‘Pro bono publico’, Crusades for ‘Common’

--------------------------------“Voice of Common must raise”- H D Shourie (Founder, Common Cause)---------------------------------Public Interest Litigation, an apparatus in furnishing Justice to common man, is a form of legal action initiated in a Court of Law regarding a matter which concerns public interest. It is a way to approach the fountain of Justice in the public interest on behalf of those who unable to do themselves. Indian Courts through Judicial Activism has given this power to the...

When disruptions trump deliberations

The sights and sounds witnessed on the floor of the House of the 15th Lok Sabha during its recently concluded winter session were such as to make the heart of any believer in parliamentary democracy bleed. Parliament is no stranger to disruptions, pandemonium and occasionally, even chaos, but even by its steadily declining standards, the use of pepper spray by a member on his peers to disrupt proceedings marked an all-time low, and left us all hanging our heads in shame at the ridiculous antics...

Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act: A Commentary

ICynicism gave way to incredulity, hope and jubilation, when after several failed attempts, a broad political consensus was reached between the ruling Congress and the principal opposition party, the BJP, on the issue of the Lokpal Bill lying on the backburner for decades, which eventually culminated in the Parliament passing the Lokpal and the Lokayuktas Bill, 2013 in December, 2013, thereby paving the way for establishment of an ombudsman to fight corruption in public offices and ensure...

High Court of Kerala under the scanner on the issue of Recusal

Among the High Courts of our country, Kerala High Court is one which has always maintained high traditions and a good reputation.  The Judges who adorned seats in the Supreme Court, on elevation from the Kerala High Court also have maintained a high profile. Tested from standards like integrity, efficiency, quality and quantity of output, they really occupy an enviable position.   It is not usual, therefore, that the High Court of this small state should come under the criticism of the media.   ...

Political Will Vs. Constitutional Will

“The only stable State is the one in which all men are equal before the law.” - AristotleIndia is a Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic State. The founding fathers of our Constitution wanted rule of law to prevail and visualised that our country would march ahead and become an idealistic nation. Democracy and federalism are essential features of our Constitution and are part of its basic structure as held in S. R. Bommai and Others v. Union of India and Others. Democracy in subtle and...

No Country for Free Speech

“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” ― George WashingtonUntil February 11, not many outside their respective circles, would have known about Dinanath Batra, an 84 year old retired School Principal, and currently, President of Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti, a rather obscure Delhi-based organisation or Wendy Doniger, a scholar of Religion and Professor at the University of Chicago, for that matter.But come February 11, the...

Death penalty: The unsettling issues of life and death

The Apex Court recently in the case of Shatrughan Chauhan & Others issued guidelines on commutation of death penalty to life imprisonment in cases of prolonged delay, insanity while serving the sentence, solitary confinement, judgment declared by the higher court to be erroneous, procedural lapses etc. Thus inordinate delay in granting clemency would be a valid consideration for commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment. The court did not tread upon the unchartered scope of...

Respect All, Suspect All; The fine print of an Advertorial is the eventual dismay of Consumer

The recent decision by the Central Consumer Protection Council (CCPC), under the chairmanship of Central Minister, Consumer Affairs Prof. K. V. Thomas, to set up a sub-committee devising strategies to deal with frivolous advertising didn’t come a day sooner. Among the concerns raised was peddling of products by celebrities. And the idea of pursuing their complicity is not a far-fetched one given the potential they carry to influence the customers who are most likely to believe them beyond...

Secured Bank Loans to Subsidiaries Made More Difficult by the New Companies Act 2013

Section 295 of the (old) Companies Act 1956 Act sought to prevent the siphoning off of money from a company’s coffers by its management by requiring companies to obtain the central government’s approval in order to lend to their directors or persons in whom the directors were interested in (‘Entities of Interest’). Entities of Interest ranged from directors of holding companies, to partners or relatives of directors, to firms in which any director (or director of a holding company or relative)...

Ban on Pornography. Who controls the Mouse?

A PIL has been filed in the Apex Court by an Indore-based advocate Kamlesh Vaswani, outlining the abysmal scenario of the free availability of  pornography especially child pornography  online and seeking directions to take corrective measures.The PIL makes a reference to the Delhi Rape Case and states that most of the sexual crimes against women are a result of extensive access to pornography by the offenders. This observation does not seem to be without merit. Ted Bundy, one of the most...

Respect All, Suspect All; No uncertain terms are allowed to declare stuff in the packages

Buying is not just a twosome deal in which money is given away for a certain product. A fair deal can’t be complete unless the delivered quantity of a product does not worth its equalised monetary value. That’s to say, we pay not just for a certain product but the quantity delivered in exchange must be definite in effect, too. And, if thus be the settled tradition across all economic activities, this must apply to pre-packed commodities with equal rigour. Therefore, ‘The Legal Metrology Act,...

Who is an Interested Witness? IS Raju alias Balachandran and others vs. State of Tamil Nadu (AIR 2013 SC 983) Correctly decided ?

In the decision referred to above, a two judge Bench of the Supreme Court held as follows:-Para 33:- “For the time being, we are concerned with four categories of witnesses - a third party disinterested and unrelated witness (such as a by-stander or passerby); a third party interested witness (such as a trap witness); a related and therefore an interested witness (such as the wife of the victim) having an interest in seeing that the accused is punished; a related and therefore an interested...