AP HC Issues Notice To Centre, State On PIL Alleging Phone-Tapping Of HC Judges With Connivance Of Govt., To Malign Institution Of Judiciary [Read Order]

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Centre, the state government, the CVC, the CBI and the TRAI on a PIL alleging that "with the active instigation of political bigwigs", an attempt is being made to "tap/keep surveillance on the phones of some of the judges of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh" with a view to "tarnish the image of the prestigious institution of the judiciary". Recording that "this public interest litigation has been filed inter-alia contending that as...

Territorial Jurisdiction Under Trademark And Copyright Law In India

The question as to which court has the territorial jurisdiction to try and entertain a suit pertaining to trademark and/ or copyright infringement or passing off has been debated for a long time in India. With the passage of time and precedents laid down by the Courts, it is believed that the position of law relating to territorial jurisdiction in trademark and copyright disputes is fairly settled. This article focusses on landmark judgments of High Courts and Supreme Court discussing...

'As Long As You Are Upright, Don't Care If Your Shadow Is Crooked': Story Of Bombay HC Refusing Contempt Action Against An Ex-CJI For His Critical Remarks

The Court said that the ex-CJI's interview appeared to have been given with an idea to improve the judiciary.

"My Dear Fellow, The Case Is Tomorrow! Your Counsel Has Not Read The Brief" - The Story Of Bhulabhai Desai, The Lawyer Who Argued India Her Freedom

"And it will be a travesty of justice if we were to be told as a result of any decision arrived at here or otherwise, that the Indian may go as a soldier and fight for the freedom of England against Germany, for England against Italy, for England against Japan, and yet a stage may not be reached when a free Indian State may not wish to free itself from any country, including England itself." It was a show case trial and the packed room hung on to every word this Gujarati lawyer...

[Column] POTUS Vs SCOTUS Viz-a viz Prashant Bushan Vs Supreme Court Of India: Justice Madan Lokur

When it comes to statements on the highest court of the land, let's compare the President of the United States (POTUS) and Prashant Bhushan. For more than a hundred years, POTUS, in his different avatars, has been critical, from time to time, of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), including its judges and more recently even the federal judiciary. Going by the view expressed by the Supreme Court of India (SCI) in a recent decision concerning the alleged contempt by Bhushan, these...

[Suo Moto Contempt] Right Of One Appeal: A Requirement Of Due Process

According to media reports of 19 August 2020, Justice Kurian Joseph, former Judge of the Supreme Court, has formulated the following question in the context of contempt of Court proceedings: "…whether a person convicted by the Supreme Court of India in a suo-motu case should get an opportunity for an intra-court appeal since in all other situations of conviction in criminal matters, the convicted person is entitled to have a second opportunity by way of an appeal. Under Section 19 of the...

Non-Personal Data Governance Framework And Competition Act

The recent report by the Committee on Non-Personal Data Governance Framework is unique in its treatment of data. Even though this framework is merely in Report form at present it is expected to become the basis of a new national legislation for regulating non-personal data. Recognising the many complications and conflicts that any attempt to regulate non-personal data would give rise to, the Committee had also called for comments from the public and stakeholders on the Report. The...

The Legal Perspective Of Gaming Laws In India

It is interesting to see that the game developers and gaming companies are taking the industry to different world and levels to show skills, but as lawyers unfortunately it has to be seen that whatever is being created is in compliance with law. It is extremely important for the gaming community to understand the laws regarding the gaming laws. The scaling worldwide computerized economy has given a boom to web-based gaming software globally. Extension of computerized impression because of...

No Criticism Culture!

If you criticize PM, you may be branded as anti-national, if you criticize government, you may be prosecuted for sedition, if you are Muslim and criticize government you may be declared as terrorist, if you criticize legislators, you may be liable for breach of privilege and if you criticize a judge, it becomes contempt of court. These attributes may be given a colour of Rule of Law but definitely cannot be the characteristics of a modern and progressive democratic republic. In 1950, we...

Tabletop Airports-Dangerous Or Redeemable? (A Legal Perspective)

With the recent accident in Calicut International Airport, Kozhikode (KIA), it is time that we introspect the safety measures in airports which have tricky runways. "Critical airfields" or performance-limited runways are often categorised in most airline SOPs as the airports with runways that are risky for take-off and landing operations. Hence, after a mandate by the DGCA, most airlines stress on the operations to be done by pilots trained and cleared for the same. The five tabletop...

RBI's Fair Practices Code For Asset Reconstruction Companies – A Respite Or Woe

Recently Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has advised Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) to adopt 'Fair Practices Code' so as to ensure transparency and fairness in their operation and issued guidelines on 16th July 2020. Most of the guidelines issued are practically already in use of ARCs in one form or the other, as the actions and non-actions are always the subject matter of judicial review. Our present study is confined mainly to the following two aspects, which have been...

Revised Guidelines Issued For Disposal Of Bio-Medical Waste During The Covid-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 Pandemic has forced the Indian Government to frame more stringent laws relating to disposal of Bio-medical waste. The Central Government under powers conferred by section 6, 8 and 25 published the Bio-medical Waste ManagementRules, 2016 vide notification No. G.S.R.343(E) on 28th March 2016. The same superseded the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 1998, except in respect of things done or omitted to be done before such supersession. The guidelines have...