Articles
Of Queerness, Inadequate Gestures And Private Members' Bills
"God save us from people who mean well." ― Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy Introduction On 9th August 1970, the President of India assented to The Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Bill, 1968 to enlarge the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in criminal matters. This would have been an ordinary occurrence usually, but what made it stand out was that it...
Post Abolishment Of Intellectual Property Appellate Board; A Re-Look At Section 124 Of The Trade Marks Act, 1999
Recently, the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 abolished various Tribunals including India's Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) and assigned their functions to the country's Commercial Courts and High Courts. Consequently, the Delhi High Court on 24th February, 2022, issued a public notice containing the finalized rules of procedure for its Intellectual Property Rights Division,...
Blanket Forbearance From Modifying An Arbitral Award – How Far Justiciable?
Non-interference of courts, except to the extent of supervision, is the spinal cord of arbitration legislations across the jurisdictions. However, the difference between interference and supervision is often differentiated by a thin line. One such occasion raising the question of whether an indulgence of the court is supervision or interference arises while answering the question of...
Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill Problematic : Project 39A Report
On March 28, 2022, the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 ('Bill') was tabled in the Lok Sabha. The Bill seeks to create a framework that allows the collection of certain 'measurements' by police or prison officers. The term 'measurements' has been defined to include a wide range of sensitive personal information like finger, palm and foot impressions, iris and retina...
National Company Law Tribunals; Reeling Under Poor Infrastructure
The National Company Law Tribunals (NCLT) were constituted in 2016 for adjudication of matters arising out of the Companies Act, 2013, and exclusive jurisdiction under the Companies Act was vested with the NCLTs. After the enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 in December 2016, NCLT has been vested with exclusive jurisdiction to deal with cases arising out...
Shadow Of Unconstitutionality On DMC Amendment Bill 2022
The union government is in a mood to bring about a drastic change in political landscape of the Delhi. If dragged to court once passed, there are several legal nuances which might be interpreted, but that's up to the court to decide. Let us have a look and understanding of what provisions and basic features are in discussion to oppose or defend the bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on...
Courts And The Sexual Minorities: Transgender Day Of Visibility 2022
Back in 2009, Rachel Crandall (a US based transgender activist) took the initiative and since then March 31 is celebrated as International Transgender Day of Visibility. Sexual minorities all over the world have been facing stigma, discrimination and oppression but with time we saw how things are getting better with rising awareness amongst the citizens and judicial...
Delay In Release After The Bail Order
Today, the Chief Justice of India, Justice N.V. Ramana, has launched "Fast and Secure Transmission of Electronic Court Laws (FASTER)", a software developed to transmit court orders swiftly and securely. This was in response to the newspaper reports regarding prisoners not being released immediately even after the supreme court granting them bail for various reasons. It is not clear...
The Corporate Democracy And Demarcation Of Powers Of NCLT & Civil Courts
The recent developments appear to suggest that Invesco, one of the investors of Zee, has decided to withdraw its requisition notice which sought the removal of MD and CEO Mr. Punit Goenka from Board of Directors ("Board") of Zee. Though the withdrawal might end the dispute, the Order of the Division Bench of the Hon'ble Bombay High Court ("Division Bench") will be significant in reaffirming...
Effect Of Increase In Threshold Limit Under Section 4 Of IBC, 2016- Conflicting Judgements Of NCLT
Ever since the central government has issued the notification dated 24.03.2020 for increasing the threshold limit of default from Rs. 1 Lac to Rs. 1 Crore under Section 4 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 "Code" different benches of NCLT are giving contradictory judgements as to whether this notification has prospective or retrospective effect. The National Company Law...
Smart Contracts And The Indian Perspective
Of the many innovations the 21st century has seen, Blockchain is arguably the most important. Briefly put, a blockchain is a virtual platform that records and stores exchanges or transactions that involve digital assets, primarily cryptocurrencies. To have a blockchain one needs multiple individuals, more than three preferably to create a distributed network, thereby ensuring the network...