Articles
[Column] 'From Emasculating Fundamental Rights To Selective FIRs: Need A Remedy Against Officers Of State' By Justice Madan Lokur
From emasculating fundamental rights to selective registration of FIRs, citizens need a remedy to against officers of the state who do not act in good faith,When a citizen intentionally violates the law (mens rea) he or she is liable to be tried, convicted and punished. In respect of some offences, intention might be absent but the law casts strict or absolute liability, thereby inviting punishment. The imposition of an immediate 'fine' on LG Polymers by the National Green Tribunal for the...
Hindu Succession Act, 1956: The Fight To End Gender-Based Discrimination Continues
The Supreme Court, in a recent judgment, ruled that a daughter has the same rights as a son in ancestral property under the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, irrespective of whether the father was alive at the time of the amendment. Till its amendment in 2005, the principle law - the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (HSA) - did not grant daughters rights in ancestral property. While the amendment in 2005 and the recent ruling by the Supreme Court are significant steps towards eliminating...
Law Reforms: Need Of Democratically Inclusive Society Not Outcome Of Political Haste
Law reforms are a means to enforce rule of law in a manner contemporaneous with the changing times. It is a tool that is utilized to prevent laws from stagnating and losing relevancy in time. Reforms are the basis of initiating a substantial change in the laws. The democratically elected governments are placed in charge of undertaking the same. However, reforms are and must be dehors of politics. As much as legislative action is inherently a political the process, law reforms must be...
The Pandemic, Labour Rights, And The Supreme Court's Judgment In Gujarat Mazdoor Sabha
On 17 April 2020, a little under a month after the Covid-induced nation-wide lockdown had been imposed, the government of Gujarat issued a notification under Section 5 of the Factories Act. This notification exempted all the factories in the state of Gujarat from adhering to a set of workers' rights guaranteed by the statute. Its effect was to increase the upper limit of working hours from nine to twelve per day and forty-eight to seventy-two per week, shorten rest intervals, and halve overtime...
Unnao, Shajahanpur, Hathras...Constitutional Courts Forced To Intervene For Proper Probe In UP Rape Cases
The brazenness displayed by the Uttar Pradesh administration in deflecting the course of investigation in the gangrape and the murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras is unparalleled. The wholly inhuman act of forcible cremation of the dead body of the victim during the wee hours by the police and the district administration, ignoring the objections of her family and without even allowing them to perform the last rites, can leave anyone with an ounce of conscience mortified. This was...
15 Years Of RTI: A Saga Of Harassment
Callous PIOs & Failing Appellate Authorities It is sad that at every step the RTI Act is being diluted. Non-performance of duty diligently by the Public Information Officers is the reason for first appeal and the irresponsibility of First Appellate Authority is cause for second appeal. Disinclination of Commissioner to initiate penalty proceedings often compels the appellants to knock the doors of High Courts for justice. It is fortunate that there was a positive response at High...
Mediation Motto: Let The Parties Decide
Mediators can't Judge, can't advise, can't suggest or can't even compel the parties to decide. What Mediators can certainly do is to empower the parties to decide for themselves. What is 'empowerment'? It is the process of becoming more confident and stronger, especially in controlling one's life. It is acceptance of responsibility and the refusal to perceive himself or herself as a victim. Empowerment allows us to see choices and to challenge the existing beliefs. It results in seeing...
Farmers Bill - Exposing The Lambs To The Wolves
The purport of this analysis is to examine critically the implications of the passage in Parliament, of the Farming Bills, on the federal structure envisioned in our Constitution. Its impact on the State Mandi laws as well as on the issue of farmers welfare. It would also be worthwhile to assess the impact of the Bill on the demand of the farmers for a statutory minimum price to be guaranteed by law. This Bill marks a serious departure from the past in dealing with sale, purchase as...
Screening Virtual Court Proceedings From Media: An Invitation To Opaqueness
Access to justice is a fundamental right[1] under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. But justice should not only be done but seen to be done[2] and any conduct which casts doubt on the impartiality, independence and transparency of justice delivery system must be shunned. As corollary thereof judicial proceedings in India, both civil[3] and criminal[4], are generally held in open courts which are accessible to public. The rule admits few exceptions like in cases which concern the...