Discouraging Article 32 Habeas Corpus Petitions – The Legal Basis

Observations by a bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice of India while hearing a habeas corpus writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution that the court is trying to discourage Article 32 Petitions - has understandably received coverage critical of the judicial attitude of the court. Particularly, as it came in the backdrop of an order granting interim bail to Arnab Goswami in a hastily convened vacation hearing punctuated by several oral observations by the...

The SC/ST Act- Reduced To Yet Another Footnote In The Quest For Social Justice?

"A caste system gives us false comfort, makes us feel that the world is in order, that we automatically know the good guys from the bad guys." ― Isabel Wilkerson Siddharth, a young Hindu College graduate from Delhi moved to Bhojpur, a non-descript village about 500 km from Delhi, sometime in 1969-70. He was there to be a part of the communist movement, to ignite the revolution that would free the oppressed lower castes from the thakurs of the village. In his letter to his beau, Geeta,...

118A OF Kerala Police Act: An Affront On Parrhesia

In exercise of the exceptional powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 213 of the Constitution of India, the Governor of Kerala promulgated an exceptional Ordinance amending the Kerala Police Act, 2011 (8 of 2011) and inserting a new provision 118A. Section 118A reads thus: whoever makes, expresses, publishes or disseminates through any kind of mode of communication, any matter or subject for threatening, abusing, humiliating or defaming a person or class of persons, knowing it to be...

'A Lawyer With High Principles' : A Junior Remembers His Senior KG Kannabiran

'Kannabiran used to say that the legal profession is the only profession where one would get a chance to deal with different subjects and provides an opportunity to fight for human rights, and various freedoms given under the Constitution'.

The Supreme Court Should Protect The Heart And Soul Of The Constitution Of India

A few days back the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India Mr. S A Bobde made certain observations about Article 32 ofthe Constitution. A three-judge Bench led by the Chief Justice was hearing an Article 32 petition filed by a Kerala-based journalist who was arrested by the U.P. Police at Hathras. Chief Justice Bobde expressed his reservation to entertain the petition and said that such petitions should be filed before the High Courts. "We are trying to discourage Article 32 petitions. Of late, we ...

Law Of Confessions In Matters Of Corporate Fraud : An Analysis

Corporate fraud is synonymous with white collar crimes. It poses a threat to the economy all across the globe. Such crimes are characterized by deceit, concealment and violation of trust. In addition to causing significant financial losses to investors, corporate fraud has the potential to cause immeasurable damage to a nation's economy and investor confidence. Therefore, Corporate fraud is one of the FBI's highest criminal priority in the United States of America. To deal with the...

Populism Trumped: Moment Of Truth For Democracy

Democracy today stands on an inflection point precariously poised on a path that forks towards oligarchy, riding on pandemical waves. And yet, the ballot still holds hope for the people to reclaim the fading political standards that must form the bedrock for the working of a constitutional democracy. Trump's comical yet profoundly telling Freudian slip a few weeks ago, calling for herd "mentality" instead of herd "immunity", essentially betrayed the political philosophy behind rabble...

CJI Bobde's One Year At Office: A Look At Pending Cases Involving Serious Constitutional Questions

As the Chief Justice of India S A Bobde completes one year at the office on November 18, it is worthwhile to have a look at major cases involving substantial constitutional questions, which are awaiting adjudication by the Supreme Court.The Supreme Court has come under considerable criticism for not showing a sense of urgency in deciding several cases of vital national importance such as the petitions challenging the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the...

The Meaning Of The Expression "Legal Proceedings" And Its Judicial Interpretation

The expression "legal proceeding/s" finds place in several Union and State statutes in India. The expression is most commonly used in negatively worded sections that bar the filing of "legal proceedings" against certain official or judicial functionaries. Examples of such sections are For instance, sections such as Section 98 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019[1] Section 157 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017,[2] Section 42B of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996,[3]...

The Story Of Arbitral Meddling: Analyzing The Arbitration And Conciliation Act (Amendment) Ordinance 2020

Introduction What can be perceived as nothing but an interesting move, the President has promulgated the Arbitration and Conciliation Act (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 ("Ordinance") with the object of ensuring that stakeholders gets an opportunity to seek an unconditional stay of enforcement of arbitral awards where the underlying arbitration agreement or contract or making of the arbitral award are induced by fraud or corruption. The Ordinance has amended Section 36 of the Arbitration...

Death Of Democratic Institutions: The Inevitable Logic of Neo-Liberal Political Economy & Abandonment of Directive Principles of State Policy

This is the full text of the lecture delivered by Justice B Sudershan Reddy, former Supreme Court judge, as part of the first KG Kannabiran Commemoration Lecture on Law, Justice and Human Rights on 9 November 2020 At the very outset, let me unreservedly place on record that I feel it to be a great honour to have been asked to deliver this lecture in memory of Shri. Kannabiran – a remarkable senior advocate who was an indefatigable warrior for justice, a scholarly expositor of...

Insolvency Law In Review – October 2020

BY Rahul Sibal, Siddharth Sunil, Akshata Singh, Pranav Narsaria & Karan Sangani The enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (the Code) has had significant ramifications on the corporate insolvency landscape. Over time, the Code has witnessed a manifold increase in litigation, and consequently in the number of decisions. This has made it difficult for insolvency practitioners to stay updated with developments in the field. The purpose of this column is to fill this gap...