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28 March 2010
News and current affairs

HIGH (in) COURT: A Drunk Mooter Prays For A Flowing Stream of Fun

 

If it may please the honourable court

I would like to proclaim:

The counsel is not ‘feelin' well,

He swears in God's name.

 

The night before was a trail too long,

Singing li’l life's crazy song

While each and every bit of me

Went 'round Kolkata feeling so Bong.

Your Lordship, hic! I may be wrong

But what is wrong with a first year

Who has hit the gong?

 

Looking at the memo, a night passes through my mind,

Of all the scenes in Kolkata, in my soul, in my life.

That night was surely the truest bliss,

Like my life giving me a midnight kiss

A kiss that drove me high

And left the judges with a wry,

Smugly, smile on their faces.

 

But now here is the point, where I plead, for the court

To give a heed, as the counsel gradually proceeds

To the prayer, of all those things, he humanly needs:

 

A flowing stream of fun; a sky shining with life;

A life without any reasons, and letting destiny to decide;

For till the day comes, I would continue to stress,

Upon this point until your Lordship agrees to be your 'HIGH' ness.

 

PS- This is not by me. This is by Pipo...my friend.

26 March 2010
News and current affairs

Suppose you have hired a wheeled vehicle drawn by animals in any municipality or cantonment area in India where such transportation is as common as wheeled vehicles (and as all of us are aware that such places are plenty in ‘Incredible India’, not in consideration of our efforts to save the world but necessarily from economic backwardness) and a dispute arises between the you, the hirer, and the driver of the carriage, as to the amount of the fare payable by the hirer under any rule (made under this Act), such dispute shall, upon application made in that behalf by either of the disputing parties, be heard and determined by any Magistrate or Bench of Magistrates within the local limits of whose jurisdiction such dispute has arisen; and such Magistrate or Bench may, besides determining the amount so in dispute, direct payment together with such sum as compensation for loss of time as such Magistrate or Bench thinks fit

Any sum determined to be due or directed to be paid under this section is recoverable as if it were a fine. {As to recovery of fines, see the General Clauses Act}

The decision of any Magistrate or Bench in any such case shall be final.

When any such case is heard by a Bench, any difference of opinion arising between the members of such Bench shall be settled in the same manner as differences of opinion arising between such members in the trial of criminal cases.

If, at the time any dispute mentioned arises, any Magistrate or Bench of Magistrates having jurisdiction in respect of such dispute is sitting within the local limits to which the rules apply, the hirer of the carriage may require the driver thereof to take him in the same to the Court of such Magistrate or Bench for the purpose of making an application under that section.

Any driver neglecting or refusing to comply with such requisition shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine not exceeding fifty rupees, or with both.

Guessing which is such a well worded legislation?

            The legislation is called THE HACKNEY-CARRIAGE ACT, 1879

Since such disputes are not confined to hackney carriages, wondering whether we have similar dispute resolution laws for city transportations in wheeled vehicles sans animals.

In 2005, the Delhi Police launched a sms based complaint system against auto rickshaws In order to enlarge the reach of the commuters to  lodge complaints against auto rickshaw drivers, whereby any person having complaint against Auto drivers for (i) refusal (ii) overcharging, (iii) misbehavior and (iv) harassment could lodge a complaint through SMS on phone number 6767. For the complaint of refusal, one has to write "REF" followed by registration number of TSR followed by Location and time and SMS to 6767. Similarly, for over-charging the letters "OVC” has to be used, for misbehavior "MIB" and for harassment "HAR".

Delhi Traffic Police claims it has been taking action on these complaints against auto rickshaw drivers by spot prosecution (ii) by sending decoys (iii) by ascertaining the facts from commuters.  But one isn’t sure under which law and under which procedure such a ‘spot prosecution’ is being conducted. Are the auto-drivers deemed guilty till proved otherwise? What is the nature of such ‘spot prosecution’?

 

Any info on the same would be useful.

21 March 2010
News and current affairs

It started with Foucault.

