Articles
Uttar Pradesh Mid-Day Meal Row: FIR Against Journalist Is A Direct Attack On Transparency And Democratic Accountability
Last week, Uttar Pradesh government booked a Hindi newspaper journalist, Pawan Jaiswal, on the charges of "conspiracy" to defame the state government. The journalist had reported few days ago, that students at a government primary school in Mirzapur district were being fed only rotis and salt as their mid-day meal under a flagship nutrition scheme of the central government. According to the scheme, children in government-aided primary schools are to be served pulses, rice, rotis and ...
Jethmalani:The Beacon of Criminal Law
On 21.9.1994, my first day in the Supreme Court, I had an opportunity to meet Mr. Ram Jethmalani. As a wide-eyed young lawyer from a small town, it was a dream come true to have the Doyen of Criminal Law come and occupy the chair next to me, while I was sitting in Court No 8. I mustered the courage & hesitatingly asked him to write something for me on a scrap of paper that I hurriedly fished out from my pocket. I told him that my father would be very happy when I go home and tell him that I...
Degree Of Dignity And Accountability Of Ministers
If an unrecognized foreign private university confers honorary doctorate D.Litt or D.Sc., on a politician in power, can he become 'Doctor' so and so?Can he take oath of office as a Minister in Union Ministry saying "I, Doctor so and so……"?In such circumstances, can such minister be dismissed for fixing misrepresenting prefix "doctor' to his name? These questions of propriety and dignity arise from the multiple honoris causa degrees of the present Union Minister for Human...
The Supreme Court Order In P. Chidambaram v. ED: Some Thoughts
A Two Justices' Bench of the Supreme Court has decided the appeal filed by P. Chidambaram against an order of the Delhi High Court dismissing his plea for Anticipatory Bail in an ongoing investigation being conducted into what is being labelled as the "INX Media Scam" [Crl. Appeal 1340 of 2019, decided on 05.09.2019. ("Chidambaram")]. The main difference between the two sets of proceedings was that while the High Court order considered bail pleas in two parallel investigations being conducted by...
Section 304A IPC: Can The HC Quash Proceedings If A Settlement Is Reached Between The Accused And The Victim's Family?
The application of section 304A of the IPC, which lays down the offence of causing death by negligence, has been marked with several debates. The most resounding, and the most sensitive of these debates is the one which puts forward this question - Can the High Court, under its inherent powers conferred by section 482 of CrPC, quash the proceedings under section 304A if there exists a settlement between the accused and the victim's legal representatives. Before we delve into this...
Habeas Corpus Hearings : Then & Now
The great constitutional theorist A.V. Dicey said about the Habeas corpus writs that while they "declare no principle and define no rights, but they are for practical purposes worth a hundred constitutional articles guaranteeing individual liberty" The Supreme Court of India in 1966 said "This writ has been described by John Marshall, C.J., as "a great constitutional privilege". An eminent judge observed "there is no higher duty than to maintain it unimpaired". It was described as a...
Making Judicial Infrastructure In India Sustainable
Access to justice is often centred on legal issues of accessibility for litigants rather than a discussion on the court's physical infrastructure itself. Easy access to courts is very integral to a litigant and with growing pendency in the judiciary; expansion of related infrastructure is a long felt need. However, as one goes about doing the same, a long term scientifically thought out plan is the need of the hour; a plan which takes care of the increasing demands on judiciary without...
Arbitration And Conciliation (Amendment) Act 2019 - A Primer
It was once famously said by Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States and an outstanding polymath that, "When will mankind be convinced and agree to settle their difficulties by arbitration?". Little did he know that the Government of India would be faced with the same dilemma more than three centuries later. In an endeavour to convince the litigants to settle their disputes by arbitration, the Government of India has enacted the Arbitration and Conciliation...
Not Judge, But A Journalist Should Lead Press Council
When the Medical Council is headed by a Doctor and Bar Council of India is chaired by a professional advocate, why a Journalist is not chosen to guide the Press Council? Law and logic totally fail to reason why a former Supreme Court judge should be the head of professional body of working journalists? The former Judge of Supreme Court would do justice to this position with his comprehension of freedom of speech as fundamental right and the judicious/independent functional experience. A mature...
