Articles
Surprise Changes To All India Bar Exam Syllabus (For Tenth AIBE In March 2017)
We noticed that the syllabus for the All India Bar Examination has been changed, relatively quietly. There is no new notification on the website for the exam (http://allindiabarexamination.com), but those who click on the syllabus link on the homepage and go through the syllabus carefully will notice that there is some difference. We are not clear exactly when this change took place, owing to absence of a formal notification. Further, on first glance you would not notice a change, since the...
UGC 2016 Regulation and the Future of Higher Education in India
As the human body needs a proper meal for nourishment in the same way education is needed for the nourishment of human mind.Education is the sole factor to the difference between animals and human. Historically, education in India only restricted to a certain caste that dominates the majority of the population. Alas, till the date things are more or less same. It is highly unfortunate that almost seven decades has come to complete after the enforcement of Indian Constitution but education has...
Uphaar Cinema Case – Is Review Of Review Permissible?
Gopal Ansal, who has been convicted of “criminal negligence” under Section 304-A, IPC by the Supreme Court and ordered to surrender in the 1997 Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy vide judgment and order dated 09.02.2017, recently moved an application seeking modification of the order on medical grounds claiming parity with his brother Sushil Ansal who was let off with the sentence already served because of his old age and ailments. At the very threshold, it is very important to know that there are...
Indians In America Should Take All Measures For Their Self-Protection. Americans Have A Protected Right To Possess Handguns
Whenever we hear about an Indian or an American or an outsider to America has become a victim to the gun shots of those Americans, our first reaction is, how come in a nation, which is considered to be the most civilized nation has the elements who resort to unmindful gun violence? As an immediate reaction to this, we tend to dwell on various aspects and finally come to a conclusion that stricter handgun control laws and permitting are important to spare lives. But, this is not a solution at all...
Maternity, And Maternity Leave For Lawyers In Litigation!
I am faced with this today. Many women lawyers that I have grown up admiring, those who have or are adorning the bar and the bench, must have survived the inequality, and must have been through this at some point in their lives. The ‘this’ that I refer to is “maternity”.Like any other job, legal profession comes with its own set of challenges, and while I am the first one to say that gender based discrimination has seen massive decline, we as women lawyers, still feel the pinch of being ‘women’....
Why the Process of Remitting Sentences of Prisoners Needs Reform
On December 2, 2015, the constitution bench of the Supreme Court revisited the powers of the state Government to grant remission, in Sriharan @Murugan Judgement. After invoking Section 432(2) of Cr.P.C. the Supreme Court added another layer to the already complex process of granting remission.The process now requires the government to seek opinion of the sentencing court before granting remission. Due to this a considerable amount of delay occurs as the Remission board continues to adjourn its...
India Gearing Up For A Healthy And Conducive Arbitration Environment
Supreme Court Upholds "Neutrality Of Arbitrator" In Public Sector Contracts In the recent judgment of M/s. Voestalpine Schienen Gmbh vs. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd., (delivered on 10-02-2017) the Supreme Court of India while upholding the concept of 'neutrality of arbitrators' envisaged under the amended Section 12 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 (the Act), has given some directions on the constitution of an arbitration panel to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd., (DMRC). The...
NCLT’s Contrary Actions: What Does It Signal?
Recent orders issued by various benches of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in relations to meetings of shareholders with respect to compromises, arrangements and amalgamations, have left the legal fraternity confounded. Where, the Delhi and Mumbai benches, in a manner that is contrary to the conventional practice, have specifically ordered for a meeting of equity shareholders though dispensation had been prayed for, the Chennai Bench has dispensed with the meeting of shareholders under...
Nahalchand Laloochand V. Panchali, The Most Misused Precedent By Litigants
In a 2010 judgment, in the case of Nahalchand Laloochand Pvt. Ltd. v. Panchali Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. [AIR 2010 SC 3607], a real estate company presented the argument that it is correct to sell stilt parking areas or garages as separate individual entities just like a flat, to those who do not own flats in the building and wish to use such entities as parking places. The Hon’ble Supreme Court judges- Justice A.K. Patnaik and Justice R. M. Lodha however,rejected this argument while...
Pulsar Suni's Arrest Not Illegal: Justice KT Thomas
[Pulsar Suni, prime accused in Kerala actor's molestation case was arrested on Thursday from ACJM Court, Ernakulam. At the time of Arrest the Court was not in Session] Arrest from courtroom is permissible if the court has not considered his application for surrendering. The reason is that police arresting an accused before surrendering is a great advantage to them. Custodial interrogation is a sure thing after the arrest. However, if the accused surrenders, the court need not give him to the...
The Catch-22 of ‘No Investigation without Sanction’ and ‘No Sanction without Investigation’: A Critical Analysis of Anil Kumar v. M.K.Aiyappa (2013)
The Conundrum There shall be no Investigation without Sanction. Sanction will be granted on the basis of material collected during Investigation.A Catch-22 situation appears to have arose on account of the decision of the Supreme Court in M.K.Aiyappa where the question that arose was: whether ‘Sanction’ is a necessary precondition for an order for investigation passed u/s 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) with respect to an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988...
Institutionalising Merit, Independence, Aspiration And Diversity: The Transformation Of The British System
“The judicial appointments system can and will appoint only the very best candidates. It cannot afford to do less. Our society is not perfect: we face threats from those who would claim that it is incorrigibly divided, or inherently discriminatory. The composition of the judiciary sends an important signal. When it comes to reassuring communities there can be few stronger messages than the knowledge that our judges are the best people for the job, drawn from throughout our diverse nation and...