“Do not ask me who I am and do not ask me to remain the same ... let us leave it to our bureaucrats and our police to see that our papers are in order.” 

A good way, we felt, to headline the invitational notice of a forum whose primary aims include questioning the identities we’ve had so painstakingly constructed  for us in the first place.

We started small. Three of us, huddled around the less rickety of the two tables at our friendly neighbourhood coffee shop, throwing around  ideas about scope, structure, organization, readings, and most importantly (we felt), the group name. Unable to come up with something sufficiently quirky, we stuck with the staid but hopefully respectable “Gender and Sexuality Forum”.  The minutes of the meeting were stored as text messages on our mobile phones. The modus operandi  was simple : discussion and debate, film screenings, and street theatre.

Like I said, small.

The number of people who turned up for the first meeting though – not small at all. With 60 active participants, and 10-odd curious onlookers, this was pretty much a wildest-expectations-matching turnout.   We started with playing to our strengths :  What better way to kickstart a group conceived by a couple of queer students, than to weave in a discussion on the Naz Foundation judgment ? The theoretical tool to be used was intersectionality;  the object of application -  a critique of the judgment by the current Vice-Chancellor of another of India’s premier legal institutions.  While the critique itself starts with a disclaimer against making  any kinds of value judgments, the statement “Naz Foundation …. has picked up and placed in the central stage an issue that I doubt deserves so much prominence….    was hardly very encouraging. The group agreed with us, and debated on how those in positions of power or privilege could easily afford to create a hierarchy of oppressions, placing whatever didn’t serve their interests at positions lower in the hierarchy. An hour later,  and we’d finished the meeting, flushed with the adrenalin of a good  discussion.

And so, it began.  Small as we might have started,  we’ve allowed our hopes for the Forum to  get pretty darned big. For my part, I like to think of it as an epochal development in the admittedly short  history of our law school (a decade, to be exact) , and my life (two decades and counting). For the college, it marks the first open forum to discuss and deconstruct issues of gender and sexuality, to critically explore  areas which our often staid curriculum refuses to even  glance at. For me, it marks the latest checkpoint in my  coming out journey.   

Our mandate also pushes us towards exploring readings far outside our comfort zone. Case in point : a discussion centering around a paper where the writer, a self-identified paedophile, makes a case for consensual sexual relations between adults and children. Heavy moral outrage was expressed at the start of the meeting. The conclusion of the discussion, too, involved unanimous disagreement with the writers’ argument.  Somewhere in between, though, was where we felt the forum was achieving its purpose : the moral outrage was replaced with logical, nuanced argumentation : rational thought over pre-adjudicated prejudice.  Slowly, we worked our way around the fact that while we may think of ourselves as free, liberal thinkers, throw something at us from outside our lived experience or comfort zone, and it was hard to keep  our disapproving  moralities from  kicking into action.

Its been two months since that first Foucalt-headlined notice, and I’ve been catching myself thinking - this shouldn’t work. Not here. Here, in a law school I’d assumed  found it hard to care beyond basic CV building exercises, where so-called “student groups” flare out even before they’ve started, where the pervading sense of ennui has often stopped the most steely initiative in its tracks.

And yet, we have this.  We have a space, an open space, where we confront our preconceived notions, our most deep seated prejudices on a weekly basis.  We have the kind of discussions that constantly surprise us, where we invariably end up learning something new, often about ourselves.  We’ve observed the importance of seeing how conversations are avoided, on the same level as how they’re made. Our  vision is  expanding, we’ve started thinking bigger : Future plans include getting academics on board, taking the forum beyond the confines of the campus and into other colleges in the city, a conference on Gender and Sexuality, and, my personal goal – a Pride March in Hyderabad.

Law, said Justice Frankfurter, is what lawyers are – and lawyers are what law school makes them.

Call me a dreamer, but I’m feeling pretty darned  optimistic about the law right now.

