Oscar Wilde's Moment Of Redemption By SC In Sec.377 Judgment

The literary genius was labelled a ‘sex pervert’ by a 1976 SC judgment.Oscar Wilde, famous English writer and champion of individualism, was unfortunately branded a ‘sex pervert’ by the Supreme Court in a 1976 judgment. It was the judgment in R K Agarwal v State of Orissa AIR 1976 SC 1774, where the Supreme Court was dealing with an appeal filed by a 70 year old man convicted under Section 376 IPC for rape of a 6 year old girl. While rejecting his prayer for reduction of sentence in...

“Civilization Has Been Brutal”: Navtej Johar, Section 377, And The Supreme Court’s Moment Of Atonement

Last year, in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v Union of India, the Supreme Court did a remarkable thing. While declaring that privacy was a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution, five out of nine judges also noted that the Court’s 2013 judgment in Suresh Kumar Koushal v Naz Foundation (an entirely unconnected proceeding) had been wrongly decided. In Koushal, the constitutionality of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code – that criminalised “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” – had...

India: A Country Of Rising Numbers And Falling Standards

Rant of a concerned woman and citizen of this country!Well, apparently “women are being raped left, right and centre” is what the Supreme Court was shocked to find out recently while hearing the Muzzafarpur shelter home case. During the hearing of this particular case, the Apex Court ordered a blanket ban on the publication of the images of minor survivors of the sexual offences by the electronic, print and social media.The Supreme Court was further stunned to find out that an appalling number...

Magisterial Lapses : When Remand Requests Are Blindly Rubber Stamped

Two recent cases of glaring magisterial lapses deserve discussion.The recent case of Lois Sofia is disturbing. Sofia, a 28 year old student, was remanded to 15 days judicial custody for raising anti-BJP slogans in the presence of TN BJP Chief Tamilisai Soundarajan, while de-boarding an aircraft. Her arrest and subsequent remand happened in the FIR registered on the basis of Soundarajan's complaint.Last week, a Magistrate in Delhi authorised Maharashtra police to take Gautham Navlakha to Pune,...

A Tribute To Senior Advocate Yashank Adhyaru By Dushyant Dave

Mr. Yashank Adhyaru Sr. Advocate passed away at rather young age fighting multiple challenges. He was hospitalized for last over four weeks due to serious breathing issues on account of a severe chest infection.He was a very able and dedicated Lawyer with over thirty years of practice starting from the Gujarat High Court in Ahmedabad and then for last two decades in The Supreme Court. He worked in the chamber of Mr.Kapil Sibal for few years, who in fact encouraged him to shift to Delhi from...

Solid Waste [Mis]Management-NGT Directions Remain In Paper

Mahatma Gandhi had famously said – “Sanitation is more important than independence”. When he remarked this, he was only underlining the immense priority he gave to cleanliness in civic life signifying his dream of total sanitation for all. His perception of cleanliness was more holistic in nature, where he strongly emphasized on physical well being and a healthy environment.Collection of garbage annually in India is astronomical. India needs at least 1,240 hectares of land to fill the untreated...

SC Ruling On Strict Interpretation Of Ambiguous Tax Exemption-Advantage Revenue

A “Constitution Bench” (five Judges) of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India set up via a reference in the recently decided matter of Commissioner of Customs (Import), Mumbai v. M/S. Dilip Kumar And Company , dated 30 July 2018, has emphatically adjudicated in revenue’s favor, with respect to the applicable principles of law for statutory interpretation of (taxation) exemption notifications/clauses after framing the terms of reference as follows -“what is the interpretative rule to be applied...

'One Nation,One Poll'- Good Economics Need Not Be Good Policy

“The proposal is designed to favour majoritarian politics and centralization of power, and will give room for manipulation of election results through high-voltage campaigns buoyed by money power, and will cut at the root of healthy democratic conventions”.The Law Commission of India(LCI) has favoured the idea of “one nation one poll” and has recommended necessary amendments in Constitution and statutory law to bring in ‘simultaneous elections’. The concept of ‘simultaneous elections’, envisages...

Phone-Tapping And Recording Of A Phone Conversation By A Private Party: Issues Relating To Legality And Admissibility

“Who are you? Why do you hide in the darkness and listen to my private thoughts?” [1]Is Privacy history? The sheer number of court trials where a telephone recording is sought to be used by either party as evidence, suggest that private thoughts are not private anymore. Use of such recordings in court cases has risen enormously in the recent past. In this background, the Authors examine the very legality of the act of recording of a phone conversation by a private party to the conversation,...

Exploring The Law Of Unjust Enrichment In India

The principle of unjust enrichment is an underlining principle behind a plethora of daily orders and judgments of our judiciary. Though the principle may not be tagged specifically by our Courts in each case, its adaptation has found wide usage in our judiciary to bring justice and uphold the pillars of equity.What is the principle of Unjust Enrichment?A person who has obtained a benefit at the expense of another should be liable to restitute the other from whom he has gained. This field of law...

Satyameva Jayate- Nanritam; Truth Alone Triumphs- Not False Hood

‘Satyameva Jayate,’ (Truth Alone Triumphs) is part of the first stanza of Shloka 3.1.6 of Mundakopanishad[1]. Satyameva Jayate was adopted as the motto of the Nation, on India becoming a Republic on 26.1.1950.  Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, during his second term as the president of the Indian National Congress in 1918, chose the slogan ‘Satyameva Jayate’. The choice of the slogan ‘Satyameva Jayate’ might have been to counter the propaganda of the ruling British, who made efforts to...

One Year From Puttaswamy : Data Protection On The Touchstone Of SC Judgment

'The Data Protection Bill may be considered as one step in achieving the objective of optimal protection of privacy'Privacy has been given many definitions and connotations over the ages. In the Indian context, the momentous judgement of the Supreme Court in Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) and Anr. vs Union Of India And Ors[1] is a remarkably concrete touchstone upon which developments that deals with privacy may be examined. The judgement affirms that privacy in India is a right that protects...