Navtej Singh Johar : A Progressive Verdict Which Discards Societal Prejudice

For long, criminality, marginality and entrenched stigma were the attributes that defined LGBTs in India. They were the most degraded lot who were considered physically, religiously, morally, socially, medically and legally untouchables. But in the last two and half decades, the discourse on sexual orientations started changing to the favour of LGBTs. They organised and gave a sustainable legal challenge to the generalised norms of heteronormative prejudice enshrined in Section 377 of the Indian...

Seat Of Arbitration: Have We Been Unseated

The critical significance of “Seat”, particularly in International Commercial Arbitration in the present prevalent regime of “localized arbitration”, is more or less settled.Even the test resorted to, i.e., the “closest and most intimate connection” test, for the purpose of determining the “Seat” in International Commercial Arbitration, when parties to the lis have not expressly agreed to one, has also been uniformly recognized globally. In fact, most of the statute in the world, including the...

The Impact Of Section 377 Judgment On Heterosexual Relations

This week shall forever be entrenched as historic, given the verdict of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India,[1] wherein it partially struck down the draconian Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, thereby upholding the rights of the LGBTQ community. However, post the verdict of the Court, there seems to be a lack of clarity on certain issues. For instance, the question of whether this judgment allows people to engage in acts of sodomy, which includes coitus...

The Tuesday Column: Right To Equality From The Prism Of The Third Gender

Socio-economic rights under our Constitution have been relegated to the non-justiciable category of the Directive Principle of State Policy. And yet, the harsh reality is that freedom of speech and expression, guaranteed under Article 19 of our Constitution, which though technically justiciable, remains purely theoretical unless you have the social and economic means to truly express yourself with dignity and security.This is as true for persons of the third gender as it is for any other...

Welcome The Post-Sec. 377 Era! What About Conversion Therapies?

The flow of inexplicable emotions and energy cannot be defined in words. India has transitioned into an era where the rainbow is sprightlier than ever before!My friends and colleagues from the bar and beyond have done an excellent job in identifying the key takeaways from the 6th September verdict, so I won’t get into that aspect. For the past two years, I, along with colleague Dr. Bhuchitra Singh, who is situated at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Maryland, have made some...

Life Imprisonment Without The Possibility Of Release – The Many Constitutional Sins Of Sriharan

The Supreme Court validating sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of release by excluding remission raise questions about both the desirability of such a punishment and also about the serious disruption in the separation of powers.The Indian Supreme Court has established in several judgments that a sentence of life imprisonment means imprisonment till the end of life subject to statutory powers of remission under Section 432 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and constitutional...

Navtej Johar v Union of India – Key Highlights

Much has already been written and said about the recent landmark decision of the Supreme Court in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, where a bench of five judges of the Supreme Court partially struck down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which made “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” a criminal offence. Four separate judgments were delivered by the court, by Chief Justice Misra (supported by Khanwilkar J), and Justices Nariman, Chandrachud and Malhotra. Though the...

The Beggary Judgment: Undoing The Injustice

The recent Delhi High Court, in its judgment of Harsh Mander v. Union of India and Karnika Sawhney v. Union of India recently declared provisions of the law that approves action against beggars as “unconstitutional”. This historical judgment has removed around 25 Sections of the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959, which criminalizes any form of begging. The Hon’ble judges have very clearly pointed out that begging is not any form of a disease and this mindset has led to stigmatisation and...

Section 27 Recovery- Some Myths And Misconceptions

The expression “Section 27 Recovery” itself is a misnomer. There are other instances of misapplication and mistaken assimilation of the underlying principles behind this important topic in the criminal justice system.Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (the “Evidence Act” for short) reads as follows:-“How much of information received from accused may be provedPROVIDED that when any fact is deposed to as discovered in consequence of information received from a person accused of any...

Disaster Management – Whether Separate Relief Fund And Tribunal Necessary?

Flood is over in Kerala.  But the blame game and mudslinging continue unabatedly as its aftermath. The devastation caused by the recent unprecedented deluge made Keralites stoic to confront natural calamities with a resolute mind.  Now the deliberations are on the post-disaster management and the dam safety monitoring.  Thanks to the munificence of Keralites strewn over the world, remarkable fund flow in the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund makes the administration relieved to some extent,...

Will The Data Protection Regulation Open New Avenues For Cyber Criminals?

The proposed regulations will make information more valuable to cyber criminals. Data hostage takings and ransom demands will no doubt be part of the cybercriminal business plan for profits Once we have recognized “Privacy” as a fundamental right, it becomes imperative to have legislation for data protection. The Srikrishna Committee’s proposed draft bill has adopted various principles like right to access and correction, right to portability, and right to be forgotten. It is clear that the...

Tale Of Three Judgments And Dethronement Of Sec. 377 IPC: When SC Called Its Own Views ‘Perverse’ And ‘Fallacious’

King Dasaratha wanted his son Rama to be made his successor. When the stage was all set for the coronation, Kaikeyi, who had an upper hand over the king, ambushed all the plans and made Rama go to the forest. He lived there for a long time and, in between, lost his wife. Finally, he defeated Ravana, and returned to his kingdom and reigned over it. Dasaratha’s wish, though suffered a temporary setback, was fulfilled in the end. This is the tale of Ramayana.The same thing happened on Thursday when...