To Speak Or Not To Speak: Understanding TheThin Line Between Free Speech And Obscenity

The YouTube Show, India's Got Latent, has been embroiled in a major controversy because its host Samay Raina, podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia, and other fellow panellists have been booked by the Maharashtra Cyber Police for allegedly transmitting content which is putative to be vulgar and obscene. After the Assam police filed a complaint against the duo on February 10, this is the second FIR lodged against them since their clippings got viral. Allahbadia has now petitioned before the Supreme...

Time's Up For Hale's Ghost To Exit From India

The recent Chattisgarh High Court verdict in Gorakhnth Sharma v. State of Chhattisgarh acquitting a husband for committing the offence of unnatural sex and resultant death of the wife has once again brought to fore the need for criminalizing marital rape in India. The Honorable Court in this case arrived at the decision, relying on a combined reading of sections 375,376 and 377 of IPC. Most importantly, standing terra firma on Exception:2 to the section 375 aka the infamous Marital Rape...

Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules 2025: The Goal Remains Distant..?

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP Act 2023) was passed on August 11, 2023, amidst growing concerns over the misuse of personal data and its potential commodification. However, in the absence of rules and regulations, the law remained largely ineffective. After sixteen months of enactment, on this January 3, 2025, the union government introduced the Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules ( DPDP Rules) for public consultation. While the Act and the draft rules...

The Tale Of Two Cases (And Platforms): The Brazilian Paradox

At present, the Brazilian Supreme Court finds itself in a unique position. In two separate matters, the highest court of Brazil is facing a question on the constitutionality of a provision, which may seemingly be a sure protection for freedom of speech and expression. Prima facie, it is fascinating to observe the unique task before the Court. However, the picture becomes clearer when examined closer.Background of the lawIn Brazil, the liability of internet intermediaries such as Google, more...

Does The First Proviso to Section 223(1) of the BNSS Apply to An offence Under Section 138 of the N.I. Act?

Sections 200 to 203 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short 'the Code') deal with “Complaints to Magistrates”. These provisions now stand replaced by Sections 223 to 226 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short 'BNSS').The controversial provisionSection 223(1) of the BNSS states that, a Magistrate having jurisdiction while taking cognizance of an offence on complaint shall examine upon oath the complainant and the witnesses present, if any, and the substance of such...

Rethinking American Citizenship: Why America Needs Doctrine Of Basic Structure

Since the recent second win of Donald Trump as the President of the United States of America, his reasons to be in the news are more than just a few. The American President, after the swearing ceremony issued an executive order to put an end to birthright citizenship as part of his long-committed anti-immigration policy.On January 20, 2025, immediately after being sworn in, President Donald Trump, during the course of his second term in the office, issued a series of executive orders, one of...

Power Of Court To Modify An Arbitral Award – A Legal Quagmire

The issue whether courts can modify arbitral awards in exercise of their powers under Sec. 34 and Sec. 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter 'ACA') has been a long standing issue of debate within the legal fraternity with the presence of conflicting judgments. To put quietus to this issue, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court consisting of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Vishwanathan has referred this matter to a five-judge...

A Flawed Law And An Equally Flawed Interpretation Of That Law

A FLAWED LAW AND AN EQUALLY FLAWED INTERPRETATION OF THAT LAW (in Basanagouda R. Patil v. Shivananda S. Patil 2024 SCC OnLine Kar.96 and Suby Antony v. JFCM-III (2025) KHC OnLine 97) In an earlier article titled “Absurdity No: 1 in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (“BNSS” for short)” dated 13-03-2024, I had occasion to caution that Section 223 (1) BNSS lays down a “strange procedure” on a Magistrate receiving a “private complaint”. No judicial pronouncements on the above...

A Social Strangulation

Irony of warnings is that they are mostly paid heed post their ignorance. Today information travels fast and social media has much to do with it. However let's look at the underbelly of this progress. Propaganda promotion, mis information web, mental health degradation, psychological manipulation of masses- ramifications are flourishing much to our ignorance. The undercurrent that connects all these seemingly unconnected consequences of social media use is the source of the concerned...

Does A State Have Power To Amend Arbitration Act?

Entry 13 in the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, 1950 (“the Constitution”), gives the Legislature of the States along with Parliament, the power to “make laws with respect to any of the matters” (see Article 246) set out in the entry. Entry 13 has the following subject-matter: “Civil procedure, including all matters included in the Code of Civil Procedure at the commencement of this Constitution, limitation and arbitration”. Suppose a State intended to amend...

Justice Hrishikesh Roy's Landmark Judgments : A Law Clerk's Account

Justice Hrishikesh Roy demitted office on 1.2.2025 after serving for over 5 years as a judge of the Supreme Court of India. Justice Roy's wit, ever-smiling demeanour and encouragement for juniors is well-known but much remains to be said about the judgments and the individual- on and off the bench. Considering my experience of working for a year at the office of Justice Muralidhar, I received a call for interview for the position of law clerk at Justice Roy's office in December,2022. The...

"There Is Something Wrong With The ED"

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" is a famous line from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Today, one might be tempted to apply this line to India's premier agency for investigating the offence of money laundering, the Enforcement Directorate [ED], which is responsible for investigating economic offences and financial crimes in India in view of their conduct in handling PMLA matters.The dismal state of affairs in handling the cases by ED is evident from the repeated reprimands from...