Kerala Lok Ayukta Only Has Recommendatory Jurisdiction, Cannot Issue Positive Directions: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently held that the Lok Ayukta, under the Kerala Lok Ayukta Act 1999, cannot issue positive directions and that it only has the jurisdiction to submit a report to the concerned authority with its recommendations.A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Rajesh Bindal made reference to the judgments of the Kerala High Court in Sudha Devi K. v. District Collector 2017...

Nobody Above Law: CAT Srinagar Summons Addl. Secretary to Govt. Home, Takes Exception To Non-Compliance With Its Orders, 'Casual Approach'

Summoning the Additional Secretary to Govt. Home in connection with a contempt petition, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in Srinagar has observed that the court orders are to be complied with grace as law always commands grace and coercive measure is adopted only when the orders of the courts are not complied with in its letter and spirit.Expressing concern over the casual...

Order VII Rule 11 CPC - No Evidence Or Merits Of Controversy Can Be Examined While Deciding Rejection Of Plaint : Supreme Court

Recently, the Supreme Court (on November 30) held that no amount of evidence or merits of the controversy could be examined at the stage of deciding rejection of a plaint application under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (C.P.C.). It may be noted that this order provides the grounds on which the Court shall reject a plaint.The Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Rajesh...

Jammu & Kashmir Special Status: Supreme Court's Judgment In Article 370 Case To Be Pronounced This Month

The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its verdict in the long-pending case challenging the Union Government's 2019 decision to repeal the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution this month (December 2023). The Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and composed of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna,...

CLAT PG 2024 Exam Analysis

CLAT PG Exam: A Marathon of Legal PassagesThe CLAT PG exam this year presented a significant departure from the traditional pattern, with an unexpected increase in the number of passages and questions. The exam comprised 24 passages, each accompanied by five questions, resulting in a lengthy and time-consuming test. While the overall difficulty level was moderate, the sheer volume of...

CLAT (UG) 2024 Analysis

CLAT 2024 was conducted today in 139 centres across the country. This was the first CLAT paper which was conducted of 120 questions (instead of 150) though time remained the same (120 minutes). CLAT 2024, against all expectations, turned out to be a relatively easy paper. Barring a few questions and a couple of passages, most of the serious students wouldn't have faced any...

Never Try To Mislead Judges, Better To Be Frank : Supreme Court Judge Justice AG Masih Advises Lawyers

Justice Augustine George Masih, judge of the Supreme Court, speaking at an event at the Punjab & Haryana High Court, said that lawyers should not try to mislead judges and if they do so, they will risk losing their credibility.“Please don't ever think judges do not know anything or what you are saying we don't understand. Don't try to be smart because most of us come from you only,...

Supreme Court Directs Urgent Listing Of Jauhar University's Plea In Allahabad High Court

The Supreme Court has directed the Allahabad High Court to urgently hear the plea filed by Samajwadi Leader Azam Khan's Trust (Maulana Mohamad Ali Jauhar Trust) against the decision of the Uttar Pradesh Government to take over the land of Jauhar University in Rampur. A bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud and comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra directed the plea to be listed...

“Recovery Evidence” Under Section 27 Of The Evidence Act- Questions & Answers By Justice V Ramkumar [Part-III]

Q.6 Since the words used in Section 27 are “a person accused of an offence” should there not be a formal accusation against the person in the form of registering an FIR against him?. Ans. No. The words “person accused of an offence” occurring in Section 27 of the Evidence Act are only descriptive of his status and it is enough that after the disclosure statement is recorded,...

“Recovery Evidence” Under Section 27 Of The Evidence Act- Questions & Answers By Justice V Ramkumar [Part-II]

Q.11 Whether a statement by the accused that the weapon discovered was (“the weapon with which he committed murder”), will fall under Section 27 which contains the words “whether it amounts to a confession or not” ?. Ans. No. The bracketed portion of the statement is not admissible in evidence. In para 10 of Pulukuri Kottaya v. Emperor AIR 1947 PC 67 – Sir John Beaumont,...

CLAT 2024 Tomorrow : Over 1 Lakh Candidates Registered For Test, Around 35% Surge In UG Applications

Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2024, the national-level entrance test organised by the Consortium of National Law Universities (the Consortium), is set to take place tomorrow, December 3, 2023.As per a press release issued by the Consortium today, the test will be conducted at 139 Test Centres across the country.Notably, CLAT 2024 has achieved a surge in registrations with over 1...

'In A Democracy, The Majority Will Have Its Way But The Minority Must Have Its Say': CJI DY Chandrachud

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud speaking at Justice Keshav Chandra Dhulia Memoral Lecture on the topic of 'Democracy, Debate and Dissent' on Saturday, said“For all citizens to feel free in a democracy, the State must side with the weaker population which may be a numerical or a social minority. This may at first appear to be at odds with the democratic principle of majority rule. However, a...