Is Arbitration Clause In Unstamped Contract Valid? Supreme Court Constitution Bench Reserves Judgment

A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, on Wednesday, reserved order in the reference, which pertains to the issue - whether the arbitration clause in a contract, which is required to be registered and stamped, but is not registered and stamped, is valid and enforceable.A 5-Judge Bench, comprising Justice K.M. Joseph, Justice Ajay Rastogi, Justice Aniruddha Bose, Justice Hrishikesh Roy...

Collegium System Better Than Govt Appointing Judges; But It Is Non-Transparent, Non-Objective & Riddled With Nepotism : Prashant Bhushan

As the controversy over the collegium system refuses to die down, Advocate Prashant Bhushan added to the debate on Wednesday by saying that the existing judicial appointment mechanism, although better than allowing the government to have a direct vote, was still afflicted with a lack of transparency. Highlighting the failure of the superior courts to lay down any objective criteria...

Supreme Court Monthly Digest: December 2022

Judgements/OrderCut-Off Date For Acquiring Qualification For The Post Advertised Is The Last Date Of Application : Supreme CourtCase Details: Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd. vs Dharminder Singh | 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 999 | CA 8828 OF 2022The Supreme Court observed that the cut-off date for acquiring the qualification advertised is the last date of application.In this case, the...

Supreme Court Annual Digest 2022- Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002

Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 - Money laundering is an independent offence. (Para 7) Dr. Manik Bhattacharya v. Ramesh Malik, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 867 Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 - Protective order passed against one investigating agency cannot operate against another investigating agency even if there are factual similarities in allegations- Interim...

‘Why Is The Bar Silent As Judicial Independence Comes Under Attack?’ Asks Senior Advocate Anand Grover

Amid the intensifying war of words between the executive and the judiciary over the issue of judicial appointments and the basic structure doctrine, Senior Advocate and former United Nations Special Rapporteur Anand Grover urged members of the legal fraternity to throw their weight behind the judiciary to ensure their independence. Calling the silence of the bar associations on these...

[BAIL] Questions & Answers By Justice V. Ramkumar-Regular Bail-PART-VI

Q.26 Is the requirement in the bail order and in the bail bond in a bailable offence that the accused should attend the court at the time and place specified therein, a bail condition ?Ans. A reading of Section 436(2) Cr.P.C. would indicate that it is a condition. But in Azeez v. State 1984 KLT 437 – U. L. Bhat – J, it has been held that it is only a term as to bail. If there is...

Legislature Cannot Directly Overrule A Judgment ; But Can Retrospectively Remove Its Foundation To Make It Ineffective : Supreme Court

While upholding the validity of the Assam Community Professional (Registration and Competency) Act, 2015, the Supreme Court examined the scope of powers of legislature to overrule a judgment.The bench of Justices B R Gavai and B V Nagarathna made the following observations in the judgment:(1) The Legislature cannot directly overrule a judicial decision. But when a competent...

Custodial Torture | DK Basu Guidelines Can't Stop Highhanded Cops : Singhvi Urges Supreme Court To Pass Additional Safeguards

Senior Advocate Dr.Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is the amicus curiae in the landmark case DK Basu vs State of West Bengal, has requested the Supreme Court to pass additional guidelines to prevent abuse of arrest powers and custodial torture.On January 24, he agreed before a bench comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Bela M Trivedi to submit a comprehensive note detailing the...

Contradictory Reports By Two Investigation Agencies In UP About MBBS Student's Death: Supreme Court Orders Further Investigation By CBI

The Supreme Court has directed CBI to conduct further investigation into unnatural death of an MBBS Student in 2017.Anadi Dixit had lodged the First Information Report after the unnatural death of his daughter who was enrolled in an educational institution pursuing MBBS course. Initially, two persons were arraigned as accused for commission of offences under Section 306/201 of the Indian...

Supreme Court Weekly Digest With Nominal And Subject/Statute Wise Index [January 16 – 22, 2023]

SUBJECT WISE INDEX Arbitration 12 month’s time limit under Section 29A Arbitration Act not applicable to international commercial arbitration. TATA Sons Pvt. Ltd. v. Siva Industries and Holdings Ltd., 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 39 Bail Process of criminal law not for money recovery; Bail can be granted irrespective of payment of money involved. Bimla Tiwari v. State of...

Judiciary Should Have Judges With Alternative Life Experiences; Now Most Judges Are Upper-caste Heterosexual Men : Saurabh Kirpal

Senior Advocate Saurabh Kirpal, whose appointment as a judge was objected to by the Central Government on the ground of his sexual orientation, opined that it is important to have judges with different life experiences in the bench, so that the judiciary represents the social diversity.Kirpal pointed out that the judiciary is mostly composed of upper caste, heterosexual men, who would be having...

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...