Trust the Chief Justice of India and allow him to to lead judicial reforms from within

The BJP government’s first two years have been marked by an acrimonious relationship with the judiciary. Notable developments have taken place in the last few days in the executive-judiciary relationship. While no one can dispute that the independence of judiciary is not an end in itself and is rather an instrumental value defined by the purposes it serves, at the same time government's...

Six Opinions, One Problem: Why a Nine-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court will Rethink a Fifty-Year Old Case?

While the Constitution of India has to be engaged with and interpreted as an indivisible whole, there are some parts of the Constitution that are clearly in tension with others. One such example is the tension between the power of the State Government to tax and raise revenues on the one hand, and the constitutional directive to ensure free movement of trade and commerce within the territory...

Urgent need to review regulatory mechanism for the legal profession: SC [Read Judgment]

Legal profession being the most important component of justice delivery system, it must continue to perform its significant role and regulatory mechanism and should not be seen to be wanting in taking prompt action against any malpractice, the Bench observed.The Supreme Court in Mahipal Singh Rana vs. State of Uttar Pradesh,has observed that there is an urgent need to review the provisions of...

Madras High Court resurrects Writer Perumal Murugan and his book Madhorubagan [Read Judgment]

If you do not like a book, throw it away. There is no compulsion to read a book. Literary tastes may vary – what is right and acceptable to one may not be so to others, said the Bench.In a landmark Judgment a Division Bench of Madars High Court comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana has dismissed all the Petitions against the Author Perumal Murugan and...

SC dismisses Former Kerala CM Achuthanandan’s Appeal for CBI Probe in Ice Cream Parlour Case [Read Order]

Supreme Court of India Today has dismissed former Kerala Chief Minister and CPI(M) leader V. S. Achuthanandan’s Appeal against Kerala High Court Judgment rejecting his PIL for CBI investigation in the Ice Cream Parlour Case. The State Government ruled by LDF in Kerala has not changed the stand taken by the previous UDF Government. Senior Advocate KK Venugopal argued for the State...

In a Landmark Judgment SC Directs Govt. to extend 3% Reservation for disabled Persons in all posts [Read Judgment]

Rule of no reservation in promotions as laid down in Indra Sawhney Case has clearly and normatively no application to the ‘Persons with disabilities, said the Bench.In a Landmark Judgment, Supreme Court of India has directed the Government to extend the reservation for ‘persons with disability’ in all identified posts including Group A and Group B, irrespective of the mode of filling up...

Interview: Expert on LGBT rights Arvind Narrain interprets India’s neutrality on recent UNHRC resolution, as support for status quo

Arvind Narrain, is a well-known activist and legal scholar championing the rights of the marginalised and discriminated through effective legal campaigns.   He is a founding member of the Alternative Law Forum in Bangalore, an NGO, which aims to integrate alternative lawyering with critical research, alternative dispute resolution, pedagogic interventions and maintaining sustained legal interventions in various social issues.Arvind Narrain has worked on human rights issues including mass crimes,...

OH MYLORD! I don’t have a Brow to Beat

In the Tamil movie “Ellam Avan Seyal”, playing the character of a dump lawyer named “Vandumurugan”, actor Vadivelu has well demonstrated the court room sycophancy of a lawyer towards a Judge: In the movie the lawyer pleads to the Judge ‘Thangalukkutheriyadha sattamontrumillai athilethu sirantha sattamoathai thertheduthu intha kuttravalikku thandanai kodukkaventrumentu...

Writing 50 pages order for dismissing Appeal in limine by High Court, itself shows there are arguable points: SC [Read Judgment]

Supreme Court of India has re-iterated that a right to file first appeal against the decree under Section 96 of the Civil Procedure Code is a valuable legal right of the litigant. The Court has also stated that the jurisdiction of the first appellate Court while hearing the first appeal is very wide like that of the Trial Court and it is open to the appellant to attack all findings of fact...

A Member of Police Force is expected to follow the rules, have control over his mind and passion, guard his instincts and feelings; SC [Read Judgment]

The Supreme Court of India Today has stated that a member of the disciplined force [CRPF in this Case], is expected to follow the rules, have control over his mind and passion, guard his instincts and feelings and not allow his feelings to fly in fancy. According to Justice Dipak Misra,“A disciplined man is expected, to quote a few lines from Mathew Arnold:-“We cannot kindle when we...

Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals not Third Gender: SC clarifies

Supreme Court today clarified that gays and lesbians will not get benefit under the OBC category as they are not included in the definition of ‘third gender’ like the transgenders.The statement from a bench of justice A K Sikri and justice N V Ramana came on a clarification sought by the Social Justice and Empowerment ministry which had been directed to provide reservation for transgenders...

A Judge cannot assume the power on the basis of his individual perception or notion: SC [Read Judgment]

Supreme Court of India Today has held that a Judge cannot assume the power on the basis of his individual perception or notion. The Division Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh has further held that“It is well settled in law that a Judge is expected to act in consonance and accord with the legal principles. He cannot assume the power on the basis of his individual perception...