Articles
Inheritance Rights Of Transgender Persons In India
In 2005, Ajay Mafatlal, the first person in India to undergo a sex reassignment surgery, was accused of doing so for inheritance. Since then, there has been increasing institutional recognition of transgender persons in India. In 2011, the national census for the first time allowed persons to identify as - others - leading to approximately five hundred thousand individuals availing the choice. In 2014, the Supreme Court directed the constitutional recognition of a third gender. However,...
Section 15 Of The Hindu Succession Act 1956: Gender Bias And The Need For Reform
Section15 of the Hindu Succession Act provides for the order of intestate succession to a Hindu female intestate's property. In case of a married Hindu female intestate's property, it devolves first upon her children, children of predeceased children, and husband. If none of these people are available to claim the property, clause (b) of sub-section (1) provides for the devolution of a married Hindu female's property upon the heirs of her husband. Only if these heirs are not available...
Oil Exploration, Development And Production; A Transparent Selection Process Of Oil Companies
There are immense quantities of hydrocarbons trapped both on-shore and off-shore – beneath the oceans, the extraction of which depends on complex technologies and expertise generally possessed by international oil companies ("IOCs"). Petroleum operations are large, capital intensive projects and most developing nations lack the financial resources, as also the technical expertise, to conduct Exploration and Production ("E & P") operations unassisted. Consequently, the States/Host...
Validity And Enforceability Of Electronic Contracts And Electronic Signatures
A Contract is an agreement between two parties that is enforceable by law. Typically, Contracts are written on paper and signed by the parties ("Paper Contracts"). However, there is no stipulation in the Indian Contract Act, 1872 ("Contract Act") which states that a Contract should be written on paper and signed by the parties. In fact, even an oral Contract is valid so far as it satisfies the conditions required for a valid Contract as per the Contract Act. That being so, Paper Contracts...
IBC - The Journey So Far – Part II
JOURNEY ON THE LEGAL FRONT The factors which could be said to be key for rapid and successful stabilization of the legal positions, have been timely initiatives by the Government by introducing timely amendment in the Code wherever needed and some landmark judgments by the Supreme Court which helped in accelerating the process and cutting short the time. In a short span of four years there were as many as four major amendments in the Code. The first major amendment was introduced...
Supreme Court Of India And Non-Refoulement: A Tale Of Self-Imposed Limitations
On 8th April 2021,the Supreme Court of India (SCI), in Mohammed Salimullah v. Union of India, ordered the deportation of Rohingya refugees according to the procedure prescribed for deportation. The decision brings to the vanguard several striking issues, one being the stance taken by the SCI on the principle of non-refoulement. Non-refoulement, as defined by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), is 'Protection against return to a country where a person has reason to fear...
Gender Equality In The Bar And The Bench - The Need For A Movement At The Bar For Transformational Change
As India enters its 75th year of independence, it is a good time to review gender equality in the legal profession and to set goals for 2047 when we would be celebrating 100 years of our independence.Gender equality is one of the United Nations' Sustainable Goals. In Goal no. 5, the UN has declared that "Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world." Gender equality is also enshrined in our...
Autonomy Of The Second Sex
"No one is more arrogant towards women, more aggressive or scornful, than the man who is anxious about his virility " Simone de Beauvoir : The Second Sex 'A husband's licentious disposition disregarding the autonomy of the wife is a marital rape' is the classic observation made by a Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala in a divorce proceeding where the court was pleased to grant a divorce to the wife ( XXX v. XXX, Mat. Appel no. 151 of 2015 dated 30.07.2021) The court...
Justice Rohinton Nariman's Legacy: Notable Judgments On Liberties, Orientation To IBC & Arbitration
Justice Rohinton Nariman's seven year old tenure as a judge of the Supreme Court has come to an end on August 12. He was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court on July 7, 2014, only the fifth senior counsel to be elevated from the bar to the bench. During his tenure, Justice Nariman has authored notable judgments that have contributed to the country's evolving jurisprudence on the fundamental rights and liberties of citizens. Justice Nariman was also part of the bench which steered the...
Rollback Of Retro Tax: An Olive Branch To Foreign Investors
In January 2012, the Supreme Court of India gave relief to foreign investors through its landmark decision in Vodafone International Holdings BV v. Union of India[1] ('Vodafone case'). However, in a matter of months, the ratio laid down by the Supreme Court was rendered infructuous by way amendments to Income-tax Act ('IT Act'), which were made retrospectively applicable from 1961. Considering the controversies surrounding these amendments, now the Taxation Law (Amendment) Bill, 2021...