Book Reviews
Book Review- "The Punished: Stories of Death-Row Prisoners in India" by Jahanvi Mishra
The debate on the righteousness of capital punishment is going on since time immemorial. From state authority to effectiveness to human rights, there is an umbrella of argument for and against capital punishment. Philosophers ranging from Bentham, Mill, Locke, Beccaria to Immanuel Kant authored texts on the issue. The debates culminated in the abolition of the death penalty in law...
Book Review : Commentary on The Commercial Courts Act, 2015 by Sharath Chandran
The Civil Procedure Code, 1908 deals with the law surrounding procedure in civil disputes in the Country. This pre-independence code has been amended from time to time to suit the requirements of the society. Unfortunately, inspite of multiple efforts by various ruling establishments, our justice dispensation system suffers from what we may call as the 'tareekh pe tareekh' defect...
Book Review: On Citizenship- Romila Thapar; N. Ram; Gautam Bhatia & Gautam Patel
Interest in citizenship has become more important than ever, especially in India. From Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) to National Register of Citizens to National Population Register, a series of moves taken by the incumbent government have reactivated the politics of us and them in public discourse. Since December 2019, people have raised their voice against CAA and allied...
Book Review: 'On Citizenship' By Romila Thapar, N Ram, Gautam Bhatia and Gautam Patel
The passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 sparked widespread protests across the country. Overnight, citizenship became one of the most discussed issues in India. Online portals dumped op-eds and TV news debates pitted party spokespersons against each other – CAA was what everybody was talking about. And while citizenship was being discussed, not many knew enough about it....
Book Review: 'It Can be Done: IDAP Interview Series' By Rahul Bajaj, Anusha Reddy, And Madhavi Singh
In 2014, V Surendra Mohan, a practicing advocate, applied for the post of a Civil Judge in Tamil Nadu. His application was rejected on the ground that he was 70% blind. This resulted from Tamil Nadu's policy of reserving the post only for persons whose percentage of blindness did not exceed 40-50%. He challenged this policy before the Supreme Court, arguing that this arbitrary...
Book Review "Supreme Court"
The Book titled "Supreme Court", written by Shri Ashok Panda, Sr. Advocate, is quite informative regarding the working, composition, and contribution of the Supreme Court of India in shaping the life of citizens, by giving a very wide and extensive interpretation to the provisions of the Constitution, particularly to the part III thereof. The entire evolution of Fundamental Rights,...
"Book Review Of "Insolvency And Bankruptcy Code- Law And Practice"
Writing a commentary on a law that is still growing at a pace faster than the fortunes of e-commerce businesses is, painful and challenging. The sheer volume of judgments from the Constitutional Courts and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal and National Company Law Tribunals constitute the judicial side of the scheme of things under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Then there...
Book Review: "Consensus Ad Idem – Consent And Free Consent In Contract Law"
Contractual terms, much like the nature of doing business, have evolved significantly over the years. Even as modern times are witnessing complex and sophisticated contracts between commercial parties, the fundamentals remain the same. The very foundation on which a contract becomes an enforceable agreement is that of "free consent" between the parties. A concept as simple and...
Book Review: 'Patent Law: Cases & Materials – A Synthesis For India'
There can be few things more challenging than writing a treatise or commentary on Indian patent law. This is because of the relatively low volumes of patent litigation and very few quotable precedents from Indian courts. In the last fifteen years, since Indian patent law was amended to bring it in line with the Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property (TRIPs), we have seen only...
When A Prime Minister Was Put On Trial : Excerpt From Prashant Bhushan's Book 'The Case That Shook India'
The judge arrived two minutes before 10 a.m. Everybody in the courtroom rose when the judge came in. After taking his seat, he announced that the court conventions dictate that no one should rise when a witness comes in. This however did not prevent some people from rising when Mrs Gandhi came in. Mrs Gandhi took a seat which was specially provided for her. The normal practice is that...