Reader Blogs on Legally India: Uncut

The anomaly of penning about life as a qualified lawyer lies in the fact that one way or the other we end up discrediting what we do, or at best keep wishing for what we cannot do! Any corporate lawyer (a true pure blood one) working for a 'top-notch' law firm will never admit the misery he goes from morning through next morning, without any break. He will instead brag about his 'hard work' to everyone he can, including his poor cousins who were not so 'fortunate' (half bloods) in joining the magic circle. But as the saying goes, which I have always believed to be closer to the ultimate truth, "A man can fool everyone, except himself". The pure blood knows exactly where the...

I got another email from a law student asking me to remove the internship experience he had shared on Lawctopus. The law firm had asked him to do so. Why? Because among the 400 good words he had written about the firm, there were 50 not so good words. This has happened earlier too. Law firms guard the reputations to the hilt, and rightly so. Reputation, like any other good thing in this world, is hard to gain and easy to lose. However, being unable to take review & criticism in the right spirit are signs of a malaise. Individuals, societies and professions, scared of criticism, won’t go too far ahead. When you do not have people telling you what’s wrong and all...

Introduction- A new chapter in the form of Chapter XX-A was added in the Indian penal Code, 1860 with only one section, Section 498-A by the Criminal law (Second Amendment Act), 1983 with the main object to keep a check over the rising instances of sufferings inflicted upon a woman which reads as under- Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation- For the purpose of this section, "cruelty" means- (a) any willful conduct which is of such a...

The coal scam which is burning down every newspaper's front page these days is becoming an ostensible niggle for the ruling party. The ruling party is facing harsh allegations not only from the opposition but media and general public are also providing a hard time to them. How do we put this scam or should we say how we take this scam. As an irresponsible and callous attitude which the ruling govt. has shown or the policy which has been under criticism and which was followed by the opposition party as well ever since it's initiation in 1993. This is a very serious issue as coal is an implicit source of energy and a non-renewable too. States like Jharkhand, Odisha, and...

Published At http://thestandingcoin.blogspot.in/2012/07/y-u-no-touch-me.html   Today’s episode of Satyamave Jayte is probably the best one till date. Hitting on India’s Achilles’ heel, Aamir Khan has brought to our notice the unethical, disruptive, idiotic system which cannot be described even by the most insulting and derogatory adjectives; The Caste system prevalent in India and most of the developing and under developing nations of the world. But, for the sake of being targeted, I’ll limit myself to India. A small history lesson is required here. Way back in history, about 4500 years ago, the Aryans are supposed to have inhibited Northern India and sparked off Hinduism. The original concept of castes was not on the basis of birth, but on the basis of occupation....

Its all a poker game, where we all have our cards and we need to play. We need to keep this poker face in the game where no one should know or make out what our cards are. This is what we are suppose to do. However, I ask this question - .... why so serious ? ;) What's the game without some fun. In real life there are all types: the ones who play safe, play serious, play for fun, play as a religion, play till the end, back out in the start. But if you are in the game you have to play. Some play to enjoy, some play to win. In the end one has to win. It...

We have all heard of the story where Akbhar asks Birbal to say a word that, if heard in happiness makes you feel sad and if heard in sadness makes you feel happy. Birbal said “this time shall pass”. Similarly there is a decision, a happening that at some time made one reach cloud 9 and on the other hand makes one feel or question one's decision-making capabilities making oneself really sad. June 20XX “I got admitted to a national law university” (no offence to any law school). The day the results come out one gives a treat to one's friends, the coach calls up tells that you have done them proud. However, After 1 year of law school sitting alone...

This is one of the poignant question which every Bihari might be asking to himself. With huge developments been seen in some sectors, some sectors still lag behind. This puts people in a dilemma and compels them to ask this question. Our very own Chief Minister of Bihar has been carrying this state on his shoulders for almost 6 years now. Too heavy ah... Yes we can say that Law and order has improved, roads have been smooth these years (thanks for that) and various measures have been taken to clean our holy river Ganga, plans have been put up for enhancing the education system, eradicating poverty....bla bla bla......same old stuffs. The question is to what extent these plans have been implemented....

