Good Samaritan: Kerala HC Advocate’s Timely Service Saves A Man’s Life

R. Ranjini, an advocate practising at the Kerala High Court, turned to be saviour for a man who had fallen from a high rise on the busy MG Road of Kochi city, the state’s financial capital.Ranjini was passing through the road along with her daughter when she saw the injured man and she rushed to his help. She arranged emergency medical aid for the victim, while several passersby remained...

Delhi HC Initiates Suo Motu Petition On Letter By Missing Woman's Mother; Raps Police For Inaction [Read Order]

The Delhi High Court recently rapped police authorities for non-registration of FIR in a case of a missing woman.The observations were made by a Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar on a suo motu petition initiated after the Chief Justice received a letter complaining about the inaction and inability of police personnel to trace her daughter who has...

The Power Of Dissent And The Silence Within

The fate of the judiciary as an institution, and our fate as a democratic nation, hinges on whether we, as a people speak out, or watch passively.Justice D.Y. Chandrachud of the Supreme Court recently remarked that India needed to rethink the power of dissent. Delivering the presidential address at an event organised by O.P. Jindal Global Law University at the Indian Law Institute on January 11, he highlighted the three most powerful dissents in the history of the Indian legal system – by...

"Sorry Sir" Says Madras HC To 89-Yr-Old Freedom Fighter Made To Wait For Pension For 37 Years [Read Order]

"Sorry sir, you are made to suffer at the hands of our people too, as, unfortunately, this is how the bureaucratic dogmatism with wooden approach works, at times, in this country, for which you fought to get freedom”, said the Bench.The Madras High Court has apologised to an 89-year-old freedom fighter, V Gandhi, who waited “patiently” for freedom fighter pension for 37 long years...

When Rule Of Law Becomes A ‘Dead Horse’: SC Order Refusing Probe Into ‘Attack’ On Kanhaiya Kumar Is Unfortunate

On 24th January, the Supreme Court dismissed the plea seeking probe by a Special Investigation Team into the attack of JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar which took place in the premises of Patiala House Court during February 2016. Reportedly, the bench comprising Justice Ranjan Gogi and Justice R Banumathi dismissed the plea, observing “We don’t want to flog a dead horse back into life”.  The court felt that nothing survived in the matter and closed it.As much as it is disappointing, it is also...

Apex Imprimatur On Acquittal Of ‘Peepli Live’ Co-director Mahmood Farooqui In Rape Case

In this era of me-too and him-too naming and shaming campaigns, which have placed the issue of consent centre stage, we have the dismissal by the Supreme Court of the appeal against the acquittal of Mahmood Farooqui by the Delhi High Court. It is to be borne in mind that Farooqui was convicted by the trial court judge for rape and sentenced to seven years imprisonment. The conviction was reversed by the Delhi High Court. The throwing out of the petition at the threshold without deeming it fit to...

Prisoner Has Right To Conjugal Visits, Says Madras HC; Allows Leave To Lifer For Fertility Treatment [Read Order]

Recognising that “Conjugal visits of the spouse of the prisoners is also the right of the prisoner”, the Madras High Court has allowed a 40-year-old lifer detained at Palayamkottai Central prison to proceed on a leave for two weeks for assisting his wife in infertility treatment.Quoting from a 1978 Supreme Court judgement which said “Whether inside prison or outside, a person shall not...

Delhi HC Raps Railways For Requiring Declaration From Husband/ Father Before Granting Medical Benefits To Mother/Daughter Duo [Read Judgment]

Mere involvement in litigation against each other would not change the status of their relationship.The Constitution of India establishes a welfare state whose duties include the providing of medical care for its citizens. This right is firmly protected within the right to live with dignity under Article 21. Additionally, as an employer, the government must ensure (as Section 603 of the...

A Little Sunlight Hurts None

The controversy about the press conference by the four senior-most Judges of the Supreme Court recently has not fully died down and most critics have already given it a political flavour. While some celebrated the revolutionary step taken by Justice Chelameswar, Justice Gogoi, Justice Lokur and Justice Kurian, there has been considerable conservativism which seems to propagate that the problems of the court must be dealt with within the four walls of the court - the “dirty linen in public”...

Refrain From Using The Word 'Dalit' For SCs And STs: Madhya Pradesh HC To Centre And State [Read Order]

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the Centre and the State to refrain from using the term 'Dalit' for members belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes."However, we have no manner of doubt that the Central Government/State Government and its functionaries would refrain from using the nomenclature “Dalit” for the members belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled...

Office Of Profit: Delhi HC To Hear The Challenge By Disqualified AAP MLA's Tomorrow

In a fresh plea before the Delhi High Court, the 20 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs on Tuesday challenged their disqualification which has been approved by the President on the recommendation of the Election Commission of India.The petition will come up for hearing on Wednesday.On Monday, the 20 legislators had withdrawn their petition challenging the ECI sending a recommendation for their...

Aadhaar Hearing [Week-1] Preliminaries

From 17 January 2018, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India started hearing final arguments in the much-awaited Aadhaar case. For reasons that have been extensively debated elsewhere (see for example here, here and here), the Aadhaar challenge will require the Court to answer questions of critical constitutional significance.This is the first among a series of posts where I will outline my thoughts on the arguments in the Aadhaar case. It is not my aim to predict or pre-judge the...