 

 

 

 

17 March 2010
News and current affairs

Hi folks,

 

Those of you who may missed today’s TOI may not have come across an article discussing , among others , two interesting question which are pending adjudication in a PIL before the Delhi High Court. You may read the article http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Can-retired-SC-judges-advice-be-used-in-courts/articleshow/5692225.cms and an earlier one at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Delhi-high-court-to-examine-if-retired-judge-can-work-privately/articleshow/5557490.cms

 

 

The questions are:

 

  1. Whether rendering opinions in writing on a point in issue to be produced in a court of law is a violation of article 124(7) of the Constitution which prohibits a retired judge from acting or pleading before any court or tribunal.
  2. Can retired SC Judges' advice be used in courts?

 

Thoughts anyone?

17 March 2010
News and current affairs

 

Hi guys! I am Priyam….I belong to that category of unfortunate students who have always found Logical Reasoning, Critical Reasoning and verbal reasoning, massively elusive. Not only would I be confused between answer options, sometimes I would arrive at the conclusion that the question itself was wrongly framed. Due to my weakness in this section my score was dropping pretty badly; until the time I decided that it was high time. I needed to do a reality check instead of ignoring my faults and expecting them to take care of themselves on their own. But when I actually did analyze my faults I discovered that most of my errors were silly mistakes and could be rectified by following some simple guidelines. And trust me I didn’t need to put in any rocket science logic.

 

To start with, let us go back to the basics….

 

1. Read slowly, read carefully.

 Most of us are always in such a hurry to finish reading the extract, that we miss out important words like only and if and only if, etc, which can totally alter the meaning of the sentences. So read slowly but read attentively. Why would they want to check your logical aptitude? To check if you are logical in your thought patterns or not, right? If you miss out crucial details while reading you will invariably arrive at the wrong conclusions.

 

2. Avoid repetitive reading of the same lines. From my experience, if you can correct this problem you can easily shoot up your accuracy rates by a good margin. Run a pencil or a pen underneath the lines you are reading. This will ensure you do not loose track.  Do not go back to a line as soon as you have finished reading it. If you keep on doing that, it would result in thorough confusion. net result, you have t5o go back to line 1, and start reading again. When you keep over reading a particular part of the extract, your mind seems to get stuck to a point. So keep reading even if you think you do not fully comprehend the facts. Finish one reading of the full passage first. This will give you a general idea of what the passage is talking about. Underline words or phrases you don’t understand. Go back to them later.

 

3. Eliminate irrelevant answer options. This is the best way to arrive at an accurate answer out of all that are available.  You will generally have two out of five options which you may eliminate right away (if you are lucky it may even be 3). After this look for similarity in reasoning structure, like cause +effect =conclusion or is it that you need to derive the cause from the effect given the conclusion. This should help you narrow down your choices to the last two (again if you are lucky, as you are in most cases this should give you the right answer itself). Between the last two look out for similarity in words and phrases used. You will get your answer.

 

4. Stick to the information provided within the paragraph. Do not go beyond it. Even if it deviates from the general idea that you may have about a topic, stick to what is given in the extract. Moving beyond it is the biggest mistake of all.

 

5. Pay attention to single word differentiators used in the question. Things like ‘except’, ‘but’, ‘doesn’t ‘, etc. can change the whole answer options. Also in options which have all of the above, check only two and tick it. No need to individually check all. But yes, if along with all of the above, there is another option that says either a or c, or only a and b, then you do need to check all of them.

 

This is enough gyan to start with.

Till next time,

Take care!

Al izzzzzzzz wel!

 

 

 

17 March 2010
News and current affairs

 

Its that time of the year when suddenly the attendance sheets are almost perfect, the collars crisper, the spirits well guarded and the efficiency or the visuals of professional motion much more swifter. It’s the end of the financial year and thus the time for enhancements in the paypack. And this year, formally, there is no ‘economic downturn’ to cast a suspicious cloud on hopes and future plans. And especially now that the law firms are ‘openly’ boasting about their best performance through the ‘recession’, the young law firm aspirants know that it’s a recession proof sector.

