Lack Of Substance Marks The Ongoing Tussle Between The Executive And The Judiciary

The ongoing turf battle between the Union Government and the Supreme Court’s Collegium is getting curiouser and curiouser. What initially appeared to be a contest for primacy over judicial appointments is now turning out to be an open display of discord between the Constitutional functionaries. While there should be no frequent public exhibition of bonhomie between the members of the Government and the Judiciary to ensure the independence of the latter, an exchange of barbs, as...

As The Bengaluru Police Seeks Disclosure Of A Journalist’s Source, The Legal Position In India Leans In Favour Of Its Protection

ON January 5, the Bengaluru Police issued a notice to founder and editor of news portal, The File, G.Mahantesh, in connection with a case pertaining to an e-office file noting of the Karnataka Education Department which the portal published. The portal had done a story on the basis of the leak of the file noting in November 2022. The Bengaluru Cybercrime Police, acting on a First Information Report, registered on the complaint of a senior department official on November 10 last year,...

‘Some’ Defendants Ex Parte: A Procedural Saga Of Order IX Rule 11

As a rule of procedure, if the defendant does not appear on the day fixed for hearing, the court can order to proceed ex parte. In other words, the trial will continue on merits at the option of the plaintiff even though there is no defendant to put his defence. This is the scenario when in a suit there is only one defendant. Supposedly, there are more defendants than one and out of them some defendants make an appearance while others do not. In such a scenario, the rule of procedure...

Pre–Nuptial Agreement

The concept of Pre – Nuptial agreement has a western origin since in countries like the United States of America, half of the marriages end up in divorce proceedings. The Pre – Nuptial Agreement steps out to be a precautionary measure safeguarding the assets of both the parties. The Pre Nuptial - Agreement is necessary in the modern period of time as the rate of breakdown of marriages have drastically increased compared to pre modern era. The nature of marriage is no more considered to...

A Feminist CJI And An Inclusive Judiciary

In today’s turbulent times where women’s rights are constantly questioned in places like Iran or in the USA where the Supreme Court itself sanctions a violation of women’s right to abortion, the role of the judiciary as the custodian of rights becomes important. When a woman steps into the halls of justice, she is met with stares and glares from the onlookers and faces harassment due to the overwhelming sense of male hegemony in the court system. There arises a need for the judiciary to...

Uttar Pradesh Population Policy 2021-30: A Feminist Exploration

The recent trend in government policies insinuates that despite the need for legislation does not seem apparent or sought by the targeted groups, the state acting under the paternalistic impression comes up with policies which are, sometimes, questioned by those groups themselves. In the long list of such legislative interventions, the latest entry is Uttar Pradesh’s Population Policy 2021-2030 and its counterpart, The Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization And Welfare) Bill,...

Law On Reels : "Witness" - A Hard-hitting Criticism Of Manual Scavenging

The recent Tamil film Witness, directed by Deepak Bhagvanth, examines the contours of manual scavenging in India. The movie revolves around a simple storyline of a mother - Indrani's quest for justice after her son Parthiban, who was forced into the septic tank, dies. The horrors of Manual Scavenging are counted throughout the film with caution not to hurt the manual scavengers' dignity.Manual Scavenging?A simple google search in the news section with the keywords' manual scavenging' reveals...

Busting The Myth Behind 'Love Jihad' Laws Made By Eleven States |Column By CU Singh, Senior Advocate

The myth of ‘love jihad’, slayed repeatedly and supposedly laid to rest, rises yet again. A hydra-headed monster that’s revived time and again by a not-so-subtle conspiracy between Hindutva forces, the executive, and the judiciary, it is making yet another come back at the close of 2022.This time its a multi-pronged effort, starting in March with a new anti-conversion law in Haryana, followed by Karnataka on September 30 with its Protection of Freedom of Religion Act, 2022, and wrapping up the...

Review: Report on the working of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 by Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project

In September 2022, the Government of India brought a group of eight big cats/cheetahs from Namibia to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Amidst the celebrations of this project, what went unnoticed was the displacement of Adivasis and other similarly marginalized communities from Bagcha village, surrounding the park. Due to this ambitious project, the Sahariya Adviasis (a particularly vulnerable tribal group) of the village have been forced to ‘relocate’, disrupting their livelihood and life....

Application Of Doctrine Of Repugnancy On Delegated Legislation

The relationship between the Parliament and the State Legislatures is demarcated in Chapter I of Part XI of the Constitution. Article 246, read with Schedule 7, deals with the subject matter of laws on which the Parliament and the State Legislatures can enact a law. Parliament and the State Legislatures are empowered to enact the laws on the subject matter provided in the Union List and State List, respectively. Parliament and the State Legislatures have concurrent power to enact laws on...

Renewable Energy Certificates – A New Dawn Or Just A False Positive?

The Renewable Energy market is booming because of its vitality and utility every which way be it ethically, morally or economically. India has been highly ambitious in declaring its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement. It has been committed towards limiting its carbon footprint and switching towards cleaner and greener sources of energy. India has been ambitiously enhancing its NDCs which clearly demonstrates its commitment at the highest level...

Right To Shelter Can't Be Unconditionally Taken Away : How Supreme Court Stalled Unconstitutional Evictions In Haldwani

In India, the right to shelter has been one of the most controversial rights, because neither they are fully guaranteed nor the rehabilitation policies are very well implemented by the government. Right to shelter also serves as the basic unit of human settlements and as an Indicator of the duality of life of a city or a country's inhabitants. It reflects, among other things, the mobilization of resources and the distribution of space, as well as varied social and organizational aspects of the...