Unmasking Hardship Of Women Undertrials In India

“Women undertrials, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, suffer prolonged detention, not because they are guilty, but because they are poor."-Justice V.R. Krishna IyerThe Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023[1], defines an under-trial prisoner as a person who has been committed to judicial custody pending investigation or trial and has not yet been convicted. According to the Prison Statistics Report, 2022 released by the National Crime Records Bureau[2], the total number...

The Specific Relief Amendment -Katta Sujatha Reddy - Judgment, Review, And Riddle

In November 2024, the Supreme Court delivered its ruling in a review petition challenging its earlier decision in Katta Sujatha Reddy v. Siddamsetty Infra Projects Pvt. Ltd., (2023) 1 SCC 355 (the “2022 Judgment”).I previously published a two-part analysis of the 2022 Judgment, examining the application of the Specific Relief Amendment Act, 2018 ("Amendment"). In particular, I analysed two key questions: (i) whether the Amendment operates prospectively or retrospectively, and (ii) if...

Reproductive Rights In India: Precarious Intersection Of Mental Health And Abortion Law

The Right to Abortion has long been situated at the confluence of constitutional guarantees, ethical dilemmas, and medical jurisprudence. Time and again, abortion laws have divided societies into pro-choice and pro-life factions. This schism is further exacerbated by the moralistic framing of the issue, which often leads to the stigmatisation of abortion and the imposition of restrictive policies all across the globe. In India, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971[i] (hereinafter, 'MTP...

Trial In Absentia- A Tool For Justice Or Injustice?

For a fair, expeditious and a successful criminal justice administration the presence of both the parties to a criminal trial (that is the prosecution and the accused) is quintessential. And the predicament arises when one of the parties to a criminal trial either flees away or absconds especially in the light of the Article 14 (3) (d) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which India is a party. Article 14 (3) (d) of ICCPR entitles everyone to be tried in his...

Conflict Between Plant Variety Denominations And Trademarks: A Multi-Jurisdiction Comparison

There are various guidelines and regulations surrounding plant variety denominations and trademarks. A comparison of the provisions available in the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) guidelines, Australia, India, the United States and Europe is particularly useful for understanding potential conflicts that may arise between these two protection regimesPlant Variety DenominationPlant variety denomination refers to the unique name that is given to a new plant variety. This...

AI Hallucinations And The Non-Delegable Responsibility Of Lawyers

The Bengaluru Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal recently made headlines for incorrectly passing an Order relying on imaginary judgements that were factually and legally inapplicable to the case at hand.These judgements – one from the Madras High Court and three from the Supreme Court – two were entirely non-existent, one had a citation which led to an unrelated judgement, and the fourth pertained to a judgement that was completely irrelevant to the legal and factual issues under...

The Indian Influence On Kenya's Mental Health Jurisprudence

On the 9th of January, 2025, a landmark decision in Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights v. Attorney General delivered by the High Court of Nairobi declared section 226 of the Kenyan Penal Code, which criminalised attempted suicide, as unconstitutional. The provision when read along with section 36 of the Kenyan Penal Code, penalised any person who was guilty of attempting suicide with a sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or with a fine, or both.Section 226 was...

A Case For Harmonizing Gen AI And The Copyright Regime

Globally, Generative AI (Gen-AI) developers are facing lawsuits from publishers, and India is no exception. Gen-AI developers have been accused of using content generated by publishers & authors to train their AI models and then using it for profits. At the outset, while this sounds like violating copyright protection, there are deeper questions worth considering here.Copyright Is Not AbsoluteOne crucial aspect often overlooked in these discussions is that copyright is not an inherent...

Deposit To Be Made In Cases Fit For Grant Of Stay Of Award -Mixed Signals From Supreme Court

The Supreme Court can't make up its mind on the quantum of deposit required to be made in cases fit for the grant of stay on the enforcement of arbitral award under Section 36(3) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“the Act”).Section 36(3) gives the Courts hearing application under Section 34 the discretion:1. to grant stay on the enforcement of the arbitral award; and if the Court decides that the case is fit for the grant of stay; and2. to decide on what conditions the stay...

Assessing Incidental Transactions In Financial Companies: A Taxation Conundrum

In ordinary business discourse, it is a commonly accepted bitter truth that sometimes debtors are unable to pay their debts. Debtors can be wilful defaulters or in certain cases, their inadequacy to service the debt might be genuine. In either situation, the seller/ creditor suffers a real monitory loss, known as bad debt. The Income Tax Act, 1961 provides some respite in bonafide cases of bad debt. Section 36(1)(vii), subject to the limitation provided in Section 36(2) of the Act, allows an...

Turtles Dying On The Tamil Nadu Coast: What Is The Law On Point?

The coast of Chennai in Tamil Nadu is a well-known nesting site for Olive Ridley Sea Turtles. However, this year the Tamil Nadu coast witnessed over 1100 dead turtles wash over the shore. Despite the welcome increase in the number of nests recorded subsequently, the mass death of turtles merits an enquiry. The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal ('NGT') took suo moto cognizance of the issue pursuant to an article in the New Indian Express reporting the spike in the number of dead...

Does India Need A Refugee Law?

Few weeks back a video from Tripura went viral on social media. In the video some girls could be seen taking a selfie video near the border-fencing while some Bangladeshi nationals are seen on the other side clinging to the fence. The video received a mixed reaction. Many took it in a humorous and light-hearted manner, but some raised concerns about how porous India's borders are to cross-border infiltration. Indian subcontinent and its history of providing safety for refugees is neither new...