 However, in most businesses, including that of law firms, salaries/ retainers/bonuses is kept secret. It is almost universally untested as to what exactly would ensue in a law firm if the fee earners knew what their colleagues, their bosses or – gasp – the Partners were making, officially.

Fundamentally, one of the most important reasons mooted as to why there should not be any such secrecy is that it creates an element of bitter frustration and any unfairness (real or perceived) can’t be addressed directly.  People talk, you know. And they would continue to do so whether the management likes it or not. And more so when it comes to lawyers, that’s all they talk about. Especially if they are not the court going types. As George Simmel (first generation of German sociologists) aptly states that Secrecy sets barriers between men, but at the same time offers the seductive temptation to break through the barriers by gossip or confession.

Well, secrecy is the enemy of efficiency and we all know it. The Right to Information Act , 2005 was brought about after so many years of concerted struggle by numerous lawyers and activists, among others, to break through the shield of secrecy wielded by the government against the exercise of fundamental right by a citizen. Thus, we all understand the element of efficiency in transparency.

  Getting back to the topic.

Opening up of salaries seems more dangerous in legal workplaces primarily because they may not be currently fair and therefore making them open seems even more dangerous.

The usual reasons cited for variations in paychecks , enhancements and bonus(es ) are X doesn’t do a better job, but because she simply drives a harder bargain when it comes time to negotiate salaries Or sucks up to the boss, Or is aromatic or has some censored pictures from the last christmas office party … never mind.

But that doesn’t seem fair, does it? More importantly, it doesn’t do any good to you and more importantly the Boss is least bothered about how you feel especially because

·        There are loads of people dying to take your place at half the price of your secret salary

·        No one is indispensable

·        Bitterness affects efficiency, don’t be bitter

Go ahead and wait endlessly to reply promptly to the firang client’s email which the Gora would type at his convenience in his time zone (GMT +whatever)

Thus the question remains is whether it makes much more sense to determine salaries/compensations based on people’s value to the organization. (A seemingly difficult proposition with suspicious, argumentative and desperate lawyers on board) Thus the scope of HR increases in law firms (beyond peeved cheesy and uber-stupid peer evaluation sheets)

To discuss HRs and their ‘job policies’ is yet another painful tale so lets not even get there.

But when people agree that openness is better than secrecy, in life, why not in law firm business. Every relationship between two individuals or two groups will be characterized by the ratio of secrecy that is involved in it. In the absence of any provision mandating partnership firms/ LLPs to disclose their profits and disbursements and the same being inaccessible to the public as a ‘public record’, the element of secrecy seems to be an impediment in choosing the law firm employer, be it for a fresher or a lateral. And Mr. Drucker is not of much help. And not all of us are good at ‘game theory at the work place’.

We agree that salaries are a sensitive subject, but whether open communication is important enough and that it should be tested, even if there is a price to pay? It’s at the very heart of a shared culture. If discussion of salaries is taboo, what else is off limits?

 In his book ‘The Seven-Day Weekend’ Ricardo Semler says ‘Making salaries open yet another pocket of information that the power-hungry would otherwise use to consolidate their positions – to the detriment of co-workers and the organization’

(it’s a different story whether your partners have ever heard of this book or imbibed the rays of sunlight contained therein, whether they desire to spread their Firm to 60 locations in 30 countries in a span of the next thirty years of their expected life span, create an institution and not just a few rich people.)

Jeremy Bentham said that Secrecy, being an instrument of conspiracy, ought never to be the system of a regular government and I think it ought not to be part of regular governance of law firms either.

 

As they say, Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

 

What do you guys think?

 

 

11 March 2010
News and current affairs

District court lawyers in Delhi are observing a token day-long strike today to protest against increasing corruption in the judiciary as they gear up to meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Law Minister Veerappa Moily to discuss the issue.

Co-ordination committee chairman and spokesman of all Delhi District Bar Associations, Rajeev Khosla told PTI about striking lawyer’s demand to seek appropriate amendment in the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 that makes prior permission to probe charges against judicial officers a mandatory requirement.   

