Prosecution Vs. Persecution

The Constitutional Scheme in India had in its wisdom, allocated Police including Railway Police, to the State Governments under List II of the Seventh Schedule. The Rational of this scheme not only secures the Federal Structure of the Country, but also the democratic character of its polity ensuring that no armed force except the Army, operated under the instructions of a single individual or group of individuals. The Constitution of the Central Bureau of Investigation was...

[Column] 'The Wise Crack of Mr. Salve': Dinesh Dwivedi, Senior Advocate

The wise crack of Mr. Harish Salve is in reality an attempt to revive the debate called "Tyranny of the unelected". It is not difficult to guess who has said this. Though Mr. Salve has tried to hedge his diatribe by referring to the 4G issue in Jammu & Kashmir, my suspicion is that these observations are prompted by the recent happenings. Yes, the 4G issue in J&K was vociferously taken up by members of the Civil Society and they were openly critical of the reluctance of the Supreme Court...

To CAP Or Not To CAP: The Bombay High Court On Equality And Access To Education

In an interesting judgment delivered recently (Yash Pramesh Rana vs State of Maharashtra), a Full Bench of the Bombay High Court struck down Government Resolution ["GR"] dated 27.2.2013. This Government Resolution had restricted the application of a fee-reimbursement scheme only to those SC/ST/OBC students who had taken college admission through the government-run Common Admissions Procedure ["CAP"].The facts were straightforward. To enter an engineering college in the state of Maharashtra,...

Doctrine Of Clean Slate: Headway In Insolvency Law?

The doctrine of clean slate, has remained largely undefined in Indian insolvency law. This principle largely means that following the culmination of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process ('CIRP') of the corporate debtor, the successful resolution applicant would have taken over the business of the corporate debtor and would begin operation with a 'clean slate'. That is to say that post the evaluation of the outstanding dues by the Resolution Professional ('RP') and apportioning and...

On the Applicability Of The RTI Act To PM Cares And The Need For Accountability

Prelude to the Controversy Since its launch on March 28, 2020, the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund "PM CARES" has courted as much controversy as it has funds. Having reportedly collected over INR 6500 crores within a week of its launch, the fund has incurred the wrath of the opposition (for the political-signalling acronym and for ignoring the existing PMNRF) and has also been the subject of at least two Public Interest Litigations "PILs",...

Reforming Slum Rehabilitation In Mumbai: The Worst-off Are The Worst Hit By Covid-19

It is estimated that roughly 40-50 percent of Mumbai's total population of 18.4 million stay in slums. Dharavi, a 2.1 sq. km. irregular pentagon in the heart of Mumbai, which is Asia's biggest slum after Orangi town in Karachi, had reported 1,541 confirmed Coronavirus cases until May 25. After all, social distancing is challenging in an area that has a population density of 869,565 people per square mile, and also includes 5,000 businesses and 15,000 single-room factories. While the...

Why We Can't Have A 'Democratic' Discourse On Death Penalty

After hearing a death sentence for the first time in my life, with my own ears in a court of law, I had trouble returning to the normal course of life over the next several days. I felt like a blunt weight was inside my chest. The moment the presiding judge announced death penalty, death reared its head in the court… The death that appeared in the courtroom took away its share.'-Haruki Murakami These words by Murakami were recorded in an interview he gave to a Japanese...

Res Judicata

The doctrine of res judicata is understood as "a matter adjudged". Founded on the principle that a litigation between parties must attain finality[1], and on the principles of justice, equity and good conscience[2], res judicata dictates that a right or fact established by a competent court in an earlier proceeding ought to be conclusive and binding upon the parties and those in privity with law or in estate[3]. The earlier proceeding need not be a suit even though the later could be a ...

Effect Of 2015 Amendment To The Arbitration And Conciliation Act On Limitation Period To Challenge Arbitral Awards

The regime of alternative dispute resolution worldwide and more specifically in India has attracted small and big commercial enterprises to get their disputes resolved through arbitral proceedings. The Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 ("the Act") governs the procedure relating to such arbitral proceedings from its invocation to rendering of Award and to its challenge in quite some detail. This Article examines the effect of Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act...

A To Z Of The Insolvency And Bankruptcy Code | A Beginner's Guide

Spoiler alert here: the title of this article is misleading. This is, by no means, a complete alpha to omega of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and we will merely be skimming at its surface. We call it the 'A to Z of IBC' because what we have done here is - arrange the most fundamental principles of IBC law alphabetically, like a dictionary of sorts. Given the raised threshold to initiate insolvency and the proposed suspension of provisions which empower creditors and the...

A Personal Guarantor's Pandemic: IBC Suspension And Its Repercussions

On 25 March 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic currently plaguing the world, the Central Government, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, had to take the harsh step of imposing a nationwide lockdown, which has been supplemented by periodic extensions. As a result of the unprecedented impact of this measure on businesses, and to aid the plunging economic scenario in the country, a series of economic reforms have been sought to be implemented under the aegis of the finance minister...

Unravelling The Landlord-Tenant Disputes In Times Of Covid-19

The world seems to be beholding an aberrant situation, the effect whereof is not only glaringly visible in economic, political and organizational fronts but also had left a deep impact on our interpersonal and social relations. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in India has been quite disturbing. The World Bank and credit rating agencies have downgraded India's growth for fiscal year 2021 with the lowest figures India has seen in three decades since India's economic...