Articles
Cyber Defamation
Defamation is both a civil wrong and a crime. As per black's law dictionary, defamation means, "the offense of injuring a person's character, fame, or reputation by false and malicious statements". In simple words, defamation is an injury to the reputation of another person. There are two forms of defamation: Libel - It is a written defamation which is in permanent form like in...
'Bar Cannot Be Left At The Mercy Of Registry Officials' : Dushyant Dave Writes
I have been at the bar since 1978. I have always respected the judiciary. In turn, I have received much warmth from many judges. Over four decades, I have been a keen observer of the happenings in the corridors of the Courts, first the Gujarat High Court and since 1986, the Supreme Court of India. I always felt a sense of belonging to the institutions. Today, I felt completely...
Legal Contours Of Artistic Nudity
"After all, who is a performer without his audience?" observed the author of the article on the Bollywood actor Ranveer Singhpublished by the Paper Magazine[i]. This interview was accompanied by some artistic (allegedly obscene) photo shoot of the actor in which he could be seen posing naked for the cameras. However, little did the author or the performer know that he might soon have to...
PMLA Judgment : A Critique Of Upholding Of Twin Conditions For Bail
The Supreme Court, in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary vs Union of India 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 633, has upheld the Constitutional validity of "twin conditions" for bail under amended Section 45(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 Act. These twin conditions are that the Court should be satisfied that (i) there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of such...
Voting Rights of Prisoners
On June 17, the Bombay High Court came up with a judgement rejecting the plea filed by two of the sitting Maharashtra legislative assembly members, who are currently in judicial custody, wherein it denied to grant relief by disallowing the members to vote in the elections for Maharashtra Legislative Council, which were being conducted on 20th June. The impugned judgement has to be...
Dobbs Vs X
The American Supreme Court has left the democratic world feeling bewildered and confused with its recent pronouncement on right to abortion in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. When the Founding Fathers drafted the seven Articles long American Constitution, did they envisage it to be a literal and limited document, or did they endeavour to capture the spirit...
Expounding The Contours For Victim Participation In Criminal Justice System
In the common law owing to stringent burden of proof and the presumption of innocence, the criminal justice system favours the accused. We place a significant emphasis on a fair trial, and as a result, we have a highly adversarial system of litigation in which the judge has a minimum role and is not involved in guiding the investigation or prosecution. The Malimath committee report on...
India's Judicial Impasse On Hague Evidence Convention
This article focuses on the conflicting judicial decisions on the scope of Order 26 Rule 19 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. The High Court under the above-mentioned provision may issue a commission to examine witnesses on the basis of a request received from a Foreign Court under The Hague Convention of 18 March 1970 on Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil and...
How To Legally Describe "A Constitutional Court"
I Have never been a practitioner of Constitutional Law, nor do I claim to be an expert in that branch of law. But, I wish to share my views on a subject having some relevance to the Constitution of India and which has been vexing my mind for the past several years. I had mooted this question before a lawyers' collective but there was no response from anybody except from former Justice...
Rajapaksa Resigns: How Is The Next President Of Sri Lanka Is Elected?
Sri Lanka has been marred by protests resulting from the devastating economic crisis, that has now snow-balled into a political vacuum. Following large-scale protests, the (former) President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, tendered his resignation to the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament. Once the Office of President is vacant as a result of resignation, what does the Sri Lankan...
Whether Waiver Of The Loan Is Benefit Or Perquisite Under Section 194R?
A new section 194R has been inserted to the Income Tax Act 1961 by the Finance Act of 2022. The section is read as that any person responsible for providing any benefit or perquisite to a resident, is required to deduct tax at the source (TDS) at a rate of 10% if the total value of such benefit or perquisite exceeds INR 20,000 within a financial year. Further, it is read as that the benefit...