Articles
On First Principles, SC Collegium’s Recommendation To Elevate A Party Leader As A High Court Judge May Be Flawed
The Supreme Court Collegium, even while appearing to stand up to the Government in the ongoing tug of war for primacy over appointments of Judges to the Higher Judiciary, may actually be losing the perception battle with regard to adherence to the first principles.One such first principle is that candidates, who openly owe allegiance to political parties, ought not to be considered for...
Key Aspects And Analysis Of Union Budget 2023
The Union Finance Minister Ms.Nirmala Sitharaman has presented the budget for the year 2023-24, the last full budget before the 2024 polls. Various amendments have been proposed for the taxpayers specifically the middle and the salaried class such as altering the tax slabs and increase of rebate for taxpayers paying tax under the new tax regime.Major direct-tax amendments as proposed in...
Saving The Claims: Excluding Time Spent In Pre-Arbitration Mechanisms From The Period Of Limitation
Pre-arbitration mechanisms refer to dispute resolution mechanism whereby the parties make an attempt to resolve their dispute or grievances without formally invoking the arbitration. It can be by way of mutual talks, mediation/conciliation, or through an internal dispute redressal body. It is now common practice for the parties to a commercial contract to provide for an attempt...
Shanti Bhushan’s Indelible Legacy Will Continue To Inspire Those Who Campaign For Accountability
If there is one phrase which could sum up the life and career of the eminent lawyer and former Union Law Minister, Shanti Bhushan who passed away on Tuesday, it is his zeal and passion for seeking accountability from the executive as well as the judiciary. His legal acumen was a means to this end. Shanti Bhushan was born in Bijnor, a district town of Western Uttar Pradesh,...
Crown Debt Vs Other Debts – The Legislative Intent
When the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code,2016 was passed by the Indian Parliament, it created a new precedent by lowering the priority of payment of the Crown Debt or the Statutory Dues to the dues of the Banks/Financial Institutions and other creditors, both secured and unsecured. It was a departure from the long-standing practice set in place by the Britishers from pre-independence...
Making Cinema Accessible To Everyone
The Delhi High Court on January 16, directed the producers of the upcoming movie ‘Pathaan’ (Yash Raj Films), to make the movie accessible for hearing and visually-impaired persons. The producers of the film were directed to include audio description, close captioning and subtitles for the movie's over-the-top (OTT) release. This is a welcome step but more needs to be done...
Basic Structure And Constituent Power
Recently the comment made by the Vice President of India that the basic structure doctrine as expatiated by the Supreme Court in Keshavananda Bharti case[1] hinders the functioning of the Parliament, evoked a flurry of responses. What Keshavananda held was that Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution save the basic structure. Now when we ask ‘what is basic structure?’...
How Pakistan’s Ruling Classes Destroyed Their Judiciary And Their Democracy
The Indian judiciary has, of late, come under relentless pincer like attacks from several quarters of the ruling establishment. Repeated pot shots, (deliberately ignoring historical and structural contexts) have been made against the collegium system of appointments, the basic structure of the constitution and calls are even being made for an unaccountable supremacy of the Parliament....
Justice Madan Lokur’s Judgment In NJAC Case Has The Key To Recent Irritants Between Executive And The Judiciary
As the nation celebrates 74th Republic Day on Thursday, the ongoing stand-off between the Union Government and the Supreme Court Collegium over the appointment of Judges shows that Article 50 of the Constitution - a Directive Principle which calls upon the State to take steps to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public services of the State - is under severe stress. ...
74th Republic Day : Lets Build A 'Constitutional Democracy' And Not A Mere 'Democracy'
Thucydides, a well-known Greek historian, criticised democracy by opining that democratic governments failed miserably “in the search for the truth." He believed that democracies produced demagogues who could sway public opinion with their rhetoric and rabble-rousing oratory skills, imposing their own interpretations of the truth on the masses. He further argued that this led to a failure...
Indian Penal Code And The Rainbow Community
As far as history can remember, the rainbow community has experienced persecution and atrocities. In fact, in paragraph number twenty of Navtej Singh Johar vs. Union of India the Supreme Court of India opined as follows: “History owes an apology to the members of this community and their families, for the delay in providing redressal for the ignominy and ostracism that they...