Food Adulteration Laws in India and Government’s Response

In the year 1954, the Central Government consolidated legal provisions by way of comprehensive legislation (the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954) to curb food adulteration and repealed all the laws in relation thereto in force on that date. The penalties for the offences in 1954 Act were set out and from time to time, considering the gravity of the issue, appropriate legislative amendments were made and the offences were categorised punishable with punishment extending upto life...

Legislative silence on ‘incompetent’ enforcement machinery under Child Labour Law

The introduction of the proposed amendment, ‘the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (CALPRA), 1986 with its radically-faulty approach has challenged the constitutional objective of elimination of child labour in India. This proposed legislation has been passed by both houses of Parliament without examining the reasons for child labour or examining the reasons for failure of enforcement of existing legislation on child labour, the Child Labour (Prohibition and...

Liability regime for children

The promise of “acchhe din” may or may not have come true for the adult citizens of India but as far as our children, particularly adolescents between 14 and 18 are concerned, these two years have been disappointing. From UPA’s rights and entitlement regime, which gave them the right to education and right to food, we now have a dispensation which probably believes in imposing liability and does not favourably look at rights and freedom. It seems the government wants to promote the theory that...

Rethinking the Tricky Concept of Consent

What amounts to consent which is not a result of misconception of fact in the context of rape? It is a tricky question and if the term “misconception of fact” contained in S. 90 IPC is interpreted too broadly, it may lead to wrongful prosecutions. For example, if a writer named Sidhharth is supposed to be at a book meeting. A girl has read his books and wants to talk to him. At the meeting she meets Sidhharth and they become friends. Soon thereafter, they indulge in sexual intercourse...

The media cannot claim any right higher than that of the Advocates in Court

The right (if not otherwise restricted) of the media to report the Court proceedings can arise only after the Presiding Judge passes an order and that too, after the arguments on both sides have been heard. It has already been seen that the media cannot claim any right (either Constitutional or statutory) to report their versions of the oral dialogues that take place during the course of arguments even if they resort to honest reporting. Experienced Judges very often ask an arguing counsel...

Quo Wadis Section 406 IPC

“The judges, in fact, shine with reflected glory, for their judgements verily reflect the erudition and industry of the counsel appearing before them.”--- Justice H R Khanna, (‘neither roses nor thorns’) That shining may sometimes be shading if the thing gets reflected is not shiny. The High Court of Kerala in Gopalkrishna Pillai Vs. State of Kerala (2016 (2) KHC 338: MANU/KE/2734/2015) decided that the contribution to employees’ provident fund deducted by the employer from the salaries of the...

The Artificial distinction Judicially attempted between a “Complaint” U/S 2 (d) Cr.P.C. and a “Complaint of Facts Constituting the Offence” U/S 190 (1) (A) Cr.P.C

According to a learned Judge of the High Court of Kerala (Vide Oommen Chandy v. State of Kerala - 2016 (3) KHC 621), in order to enable a Magistrate/Special Judge to order investigation under Section 156 (3) Cr.P.C., there should not only be a “complaint” but such complaint should also be a “complaint of facts constituting the offence” within the meaning of Section 190 (1) (a) Cr.P.C. In other words, according to the Judge, it is not enough that such complaint answers the definition of...

Why Governors fail ?

The judgment by a Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court, led by Justice JS Khehar, on Arunachal Pradesh is not just an indictment of Governor J.P. Rajkhowa but a fit case for the withdrawal of presidential "pleasure" if we really believe in the Constitution as our "only holy book" and constitutional morality has any relevance in our polity. What more is required to remove a governor than an observation by the highest court that his actions gave a "thrashing to the Constitution," "spanking to...

Curtain Raiser – Cabinet’s nod to GST Constitutional Amendments

In an interesting and much awaited move, the Cabinet gave a nod to the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill. The GST has created a lot of excitement in the nation since it is a constitutional amendment. The amendments have subtly united the political forces and common consensus can be expected in the much awaited monsoon session.Amongst the various amendments to the Bill, the Cabinet, with assurance from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, dropped 1 per cent manufacturing tax and assured the states for...

John Doe Denied For Dishoom: End of an IP Era?

In a significant development for both IP law and Bollywood, the movie Dishoom(starring John Abraham, Varun Dhawan and Jacqueline Fernandez) was denied a John Doe order by the Bombay high Court yesterday.This might perhaps rate as the first ever Bollywood movie where a John Doe order was denied in such strong terms (though the order leaves some scope for plaintiffs to return to court with a fresh application).In a scathing ruling that tore into the Plaintiff’s callous disregard for the truth...

Why is the Indian Constitution not taught in Foreign Universities?

When H.M.Seervai published the Constitutional Law of India in 1970, it instantly became an authority on the subject. It subsequently went on to become the most enduring legal literary classics of all time. The Times Literary Supplement (London) wrote:“He has written a book which is unusually self-contained. No one can read it without acquiring both an adequate grasp of the legal aspects of the Indian Constitution and a clear understanding of the effect upon those aspects of the later amendments...

Why I abstain from Court?

Why are the lawyers of Kerala, known to be a soft lot, agitating? Why are they off the courts? Why are they taking law to their own hands, and why the media is being attacked? Questions we face from our friends, clients and well wishers deserve an answer, especially when the media is all out to tarnish the profession as a whole. More so, when many from our own fraternity take a stand that all is not above board for the robbed brethren.The fundamental premise on which the media pivot their attack...