imperfect Recollections' stand a good chance of being cited by Hon'ble Judges, whether or not...
[Column] 'Plain Is Fine: Law, Legislation, And Language' , By Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu
Recently, Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act was subjected to close judicial scrutiny in Arjun Panditrao Khotkar v.Kailash Kushanrao Gorantyal (decided on 14 July 2020). A three-Judge Bench of the Apex Court, on a reference, has ruled on the provision's legislative scope and purpose. Besides the judgment, I have read a few articles on it in LiveLaw. I do not intend to—nor can...
Jurisprudence Of Section 34(4) – Elimination Of Grounds Of Challenge And Maintaining The Finality Of An Award
An arbitration is a consensual process between parties to resolve disputes. The scheme of arbitration is party autonomy and minimal interference of courts. That being said, one cannot overlook that courts in India are frequently asked to intervene in the arbitral process. After an award is passed, the arbitral tribunal is functus officio. Under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act,...
Unconstitutionality Of Publishing Of Marriage Notices Under Special Marriage Act
Following complaints of misuse of personal information contained in 'Marriage Notices' published in the Registration Department's website, the Kerala Government has issued a circular to stop the practice of uploading scanned copies of 'notices of intended marriage' submitted to the Sub Registrar Offices. Though this solved a part of the problem, the larger part still remains unaddressed....
Women In Constituent Assembly: G. Durgabai, The Most Frequent Woman Voice
('Women In Constituent Assembly' series will discuss the role played by women in the Constituent Assembly of India. This is the third article of the series)15th July 2020 marks 111th birth anniversary of G. Durgabai. In this piece, I attempt to provide a glimpse into the wide-ranging interventions of the most active woman member of the Constituent Assembly. Born on 15th July...
Rajasthan Crisis : Can Governor's Discretion Override Govt Demand To Summon Assembly Session?
The political drama in Rajasthan has entered the 'second act', with the entry of Governor Kalraj Mishra into the scene.The spotlight shifted to the Raj Bhavan after the Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, sought to summon the house to prove the majority oh his government. This is apparently with the intention to bring the rebel MLAs led by the sacked Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot back to the...
Judicial Inroads Into Arbitration: Section 34 Saga
The theme of "Judicial Inroads into arbitration" is replete with conundrums; one can easily get bogged down in definitions and the limits, both conceptual as well as practical. The objective of this article is to focus on some test cases and, consequently, a somewhat narrower field dealing with the scope of judicial interference into domestic arbitration awards. The diversity of the...
Section 304A Of Indian Penal Code: The Amendment That Never Happened
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently set up the Central Committee for Reforms in Criminal Law. The committee is headed by Ranbir Singh and consists of G.S. Bajpai, Balraj Chauhan, Mahesh Jethmalani and G.P. Thareja. It will be gathering opinions online, consulting with experts and collating material for their report to the government. They will go on for the next three months....
From The State To The Adivasis : Compensation In Lieu Of 'Development'
The proposed 3097 MV Etalin hydro electric project in Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh falls under the 'richest bio-geographical province of the Himalayan zone' and under 'one of the mega biodiversity hotspots of the world' as per the Forest Advisory Committee 's (FAC) observations. The forest land set to be diverted is also recognized as a vital tiger area in the region. As...