India’s Environment Laws Need Stronger Implementation

Those examining the effectiveness of India’s environmental laws are often troubled by its “implementation curse”. While the legislature has time and again promulgated laws and laid down extensive guidelines to ensure protection of the environment from capitalistic exploitation, there seems to be a massive failure on part of the Executive to strictly enforce these environmental laws and guidelines. Resultantly, the issue often falls within the domain of an overburdened Judiciary to ensure...

Brave Lawyer Who Sacrificed His Life For Innocents : Remembering Shahid Azmi On His 13th Death Anniversary

"I’ve died a hundred times and if death did come knocking, I would look it in the eye", said Late Shahid Azmi, who was shot dead on this day in 2010 in his chamber. In his practice of about seven years, Azmi fought numerous cases and represented those whom he believed were wrongly accused in several high-profile “terror cases” in Mumbai. In his short span of around seven years, Azmi got around 17 acquittals, quite a remarkable number in his short span of practice, considering the delay...

In Anna Mathew, the Supreme Court Did Not Follow Its Own Precedents

In its reasons for rejecting on February 7, the petitions seeking ex parte injunction against the swearing-in of Justice L.C. Victoria Gowri as a Judge of the Madras High Court, the Supreme Court’s two judge bench, comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice B.R.Gavai, has on Friday, rejected the argument of the petitioners that the facts were not known and considered by the Collegium. The bench inferred this from the conduct of the Collegium of the High Court and the Supreme Court,...

Secured Creditors Vis-À-Vis Debt Recovery: A Positive Step

The creation of statutory charges and the subsequent recovery process initiated by the tax department has often clashed with the recovery mechanisms used by secured creditors like banks under the Securitization andReconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act,2002 (“SARFAESI”) and Recovery of Debts Due toBanks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 (“RDBA”). The question that lies at the heart of these disputes is which one of the two, the statutory dues or the...

How Much Sunlight? Debating Collegium Transparency | Column By Sr Adv Sanjoy Ghose

Recently, the statements issued by India’s Supreme Court disclosed extracts of Intelligence Reports forwarded by the Government to the Collegium to substantiate its veto on certain candidates recommended for judicial appointment. The Law Minister responded by voicing an alarm about the sensitivity of the intelligence shared.This has again brought to the centre stage the issue of transparency and accountability in matters of judicial appointment, something which the executive claimed, was the...

The IBC VS. SEBI: Critical Analysis Of Moratorium Under IBC

Section 28A of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (“SEBI Act”) mentions about the recovery of proceeds from debtors in the form of attachment of immovable and movable property, attachment of bank accounts, etc. in order to make good the penalty imposed or to ensure the compliance with the regulations and the directions of the SEBI. However, this provision of SEBI cannot be read in isolation and without interpreting it along with section 14 and section 238 of Insolvency ...

In The Light Of Victoria Gowri’s Swearing-in As A Judge, Grounds For Judicial Review Of Her Appointment Still Persist

With the Supreme Court on Tuesday not entertaining the petitions challenging the appointment of advocate Victoria Gowri as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court, and following her swearing-in as the Judge, it would be naive to assume that the petitioners have exhausted their legal remedies in this case. The two-Judge bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and B.R.Gavai, which heard the petitioners in Anna Mathew and Others vs Supreme Court of India, on Tuesday, expressed its...

Right To Personality And Its Emergence In India

Right to Personality has recently been in the news as the aspect of the case is concerned with constitutional law and publicity rights. The reason is that the Delhi High Court recently passed an interim order restraining the unlawful use of the renowned actor of Bollywood Amitabh Bachchan’s name, image, and voice. The court by this order restrained the respondent and other persons from infringing the personality right of the actor. One can ask; why personality rights are important and why...

Victoria Gowri’s Elevation Exposes Centre’s Double Standards & Collegium’s Fiasco

A person who has a record of making deeply problematic communal statements is now a High Court judge. The appointment of Victoria Gowri as an additional judge of the Madras High Court will remain an ignoble chapter in the Indian judicial history. It raises troubling questions at the efficacy of the selection process- which boasts of consultations at multiple levels - in picking up the suitable persons. When the Supreme Court on its judicial side has been repeatedly cautioning against...

The Judge Is Not A Mere Post Office To Frame The Charge At The Behest Of The Prosecution – The Discharge Of Accused In The Jamia Violence Underscores

The Additional Sessions Judge, South East District, Saket Court, Arul Varma, in State vs Mohd. Ilyas@ Illen, delivered an order on Saturday, which is significant for establishing when an assembly of persons protesting against what is perceived as unjust, becomes illegal. The order is also noteworthy to ascertain whether the action taken by the police against individuals exercising their right to protest has blurred the distinction between legitimate protest and a violent uprising. All ...

Law On Reels; Rashomon In The Courtroom-Exploring The Paradox Of Subjectivity In Legal Proceeding

A notable quote by author Mark Twain reads the following: “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; the truth is not.” Generally, it shows situations where the truth appears implausible based on facts and circumstances. Legendary director Akira Kurosawa employs a criminal thriller story in his epochal film Rashomon in 1950 to introduce us to the notion of ‘multiple realities’ and the futility of reconciling them, even in an...

To Interfere Or Not To Interfere – The Section 11 Conundrum

The Courts under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘the Act’), are empowered to intervene if the parties fail to agree on the appointment procedure or are unable to act upon the agreed appointment procedure. Some argue that the Court should limit its examination to the existence of an arbitration agreement and refer the matter to arbitration by appointing a suitable arbitrator(s). However, after the Supreme Court initiated restrictive expansion in its landmark...