Does The Traceability Requirement Meet The Puttaswamy Test?

1. Introduction Encryption technology has popularly been used for varied purposes including secure communication. This allows for individuals to communicate amongst each other without anyone else being able to monitor the content of such conversations. This, thus, keeps such conversations even outside the purview of Law Enforcement Agencies ('LEAs'). This preserves the privacy of the users and allows them to safely communicate without any threats of surveillance. However, this...

Extension Of Limitation Prescribed Under General/Special Law Due To COVID 19 Pandemic – An Analysis

Various Statutes prescribe a time limit for filing of statutory appeal to the concerned appellate authority. Take for instance statute like Central Excise, Service Tax (Chapter V of Finance Act 1994), FTDR Act 1992, Electricity Act, Consumer Protection Act and so on. These statute while prescribing the time limit for filing appeal also provides for another period within which delay in filing appeal can be condoned. In the statues abovementioned the delay in filing is condonable only for...

The Bench, The Bar, And The Balance

The irritated judge warned the counsel, "If you argue for another minute, I will impose a cost of Rs. 1000/-". The lawyer stopped, turned around to whisper to his client, and then said: "Your Lordship may impose a cost of Rs. 20,000/-", and continued to argue. I am not sure, who the judge was. I am not sure who the lawyer was. This corridor legend has its versions in almost all High Courts of the Country. The names, the quantum of costs, and the size of pocket of the client does...

The Road Never Travelled: An Analysis Of The Constitutionality Of The Haryana Bill Reserving Jobs In Private Sector

In line with the recent surge in the autochthonous spirit that public policymakers have adopted, Haryana Governor Sh. SN Arya gave his assent to the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2020. The assembly passed the Bill in November 2020. It is much on the same lines as the governments of Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh promised. As of the date of writing, the Bill has not been notified. What the Bill means: As per section 4 of the Bill, its purpose is to...

Non-Poaching Clause And Its Relation With Competition

Employers tend to prefer experienced professionals as opposed to an employee with no prior experience, especially in markets requiring skilled workers with technical knowledge. However, during lateral hiring, an employee also takes with one the technical skills and experience acquired over the period of employment. To ensure benefit, from an employer's perspective, in lateral hiring amongst competitors, non-poaching clauses are often added to agreements. Non-poaching agreements are...

Re-visiting 'Reinstatement': The Vacillatting Interpretations Of 'Reinstatement'

The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 at Section 11A confers upon Labour Courts, Industrial Tribunals and National Industrial Tribunals (collectively referred to as 'Tribunals') the power to "set aside an order of discharge or dismissal of workmen and direct reinstatement of the workmen on such terms and conditions, if any, as it thinks fit". The recently enacted Industrial Relations Code, 2020 which will replace the 1947 Act upon coming into force, also confers the same powers in the very...

"Reasons To Believe": A System Of Checks & Balances On The Powers Of The Enforcement Directorate Under PMLA, 2002

Concept of 'Reasons to Believe' Strangely, the phrase "reasons to believe" finds no definition under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) (hereinafter "the Act") despite being the sine qua non which empowers the Enforcement Directorate to attach the properties of a person alleged to be involved in money-laundering under Sections 3 & 4 of the Act. For guidance, one could refer to Section 26 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, which defines "reasons to believe", as...

Justice Indu Malhotra: The Breaker Of Glass Ceilings

It was a morning in 2007, an article caught my attention. 'Lady lawyer pierces glass ceiling' said the Times of India. That 'lady lawyer' was Indu Malhotra and she was only the second woman ever in the history of the Supreme Court to be designated a Senior Advocate. The other had been Justice Leila Seth in 1977, who had retired as a Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. By contrast there were hundreds of male-lawyers who have had this honor bestowed on them. It was over 30 years since...

Our Very Own Indu Ma'am

As their Lordships enter the Courtroom, they are preceded by the softened bustle of Court staff and lawyers abruptly halting conversation, and rising in their seats – all as a mark of their reverence for the institution and Judges. The grandeur which surrounds the lives of Judges and what appears to be a life of privileges often overshadows the immense hard work put in by those sitting on the Bench. Justice Malhotra joined the legal profession at a time when women...

A Law On 'Spent Conviction'; An Effective Solution To Reduce Pendency Of Criminal Cases

Some years ago, during a conversation, the General Counsel of one of the largest Fortune 500 Companies, observed that the difference between China and India, when it came to the Legal Process was, that in China you could never expect to get an order against a Chinese Party and in India, you could rarely expect to get a final order. The General Counsel was merely voicing an off-repeated complaint that the pendency of an untenably large number of cases is one of the major problems that...

Competition Jurisprudence In India

'Antitrust laws … are the Magna Carta of free enterprise. They are as important to the preservation of economic freedom and our free-enterprise system as the Bill of Rights is to the protection of our fundamental personal freedoms[1].' According to the World Bank and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report "Competition is a situation in a market in which firms or sellers independently strive for the buyers' patronage in order to achieve a particular ...

Women's Day Special: Remembering-The lady of the Law- Mithan Tata Lam

There are few life stories as invigorating as that of Mithan Tata. Mithan Tata has the distinction of smashing the thickest of all professional ceiling- she has the distinction of being the first women, allowed to practice law before the Bombay High Court. In a sense, she was fortunate that The Legal Practitioners (Women) Act 1923 was passed in April, 1923 which allowed woman to practice law. Bombay bar room was radiated with her presence in November 1923. She was not only the first ...