Pass Cigarettes And Other Tobacco Products (Amendment) Bill And Make India, A livelier And Less Smoky Place

As a member of World Health Organisation (WHO) community, India observes 'World No Tobacco Day' on May 31 every year to highlight the colossal health risks associated with the use of tobacco. Despite the fact that tobacco use causes more than 1.3 million deaths every year in the country, more than 28% or nearly 270 million adults and 14.6% of youth (ages 13-15) currently use some form of tobacco which puts them at amplified risk of COVID-19 infection. Reduction of deaths and illness due to...

Law on Reels - 'Ajeeb Daastaan': Domestic Worker's Right Against Sexual Harassment At Workplace

The recently released Hindi anthology film, Ajeeb Daastaans presents four complex stories of caste, patriarchy, sexuality and marginalization. One of the stories 'Khilauna' is story of Meenal (played by Nushrat Bharucha), a domestic worker in an upscale colony. In this layered story, Meenal faces sexual harassment at the hands of Vinod Agarwal (played by Maneesh Verma) in whose house she was working as a domestic worker. Vinod voyeuristically stares at her, inappropriately touches her and...

Law On Reels: 'Karnan': A Melancholic Ode Of Oppression

The movie Karnan (2021), released on 9th April 2021, a week after Mandela (2021), unleashes the political quotient and intricacies of caste oppression in rural India. My review of Mandela (here) focused upon the act of manual scavenging through the cinematic angel. In comparison, Mandela dealt with the significance of caste in the election sphere, whereas Karnan questions the restrictions on mobility in society. Karnan, directed by Mari Selvaraj starring Danush and Yogi Babu, is set in...

Revisiting The Age Of Consent In India

In India, the notion revolving around the legality of live-in relationships is not expressly recognized by the legislature, however, the judiciary has time and again upheld the validity of such relationships. In the landmark judgement of S. Khushboo v Kanniammal, the Supreme Court of India held that live-in relationships come within the scope and ambit of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. However, legal relationship is permissible only to the persons, who have reached the age of...

Plummeting In The Swamps Of Stereotype: Verdicts Premised On Antiquated Perceptions

Indian Courts have never shirked from their responsibility to satiate the looming needs of society. In fact, the courts have been exceptionally forthcoming in appreciating legislative lacunae and patching-up these voids with their ingenious verdicts. However, regrettably, in recent past, there have been several instances where the courts have demonstrated a lack of gender sensitivity, incomprehension to valid societal expectations and a blatant disregard of law. This not only reflects the...

Effects Of Covid-19 Lockdown On Sex Workers In India: An Empirical Study

"If nobody wants to sell sex, it is a crime to force anyone to do so. But when men or women do want to sell their bodies, they should have that full right without encountering punishment or discrimination. If the client behaves decently, the relationship between the sex buyer and the sex seller must be considered a purely private transaction." -Nils Johan Ringdal in Love For Sale The above lines are from the book "Love for Sale" which describes the commercialization of sex workers. With...

Disaster Management Act, Epidemic Disease Act And COVID-19

Natural disasters such as cyclones and floods have primarily caused disasters in India, which is located in the heart of the Indian Ocean region, dubbed the "World Danger Belt." For the first time in the world, a pandemic has been declared a "notified tragedy" by the Ministry of Home Affairs, following the global spread of the novel CoronaVirus Disease (COVID 19). In order to efficiently handle this situation, India's Disaster Management (DM) Act was invoked for the first time. As ...

Women Are Victims Of Witchcraft

Witchcraft is the practice and belief in magical abilities. Witches and wizards are often labelled as pagans who were entrusted with devil's work. It dates back to classical antiquity, when women who held views against the church were labelled as witches and regarded as the portents of misfortune who were socially ostracized and even burnt to death in some cases. Norman Miller, a renowned activist stated: "Witchcraft in much of the developing world—Africa, India, Southeast Asia, the...

Pandemic Of The 'War' Rhetoric

'Madagascar' may seem to be a harmless children's movie about Alex, the lion – the star of New York's Central Park Zoo, and his friends Marty – the zebra, Melman – the giraffe and Gloria – the hippopotamus, who escape the captivity of the zoo to explore "the wild". On their journey, they cross paths with King Julien, a ring-tailed lemur, the self-proclaimed King of the Kingdom of Madagascar, famously known for his enviable dance to the comical song "I like to move it, move it". King ...

Government vs. WhatsApp Blame Game: Let User Privacy Win!

The relevance and dependence on technology has increased over the years and the kind of impact that any misuse of technology may attract is manifold. It is therefore, necessary to only legislate provisions that have been ably thought through and carefully drafted. Such provisions also demand meticulous review before enforcement through pre-legislative processes (including inputs / comments from different ministries, stakeholders and public) and deliberations, as well as subsequent ...

A Critical Analysis On The Draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021

The draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021 (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation) is a proposed regulation to provide for the development of towns in Lakshadweep. It is to be enacted by exercising powers conferred by Article 240 of the Constitution, under which the President has the power to make regulations for the peace, progress, and good government of the Union territory of Lakshadweep. The power of the President to legislate under Article 240 is so immense that, ...

An Analysis Of The Supreme Court Verdict On Insolvency And Bankruptcy Of Personal Guarantors Of A Corporate Debtor

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, in the bask of implementing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Laws in India notified and brought into force the provisions of insolvency of personal guarantors of the corporate debtor[1]vide notification dated 15th November, 2019[2] ("Notification"). After publication of the Notification, many promoters and directors who were also the personal guarantors for their companies were served with demand notices by the Banks and Financial Institutions proposing to...