Articles
The Essential Religious Practices Test And The Inversion Of Agency: Notes From The Hijab Hearing
The essential religious practices test ["ERP"] is one of the enduring burdens of Indian constitutional law. Its origins (as I have shown here) lie in a judicial misreading of one sentence spoken by Dr. Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly Debates. Scholars have criticised it. Judges have expressed discomfort about how it forces them into becoming ecclesiastical authorities (often for religions that are not even their own). And yet, every time a faith-based dispute is brought to the courts, the...
Censorship By Sealed Cover: The Kerala High Court's MediaOne "Judgment"
When a single judge bench of the High Court of Kerala reserved its judgment on the question of the central government banning the MediaOne news channel, one awaited a reasoned order that would subject the executive action in question to rigorous judicial scrutiny. As banning a TV channel strikes at the core of the right to freedom of speech and expression, one expected that the self-proclaimed "sentinel on the qui vive" would examine the impugned executive action on the touchstone of the...
Amazon V. CCI: Analysis Of Whether Res Judicata Stays Applicable On Orders Passed By CCI
The Karnataka High Court ('HC') dismissed writ petitions brought by Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd. ('Flipkart') and Amazon Sellers Services Pvt. Ltd. ('Amazon') (collectively "Opposing Parties") contesting the Competition Commission of India ('CCI') order made under Section 26 (1) of the Competition Act, 2002 ("Act"). This case dealt with the notion of res judicata and its applicability to CCI rulings. The doctrine of res judicata is a global legal principle which states that if the matter...
Veiling Of Opportunities: The Case Against The Karnataka Hijab Ban
In 2017, the Supreme Court, almost prophetic of the times to come, in the K S Puttaswamy Vs.UOI (2017) 10 SCC 1 cautioned that nobody would want to be told by the state as to what they should eat and what they should wear. As far back as 1949, at the time of the debates of the Constituent assembly, a proposal was made in relation to the freedom of religion. It was proposed by a barrister from Bihar, Tajamul Hussain, that the words,`No person shall have any visible sign or mark or name,...
Consumption Of Narcotics – Bailable Or Non-Bailable?
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 ("NDPS Act") was enacted to consolidate the law relating to control and regulation of operations relating to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, including illicit traffic of the same. Narcotic drug is defined to mean coca leaf, cannabis (hemp), opium, poppy straw and includes all manufactured drugs[2] and psychotropic substance is defined to mean any substance, natural or synthetic, or any natural material or any salt...
Judge-Wise Statistics Of Reportable Supreme Court Judgments In January 2022
Despite January having only 18 Court working days, the Supreme Court delivered 88 Reportable Judgments across various fields of law. On an average, therefore, on every working day in January, the Supreme Court delivered approximately 5 Reportable Judgments. These numbers are despite various reports indicating that about 13 Judges of the Supreme Court, and 400 registry officers had tested positive for COVID-19 in January. The authors of this article present to you a statistical study...
Confusion Regarding The Jurisdiction Of NCLT Qua Personal Guarantor's Insolvency
The National Company Law Tribunals (NCLT) gained huge prominence after the enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code/IBC), and became an epicenter ajudications of commercial laws across the country. As per Section 63 of the Code, it is the only judicial forum that has the jurisdiction to deal with the insolvency resolution process of a company and even the High Courts were cautioned by the Supreme Court in the case of Ghanashyam Mishra& Sons (P) Ltd. v. Edelweiss...
SEBI Tightens Rules For Fundraising Through IPO And Preferential Issue Amidst 2022, IPO Rush.
In the pandemic era where several stories of socio-economic crisis in India were seen, the stock market's surge is certain to perplex individuals unfamiliar with its operation. According to market experts, the "bull market" is fueled by the exponential growth of Demat accounts and investment by retail investors. Several renowned Indian startups, including Paytm, Zomato, and Policybazaar, obtained funding via initial public offerings ("IPOs") on the Indian stock exchange in 2021....
What's In (Part Of) A Name? The Delhi High Court Explains
Recently, the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi dealt with the issue of protection over part of a trademark in Hamdard National Foundation (India) & Anr. vs.Sadar Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. [1]. The dispute revolved around two 'word' marks- "Rooh-Afza" and "Dil-Afza". The Plaintiff (having registered trademark – "Rooh Afza") alleged trademark infringement and passing off against the Defendant (having registered trademark- "Sharbat Dil Afza"). The Plaintiff also sought an ad-interim injunction...
The Influence Of Professor Upendra Baxi's Writings On The Supreme Court Of India
Professor Upendra Baxi, an eminent legal philosopher and public intellectual, is among the few names who have immensely impacted Indian constitutional and human rights jurisprudence. His academic works spread across various fields, including the human rights debate, constitutional and legal philosophy debates, and issues relating to the exercise of judicial power and accountability. Professor Baxi has also contributed substantially in influencing the decision-making process of the Supreme...
Changing Pattern Of CLAT And AILET
The year 2020 saw the pattern for CLAT being altered by reducing the number of questions from 200 to 150, to be attempted within the same span of 120 minutes. This was a well-received change both by the legal fraternity and the law aspirants. Following suit, now the pattern for AILET has also been modified by NLU Delhi, for the year 2022, albeit, only 3.5 months before the AILET expected date (May 1, 2022). No sample question paper of any sample questions based on this new pattern has...