Articles
Understanding The Law Governing PILs In Light Of The Petition Challenging The Presidential Order Concerning J&K
The year 2018 shall go down as a monumental year in the history of the Supreme Court of India. The Court through its judgments granted women the right to enter the Sabarimala temple, struck down the discriminatory provision of adultery, agreed to live stream its proceedings etc. The doors of the Court were knocked by common citizens in the above matter, using the mechanism of a Public Interest Litigation Petition ('PIL'), a tool that allows any citizen of India to approach the Supreme Court/High...
Violence Against Doctors- A Zero Tolerance Approach
WHY A CENTRAL LAW? The Indian Medical Association ( IMA) has repeatedly appealed to the central government to draft a comprehensive Central law for the protection of doctors against assault and violence which is on the rise in recent times. The Association's Reasons for drafting a Central law was that it would be a 'deterrent' and the need for such a law was that it should provide adequate security measures and determinants that would curb acts of violence against medical...
Ram Jethmalani And The Emergency
Mr. Ram Jethmalani was the Chairman of the Bar Council of India during the most tumultuous period (1970-1976) for judiciary and democracy in contemporary Indian history. Under his stewardship, Bar Council of India streamlined the rules for the general conduct of legal profession that came about through introduction of Bar Council of India Rules, 1975. When lawyers appearing for unpopular and infamous accused in criminal matters were decried, the Bar Council of India under the...
Chidambaram And The Law
It was on 21 August that P. Chidambaram was arrested in the INX Media case. He was sent to judicial custody later, after prolonged custodial interrogation. The allegations relate to anomalies in the clearance given by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board in 2007 while Chidambaram was the Finance Minister. Whatever the merits of the case might be, there are other aspects of grave concern for both Indian politics and judiciary. Curbing the opposition Governments ...
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...
