Articles
Crown Debt Vs Other Debts – The Legislative Intent
When the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code,2016 was passed by the Indian Parliament, it created a new precedent by lowering the priority of payment of the Crown Debt or the Statutory Dues to the dues of the Banks/Financial Institutions and other creditors, both secured and unsecured. It was a departure from the long-standing practice set in place by the Britishers from pre-independence times, where the Crown Debts i.e. dues of Income Tax, Excise, Customs, GST etc., enjoyed pre-eminance over...
Making Cinema Accessible To Everyone
The Delhi High Court on January 16, directed the producers of the upcoming movie ‘Pathaan’ (Yash Raj Films), to make the movie accessible for hearing and visually-impaired persons. The producers of the film were directed to include audio description, close captioning and subtitles for the movie's over-the-top (OTT) release. This is a welcome step but more needs to be done to strengthen the entertainment accessibility rights of differently-abled in the theatres. As per the 2011 Census...
Basic Structure And Constituent Power
Recently the comment made by the Vice President of India that the basic structure doctrine as expatiated by the Supreme Court in Keshavananda Bharti case[1] hinders the functioning of the Parliament, evoked a flurry of responses. What Keshavananda held was that Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution save the basic structure. Now when we ask ‘what is basic structure?’ we get some answers- Independence of Judiciary, Rule of Law, Supremacy of the Constitution are some of the...
How Pakistan’s Ruling Classes Destroyed Their Judiciary And Their Democracy
The Indian judiciary has, of late, come under relentless pincer like attacks from several quarters of the ruling establishment. Repeated pot shots, (deliberately ignoring historical and structural contexts) have been made against the collegium system of appointments, the basic structure of the constitution and calls are even being made for an unaccountable supremacy of the Parliament. The latest missive demanding government representatives on the collegiums despite the declaration of NJAC...
Justice Madan Lokur’s Judgment In NJAC Case Has The Key To Recent Irritants Between Executive And The Judiciary
As the nation celebrates 74th Republic Day on Thursday, the ongoing stand-off between the Union Government and the Supreme Court Collegium over the appointment of Judges shows that Article 50 of the Constitution - a Directive Principle which calls upon the State to take steps to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public services of the State - is under severe stress. As Article 50 has been interpreted to refer to both subordinate and higher judiciary, any intensification of...
74th Republic Day : Lets Build A 'Constitutional Democracy' And Not A Mere 'Democracy'
Thucydides, a well-known Greek historian, criticised democracy by opining that democratic governments failed miserably “in the search for the truth." He believed that democracies produced demagogues who could sway public opinion with their rhetoric and rabble-rousing oratory skills, imposing their own interpretations of the truth on the masses. He further argued that this led to a failure of epistemic knowledge, leading citizens to believe in “silly things about their own past." What was...
Indian Penal Code And The Rainbow Community
As far as history can remember, the rainbow community has experienced persecution and atrocities. In fact, in paragraph number twenty of Navtej Singh Johar vs. Union of India the Supreme Court of India opined as follows: “History owes an apology to the members of this community and their families, for the delay in providing redressal for the ignominy and ostracism that they have suffered through the centuries. The members of this community were compelled to live a life full of fear of...
CCI Not In Favour Of Most-Favoured Nation Clauses: A Case For Intermediation Platforms
In the last year, the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) came down heavily on the digital sector, with it passing orders against Google, MakeMyTrip and OYO and imposing hefty fines on them. In addition to this, the parliamentary panel in one of its reports has also proposed bringing in a Digital Competition Act, an ex-ante framework, in order to regulate the anti-competitive practices in the digital market. On 19 October 2022, the CCI found MakeMyTrip India Private Limited, Ibibo...
Battle Between “Non –Obstante Clauses”
As commercial transactions become progressively complex each passing day, interplay amongst various statues has become part and parcel of such transactions, including any litigation born out of such transactions. Parties and courts should be mindful in interpretating various laws and regulations especially in situations wherein the relevant subject matter falls into the purview of multiple regulators and/or statutes. Therefore, a particular statute cannot be read in isolation but it has...
Rethinking Marketing For Lawyers In Modern India
Lawyers enrolled in India are not permitted to market their work. It is prohibited by the Bar Council of India Rules[1] as well as the Advocates Act, 1961[2]. This ban originated in Victorian England and has remained till date. Its basis lies in Indian social construct of ethics and morals which requires abstaining from promotion of work, an aspect that used to resonate with the UK of yore. Further, the legal profession is thought of as a noble pursuit with justice as its goal and any...
Supreme Court Collegium’s Landmark Reiterations Show It Is No Longer Pusillanimous
On Thursday, the Supreme Court’s three-member Collegium - comprising the Chief Justice of India, D.Y.Chandrachud and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K.M.Joseph - responsible for recommending suitable names for elevation as the High Court Judges, reiterated certain names recommended by it earlier, for elevation to various High Courts. Reiteration of a recommendation by the Collegium means that having reconsidered a previous recommendation in the light of reservations expressed by the...