Introduction Advertisement is a strategy employed by the business entity to create psyche within the target user groups, a kind of conformity to their product and services. At present online advertising is an efficient and effective means for marketing due to its international prominence, low-cost and multi-dimensional prospects. With the quick growth of internet users and the fast advances of internet technology and e-commerce, more businesses and manufactures began to pay their devotion to online advertising. This method is now increasing as more media is consumed on the online world and is considered as a vital source of capital generation. Thus the use of online behavioral advertising is seen as a ‘commercial pot of gold’ in the advertising and marketing industry’....

I have always been in awe of the grand backdrop of leather bound books against which lawyers are often photographed. I know now that these are law reports and not read cover to cover from Chapter 1. So when I randomly stumbled upon a blog post that talked about good reads for trial lawyers, I got searching for books that an Indian law student could find useful. Much is being discussed all over about internships, research papers, moots etc. Law textbooks and reference books and journals usually go with late nights, deadlines and exam panic – and hardly make for inspiring reading and will anyway continue to be part of a lawyers life. Books can be valuable companions in the metamorphosis...

You’re mesmerized by the seniors coming in your classroom and giving that powerful speech on the co-curricular events of law school. They familiarize with you with this activity which you dreamt since of doing since the day you started preparing for CLAT and were not sure if it actually even existed, hell, you weren’t even sure of its name! Yes, it’s  what we know as-‘moot court’. The whole setup is fictional, but for you, it’s the real thing. And those seniors, with their army cut, waist high jeans and Bata slippers looked like they ruled your college. They were in fact, ‘cool’. Whereas the guy sitting at the back bench whose cologne you could smell till the first bench was the...

Before debating if ‘whipping’ or ‘boxing someone in the ears’ is a Gandhian principle or punishment allowed under  law, let’s peek into (hope, I’m not committing a crime here) the history of corporal punishment. The earliest recorded history of mankind coming under ‘caning’ was observed as early as in 10th Century BC: ‘Book of Proverbs attributed to Solomon’. “He that spareth the rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him correcteth him betimes. Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell”. (Source: Wikipedia). There’s no respite to the rod since then. Man has regularly been lashed from...

So many cases of violence against the feminine gender have emerged since time immemorial. I say "feminine gender" and not "women" for many reasons. To begin with, the women have not been treated as anything but commodities since the birth of patriarchy. Patriarchy, by virtue, does not have any room for the women voicing their opinion or be overtly involved in the world of men. To this, many women will say that it is not the case. There are so many self made women out there. Ms. Kiran Bedi is a living example of that. No doubt, she is. But, this is in terms of the urban picture. The remote parts of the country still have women who are passive victims...

We all are aware of human rights, right? It not only includes right to freedom of speech and expression, right to equality, etc. but in fact it also includes 'Right to Marriage'. There is a saying 'Marriages are made in heaven', but inter caste or inter-religion marriage gets murdered on earth. Has anyone ever thought that inter caste or inter religion marriage are the two base through which secularism can be promoted? Even though nowadays these kind of marriages are becoming part of the society still some Indians have orthodox mindset who cannot even imagine inter caste marriages. Parents for their own respect, murder their child or disown them. I want to ask them do they become happy murdering their child?...

Construction projects invariably get delayed for variety of reasons in India and also elsewhere.  Under the well settled   law, a contractor is entitled to compensation for the delayed completion, if the delay is caused by breaches of contract conditions committed by the Employer. Claims of compensations invariably include significant sums by way of overheads and expected profit. A contractor seeking compensation has to prove the actual loss incurred. The overheads include several dozens of heads of expenses incurred by the head office for a company as a whole and which are neither attributable to an item of work in a given contract nor for a given contract as a whole. It is, therefore, difficult to establish actual loss on account of...