Personal Laws And Supreme Indecision

In what appears to be a very impulsive decision, the Hon’ble Supreme Court decided to come to the rescue of Muslim women suffering under the yoke of triple talaq when it was brought to the “notice” of the Court about their suffering. The case that was being argued before the Supreme Court, when this decision was taken, had nothing to do with Muslim Personal Law. It was a matter pertaining to Hindu Law and a Hindu woman’s residual right to ancestral property. The Supreme Court proceeded to...

Naroda Patia Riots: Gujarat HC Bench To Visit Scene Of Offence, Warns Media Against Intervention [Read Order]

A Division Bench of the High Court of Gujarat has decided to visit the scene of offence in the 2002 Naroda Patiya massacre case. The Court has however, warned the media against “any intervention”, which it said would amount to interference with judicial proceedings.“Right from the beginning since the matters are being heard, the learned counsel for the respective parties have...

Kerala HC Personally Questions Organ Donor To Ascertain Genuineness Of Offer; Permits Organ Transplant [Read Judgment]

Unconventional methods often need to be adopted to render justice in cases presenting unusual fact situations, especially so when the matter tends to affect the life and existence of a person. The extra-ordinary jurisdiction of the high court under Article 226 is meant to address such complex situations.The intervention made by the High Court of Kerala to facilitate organ transplant to a...

AA Kumbhakoni To Be The Next Advocate General Of Maharashtra

Maharashtra cabinet has recommended the name of Senior Advocate AA Kumbhakoni to be the next Advocate General.Governor's nod to this recommendation will lead to his formal appointment.The post of Advocate General remained vacant after former AG Rohit Deo J was elevated to the bench recently.Kumbhakoni was also elevated to the bench in 2008 but resigned in six months over issues related to...

Law Commission Invites Views On Legalization Of Betting And Gambling [Read Appeal]

The Law Commission of India has invited views and suggestions from stakeholders and general public on the issue of legalizing betting and gambling.This is in furtherance of a Supreme Court directive issued in the case of Board of Control for Cricket in India v. Cricket Association of Bihar & Ors., (2016) 8 SCC 535, wherein the Apex Court had mandated the LCI to study the possibility...

Don’t Misconstrue Court Order On Highway Liquor Ban: Kerala HC Cautions Excise Dept [Read Order]

Justice Devan Ramachandran of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday strongly censured and deprecated the approach taken by the Excise department in matters pertaining to ban on sale of liquor along national /state highways.The court had earlier directed the Excise department to consider permission to bars along highways de-notified prior to the Supreme Court judgment. The court, however, out...

What’s In A Surname?

He asked me, “What’s your name?” I said, “Avani”. “No, your full name I mean”, he said. “Avani Bansal, but why, why does it matter?”, I asked.This set of introductory lines have repeated themselves in my life, far too often. I still can’t fully fathom why people always want to know the other person’s surname. Somehow, the name isn’t an identity good enough. While Shakespeare thought there is nothing in the name, when in Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II, he wrote - What’s in a name? that which...

World Environmental Day: Connecting People With Nature & Judiciary

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have played a great role in protecting the environment of our country.Litigations brought by them have helped the judiciary to render several judgments for the protection of the environment of the country. The Supreme Court has laid down the principle of ‘polluter pays’, precautionary principles, reversal of burden of proof, public trust doctrine, sustainable development etc. There are no parallel legislations even now. But people like MC Mehta and other...

Criminalising Revenge Porn: Why Stakeholders Must Not Be Happy With Present Legal Setup…

With the growth of the usage of social media, several new trends of cyber offences have surfaced like interpersonal crimes, especially crimes resulting from emotional breakups.Revenge porn is one of the worst forms of interpersonal cyber crimes. Way back in 2009, I first came across such forms of ‘harassments’ in social media like Facebook when some women victims contacted me for help.I term this ‘harassment’ because at that time we had a newly amended Information Technology Act, 2000 (amended...

Supreme Court Orders And New Cattle Rules

The prevention of cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Live Stock Markets) Rules 2017 were notified by the central government in order to regulate the animal markets and curb trans-border smuggling of cattle. As per the notification no one can bring cattle to an animal market unless he or she has furnished a written declaration that cattle will not be sold for the purpose of slaughter. Even if the notification does not ban slaughter, it is likely to have a major impact on cattle slaughter across...

“See You In Court” Or “See You Out Of Court” ? A Burdened Judicial System; Can ADR System Be An Answer?- Part III

Mediation: The Indian Experience A non-adjudicative process where a neutral third party (“mediator”) assists the parties to a dispute to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution is referred to as Mediation. The mediator, an expert in the process of mediation, may require the assistance of lawyers in facilitating the process by imparting their legal expertise to the entire process. In India, mediation has been prevalent in informal avatars, but its formal integration with the judicial system has...

Consider ‘Wish’ And ‘Will’ Of People Of Locality Before Opening Liquor Shops: Madras HC To State [Read Judgment]

The attitude of the state is to be construed as 'pinching the child and swinging the hammock', the bench observed.The Madras High Court has urged the Tamil Nadu Government to revisit the entire policy in the matter of liquor prohibition by considering the 'will' and 'wish' of the larger sector of the society of each area in the matter of taking decision with regard to the establishment...