Establishing Criminal Medical Negligence In Times Of COVID-19

Doctors were equated with God in traditional India. But, this doctor-patient relationship has altered substantively over time. There has been a rise in medical negligence cases with development of technology and convolution of medical procedures. COVID – 19 has increased medical interaction across the country. In such circumstances, the possibility of increase in petitions on medical negligence, for good or for bad, is not unforeseeable. The jurisprudence around criminal medical...

Consequences Of An Unstamped/Insufficiently Stamped Domestic Award : An Unsettled Law

This Article discusses and analyses the possible consequences of presenting an unstamped/insufficiently stamped domestic arbitration award before the Court, (a) at the time of challenging an Award under Section 34 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 and (b) at the time of enforcement of an Award under Section 36 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the "Arbitration Act"). As a priori, it is imperative to note that an arbitration award...

Group Insolvency In India: Boon To The Creditors Or Bane To The Debtors?

Group Insolvency is a process in which claims against debtors of the same group are consolidated in a single resolution application to adjudicate upon by the Adjudicating Authorities ("hereinafter referred as AA"). It was difficult for the AAs across the country to adjudicate upon such resolution requests by the creditors due to the lack of provisions in Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code ("hereinafter referred as IBC"). The Companies Act 2013 itself provides for separate legal entity and...

Section 34 Arbitration And Conciliation Act, 1996- Time For A Rethink

The concept of arbitration/alternative dispute resolution has been prevalent in the Indian subcontinent right from ancient times. The panchayat system of resolving disputes was a unique form prevalent in the subcontinent on lines of personalised resolution of disputes at the lowest level. With the advent of British rule in India, a more codified form of judicial system came into being. This also included arbitration as an alternative to the usual civil remedies to provide for a less...

Criminal Law Reforms : Introducing The 'Penalty Unit' & The 'Standard Scale'

One happy development in the legal field during the Covid-19 lockdown was the formation of a five-member Committee for Reforms in Criminal Law ("Committee") as reported here. The Committee is to "recommend reforms in the criminal law of the country in a principled, effective and efficient manner that ensures the safety and security of the individual, the community and the nation; and which prioritises the constitutional values of justice, dignity, and the inherent worth of the individual."...

Vizag Gas Leak Incident: A Case For Absolute Liability?

With 12 people dead in a major accident after the leakage of Styrene, a hazardous and toxic chemical[i], the question of civil liability of the chemical factory – LG Polymers India Pvt. Ltd, an enterprise engaged in hazardous or an inherently dangerous industry, once again comes to the forefront. While this question may find a final clarity through the "In Re: Gas Leak at LG Polymers Chemical Plant in RR Venkatapuram Village Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh" taken up suo moto by the...

Jurisdiction Of Bar Council Of India Over SCBA?

The recent action by the Bar Council of India to intervene and stay a resolution passed by the Supreme Court Bar Association has added a new twist to this tale of ongoing differences and issues plaguing the SCBA. In recent years, the Supreme Court Bar Association has seen public disclosure of internal disputes between its office bearers and executive Committee on more than one occasion. The Bar Council of India has been vested with various functions and duties under the Advocates Act...

Default Bail – Covid 19 Times : An Unnecessary Controversy

Executive has no excuses whether it is time of Covid or otherwise to seek extension of time to complete their investigation process and at the same time insist that the accused should remain interned.

The Criminology Of Post-COVID Society And Dynamics Of Social Justice

That the incidence of poverty leads to enhancement of crime rates has been the subject matter of an ancient debate. Modern criminologists and sociologists have also given sufficient effort to decode this relationship. Whereas one may deny the existence of a directly proportional relationship between the two (and rightly so), what one cannot deny is the clear absence of an inverse relationship. Proportionality, even if indirect, exists between the two, thereby making it of utmost importance...

Initiating Debate: An Urgent Need for Emergency Supreme Court Procedures [Read Proposed Draft Rules]

[Editorial Message: Dear Readers,The unprecedented COVID-19 crisis has thrown out of gear the normal functioning of Courts across the country. While our courts have swiftly adopted the new ways of technology to address the urgent concerns of litigants, this situation also highlights the importance of having a concrete and set-in procedure for addressing such emergencies, which may arise in future. Rather than ad-hocism, we need a fool proof procedure in place, which can take care of all...

Navigating A Janus-Faced Problem: Big Data, Rights And The State

Big data seems to have finally made it to mainstream political debate in India. Kerala Government's decision to use the services of data management company & the "Argogya Sethu" app launched by the government of India have both been the subject matter of controversy and litigation. Concerns center around data protection, privacy of users and the potential for surveillance. These Criticisms notwithstanding, scientists have made a strong case for use of these advanced computational...

"Revenge Porn": A Victim-Blaming Misnomer

The term is a misnomer With the expansion of cyberspace, every day, privacy is being grossly invaded. One such invasion is where people's intimate pictures and videos are recorded, uploaded and disseminated online without their consent. This is popularly called "revenge porn". We're all aware of a recent incident where a group of boys threatened to circulate intimate pictures of girls out of spite on a group chat called "bois locker room". For an emerging digital and globalizing...