PMLA Judgment : A Critique Of Upholding Of Twin Conditions For Bail

The Supreme Court, in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary vs Union of India 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 633, has upheld the Constitutional validity of "twin conditions" for bail under amended Section 45(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 Act. These twin conditions are that the Court should be satisfied that (i) there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of such offence; and (ii) he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. To hold that they are not...

Voting Rights of Prisoners

On June 17, the Bombay High Court came up with a judgement rejecting the plea filed by two of the sitting Maharashtra legislative assembly members, who are currently in judicial custody, wherein it denied to grant relief by disallowing the members to vote in the elections for Maharashtra Legislative Council, which were being conducted on 20th June. The impugned judgement has to be analyzed in light of Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. It says: "No person...

Dobbs Vs X

The American Supreme Court has left the democratic world feeling bewildered and confused with its recent pronouncement on right to abortion in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. When the Founding Fathers drafted the seven Articles long American Constitution, did they envisage it to be a literal and limited document, or did they endeavour to capture the spirit of liberty, equality, and separation of powers with all its amorphous dimensions in the document? The Dobbs...

Expounding The Contours For Victim Participation In Criminal Justice System

In the common law owing to stringent burden of proof and the presumption of innocence, the criminal justice system favours the accused. We place a significant emphasis on a fair trial, and as a result, we have a highly adversarial system of litigation in which the judge has a minimum role and is not involved in guiding the investigation or prosecution. The Malimath committee report on the criminal justice system said in very emphatic language that a neutral state is expected to strike ...

India's Judicial Impasse On Hague Evidence Convention

This article focuses on the conflicting judicial decisions on the scope of Order 26 Rule 19 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. The High Court under the above-mentioned provision may issue a commission to examine witnesses on the basis of a request received from a Foreign Court under The Hague Convention of 18 March 1970 on Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil and Commercial Matters[1] ("The Convention") for obtaining evidence of witness in India. Before understanding this conflict in...

How To Legally Describe "A Constitutional Court"

I Have never been a practitioner of Constitutional Law, nor do I claim to be an expert in that branch of law. But, I wish to share my views on a subject having some relevance to the Constitution of India and which has been vexing my mind for the past several years. I had mooted this question before a lawyers' collective but there was no response from anybody except from former Justice V. Chitambaresh who was sharp enough to notice the misdescription of the High Court of Bombay as the...

Rajapaksa Resigns: How Is The Next President Of Sri Lanka Is Elected?

Sri Lanka has been marred by protests resulting from the devastating economic crisis, that has now snow-balled into a political vacuum. Following large-scale protests, the (former) President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, tendered his resignation to the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament. Once the Office of President is vacant as a result of resignation, what does the Sri Lankan constitution say about the aftermath? The procedure in such a scenario is governed by Article 40 of the Constitution of...

Whether Waiver Of The Loan Is Benefit Or Perquisite Under Section 194R?

A new section 194R has been inserted to the Income Tax Act 1961 by the Finance Act of 2022. The section is read as that any person responsible for providing any benefit or perquisite to a resident, is required to deduct tax at the source (TDS) at a rate of 10% if the total value of such benefit or perquisite exceeds INR 20,000 within a financial year. Further, it is read as that the benefit or perquisite, whether in cash or kind, must arise either from carrying out of business or exercising a...

Non-Implementation Of The Mine Closure Plan In Jharkhand – An Alarming Lapse With Regards To Complete Compliance Of Mine Related Legislations

On November 26, 2021, four people viz. Lakshman Rajwar (42), Anandi Singh (45), Rawan Rajwar (46) and Bharat Singh (45), all residents of Tilatand village of Chandankiyari Block in Bokaro district of Jharkhand, who had gone to illegally excavate coal from an abandoned BCCL coal mine in Prabatpur were trapped when it suddenly caved in. Fortunately, they dug their way out and emerged alive after sixty hours. This was much after their family members had lost any hope for their survival...

Fresh Lease Of Life And The Transplantation Of Human Organs Act, 1994: Dangers Of Illicit Organ Trafficking To Indian Medical Industry

Over the course of history, especially in the 19th and 20th century, the pace at which fundamental discoveries of basic science were uncovered was accelerating, as was the speed at which medical practice being transformed by these very inventions. Since then, we have come a long way from Hooke's observation of a cell to advanced cure for several life-threatening diseases, so to prolong human life. One of the breakthroughs in Medical Field was Organ Transplantation, also referred as...

Company Law Committee Report 2022 Suggests Many Amendments, Including Issue Of Fractional Shares

The latest Company Law Committee Report(CLC Report)of 2022 has proposed various significant amendments to the existing framework of the Companies Act, 2013 and some in the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 ("LLP Act"). The Company Law Committee has been constituted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and entrusted with responsibilities including promotion of greater ease of doing business for law-abiding corporates and improving the operational efficiency of the Companies...

Law Is Neither Quantum Mechanics Nor An Enigma

"If changing judges changes law , it is not even clear what law is", Robert Posner. Why is there a climate of uncertainty pervading the entire judicial system? Where lies the defect? Posner who is one of the finest American jurists and legal scholars of our time, has critically recognised four kinds of judgments; first, judgment with reflective and thoughtful observations; second, judgment based on randomness, third, instinctive judgment, and fourth, judgment which may be called...