Articles
Central Administrative Tribunal's Contempt: Can The High Court Interfere?
Service Matters are evergreen and abundant in Indian litigation. Same is reflected by the pendency of service matters before not only the Administrative Tribunals but also in the High Courts across the nation. One of the leading judgments pertaining to the powers of Tribunals constituted either under Article 323A or under Article 323B is certainly L. Chandra Kumar Vs Union Of India...
Commercial Courts Act, 2015 "An Overview"
This Act came into force with effect from 23rd Day of October, 2015, and further amended on 3rd May, 2018, with primary objective of adjudication of disputes falling under this Act in a swift time bound manner and lesser hassles to the litigating parties and by introducing minimal interference by the higher courts, when the dispute is pending before the Commercial Court constituted...
Finding Mentorship In The Legal Profession
One of the side effects of the Covid-19 lockdown is the deluge of webinars being hosted on a variety of legal subjects. This spurt in discussion and mentorship in the legal profession is undoubtedly seasonal and is unlikely to continue when the lockdown eases. When everyone becomes busy again, young lawyers would need to actively seek out mentorship rather than it being offered to...
IBC (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020: A Pandemic Of Bad Drafting
Much awaited amendment has been made in IBC by an Ordinance promulgated on 5th June, 2020. It is not happily worded, and within a short span of time we have seen many conflicting interpretations. Two Sections, viz. 10A and 66(3) have been incorporated in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The arrangement of expressions in the newly-inserted Section 10A is very poor, creating...
Can Jurisdictional Objection Be Raised At Any Stage Of The Arbitration Proceeding? - A Legal Conundrum
Section 16(2) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 [hereinafter "the Act"] mandates that a plea that the Arbitral Tribunal does not have jurisdiction shall not be raised later than the submission of the statement of defence. However, the Arbitral Tribunal may admit a later plea on jurisdiction if it considers the delay is justified [Section 16(4) of the Act]. Additionally, Section...
ICLU And Law Students Work Together For Migrants
According to the census of 2011, there are 454 million migrants. The Economic Survey shows that migration within India continued to swell manifold and on average, migration within states is around four times that across states. When the pandemic engulfed the world, and a nationwide lockdown was put in place, the announcement of the deferral of interstate transportation...
Drafting An Effective Arbitration Clause: Challenges And The Way Forward
"No party can be allowed to take advantage of inartistic drafting of arbitration clause in any agreement as long as clear intention of parties to go for arbitration in case of any future disputes is evident from the agreement and material on record including surrounding circumstances." – [VISA International Ltd. v. Continental Resources (USA) Ltd (Arbitration Petition No. 16...
The Naming Saga In Andhra Pradesh
As the descendants of colonialism and monarchies, we are quite familiar with the practice of naming the institutions, buildings, important roads in the memory of the Kings and Queens who ruled us. The Victoria memorial, King George hospitals, Nizam College, Krishna Raja market, Maharaja's colleges etc. are etched into our memories. At least here, we can console ourselves by saying that it is...
Baghjan Fire Disaster: A Case Of Criminal Negligence
The Oil India Limited (OIL) announced on 20 May 2020 that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) had given it clearance for extension drilling and testing of hydrocarbons in seven locations under Dibru Saikhowa National Park area and North-West of Baghjan in the Tinsukia district of Assam. In less than a week, there was a blowout in its oil well in Bhaghjan 5....
Payment Of Wages And Judicial Evasion In A Pandemic
Two days ago, on this blog, we discussed the pending challenge before the Supreme Court to the government's directions requiring employers to pay wages to their workers during the nationwide lockdown imposed under the Disaster Management Act. At the time, the matter had been reserved for orders; today, the Supreme Court passed an order that can only be described as bizarre: it refused to rule...
E & W Court Of Appeal's Judgment In Enka Insaat vs Chubb Clarifies The "Three Stage Test" Of "Sulamérica's Case": "Seat" Regains Its Control
This article may be read in continuation of the article titled "Sulamérica's Case and the three stage inquiry to determine the law of arbitration : Recent developments & the divergent Indian approach" published earlier in two parts viz Part I[1] and Part II[2] on 11th April, 2020 and 14th April, 2020 respectively. In a very significant development, on 29th April, 2020, the...
Farewell To Justice Hosbet Suresh
Justice Suresh died last night in his sleep. The lockdown prevents us from being with him at the funeral. I have known him for 30 years, through my activism days at Bombay, my practice in the Industrial Courts and the Bombay High Court and then as the Chairman of the Human Rights Law Network till his death. He had lived a good life, was happy and content till the end, though he railed...