The Supreme Court On Mandatory Voice Samples – I: Some Glaring Conceptual Errors

"In the light of the above discussions, we unhesitatingly take the view that until explicit provisions are engrafted in the Code of Criminal Procedure by Parliament, a Judicial Magistrate must be conceded the power to order a person to give a sample of his voice for the purpose of investigation of a crime. Such power has to be conferred on a Magistrate by a process of judicial interpretation and in exercise of jurisdiction vested in this Court under Article 142 of the Constitution of India. We...

NLSIU Alumnus Prof. Sudhir Krishnaswamy To Serve As The New VC Of NLSIU

Prof. Sudhir Krishnaswamy has been appointed as the new Vice Chancellor of National Law School of India University, Bangalore by the NLSIU Executive Council.On July 10, 2019, a Committee was constituted by the NLSIU Executive Council, under the Chairmanship of Supreme Court Judge, Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde. Other members of the committee included retired SC Judge, Justice V. Gopala...

Is The Consent Of Accused Required For Taking Blood Samples?

This question has arisen in the context of a road accident which occurred in Thiruvananthapuram during the wee hours of Saturday, which was allegedly caused by Sriram Venkatraman, an IAS officer in the service of Kerala government. K Muhammed Basheer, a journalist, was killed when his bike was hit by a car, which was allegedly driven by the IAS officer. There are reports that the police chose...

'Do Not Allow Foreign Law Firms To Operate In SEZs' : Bar Council Of Delhi Writes To PM [Read Letter]

The Bar Council of Delhi (the Council) has written a letter to the Prime Minister raising objections against the permissions granted to foreign law firms to open their offices in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in India. The council submitted that the objection with regard to opening or operation of foreign law firms in India is not a fresh one and all the bodies of lawyers across India,...

Why Criminalization Of Triple Talaq Is Uncalled For?

Talaq! Talaq! Talaq! - the three forbidden words under Muslim personal law which engenders the irrevocable breakdown of a marriage. The husband utters these words, sometimes even by text messages, right before he leaves his lawfully wedded wife. Unlike the other forms of Talaq, where a few month's period (iddat period) is observed before the actual divorce, talaq-e-biddat is abrupt and questionably quick. And this, till the recent Supreme Court judgment of Shayara Bano v. Union of India And...

Medical Negligence : When Can A Doctor Be Held Liable For Lack Of Expertise?

On a philosophical standpoint we acknowledge error as an essence of life. Through every failure we familiarise something new, but this point of view is not appropriate when error is committed from the part of a professional especially the one who works in the medical domain.Any negligence or error from the part of the doctor that causes some damage to a patient will probably result in...

Parliament Passes UAPA Amendment Bill Which Gives Centre Power To Designate An Individual As Terrorist [Read Bill]

The Rajya Sabha on Friday passed the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill 2019, which will enable the Central Government to notify an individual as 'terrorist'.It was cleared with 147 'yes' votes against 42 'no' votes. The Lok Sabha had cleared the Bill on July 24 with 287 'yes' votes and 8 'no' votes. As per the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, the government can...

The Zomato Outrage And The Need For An Anti-Discrimination Law

The Jabalpur resident, Amit Shukla has sparked outrage, after he posted on twitter about his cancelling an order with Zomato -without refund- since the latter refused to concede his demand that he be assigned a delivery person belonging to the same religion as him – Hinduism. While the Zomato Founder, Deepinder Goyal's tweet celebrating the diversity of India, and his lack of regret in losing business coming in the way of protecting secular values won widespread acclaim, the outrage in the...

POCSO Amendments For Stricter Punishments Including Death Penalty For Child Sex Abuse Passed By Parliament

The Lok Sabha on Thursday unanimously passed the bill to amend Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 (POCSO) to provide stricter punishments for child sex abuse. The Rajya Sabha had cleared the Bill on July 24. The minimum punishment for 'aggravate penetrative sexual assault' is proposed to be increased from ten years to twenty years. The maximum punishment for this offence...

Insolvency And Bankruptcy Code Amendment Bill Passed By Parliament

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill 2019, which was cleared by Rajya Sabha on July 29.The Bill seeks to bring in clarity regarding the preference of secured financial creditors over operational creditors in the matter of distribution of assets of the corporate debtor.Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharman said that...

The RTI Amendments: Constitutional Statutes In Precedent And Practice

In the previous two posts, Malavika Prasad and I have developed the concept of a "constitutional statute", in the context of the recent amendments to the Right to Information Act. In the first post, I argued that a constitutional statute provides a statutory framework towards implementing a fundamental right, thereby fulfilling the State's positive obligation to do so. This is what justifies the status of the Information Commissioners under the RTI, and the requirement of...

Doubts Over Accuracy Of 1951 NRC And Its Updation Process In Assam

The NRC process is going on even when the challenge against constitutionality of Sec.6A of Citizenship Act is pending in SC.