Articles
POSH And Higher Educational Institutions
POSH – Prevention of Sexual harassment of women at Workplace Law... Whenever, Wherever we say POSH, we often think about Corporates, The large establishments, Offices, Government undertakings etc., but we hardly think about the Higher Educational Institutions. In India, the institutional framework of higher education consists of Universities and Colleges. As reported in 2015, India has 760 universities and 38,498 colleges. India's higher education system is the third-largest in the...
CAA Protests: A Critique On Magistrate's Order Which Denied Bail To Persons Arrested From Daryaganj
Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court reiterated that an order rejecting or granting bail has to demonstrate proper application of judicial mind and that it was guided by the principles set out for rejecting bail. In Mahipal v. Rajesh Kumar @ Polia, the apex court observed that: 'It is a fundamental premise of open justice, to which our judicial system is committed, that factors which have weighed in the mind of the judge in in the rejection or the grant of bail are recorded in...
RTI Users: Blackmailers And Extortionists?
In a recent RTI related case filed by Anjali Bhardwaj, the RTI Has Come To Be A Weapon For Intimidation, There Should Be Some Filters": Observes SC CJI is reported to have said on 16 December 2019: "We are not against the right to information. But there is a need for guidelines. It cannot be an unbridled right." It has also been stated that there should be the locus for seeking information and that the administration is almost coming to a standstill because nobody is willing to take decisions....
De-Constitution Of India Through Citizenship (Amendment) Act
The Citizenship Amendment Act became law. It will turn India into Hindutwa Republic, in utter disregard to secular character of our Constitution. On this count alone the Bill deserves to be declared as unconstitutional because the secularism is our basic character. The CAB simply means that if a Hindu person comes into India from Pakistan and Bangladesh to settle with his relations or friends from whom he separated 1947 or after, he will be welcomed with conferment of citizenship of India; but...
The Constitution : A Living Character
Constitution Day was celebrated on Nov.26 throughout the country. The Constitution of India was adopted on Nov. 26, 1949. It has completed 70 years of its journey. My romance with the Indian Constitution started in 1964. The Constitution was still in its teens (14 years). I was twenty. We have grown together. We are maturing together. What a wonderful journey. The Constitution has undergone different changes. It is not the same what it was in 1949. During this period, 103 corrective ...
Lily Thomas- India's First 'Public Interest Lawyer'
The passing of Lily Thomas brings to the close a wonderful legal career of a most interesting advocate. The last time we met was earlier this year when she wanted to intervene in the Babri case to bring peace to the issue. I did not know that when we spoke in the corridor it would be the last time I would see her in this life time. Born in Kottayam in l927, she lived in Trivandrum, and after graduating in law joined the Madras Bar in l955 and finished her LLM in Madras University and gave...
Open Data For Justice
Over the last few years, the judiciary has come under increasing criticism for its lack of transparency. In the courtroom, sealed covers are being used to shield crucial evidence from public scrutiny, while on the administrative side a range of tactics are used to escape probing questions posed by citizens under the RTI Act. Much of this judicial resistance to transparency goes against the long judicial tradition of open courts as well as the judicial pronouncements on the right to...
The Supreme Court's IBC Judgment And The Continuing Problems With "Manifest Arbitrariness"
Last month, the Supreme Court delivered a much-awaited opinion in Committee of Creditors of Essar Steel v Satish Kumar Gupta ("Essar"). While clarifying the law on several aspects of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 ("Code"), the Supreme Court held that a mandatory time-period of 330 days as fixed under the Code for completion of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process ("CIRP") was manifestly arbitrary. While the decision on this point may be welcomed by several practitioners...
In Memory Of A Firebrand : ASG Pinky Anand's Tribute To Adv.Lily Thomas
Lily Thomas was a rainbow of pioneering. We mourn her loss as one of the tallest pillars of the legal institution. Born in Kottayam, Kerala, she obtained her degree of law from Madras University where she was the first woman to complete LLM course. She was deeply committed to improving the rule of law by her crusade through petitions and considered this the responsibility of every lawyer. Even at her age she continued to appear in court and worked for 8-10 hours every day. She stood out as a...