Important Supreme Court Judgments: October, 2020

The Supreme Court of India has pronounced numerous judgments in the month of October, 2020. In this write-up, the important pronouncements are briefly discussed. TofanSingh v. State of Tamil Nadu, Criminal Appeal No. 152 of 2013 (Decided on29/10/2020). A Bench of Justices R.F. Nariman, Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee (dissenting), in a 2:1 majority, held that the officers who are invested with powers under section 53 of the NDPS Act are police officers within the meaning of section...

Lest We Forget: Deshbandhu C R Das- A Prince Among Patriots

He was like a mountain peak that dazzles in the last rays of the setting sun, a strange figure, almost lost to us in the mists of time, but living in the minds and hearts of men as long as right is might and life is stronger than death. We may as well say this of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, borrowing a tribute by Arthur Mee to that great Greek Philosopher, Socrates. Events crowd in upon us and because of their quick succession we are apt to miss their significance. Sensational events...

Due-Process Paranoia And Virtual Arbitration In India

The arbitration has always been one of the swiftest ways of resolution of any dispute. The flexibility and ability to adapt are core features of Arbitration. When the local and national courts are struggling to keep their doors open for the litigants in quest of justice, the international arbitral institutions have taken aggressive measures to keep the show going, albeit with its own set of challenges. Though the latest parliamentary panel 103rd Report strongly recommends extending...

The Untenable TikTok Ban

Over the last two months, authorities in the United States of America ("US") and India have issued orders limiting the access and downloading of TikTok, a mobile application owned by ByteDance Ltd.. While the nature of the orders differ, the rationale seem to be articulated by the two Governments in a similar fashion. ByteDance has adopted a conciliatory stand in India requesting for a meeting with the Union Minister of Electronics, Information and Technology. In contrast, the Civil ...

Section 10A Of IBC- Is It Equitable?

On 5th June 2020 , the Ministry of Law and Justice through an Ordinance inserted Section 10A to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 ("IBC"), suspending the initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under Section 7, 9 and 10 of the IBC for a period of six (6) months, w.e.f. 25th March, 2020. Subsequently, repacing the Ordinance, the Parliament on 21st September 2020 , passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020. Days before the...

CBI v. States: A Threat To Co-operative Federalism?

This is not the first time India's premier investigating agency CBI is under scrutiny. Since it's very inception the institution invited unsolicited deliberations over its controversies rather than its often short lived triumphs. Recently, ex CBI Chief Nageshwar Rao tweeting Swami Agnivesh's death as 'good riddance' attracted criticism on social media. This conduct from someone who was once at the helm of CBI further befouled the integrity of the institution, which is already withering...

Can Indian Courts Arrest Ships In Foreign Seated Maritime Arbitrations?

There are two important and recurring issues which the Courts in India face in the field of International Commercial Maritime Arbitration. The first issue is whether a Court in India can exercise its admiralty jurisdiction to arrest a vessel when the dispute between the parties falls within the scope of an arbitration agreement having an arbitration seat outside India. The second connected issue is whether a Court in India can exercise its admiralty jurisdiction to arrest a vessel, as an...

A Case For The National Courts Of Appeal

The rising heap of pending case-dockets in Indian courts and the resultant 'delayed justice' and sometimes 'hurried justice' cry out loudly that our judicial system has become "a beautiful and ineffectual angel, beating in the void his luminous wings in vain". Justice has been reduced into parchment and law has been divorced from life. According to the Indian Judiciary Annual Report 2018-19, published by the Supreme Court of India, the total number of the pending dockets before the...

India's Overdue Appointment With Data Privacy

The past couple of years have been very exciting for data privacy enthusiasts in India. Beginning with the pronouncement of the judgement in the case of Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) and Anr. vs Union Of India And Ors. by the Supreme Court of India, which has enunciated the Right to Privacy as a fundamental right falling under Article 21 which guarantees Protection Of Life And Personal Liberty under the aegis of the Indian Constitution to the introduction of the Personal Data...

Mental Health Insurance: A Case Of Legislative Wrong That Insurers Cannot Fix

October 10 was World Mental Health Day. Fittingly, this year's theme is Mental Health for All – Greater Investment, Greater Access. A recent report in India Today suggests that there has been a 20% increase in the mental illness cases reported in India post imposition of lockdown in March, 2020. India is definitely one of those countries where greater investment is needed to ensure greater access to mental-health facilities for citizens. One of the ways through which the goal of universal...

K R Narayanan Acted As A 'Constitutional President': A Centenary Tribute

27 October marks the 100th birth anniversary of former President Mr K R Narayanan, India's first Dalit President, and a statesman par excellence. He was an outstanding scholar, a brilliant diplomat, and a great citizen who always stood for the cause of common people. He was a great defender of constitutional principles and values. As the President of India, he proved that the President is not a rubber stamp. He became the President of India on 25 July 1997. Before that, he was the ...

Right to Dignity; The Institutional Deficit

On the Global Dignity Day (October 21), India joined the world in celebrating human dignity, about which Thomas Paine had famously written that "…the sun never shined on a cause of greater worth". Regrettably, more than seven decades after independence, we face a legitimate interrogation about our faltering record in the advancement of a defining national aspiration. India stands at number 94 out of the 107 countries evaluated on the Global Hunger Index with over 14 crore undernourished...