Articles
Courting #MeToo: Conspiracies And Conundrums
In 2014, when sexual harassment charges were brought before Justice Swatanter Kumar, retired Supreme Court judge, who was then functioning as the chairperson of the National Green Tribunal, he was quick to point out that the allegations were part of a deep rooted 'sinister' conspiracy to adversely impact his work as the chair of the tribunal where he dealt with 'sensitive' matters on a daily basis. The tribunal even passed a resolution that Kumar was being 'unjustifiably mob-lynched'. Kumar's...
Sexism In Courts: A Daily Reality
When a female senior advocate faltered with her arguments last week at the Madras high court, the judge asked her if she had had a busy morning in the kitchen that day. The entire court hall laughed at the supposed witticism.A human rights advocate with 20 years of experience, was appearing before the Karnataka High Court in a saree. She was wearing the lawyer's band as per the Bar Council rules. One of the judges on the division bench asked her why she wasn't wearing the collar along with the...
Why Dismissal Of SC Staff Who Alleged Sexual Harassment By CJI Is Disproportionate?
"Sentence has to suit the offence and the offender. It should not be vindictive or unduly harsh. It should not be so disproportionate to the offence as to shock the conscience and amount in itself to conclusive evidence of bias".
Enquiry Strengthens The Independence Of Judiciary
Yes we must stand rock solid with the Judiciary and the Judges . We must protect the Independence of the Judiciary too. What does this mean in the present context of a very serious charge of sexual harassment levelled by an employee of the court against the CJI ? We are told that there is a larger conspiracy to deactivate the CJI and wreck the independence of the Judiciary. We are also told that some left oriented and Congress oriented web portals and lawyers are raking up this issue to...
Some Questions In The Wake Of A Matter Of Great Public Importance
A complaint of sexual harassment against the sitting Chief Justice of India was sent (along with an affidavit and other supporting evidence) to the other sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India asking for the constitution of an inquiry committee of senior retired judges to investigate and adjudicate these serious allegations. The legal institutional response to such a complaint as mandated under the "In-House Procedure" applicable to Judges of the Supreme Court and the High...
Allegations Against The CJI And Taking Up The Issue On The Judicial Side – Key Issues
Four online portals published a detailed account ofallegations made by a former Supreme Court employee against the current Chief Justice of India. The complaint and the response by the Secretary-General, Supreme Court was also published. CJI Gogoi as the master of the roster, today constituted a bench comprising of himself, Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna as "In Re: Matter of great public importance touching upon the independence of the judiciary – mentioned by Shri Tushar...
Use Of 'No Useful Purpose' Doctrine To Stall Enquiry Commission Looking Into Serious Corruption Allegations
In an interesting non-reportable judgment i.e., CITU v State of Maharashtra, the Supreme Court, in a 3-judge combination, has held as follows: "We are of the considered view that though normally in such a case a judicial inquiry should have been conducted but as far as the present case is concerned, more than a quarter of century has elapsed since the first PPA was executed. The foreign corporation and the original project proponents are no longer available. Most of the senior officials would...
The Existential Conundrum Of An Arbitration Agreement
On 18th July 2018, a bill titled The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The Bill intended to bring out several changes to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as "the Arbitration Act"). One of the most significant changes was to be made to Section 11 of the Arbitration Act which was to be amended by Clause 3 of the Bill. As per clause 3 (i), for international commercial arbitrations, appointments of arbitrators were...
The Afterlife Of The Aadhaar Dissent: The Jamaican Supreme Court Judgment Quashing NCID
Justice Charles Evan Hughes' famous aphorism, that a dissent is an "appeal to the brooding spirit of the law, to the intelligence of a future day", has passed into legend. It was famously invoked by Justice H.R. Khanna, while concluding his dissent in the Habeas Corpus case. But sometimes, a dissent is not limited to a footnote in the judicial lore of a nation, waiting for the years to pass by until the "intelligence of a future day" dawns. Sometimes, like the swallow flying south, a dissent...
