Articles
Can Magistrate Suo Motu Order Investigation Or Further Investigations Under Section 175 BNSS?
UNLIKE SECTION 156 (3) OF THE NOW REPEALED Cr.P.C., THERE IS NO GENERAL POWER AVAILABLE TO THE MAGISTRATE TO SUO MOTU ORDER “INVESTIGATION” OR “FURTHER INVESTIGATION' UNDER SECTION 175 OR ANY OTHER PROVISION IN THE BNSS For a better comprehension of the matter, it is necessary to examine the two provisions in the Cr.P.C as well as BNSS.Cr.P.C, 1973BNSS, 2023Section 156 - Police officer's power to investigate cognizable cases (1) Any officer in charge of a police station may, without the...
Has Section 193(9) BNSS Changed Law On Further Investigation?
The power of the police to conduct further investigation after filing a police report has long occupied an uneasy space between investigative autonomy and judicial control. Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) expressly preserved the power of further investigation even after a report under Section 173(2) had been submitted. Yet the provision did not require prior permission of the Magistrate. Over time, the Supreme Court supplied that safeguard judicially. Section 193(9)...
From Checkbox To Control: Operationalising Consent Under DPDP Act
As companies prepare for the full implementation of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”), one dimension that is frequently underestimated in this preparation is consent management. The common assumption is that a Data Fiduciary - the organisation that determines why and how personal data is processed - has fulfilled its obligation to obtain the user's consent once the user clicks 'I Agree' on the concerned privacy notice. However, that is just the start of the data...
When Acquittal Isn't Really Acquittal: Section 300 CrPC And Second Cheque-Bounce Complaint
Under the Indian legal system, every law student learns Sec. 300(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) , 1973, Sec. 337 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) almost as an article of faith. Once a person has been acquitted or convicted by a competent court, he cannot, subject to the statutory conditions, be tried again for the same offence. The doctrines of autrefois acquit and autrefois convict are firmly entrenched in our criminal jurisprudence, with Article 20(2) of the...
What Ails Our Democracy
India is a constitutional democracy governed by a written constitution with a parliamentary system of government. 79 years after we won our freedom and over 76 years since the Constitution came into force, it is appropriate and essential to reflect upon how we have worked our democracy and its most vital institution, Parliament.Democracy may be defined as the dwelling place which man has built for the spirit of liberty. It is founded on the principle that every person has equal value. What we...
Operation Safed Sagar -Untold Courage Behind Kargil's Skies
The 1999 Kargil War remains etched in the Indian consciousness as a saga of raw, unyielding grit. For decades, the public memory of that conflict has been dominated by the iconic, harrowing images of Indian Army soldiers scrambling up near vertical Himalaya's exposed mountain faces under a continuous rain of enemy fire. The Indian Air Force's extraordinary contribution from the skies, codenamed Operation Safed Sagar, was a decisive force multiplier that altered the trajectory of the war....
Your Name Is On Bank's Screen Before You Say Hello: What DPDPA Says About Call-Centre Data
A practical guide for banks on consent, caller data and purpose limitation under the DPDPALet's start with a scenario. Rohan is thinking of applying for a personal loan. He finds a toll-free number on a bank's website, dials it, and within three rings, the call connects. Before he even asks his first question, his mobile number has been captured and if he is an existing customer, his name may already be visible on the agent's screen. If not, the agent may key it in as the call begins. Nobody...
From Data Privacy To Mental Privacy: What UNESCO's Neurotechnology Recommendation Means For India
On 11 November 2025, The 43rd session of UNESCO's General Conference, which took place at Samarkand, adopted the Recommendation on the Ethics of Neurotechnology for the first time at the global level, thereby recognising neural data and data capable of enabling inferences about mental states and which requires heightened protection. Two days later, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology notified the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, finally giving operative shape,...
India Needs Law For Protest, Not Law Against Protest
Constitutional ProtectionA citizen can be arrested for a great many things in India. Peacefully standing at Jantar Mantar with a placard should not, in law, be one of them. Peaceful protest enjoys constitutional protection. It flows from Article 19(1)(a) (free speech and expression), and 19(1)(b) (the freedom to assemble peaceably and unarmed), both qualified by the reasonable restrictions under Articles 19(2) and 19(3).The Supreme Court has affirmed this repeatedly. In Ramlila Maidan Incident,...
Who Is A Law Teacher?
During 2000s, many wittingly used to say that in India, 'those who cannot do anything, do law'. Where the popular aspirations of law students were either judiciary or litigation- corporate, or advocacy with a family support, no one willingly opted for teaching law. It would be difficult to imagine anyone who studies law by choice ,without an exposure to the glory of law visualised through a red beacon car in movies, or name plate bearing cars in reality. If one chooses law, it would further be...
Aid Of Third Parties In Inspecting Documents Under RTI Act
Recently, in Vala Jodhubhai Golanbhai v. RTI Officer,[1] the Gujarat High Court (“GHC”) has held that it is impermissible for an information seeker under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (“Act”) to be accompanied by third parties during the inspection of documents accessed through the Act. In the case, the nature of the application filed under the Act necessitated the applicant's inspection of bulky records to cull out the information they desired. Since the applicant was not conversant with...