The Murky Course Of Sohrabuddin Case

Sohrabuddin Sheikh, Kauser Bi and Tulsiram Prajapathi- these names would not have got national significance, in ordinary course of things. Ironically, their deaths, in alleged fake encounters by the officials of Gujarat State Police, gave a fresh lease of life to their names, continuing to send ripples of shock over the judiciary and the larger canvass of Indian politics. The public discussions about Sohrabuddin case gained momentum following the unprecedented press conference held by four...

What The National Law Schools Don’t Teach

Law as a profession has been often ridiculed for its lack of integrity, greed and immorality. Justice as a profession has been criticized for the joyous self-exiles of its people behind their ivory towers. Some would be even offended by me calling it a ‘profession’. It is a ‘service’ they would claim. I don’t entirely subscribe to the disparaging tone against lawyers, not because I am to become one myself, but because I could claim to vouch for their constant moral and ethical dismembering...

Marital Rape Already Criminalized As Cruelty Under Section 498A IPC: Delhi Govt. To HC

The Delhi Government, on Thursday, contended before the Delhi High Court that the act of marital rape has already been criminalized as cruelty under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and hence, there was no need for creating a new offence penalizing the same.Section 498A criminalizes a situation where a married woman is subjected to cruelty by her husband or his relatives. Cruelty...

SC Has An "Inconsistent Jurisprudential Position" On Questions Of Individual Autonomy: Dr. Menaka Guruswamy [Video]

While delivering a lecture at the NALSAR University of Law, human rights advocate and constitutional lawyer Dr. Menaka Guruswamy asserted that the Supreme Court has had an "inconsistent jurisprudential position" when it came to questions of individual autonomy.Delivering a lecture titled ‘Crafting Methods and Contemporary Lessons: Constitutionalism Alive’, Ms. Guruswamy began by looking...

Time Slots, Actual Dates, Costs To Check Delays & Pendency In New Delhi HC (Original Side) Rules, 2018 [Read Rules]

The Delhi High Court has notified the Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules, 2018, which provides for cutting down time of litigation, weeding out frivolous cases, checking too many adjournments and imposing cost throughout, especially wherever delay caused is unjustified.The rules supersede the 1967 Rules with respect to practice and procedure for exercise of its ordinary original...

Indian Constitution: 'Time To Revisit Framers' Assumptions To Defend Rights Of Minorities'

At a book-launch, held recently at the National Law University, New Delhi, the author of the new book, ‘The Constitution of India: A Contextual Analysis’ (Bloomsbury, 2018, Rs.299), Arun K. Thiruvengadam, who teaches at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, emphasised the need to revisit framers’ assumptions, and reopen issues, which we had long taken for granted, as settled.Thiruvengadam...

From A Culture Of Authority To A Culture of Justification: The Meaning of Overruling ADM Jabalpur

The nine-judge bench judgment of the Supreme Court in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy vs Union of India is now four-and-a-half months old. The verdict, which held that there exists a fundamental right to privacy under the Indian Constitution, has been analysed threadbare. Its implications for decisional autonomy, personal choice, State surveillance, informational self-determination, and many other facets of privacy, have been debated and discussed. In the coming months, the Supreme Court will have an...

They Should Not Have Done It?

12th January of the year 2018 will forever be etched in the history of Indian judiciary – for this was the day on which fissures within the judiciary, which were only well known to one and all, were officially out in the open. In the morning, I was shocked to see the ANI Twitter handle carrying a story about how senior judges of the country were going to hold a press conference at 12 noon! It is not unknown for judges to speak to the press off the record, but for the senior most judges to hold a...

Master Of Roster – Constitutional Limitation And Way Forward

In an unprecedented move, four sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India held a press conference on Friday (January 12, 2018), asserting that the administration of the apex court is “not in order” and that ‘things less than desirable’ have been happening over the past few months.The said judges, who are all members of the Supreme Court collegium, disclosed that they had written a letter to the Chief Justice of India airing their grievances. One of the grievances raised pertained to the...

Where Are We!

During a hearing, exasperated by the non-serious approach of some lawyers, a judge of the Supreme Court uttered, “Where are we, where are we!” This question hasn’t resonated ever so loudly.The philosopher aspect of Plato’s “philosopher king” is the modern judiciary. The attributes of independent thought and action, love of knowledge, intelligence, and reliability are what we look for in our justices. Independent judiciary is the most robust pillar of any democracy. This is the reason why we...

A Cathartic Episode For The Higher Judiciary In India

There is no doubt that January 12, 2018 will become a significant date in the judicial history of India. It is the first time that sitting Justices of the Supreme Court of India have directly addressed the media to draw attention to their concerns about the inner workings of this institution. The stakes have been raised considerably since this act of public criticism has come from the four senior-most Justices and could be narrowly construed as one that is specifically directed at the present...

Let The Dust Settle

Where Angels fear to tread let us not rush in. Let us not hurriedly make our value judgement on the Chief Justice or the companion judges in the collegium. That can wait. At the bar of history they and every one of us will be judged.The need of the hour has to be ascertained. The controversy is around the absence of a code for the "master of the roster" The expression is itself an anachronism. Except law there is no master anywhere in this republic wedded to the rule of law.. Conventions and...