Corona Chaos And Test Of Collaborative Federalism

India's attempt to combat the Novel Coronavirus pandemic with an unprecedented total lockdown of the country has witnessed a major setback as millions of economically disadvantaged people, chiefly the daily wage earners in big cities are being forced to return to their ancestral places and hometowns, most of which are located in different states. They are helpless in this respect, as it's a matter of survival for them. Although a slew of initiatives have been announced by the Central and...

Take Over Of Unlisted Companies– Problematic Areas Of CAA Rules 2016 Framed Under Sec 230 Companies Act 2013

THE NEW RULES INTRODUCED IN THE ACT With the insertion of a new , brief Rule under the Companies (Compromise Arrangements and Amalgamations) Rules 2016, in the Companies Act 2013, (the Act) the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has empowered the majority shareholders of a company ,at their choice, to get rid of the minority shareholders of the company by buying out the latter's holding – analogous to compulsory acquisition of land by the government. Let us go through the...

Shreya Singhal v Union Of India Offers Us A North Star For Intermediary Liability

It has been more than five years since the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Shreya Singhal v Union of India. In Part 1, of this three part retrospective, we analyse the Court's decision to strike down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act ("IT Act"), 2000, and the deficits which subsist in terms of actual enforcement. Part 2 revisis the inadequacy of the Supreme Court's approach in deliberating the constitutionality of website and application blocking under the IT Act. In Part 3, we...

Issuance Of Telemedicine Practice Guidelines In India: A Long Due Piece Of Regulation

Telemedicine Practice Guidelines providing the much needed statutory cover to the practice of medicine by employing means of communication ( as opposed to in-person consultation) has been issued on March 25, 2020 ("the Guidelines) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India by way of an amendment through the addition of Regulation 3.8 titled as 'Consultation by Telemedicine'. The Guidelines are appended as Appendix 5 to the Indian Medical Council (Professional...

My Dear Judges And Politicians

I am an ordinary lawyer, with no professional aspirations and around age 65, so very vulnerable to the Coronavirus. I neither hope to live nor wish to die but were I to live I would certainly try to live a more meaningful life and were I to die I would want to make a last wish as is the custom. And my last wish would be to address Honorable Judges and Politicians of our country. I understand that despite technical advances of means of communication, the art of communication has...

Indian Pandemic Control Laws

From a 21-day curfew on 4 hours' notice and creating one of the biggest migrations in India's modern history to State's police beating and public shaming people coming out on road, a question which arises in this case is about legality of the powers exercised by the Central and State Governments. When COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is at its best and the whole world is fighting to curb its devastative effect, The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 is 123-year-old colonial legislation is helping the...

The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020: A Step Towards Ease Of Doing Business?

The Companies (Amendment) Bill has been introduced on 17th March in Lok Sabha. It was tabled by Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur. The cabinet has approved around 72 changes in the existing Companies Act. In this article we would look into how this bill is introduced with the aim of bringing ease of doing business in India. Ease of Doing Business Grand Challenge Recently, India achieved a ranking of 63 among 190 nations in World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index; it...

Coronavirus And The Constitution – II: Household Staff And Employment Protection: Obligations, Not Charity

Over the last few days, concerns have been voiced over workers in India's informal sector and how restrictions imposed by the government due to covid-19 might impact them. In his address to the nation, the Prime Minister pleaded with citizens that they continue to pay their employees who would suffer disproportionately as a result of the ongoing situation. Gautam Bhatia has recently written on the rights of employees to a safe working environment under the constitutional framework (in...

COVID 19 And Patent - A Cautious Note

COVID -19 is now over 198 countries with a reported case of 492,465 and mounting day by day. WHO has declared the COVID 19 as pandemic. From a public health issue it is now driving the global economy into a recession. The Chief of International Monetary Fund stated that the rescission is started. Currently there is no vaccine for COVID-19 and a new vaccine is still at least another 12-18 months away for public use. Many a different treatment options have been proposed and some older...

MTP (Amendment) Bill 2020 : Still A Long Way To Go In Recognizing Women's Autonomy

The Lok Sabha passed the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Bill, 2020 on 17th March 2020 to amend section 3 of MTP Act, 1971. In its Statement of Objects and Reasons, the Bill identifies that with the advancement of medical technology there is a scope to increase the upper gestational limit for terminating pregnancies, which up till now stood at twenty weeks, but with the passing of the Bill, would stand at twenty-four weeks. The Bill does away with the anachronistic lower limit of twelve...

Courts Adopting Video Conferencing : A Welcome Change

Covid-19 has been able to get cases across courts all over India adjourned for the next few weeks. Rightly so, the court crowd is an easy target for the monstrous corona virus. To contain its spread, courts all over the World are diverting courthouse traffic to virtual courts using remote video technology. In India, the Supreme Court is spearheading this change, with many High Courts following suit. It is arguable whether this technological breakthrough would have been introduced if not for...

Situating Death Penalty Discourse Beyond Abolition-Retention Discourse

A sufficiently just and analytically coherent system of criminal law is an unrealistic expectation- Allen NorrieAs was expected, the hanging of the convicts in Nirbhaya gang rape case has evoked sharp reactions and criticism from several quarters including the Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists and the United Nations. The same has reignited the debate on the tenability of death penalty in the modern society. On the other hand, the award of death penalty in the...