When Judges Compare Handwriting: Is Judicial Eyesight Enough?

A disputed signature or handwriting can sometimes determine the fate of an entire case. Whether a person executed a Will, signed a cheque, acknowledged a liability, or wrote a threatening letter may lead to one question: who wrote it?Recently, the Supreme Court in Gopal Pathak vs Nitin Alias Pappu & Anr. (2026 LiveLaw (SC)1018) observed that court must compare signatures themselves, expert evidence cannot be called routinely in handwriting disputes. The law permits courts to compare...

When Paneer Is Not Paneer: Emerging Law On Dairy Analogues In India

Few foods are as familiar in the Indian kitchen as paneer. Yet its familiarity can obscure a legal question of some importance: when may a product be sold under that name?The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has now placed that question squarely in the regulatory domain. A notification dated 22 September 2026, published in the Gazette of India on 23 September and listed by FSSAI on 24 September, contains the draft Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on...

Simplifying Transmission Or Complicating Succession: Critical Analysis Of SEBI's 2026 Framework For Transmission Of Securities

When an investor dies, it leads to a unique regulatory issue. Because the securities markets are based on the principles of speed, standardization and certainty, it does not lend itself well to legal principles such as succession, which is more fact-driven and based on principles such as inheritance, testamentary disposition and beneficial ownership. Thus, transmission of securities is a point of intersection between securities regulation and succession law. As such, the challenge facing a...

Who Decides Who Owns Land? Maharashtra's Proposed Land Titling Bill

Ask a Maharashtra farmer whether the land in his satbara extract is really his, and he will probably say yes. Ask a court, and the answer is more careful. A satbara record who is in possession, and a mutation entry records that a transaction was reported. Neither, in law, proves ownership. That gap underlies a large share of land litigation in the State, and the proposed Maharashtra Land Titling Bill aims to close it by having the State certify ownership rather than merely record possession.The...

When Personality Rights Become Shortcut To Restrain Speech

The Delhi High Court's pending examination in Personality Rights cases raises a question larger than celebrity protection: how should Indian law distinguish identity from expression?A celebrity's face on a product is an easy case. A cloned voice used to solicit money is another. The harder cases are the ones that look ordinary on the internet: a parody video, a meme built from an interview, a news report carrying a photograph, a commentary channel using a public figure's name, or a creator...

Doctrine Of Seat Of Arbitration In Indian Jurisprudence

The distinction between the 'juridical seat' (lex arbitri) and the geographical 'venue' (locus arbitri) represents one of the most foundational yet frequently litigated doctrines in Indian arbitration law. While the 'seat' anchors the arbitration to a specific legal system and confers exclusive supervisory jurisdiction on the courts of that territory, a 'venue' is merely a convenient physical location where hearings, witness examinations, or deliberations may take place.The Arbitration and...

Cost Of Supreme Court's 2-Year-Plus Delay In Deciding CEC Appointment Case

The petitions challenging the CEC Act have remained pending since January 2024. Gyanesh Kumar was the first CEC to be appointed as per this law.

Section 20C Of Specific Relief Act: Forgotten Mandate For Speedy Civil Justice

There is a familiar paradox in civil litigation: a party may establish a substantive right, obtain a decree after years of litigation, and yet find that the relief has lost much of its practical value by the time it arrives. This paradox becomes particularly acute in suits for specific relief. Contracts concern commercial arrangements, immovable property, development projects, business transactions and obligations whose value is often time-sensitive. A remedy which comes after prolonged...

Masterpiece Of Empathy And Courage: Karthik Subbaraj's Dorothy Redefines Tamil Cinema

When I stepped into the theatre to watch Karthik Subbaraj's Dorothy with my family which is a rare theatrical outing for me, I expected a good movie. What I walked out with, however, was a heart full of hope, tears in my eyes, and the deep belief that Indian cinema had just witnessed a historic moment.The title itself caught my attention. In Greek, Dorothy means "the gift of God." But history reveals another beautiful meaning: during the mid-20th century, the phrase "Are you a friend of...

Gandhiji's Oceanic Circle, Inverted

"Independence must begin at the bottom. Thus every village will be a republic or panchayat having full powers." Gandhiji, Harijan, 28 July 1946Gandhiji wrote those lines thirteen months before freedom arrived. When it came, it came from the top, through a transfer of power negotiated in Delhi and London.This week marks his 157th birth anniversary. The rituals are familiar: garlands at Rajghat, a cleanliness drive, his spectacles on a poster. What gets far less attention is the idea he held to...

After Rejanish KV V. K Deepa: Is it Time To Reconsider 25% LDCE Quota For Higher Judicial Service?

October 9 marks one year since the Rejanish K.V. v. K. Deepa (2025 LiveLaw (SC) 989) judgment, in which a five-judge Constitution Bench held that in-service judicial officers having seven years' combined experience as an advocate and/or judicial officer can appear in the direct recruitment exam for District Judge/Additional District Judge posts. It also prescribed a minimum age of 35 years for both advocates and judicial officers participating in direct recruitment. The Court also held that...

Kaziranga Mining Issue: Contours Of CEC Advisory Role

The Central Empowered Committee (CEC), a Supreme Court constituted panel for monitoring environmental compliance, has again raised concerns over mining activities near Kaziranga National Park. It pulled up the Assam government for not having a wildlife management plan in place.The committee called out the government's inaction on the mining issue around the Parkup Pahar range, a wildlife sanctuary, and questioned the grant of mining leases around areas forming part of the Karbi Anglong Elephant...