The Sabarimala Judgment – II: Justice Malhotra, Group Autonomy, And Cultural Dissent

I had originally intended this series to follow a more familiar chronology – moving through the concurring opinions, and ending with Justice Indu Malhotra’s dissent. However, on a closer reading of the judgment, it strikes me that Malhotra J.’s dissent raises some crucial points, which remain unanswered in the opinions of the Chief Justice and Nariman J. – but are addressed in Chandrachud J.’s concurrence. For this reason, I will use this post to discuss the dissenting opinion, and flag its...

Delhi HC Strikes Down UGC Regulations Giving 100% Weightage To Viva Voce For MPhil & PhD Admissions [Read Judgment]

The Delhi High Court has struck down as arbitrary a University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulation which granted 100% weightage to viva voice for admission to MPhil and PhD courses.The Bench comprising Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice AK Chawla further ruled that the absence of any concession with respect to the minimum qualifying marks in the written test for reserved category candidates...

The 1951 Bombay HC Judgments That Unleashed A Genie And A Ghost

Justice RF Nariman in Adultery Judgment liberated the Genie Of Yusuf and Justice DY Chandrachud in Sabarimala case did the exorcism of Ghost of NarasuIn the year 1951, the Bombay High Court Bench of Chief Justice MC Chagla and Justice PB Gajendragadkar delivered two judgments, which have been discussed in recent constitution bench judgments in Adultery and Sabarimala Cases.Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, in his concurring judgment in Joseph Shine, quotes a passage from CJ Chagla’s judgment dated...

The Sabarimala Judgment – I: An Overview

Earlier today, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held, by a 4 – 1 Majority, that the Sabarimala Temple’s practice of barring entry to women between the ages of ten and fifty was unconstitutional. While the case raised a host of complex issues, involving the interaction of primary legislation (statute), subordinate legislation (rules), and the Constitution, the core reasoning of the Majority was straightforward enough. On this blog, we will examine the Sabarimala Judgment in three parts....

What To Expect Of The New CJI Ranjan Gogoi?

At times reformist, at times conformist, at times proactive, at times inactive- Justice Gogoi has exhibited contrasting traits in his judicial career so far.It might be ironic that the new Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who is generally perceived as reticent by the legal fraternity, has made the most ground breaking revelation regarding the administration of Supreme Court this year. His participation in the unprecedented judges' press conference held in January 12 was by itself an act of...

Dr. Avtar Singh, Author Of Popular Books On Civil And Commercial Law , Passes Away

Dr. Avtar Singh, the author of books on Contract law and Company law, passed away yesterday. He was 85 years old.According to EBC, Dr. Singh, B.Com., LL.M., LL.D, donned various roles— that of an author, advocate and a professor.He is also the recipient of several honours such as Saraswati Sammaan by the U.P. Government and Vidya Bhushan Sammaan by the Hindi Sansthan in U.P., for...

Will The Real CJI Dipak Misra Stand Up?How Will History Judge Him?

"A man has as many social selves as there are distinct groups of persons about whose opinion he cares. He generally shows a different side of himself to each of these different groups", William James, American Philosopher & Psychologist.Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra is demitting office after a tumultuous tenure, leaving behind a mixed legacy. Over his judicial career, CJI Misra was seen stating different things at different times, often contradictory to each other, lending credence to...

Kerala HC Directs Indian Railways To Accept Lawyers’ ID Card As Valid Proof For Train Journey [Read Judgment]

The High Court of Kerala, in a recent case, has directed the Indian Railways to treat identity cards issued to lawyers by respective Bar councils as a valid identity proof to undertake a train journey/travel. The court also asked the authority concerned in the railways to issue appropriate orders notifying the above as expeditiously as possible.The plea was made in a case wherein the request...

J&K HC Appoints Expert Committee Under “Metro Man” E Sreedharan To Save Dal Lake [Read Judgment]

Court vigilance commissioners to inspect Dal Lake every day, submit report to HC The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has constituted a three-member ‘Committee of Experts’ headed by E Sreedharan, former chief of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for ascertaining measures required to restore and preserve the world-famous Dal Lake which is shrinking due to illegal encroachment, untreated...

HNLU Students To Go On An Indefinite Hunger Strike From Tomorrow Demanding VC’s Removal, Institution Of Review Commission Etc

Having been peacefully protesting the reinstatement of their Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof. (Dr) Sukhpal Singh since September 25, the students of Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU), Raipur have now decided to go on a hunger strike from 8 am, Monday, October 1.However, instead of resuming dialogue in response to the declaration, Dr. Singh has appealed to the students to call off the...

Understanding The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967

Full text of Lecture delivered by Senior Advocate Rebecca M.John at the Delhi High Court in a Seminar entitled "Understanding the Unlawful Activities  ( prevention) Act 1967"At the start of the Sino-Indo Conflict on 20th October 1962, a state of Emergency was declared under Article 352 of the Constitution of India, on grounds of external aggression. During the same time period, a domestic crisis was brewing with Mr. C.N. Annadurai, leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) openly...

Bhima Koregaon : Blind Spots Of Majority Judgment

The dissenting judgement outweighs majority judgement in legal and factual reasoning.It is quite natural that the same set of facts will be perceived differently by different people. This can happen in judicial process too. Instances are galore,where different judges draw different inferences from the same set of facts presented before them. That is why we see appellate courts reversing trial court judgments on facts and judges on a single bench delivering dissenting opinions on factual...