Articles
Demurrer And Party Autonomy: Supreme Court Reaffirms Fairness As Cornerstone Of Procedure
When can a court dismiss a case without even examining the evidence? This question lies at the heart of the plea of demurrer, a procedural device that allows the court to test whether a claim—assuming every fact stated by the plaintiff is true—still stands in law. While it was designed to promote procedural efficiency, its misuse in recent years has increasingly resulted in premature dismissals and denial of fair hearing.In Urban Infrastructure Real Estate Fund v. Neelkanth Realty Pvt. Ltd.,...
The Duty To Decide
Widespread media reports concerning the litigation of Indian Forest Service officer and Magsaysay awardee Sanjiv Chaturvedi point to an extraordinary sequence of judicial recusals extending over a decade. Sixteen judges and members across the Supreme Court, the High Courts of Uttarakhand and Allahabad, several benches of the Central Administrative Tribunal and courts of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrates at Nainital and Shimla have withdrawn from hearing his petitions. Each withdrawal,...
Legal Labyrinth: Agent As Executant Under Registration Act
“Executing”, a seemingly innocuous expression in Part VI of the Registration Act, 1908 (Of Presenting Documents for Registration) has bemused judges of the Privy Council, High Courts and the Supreme Court over the last century. The latest testament to this is the Supreme Court's judgment dated July 15th, 2025 in the case of G. Kalawathi Bai vs G. Shashikala & Others (2025 LiveLaw (SC) 706), in which a two-judge bench of the Court doubted the correctness of a coordinate bench's decision in...
Reassessing Burden Of Proof In Indian Election Disputes
Free and fair elections are the foundational pillars of any functional democracy. To secure this ideal, the Constitution of India entrusts the Parliament and the Election Commission with the responsibility of ensuring electoral integrity. Among the legislative instruments enabling this, the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RPA, 1951) governs the conduct of elections, defines corrupt practices, and provides for adjudication of election disputes by the High Courts and the Supreme...
Admission As A Secondary Evidence- Critical Analysis
Sections 15 to 21 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) deal with the term “Admission”. Section 15 of BSA defines "admission" as a statement in oral, documentary or contained in electronic form that suggests any inference as to any fact in issue or a relevant fact which is made by any of the persons, and under the circumstances, mentioned in Sections 16 to 21 of the Adhiniyam. So the definition of “Admission” provided in section 15 of BSA is not independently exhaustive and it depends on the...
CLAT: Common By Name, Rare In Access
Every nation reveals its idea of justice in how it tests its children. Long before they enter a courtroom or a legislature, students experience what fairness feels like through the exams that decide their futures. If a system rewards privilege as talent and fluency as intelligence, it does not merely measure aptitude; it teaches inequality.On October 15, 2025, the Consortium of National Law Universities announced a plan to reform the Common Law Admission Test. At its fourth Advisory Board...
Of Apples And Oranges: Rethinking The Comparison Between Advocates And Judicial Officers
When the Supreme Court recently, while deciding whether Judicial Officers with 7 years of prior Law practice are eligible for appointment of District Judges under Bar quota remarked that the Judicial Officers possess greater experience than Advocates (REJANISH K.V. vs. K. DEEPA), it has raised a subtle yet intriguing question - What does being “experienced” in law truly mean? The Courtroom is where two worlds meet - the relentless dynamism of the Bar and the anchored steadiness...
No Royal Titles In A Republic: Rajasthan High Court's Direction To Members Of Erstwhile Ruling Family Of Jaipur
When the Constituent Assembly on 9th December 1948 introduced the Draft Constitution containing Article 12 (now Article 18[1]) of the Indian Constitution, it was applauded as a reform that would uphold the principle of equality and democracy among the different classes of people.Article 18[2] of the Indian Constitution prohibits states from conferring any titles (except academic or military) and forbids Indian citizens from accepting titles from any foreign state. It further bans government...
From 'Jhakaas' And 'Bhidu' To Sadhguru: The Celebrity Scramble For Personality Rights
India, that is Bharat, is a profoundly diverse and heterogenous union of states marked by its sublime contradictions. Apart from being a millennia-old civilisation racing through a digital revolution, two disruptive forces now define the modern Indian experience: celebrity worship—from Bollywood to spiritual gurus—and the breakneck speed of its digital landscape, pioneered by cheap internet access and now complicated by the spectre of AI-generated deepfakes.At the volatile intersection of these...
No Representation, No Governance': The Constitutional Mandate vs. Political Delay In Local Body Polls
When street lights stop functioning or garbage isn't collected for days, citizens naturally reach out to their elected local leaders. These corporators and councillors are supposed to be the first point of contact for solving everyday problems. But what happens when there are no elected representatives at all?This isn't a hypothetical question for millions of people in Maharashtra. For nearly five years now, the state's urban and rural areas have been governed by administrators appointed by the...
Beyond Madness Of Marks And Metrics: Recognition Of Mental Health As A Constitutional Right In India
The Supreme Court judgment in Sukdeb Saha v. State of Andhra Pradesh[3] marks a key point in Indian law on mental health and education. The decision was taken in the case involving the demise of a 17-year-old NEET aspirant in Visakhapatnam. The CBI was ordered by the Court to oversee the investigation due to inconsistency in police investigation and conflicting statements from doctors and the educational institution. Additionally, the Court through this judgement laid down a rights-based...