How Amy Coney Barrett's Confirmation Could Influence The US Supreme Court?

Following the death of United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away on Friday, 18th September 2020, President Donald J. Trump has nominated 48-year-old Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace her at the top court. This is President Trump's third nominee to the United States Supreme Court; the first two being Justice Neil Gorsuch, who replaced Late Justice Antonin Scalia, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who replaced Justice Anthony Kennedy upon his retirement. If...

CLAT 2020 Analysis

Done and dusted, finally! CLAT 2020, for which aspirants waiting for months (and years!) finally happened today between 2 and 4PM. This would surely bring a huge relief to over 70,000 aspirants who were waiting for the examination to happen since a long, long time! CLAT 2020, though largely on predictable lines, did throw atleasrt a couple of (not so pleasent!) surprises. It was lenghthier than expected, a few passages were of the length the candidates had never seen in Sample Papers,...

Dominant Executive And Compliant Legislature

One of the most imperative questions which engaged the drafters of the Indian constitution was the nature of the Executive and its relation with the Legislature. Undoubtedly, the decision of the Constituent Assembly on the form of Government was substantially influenced by the political background of country and the practice and traditions evolved during the British rule. Dr. Ambedkar in his exhaustive and authoritative statement on the nature and character of the Executive while...

Long Way To Walk

It was September 16, 2018, when the Landmark judgment was pronounced over LGBT in the matter Navtej Singh Vs. UOI[1] wherein the apex court held that the offence under section 377 Indian Penal Code which criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults (i.e. persons above the age of 18 years who are competent to consent) in private, is violative of Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Indian Constitution. Almost 2 years have passed, the legislature is yet to come out with the law which can be...

Unfolding The Greatest Rivalry Of The Supreme Court

"They were put to a test and found wanting."– Times of India, January 7, 1978.The test was one of judicial spine which "they" failed to demonstrate in the Habeas Corpus case heard in the dark night of Indira's Emergency. The news report summed up the national mood and the sentiment of the Bar. The two justices referred to were life-long rivals as destiny had pitted each against the other. Yet destiny again, by twist of irony, had placed both on the same side of ignominy.Bhai Morarji sat at his...

Performance Bank Guarantees: The Linchpin Of Commercial Transactions [Part III]

This series of blog posts shall recount the law on evolution of performance bank guarantee in India. It shall cover the meaning of bank guarantee as distinguished from indemnity and letter of credit, and the legal framework governing performance bank guarantees in India in Part 1; the types of bank guarantees and character of such guarantees in Part 2; and finally, the exceptions and rules concerning invocation of bank guarantees in Part 3. Invocations and Encashment "[C]ommitments ...

Self-Regulation Code For OTT Platforms, A Need Of The Hour

An over the top (OTT) platform is nothing but the streaming service directly offered to viewers through the medium of internet. OTT consists of streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney plus Hotstar etc. which can be accessed on Smart TV platforms, on smartphones via apps and on personal computers or laptops via websites. Since, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced everyone to stay indoors, it has resulted in movies being released directly on OTT platforms due to the ...

Euthanasia, Doctrine Of Double Effect And The Growing Need For Effective Palliative Care

Like most other philosophical doctrines and terms, the word 'euthanasia' has been derived from two Greek words, 'Eu' meaning 'well' and 'Thanatos' meaning 'death'. Thus, in simple terms, euthanasia means good death. It is a process of ending an individual's life in order to relieve him of any pain or suffering, which he is currently experiencing or is likely to experience in the future. Different types of euthanasia can be categorised based on the method of ending life and based on...

AILET 2020 Analysis

The first major center-based law entrance examination of this session finally happened today and it shall be followed by CLAT in a couple of days and MH-CET in a couple of weeks. AILET 2020, for most aspirants, was a bag full of pleasant surprises, though to be fair, owing to the extremely limited seats it offers, pleasant surprise won't result in an actual NLU-D seat for most. But the paper, unlike atleast the last 3 AILETs, was broadly on an easy-to-medium side and the very kind of questions...

Rate Of Interest For Pendente Lite And Future Period

This article is primarily in relation to the Original Applications (OAs) filed by banks and Financial Institutions (FIs) in Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) under the provisions of Recovery of Debt and Bankruptcy Act, 1993 (RDB Act, 1993) Pendente Lite period means the period from the date of filing of the suit upto the date of judgment. Future period means the period from the date of judgment upto the date of realisation of the decretal amount. Nowadays banks and FIs are filing OAs...

Performance Bank Guarantees: The Linchpin Of Commercial Transactions [Part II]

This series of blog posts shall recount the law on evolution of performance bank guarantee in India. It shall cover the meaning of bank guarantee as distinguished from indemnity and letter of credit, and the legal framework governing performance bank guarantees in India in Part 1; the types of bank guarantees and character of such guarantees in Part 2; and finally, the exceptions and rules concerning invocation of bank guarantees in Part 3. Character of Performance Bank Guarantees ...

Fixing A Flawed Interpretation Of "Consent" For Sexual Offences In India

A Kerala High Court judgement in June 2020 defined consent to construe an elevated standard of affirmative consent. The judgement also gives an insight on the the standard which can prevent acquittals like the Mahmood Farooqui case in future. In Farooqui case the court gave benefit of doubt to the accused by placing undue relevance to section 90 of IPC. This section puts additional burden on the victim to ensure that the perpetrator understands the absence of consent. This article will...