Articles
The Tribunals Judgment – II: On Independence
In yesterday's post, I discussed the significance of the Tribunals Judgment on the vexed issue of money bills. Today's post discusses the judgment's engagement with the principal legal provision under challenge – Section 184 of the Finance Act. While the majority upheld the constitutionality of the Finance Act – but struck down the Rules framed under it – Chandrachud and Gupta JJ, writing separate dissenting opinions, struck down the primary legislation as well.Recall that Section 184 of the Act...
The Tribunals Judgment – I: A Course Correction On The Money Bill
On November 13, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court delivered an important judgment concerning the constitutional validity of the Finance Act of 2017. Briefly, through the Finance Act, Parliament had merged a number of Tribunals, and delegated to the government the task of framing rules for their functioning. The Finance Act had been passed as a money bill, which barred the Rajya Sabha from amending it. There were, therefore, three issues before the Court: (i) whether the Speaker of the...
Court's Power To Decide What Is Essential Religious Practice: 'Apparent Conflict' Between Two Early Constitution Bench Judgments
In his order in Sabarimala Review Petitions referring some issues to larger bench, the Chief Justice of India has observed that there is an 'apparent conflict' between two constitution bench judgments viz. Seven judge bench judgment in Commissioner, Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras v. Sri Lakshmindra Thirtha Swamiar of Sri Shirur Mutt, and five judge bench judgment in Durgah Committee, Ajmer & Anr. v. Syed Hussain Ali. According to CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Shirur Mutt held that what are...
10 Reasons Why The Sabarimala Reference To 7 Judges Is Problematic
The Supreme Court by a majority of 3:2 found that there is apparent conflict between a 7 judge bench decision in Shirur Mutt (1954) and a 5 judge bench decision in Durgah Committee, Ajmer (1962). A 9 para long judgment authored by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Khanwilkar and Indu Malhotra constitutes the majority judgment and Justices Nariman and Chandrachud dissented vide a detailed dissenting judgment authored by Justice Nariman. While I do not agree with the majority...
What Is A "Review"?
Article 137 of the Constitution of India allows the Supreme Court to "review" any judgment passed by it. According to the jurisprudence of the Court, a review is to be granted in exceedingly rare circumstances. In Union of India v Sandur Manganese and Iron Ores Ltd., for example, the Supreme Court restated the position of law as follows: a review could only be allowed in cases of "discovery of new and important … evidence", an "error on the face of the record", or another "sufficient reason"...
Kashmir Detentions; When State Itself Breaks The Law
I recently attended an interactive session with some officers of a tribunal with a view to understanding the problem of expeditious implementation of the law of compensation. When some issues arose for discussion, I asked, in all simplicity, what the confusion was when the Supreme Court had already settled the law and all that was required of them was to follow it. When they appeared unmoved, it struck me that law – in their perception – was a matter to be argued and followed by others while...
Gender Equity At Workplace: Legal Haze Under The Code On Wages, 2019
The report about rampant practice of hysterectomy amongst women cane cutters at the Beed District of Maharashtra[1],indicate the extent of authority and control over women's body exercised by the Contractor sat workplace. It is modern slavery in the pretext of employment and misappropriation of their body at the cost of their livelihood. Intervention over women's autonomy at workplace need to be read along with the report of the Kelly Global Workforce Insights Survey on Women in STEM...
Questions Raised Over UAPA Case
The arrests of two CPI(M) activists by Kerala police under the draconian Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act over pro-Maoist pamphlets have ignited debates on this anti-terror legislation.The police claimed that they seized from the activists "suspicious pamphlets" aimed at propagating Maoist ideology. The arrested persons, Alan Suhaib and Thaha Faizal, both aged 20 years, were slapped with UAPA sections 20 (Punishment for being member of terrorist gang or organisation), 38 (Offence...
Kashmir : Far From Normalcy
"Har Sokhta Dhar Kashmir May Ayad Dhar Murge Kabab Ast Ball Wa Par Mein Ayad." I was in my 4th Grade in 2004, when my father used to sing this farsi couplet by a poet Urfi. It essentially means that "if a burned or fried hen is brought to Kashmir even that hen will start growing full feathers." 'This is the defining trait of spellbinding Kashmir' he used to say and I couldn't agree more. However, all that has transpired in last many years particularly in past 3 months in Kashmir make...