Auction Purchasers be on the alert –Lawmaker is unmindful of the injustice imprint in Article 134 of the Limitation Act R/W Section 47 CPC

Whether an auction purchaser who purchased the property in execution of a decree of a civil court could file a separate suit for delivery of vacant possession of immovable property or whether his remedy is limited to an application under O.21, R.95, Civil Procedure code is an important issue where unfortunately one could find conflicting views among different benches of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.Section 47 of the Civil Procedure code provides that all questions arising between the...

Let us do away with 'Your Lordship' and 'My Lord'

Fali S Nariman often tells interesting stories. He writes in his autobiography (Chapter 5): “...a city court judge and a district judge must be addressed as ‘Your Honour’, and (most important of all) a high court judge must always be addressed as ‘Your Lordships’ (believe me, the judges simply love it). Years ago, I appeared before a judge who had just been’ elevated’ from the city civil court to the high court, and was particular about how he should hence forth...

Who is this Law For?

Dr. B Umadethan analyses “Transplantation of Human Organs Act”, introduced in 1994 by the Central Government to curb the kidney business that flourished in our land. Caught entangled in the labyrinthine paths of the law many patients succumb to death as transplantation is not done in time. A few amendments were introduced in 2011. Still it is high time to redefine the purpose and execution of the law says Dr Umadethan in this column. Scene-1  Amrita Medical College Hospital, KochiA young...

Time to revisit Bachan Singh

If we have to go by what the constitution makers considered about the capital punishment, it is easy to find out that they were aware that our Penal Code prescribed it and yet they did not want to interfere with it.  The Indian Penal Code which was in force in many states at the time when the Constitution was made contained more than one offence punishable with death penalty.  In fact, some articles were formulated by the Constitution makers by reference to the death penalty. e.g. The President...

Government all set to open the floodgates, but is there still water left?

Crippled with falling Rupees and increasing deficits, the Government is all set to open the Pandora box of reforms, substantially liberalizing the foreign investment regime in India. Many restrictions, which were considered as sacrosanct earlier, are now going to wither.Foreign investment comes into India mainly through three routes: foreign direct investment, institutional investment or portfolio investment and external commercial borrowing. The first two routes are preferable from a...

Betting In Cricket: Need for a law

The absence of any law to regulate betting in Cricket, a bane on what is considered a gentleman’s game has affected the credibility of those connected with the game of cricket including the sponsors, the owners, the clubs, the players and several others. Cricket is not just a sport, it is a big business now. All those connected with the game are from the affluent sections of the society. Those who manage it are big business houses and those who participate in the game as players do so due to the...

Winning the Battle and Losing the War

Governmental ability to restrict competitions for public contracts only to domestic entities is both important and universal. The underlying economic argument is that public tax dollars spend on procurement must be used, as required, for bolstering domestic manufacturing and employment. As a corollary, national discrimination in public procurement is almost universal: the US, for instance, does not allow Indian bidders to bid for federal contracts, and imposes discriminatory practices such as...

Who Owns Your Genes? You or Myriad Genetics

Patent scholars all over the world are closely watching the verdict to be pronounced by the US Supreme Court in the famous case of Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics Inc. They are hopeful that this decision will eventually settle the law dealing with the patentability of human genes.The main issue before the Supreme Court is to find out whether the composition-of-matter claims in patents owned by Myriad Genetics (since 1997) are patentable under the existing law. These...

Much ado about nothing?

In a landmark decision, India’s Supreme Court upheld the rejection of a patent covering Novartis’s famed anticancer drug Glivec on the ground that it was no more than an insignificant variation over an existing pharmaceutical substance.As expected, the decision fuelled an already polarized debate around pharmaceutical patents, innovation and public health. While industry enthusiasts decried the decision for its wanton disregard of innovation incentives; public health activists and patient groups...

Banking System: Catching Up With The New Age Methods

IntroductionEmpowered by the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) Act, 1934 and the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, RBI has taken several initiatives in the recent past for ensuring development of technical and institutional infrastructure to meet the electronic payment system and banking needs of the country. With the increasing usage of mobile phones, mobile banking has become the latest banking method. In addition, for e-commerce transactions a gradual shift to cashless and online payments...

Two out of Thirty; What Ratio is it My Lord?

On 17th March 2013, PTI reported a news item from Allahabad under the caption, “A nation that does not respect its women can never prosper: Chief Justice of India”. The report quotes, “A nation which cannot ensure respect for its women, can never prosper. It is heartening to see that women are coming to the forefront in all walks of life”. The Chief Justice of India said this on the sidelines of a function organized by the Allahabad High Court on the 150thbirth anniversary of renowned...

I contradict myself, I am large, I contain the multitude

Assurance of a fair trial is the first imperative of the dispensation of Justice. An accused is entitled to a fair trial which is a part of his fundamental right as guaranteed under Art.21 of the Constitution of India. Fairness in trial is also a human right recognized by Art. 10 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, Art.14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 and Art.6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms...