A Tribute To Senior Advocate MPR Nair (1934-2018)

Senior Advocate MPR Nair passed away in the morning of May 7, 2018, at the age of 84 at his residence at Palarivattom in Ernakulam district of Kerala.  He suffered no major ailment and had a peaceful demise. He was cremated the next day in the presence of a large gathering cutting across all sections of the society vindicating his acceptance as a prominent citizen of this city.He was born on May 2, 1934, in a small hamlet called Pazhayangadi near Payyannur to the late M Neelakandan Nair and the...

A Disastrous Draft For Regulating Coasts

On 18th April 2018, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) put out for public comments a new Draft of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2018 (‘ 2018 Draft’) which in its current form can lead to disastrous and drastic transformations of coastal India. The Draft proposes to replace the existing 2011 Coastal Regulation Zone Notification (‘2011 CRZ Notification’) is no improvement of the former. Rather it will alter whatever little is left of diverse coastal...

Homebuyers Triggering IBC – Mischief Managed?

Amidst the debate on homebuyers' claims in insolvency disputes, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs formed the Insolvency Law Committee ("ILC") which rendered its report in March 2018. Amongst other agendas, ILC focused on resolving the significant confusion regarding the status of homebuyers of under-construction apartments as creditors under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 ("IBC"). Resultantly, moving forward with the ILC report, the President approved the Insolvency & Bankruptcy...

India’s ‘Unregulated’ Tryst with Artificial Intelligence: Looking Into Future Without A Law?

Over the last few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has expanded enough to be the new normal in a country’s technological advancement. The advent of this technology varies from nation to nation and depends on various factors, including the economy, employment scenario, technology, literacy and over and above these factors, the outlook of the government. Remarkably, Sh. Arun Jaitley, in his last Budget speech as the Finance Minister, mandated the NITI Aayog to devise a national policy on...

Open Defecation And Violence Against Women: Socio-Legal Perspective

In spite of all kind of development, the practice of open defecation is widespread in India. The problem of open defecation, poor sanitation, and public health are important governance issues in a developing country like India for ensuring human development index. The problem of poor sanitation has also significant impacts on the safety, well-being and educational prospects of women. The lack of access to a clean, safe toilet, especially during menstruation perpetuates risk, shame and fear. The...

Abatement Of Criminal Appeals

Every appeal by the State or Central Government under Section 377 (against inadequacy of the sentence) or under Section 378 (against acquittal) shall finally abate on the death of the accused. In such appeals, the accused will invariably be the respondent. An appeal under Section 378 (4) Cr.P.C (Section 417 (3) of old Cr.P.C) against acquittal abates only on the death of the accused and not on the death of the appellant.(Once such an appeal has been entertained by the High Court, the inability...

Why Aadhaar Act is a Black Act -Part II

Database state is an exercise in outsourcing of government through technologies that govern individuals to admittedly undemocratic entities wherein the biometric identification is being made a pre-condition for citizens to have any rightsDatabase State, a report from the UK, has revealed how the old maxim, 'If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear' has been given a very public burial. The report states, “In October 2007, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs lost two discs containing a...

Governor’s Discretion while Choosing CM: An Analysis of the Recent Karnataka Drama

Discretion granted to a person most probably opens the floodgates for partisan decisions. Situation aggravates if the person has political interests and the decision is unchallengeable.  We are speaking about the office of the Governor in India. Ever since the Madras State elections in 1952, the office of the Governor has been controversial on several fronts. The Governor’s discretion in choosing a chief minister has been a significant bone of contention. Several suggestions such as the...

Re-Orienting The Legal Framework For Co-Operative Society Organisations

Co-operative societies are formed in India as vehicles for the purpose of collective ownership of the business and commercial activities. The stakeholder responsibility could be best implemented using the co-operative model of organising business and commercial activities. But post- liberalisation of the market in India, company as a format has got maximum prominence. Of late, the new form of organising business Limited Liability Partnership also have got emphasis. A reality check towards the...

Catastrophic And Calamitous Ruins Of CLAT 2018

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is conducted every year on a rotational basis with one national law school conducting it. Vide this prestigious examination, all 19 national law universities (NLUs) except NLU-Delhi take their entrants in the UG courses as well as the PG courses. The score obtained in CLAT-PG is also used by public sector undertakings, including Maharatna and Navaratna companies, for the appointment of their legal advisors. Various other law schools also use the score...

Times Now’s Parallel Trial In Tarun Tejpal Case : A Clear Case Of Interference In Administration Of Justice

Media should perform the acts of journalism and not as a special agency for the Court – Supreme Court of India, in Sidharth Vasisht v. NCT of Delhi (2010) 6 SCC 1, while chastising media for biased reporting of the pending trial.The quality of newsroom discussions hit a new low when Times Now held a horrendous debate on the CCTV footage in the rape case involving Tarun Tejpal, by brazenly defying the court order and statutory provisions. The debate aired on May 28, was preceded by a dramatic...

Why Aadhaar Act is a Black Act? Part I

Ever wondered as to why bankers are immensely interested in biometric identification and verification of citizens? Biometric identification implies that movements of present and future generations of citizens are tracked like those of bacteria under a microscope. This exercise of creating a centralized ‘online database’ of biometric information of Indians is unfolding under the gaze of all the public institutions in general and the Supreme Court in particular. The core issue here is will efforts...