Kerala Teens Hugging Case: Questions Of Surveillance Privacy And Moral Policing

On December 12, Kerala High Court took a step towards restricting the powers and function of the Kerala state child rights commission and giving some more powers to the schools for moral policing of the adolescent behaviour including on line behaviour of the teenagers.A brief over view of the case would show that the 16 year old boy’s ‘publicly showing of  affection’ to his friend, a girl of his same age attracted the attention of his teacher. Warned for their ‘hugging’ infront of third person...

Will The 'Triple Talaq Bill' Really Protect Rights Of Muslim Woman?

Finally, the Bill relating to Muslim women for protection of their rights on marriage has come into the public domain. Section 3 of the Bill states that “talaq-e-biddat” shall be ‘void’ and ‘illegal’. This is followed by consequence of such void action in terms of Section 4 thereof, stating, whoever pronounces talaq-e-biddat shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years and fine. In the objects and reasons of the Bill, it is stated that the judgment of the Supreme Court...

Information With Information Utilities Under IBC-How It Works

"Creditor has the incentive to close out its investment quickly so as to avail of alternative investment opportunities. The debtor on the other hand has the incentive to hold on to the assets" [1]Gathering and Preservation of information is a challenge especially when there are conflicting forces, each trying to present it in a manner to suit their own interest. Banks have been facing this challenge in recovering their dues while courts applied the strict regimes under Indian Evidence Act,...

Death By Starvation, Right To Food & Indian Democracy

On September 28, Santoshi Kumar, an 11 year old girl in Simdega district of Jharkhand, died because of starving for nearly 8 days. Her family had not received any ration since months as their ration card was cancelled, after being struck off the Public Distribution System (PDS) for not linking their ration card with Aadhar. The system of Aadhar has been under continuous criticism for ‘depriving the most vulnerable people of their grain entitlements’. Since a set of Public Interest Litigations...

Demise Of Padmasri Dr Lalji Singh, Father of DNA Forensics in India, A Great Loss To Forensic Fraternity

Year 1988. Scene was laid in the Sub Court, Thalassery, Kerala. Dr Lalji Singh, a famous molecular scientist, was giving evidence on the DNA typing he did in a case of disputed paternity. A lady insurance agent became pregnant by sexual relations with a businessman. She delivered a male child and filed a case for maintenance u/s 125 of CrPC. The court ordered that the latest forensic technique of DNA fingerprinting is to be conducted on the child, mother and the putative father. Dr Lalji Singh...

Dear Process Servers, You No Longer Enjoy The Functional Freedom Given To You By The Code

Arundas v. Priji – 2017 (5) KHC 693 rendered by a Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala, is not only per incurium, but it also takes away the options given to the Process Server by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (‘the CPC’ for short). That apart, the above verdict will further retard the much maligned crawling progression of the civil litigation in this country. I am not delving deep into the sweep and amplitude of Order V of C.P.C which elaborately deals with the manner of service of...

Provisions In Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill That Works Against The Interests Of Claimants

The amendments proposed to the Motor Vehicles Act as per the amendment Bill introduced in 2016 were widely touted to be progressive, mainly because they had provisions for ensuring road safety through increased penalties for violations. However, hidden under such seemingly progressive provisions were some provisions which worked against the interests of the claimants in motor accident claims cases. Live Law had pointed out that the Act introduced the concept of “limited liability of insurer”, by...

Non Violation Complaints and The Future Flexibilities of TRIPS

The 11th WTO Ministerial Conference, currently taking place in Buenos Aires (10-13 December), is to decide on whether to extend the moratorium on non-violation complaints (NVC) under the TRIPS Agreement. In WTO parlance, NVC is understood as an agreement that has not been breached, but it arises when a complainant alleges that an expected benefit under the agreement has been abrogated, or an expectation of an agreed benefit arising from the agreement has been nullified or impaired.Article 64.2...

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code- Background And The Road Ahead

As the Indian economy attempted to move from an agrarian economy and adopted economic plan to foster industrialization, major policies of the government, including legislative provisions, were directed to achieve rapid industrialization. With focus on industry and to provide basic legislative support for the development and regulation of industries, the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act was enacted in 1951. Formation and liquidation of business entities continued to be governed by the...

RTI And Judiciary

The Supreme Court of India consistently held from 1975 to 2005 that RTI is a fundamental right of citizens. The nation recognises its great contribution to the framing of the Right to Information Act.  However certain decisions and pronouncements of the Court[1] in the last decade weaken this powerful fundamental right by gross misinterpretation. These should be discussed by RTI users and the legal fraternity, and a public awareness should be created.Challenging decisions of the Information...

Writing Of Debt And Debt Restructuring: Another Conundrum With The Ordinance Amendment To The Insolvency Bankruptcy Code

Economic development needs an evolved legal system that can support and complement it. The need for refined corporate case resolution with the rise in complexity of investments and global market integration was one of the intentions of a consolidated comprehensive law on corporate insolvencies and bankruptcies in India. This took the shape of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). Now, it is critical to note that the IBC was championed as a legislation which would also look at the debt...

Adverse Selection And Moral Hazard In Contract Law

A contract is an understanding under which two parties make corresponding duties as far as their conduct, being a "two-sided coordination arrangement". This formulation addresses the lawful idea of the contract yet additionally rises above it. Throughout the last thirty years, the "contract" has turned into a focal idea in monetary analysis, offering ascend to three central fields of study: "motivating forces", "fragmented contracts" and "transaction costs".This article will concentrate on the...