Third Gender Should Be Allowed To Use Public Toilet Facility Of Their Choice; Centre Issues Guidelines

In a move towards greater inclusivity of the third-gender the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has issued a Circular which says that third-gender should be allowed to use public toilet facility of their choice (men or women).The Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation under its Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) has notified Guidelines on Gender Issues in Sanitation.The...

Companies Cannot Discriminate Against LGBT Employees: US Court Of Appeals [Read Opinion]

In a ruling that is being termed as a “game changer”, the full 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago recently ruled that Companies cannot discriminate against their LGBT employees because of their sexual orientation. Delivering a ruling by a majority of 8-3, the Court observed that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation amounts to sexual discrimination, and therefore...

SCBA XI Wins T-20 Match Against Chief Justices XI

The Supreme Court Bar Association XI won the T-20 day and night match held at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi against the Chief Justices XI by six wickets yesterday.But the judges led by “playing captain” Justice Madan B Lokur , most of them aged between 62 and 65, showed surprising agility, energy and stamina on the field and impressed all.The lawyers won the toss and sent the judges...

Family Court Judge Sets Guinness World Record By Deciding Over 6,000 Cases

A Principal Judge of Family Court in Muzaffarnagar has set a Guinness World Record by disposing of 6,065 cases in 327 working days, reports PTIJudge Tej Bahadur Singh told reporters that the move was aimed at reducing the number of pending cases in the Court, and providing justice to the litigants. A total of 903 couples were reunited after settlement in the Family Court, he...

Mentally-Challenged Kids Cannot Be Deprived Of Their Fundamental Rights: Bombay HC [Read Judgment]

The Bombay High Court, recently held that under Article 39(f) of the Constitution, it is the duty of the state to make policy for healthy development of children, and certainly towards mentally-ill and mentally-challenged children. Merely because they are mentally-ill or -Challenged, they cannot be deprived of their fundamental right under the Article 21A of the Constitution.A division bench...

A Systemic Trend In India In Awarding Death Penalty Against Marginalized Populations: Dr.Anup Surendranath [Video]

On 7 March, 2017 NALSAR Lecture Series on Constitutionalism hosted its eighth speaker, Dr. AnupSurendranath. Dr. Surendranath, a NALSAR alumnus, heads the Centre on the Death Penalty which has been credited with the seminal Death Penalty India Report, the first-ever empirical work on the administration of the death penalty in India. The topic of the lecture was closely related to his research: ‘Re-imagining Constitutional Questions on the Death Penalty’.At the outset, he cautioned that the topic...

Delhi HC Orders Transfer Of Domain Name Googlee.in To Google [Read Order]

The Delhi High Court recently upheld an arbitral award directing transfer of domain name registered as ‘Googlee’ to Google Inc., noting that the former had adopted a “slavish” imitation of Google's writing style, font, color scheme and layout.“Mr Khatri was rightly stopped in his tracks by the Arbitrator from continuing with his misadventure. He could not have hoped to get away...

Justice Shiva Kirti Singh To Be TDSAT Chairman

The government has decided to appoint former Supreme Court judge Justice Shiva Kirti Singh as the chairman of Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).Justice Singh was elevated to the Supreme Court on September 19, 2013, and retired on November 11, 2016.The TDSAT chairman seat has been vacant since June 2016, after the retirement of Justice Aftab Alam as its...

Singapore Supreme Court Upholds Compensation For “Subversion Of Genetic Affinity”[Read Judgment]

The Supreme Court of Singapore recently ruled that parents can claim compensation for subversion of their interest in “genetic affinity” with their children.“In our judgment, the Appellant’s interest in maintaining the integrity of her reproductive plans in this very specific sense – where she has made a conscious decision to have a child with her Husband to maintain...

Is RTI Being Weakened By Rules?

The government has issued a circular on 31 March giving draft rules, which it is proposing for the RTI Act.  Most citizens and media have shown considerable concern at these and there has been a feeling that  the government is trying to emasculate the RTI Act. From my experience in the RTI journey, I have realized that most people and institutions champion and hail transparency for others, but are very reluctant to give information about themselves.  For this reason,  I am extremely suspicious...

Punjab Lawyers’ List; Previous Govt. Finalized The Names, We Retained Able Hands: AG Atul Nanda

Amidst controversy over the list of panel lawyers to represent the Punjab government in Supreme Court and high courts other than Punjab and Harayana High Court, Advocate General Atul Nanda defended inclusion of the names of some star lawyers and also kith and kin of sitting judges in the panel. After the change of guard in state, the previous list of panel lawyers  was revised recently....

#Aadhaar Mandatory For PAN Applications & IT Returns From 1st July, 2017

Quoting of Aadhaar for filing of return of income and for making an application for allotment of Permanent Account Number will be mandatory from from 1st July, 2017.Section 139AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as introduced by the Finance Act, 2017 provides for mandatory quoting of Aadhaar / Enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form, for filing of return of income and for making an application...