IBC- Miscellany

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 ("IBC" or the "Code") will be completing two years after Chapters II and III pertaining to the provisions relating to Insolvency Resolution and Liquidation for Corporate Persons and Liquidation Process became operational. The Code has proved its purpose and several crores of rupees have been recovered either by way of settlement between the creditor and the corporate debtor, putting in place an acceptable resolution plan or through liquidation of the...

70th Anniversary Of Universal Declaration Of Human Rights(UDHR)

December 10 marks the 70th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights(UDHR).The horrific days of Fascism, Holocaust and World Wars showed that human rights persecutions can be perpetuated in a legalised fashion using constitutional means by tyrannical governments. In this backdrop, a formal declaration of inherent and inalienable human rights was felt necessary to act as a check on arbitrary and absolute powers. Quite often, law is a mere reflection of majoritarian will, bereft of...

Misplaced Mercy By A Governor For A Murder Convict

Yet another instance of gubernatorial indiscretion came to light this week, when Supreme Court upheld the order of Allahabad High Court quashing the UP Governor's decision to pardon a convicted murderer.In 2017, the UP Governor Ram Naik pardoned one Markandey from Gorakhpur, who was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009 for murder of four persons out of political rivalry. The premature release of Markandey within eight years of sentence was challenged before the High Court by son...

Lest We Forget : Bhopal Gas Tragedy & Lessons for Indian Legal System

The 3rd-Dec-2018 marks the end of the 34th year of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, waiting only to add another year to that count as the victims still go through a harrowing ordeal. While dispensing justice may take more time, three decades is sufficient time for us to take a gestalt view of our legal system.The Gestalt theory in psychology argues that the "whole of an object is greater than the sum of its parts". Architects extend this principle to ensure symmetry in construction, implying that the...

Passionate And Compassionate – Justice Kurian Joseph

A perfect family man, a perfect judge and above all, a perfect human being ; even these three expressions are not enough to throw light on the personality of Justice Kurian Joseph who superannuates today from the Supreme Court to start his second innings. His infectious smile, a patient audience to all arguing counsel, a solution oriented approach in resolving disputes and a sound knowledge of law will be long cherished in the corridors of the Supreme Court and I am sure I can extend the same to...

An Overview On The Prevention Of Corruption (Amendment) Act 16 of 2018 [Part-II]

to cause to forbear such public duty by such public servant or by another public servant, commits an offence under this section.The punishment is imprisonment for not less than 3 years but upto 7 years AND fine. Here, while fixing the fine, the matters under new Section 16 need not be taken into consideration since Section 7 A is absent in Section 16. This may be an accidental omission in new Section 16.An Overview On The Prevention Of Corruption (Amendment) Act 16 of 2018 [Part-1] Section...

J&K Assembly Dissolution : Yet Another Instance Of Governor Toppling Constitution

After Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Karnataka, yet another instance of abuse of Constitutional power by a Governor occurred this week, when Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik decided to dissolve JK assembly. J&K has been under Presidential rule since last June, after BJP withdrew from PDP-led coalition government, putting end to an alliance forged in December 2014.Earlier this week, PDP, NCP and Congress announced that they have formed an alliance and staked claim for...

Implications Of Binani Ruling For IBC

On 14 November 2018, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) pronounced its ruling in the case of Rajputana Properties Pvt. Ltd. v Ultratech Cement Ltd. & Ors. along with other connected matters, upholding the revised resolution plan submitted by UltraTech Cement Limited (UltraTech) for Binani Cements Limited (Binani Cements). Vide the said order, the resolution plan submitted by the rival contender viz Dalmia Bharat led Rajputana Properties Private Limited (Rajputana), was held...

Cyber Crimes Against Women And Laws In India

“Time is now here to exculpate that our women are safe in cyber world, the memento alarms to stop tomfoolery activities on internet access as it is an offence and women take umbrage from it”Every second, one woman in India gets tricked to be a victim of cyber crimes and the online platform is now the new platform where a woman’s dignity, privacy and security is increasingly being challenged every moment. Trolling, abusing, threatening, stalking, voyeurism, body-shaming, defaming, surveillance,...

Fragments From A Manuscript

It often falls on archaeologists and historians to reconstruct civilizations and their cultures from a shard of pottery or the remnants of parchment. In contrast, the tools of law require us to sift through the dross and distill the ratio of a decision.  We lawyers are trained to ignore distractions of what might have happened in court and focus on the eventual outcome and the principle laid. Nevertheless, at times of repose we often drift into imagining the theatre that played out in the...

An Overview On The Prevention Of Corruption (Amendment) Act 16 of 2018 [Part-1] Section 7

New Section 7 substituted by Amending Act 16/2018 7-Offence relating to public servant being bribed.commits an offence under this section.The punishment is imprisonment for not less than 3 years but upto 7 years AND fine. While fixing the fine the matters under new Section 16 will have to be taken into consideration. Eventhough new Section 9 (4) does not specify that the offence is cognizable, going by Part II of Schedule 1 of Cr.P.C the offence is cognizable and non-bailable. The ingredient of...

Guilty Until Proven Innocent - Problem Of Languishing Innocent Undertrials In India

The horrors faced by a person thrown in jail for crimes they have not committed, cannot be understood unless one lives it. Our jails are overflowing with thousands of innocent undertrials languishing for years. Once thrown inside jail, society draws no distinction between an accused and a convict. The accused faces lengthy jail times while the trial proceedings are kept pending for years. It is this period which locks out any good reputation an accused may have enjoyed previously till the Court...