Treasurer of Dwarka Court Bar Association, Karan Veer Tyagi told Legally India: “We decided to go on a complete strike for one day to protest against the rising incidents of arbitrariness and corruption in the lower judiciary.”

He informed that lawyers also hope to get the pecuniary jurisdiction of district courts raised from the existing limit of 20 lakhs. Higher suit value cases are currently reserved for adjudication by the High Court.

Tyagi commented: “The objective is have our grievances resolved through peaceful means; we informed the District Judge beforehand and requested judges to not pass adverse orders in cases put up for hearing. Normally, lawyers are counted proxy for the day of the strike.”       

He added that a fair amount of inconvenience is indeed caused to the litigants, but a corruption free functioning of judiciary shall ultimately benefit the litigants only.

Tis Hazari, Patiala House, Karkardooma, Rohini and Dwarka courts are the various district courts of the capital.

Do you think strikes by lawyers are justified despite explicit SC rulings and prohibitive provisions of the Advocates Act? Is it right to curb the collective voice of lawyers against the democratic mandates of a civil society?   

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 March 2010
News and current affairs

If you have noticed that whenever one sees the usage of the word “Client”, one knows that there just has to be lawyer or an architect involved since no one else in the 'white collar' business game ever seems to refer to anyone as “clients". On a train/plane you are a passenger (unless you are flying Kingfisher), in a hospital you are a patient (unless you are in some super specialty hospital where trust God,you are nothing but a customer), in a class you are a student, in the economy at large you’d be a consumer, in the polity, the common man (but now in the world of gender neutral addressal system, 'the common person').However, the doberman luckily seesm to have successfully avoided the ruccus and is not a  doberperson.(sorry! bad joke!). 
But when it comes to being a “Client”,the only people known to have clients appears to be lawyers, architects and prostitutes, all of whom have to live with the reputation that they are simply out to screw you. Only the prostitute is honest about it.

10 March 2010
News and current affairs

Did you notice? You sit on your computer thinking of doing something productive, and end up spending a lot of time on the internet – maybe on Facebook, maybe reading tweets, watching videos, looking at funny images and advertisements, sending mails, befriending and chatting with people or even reading some random blog. Imagine inside your head: a gigantic net, which is very, very sticky, and imagine yourself like a fly stuck in that net. That is internet for you. Are you getting stuck?

 

 

Probably yes, and don't blame yourself for that. Two decades of research, creativity and innovativeness of scientists, programmers, marketing professionals, artists and hackers have gone into creating and developing this extremely sticky net. It has so much of data, entertainment and information which has been custom built for you that you can never get through all the interesting stuff out there. You are not only reading, seeing and watching: Web 2.0 ensures that you are also taking part in creating more and more sticky yarns where new flies can get stuck. Internet is not your Sunday Newspaper that you will get through all the interesting articles, comments and insights on a lazy afternoon. Be careful. Are you getting trapped into the wonderful super-stickyness of the Internet?

 

You already know, I'd guess, that Internet can be a big barrier. Many people disconnect the LAN cable when they want to concentrate on pending work; or sometimes just switch the laptop off. It can definitely get worse, and many people suffer from a range of negative effects of spending too much time on the internet: starting from anxiety, depression, eye and back problems to a total lifestyle failure. However, more commonplace is the feeling that you have wasted a lot of valuable time on the internet doing things that you did not realy mean to do.

 

The solution, I'd say, must start from a good understanding of the problem. Have you ever realised that those addicted to the internet are actually enslaved by thousands of smart people who use the internet to snatch away some time from everyone and make millions in the process (if you count all of them, the industry is worth billions). When someone makes a good useful thing, it makes perfect sense to use it – because you are benefiting from the use. It is the right thing to spend some time on a good webpage, because you get some value out of it. However, things get complicated when you start using the internet unconciously; not because you need it, but because it feels good and you are in the habit of spending time online. You sleepwalk through emails, webpages, social networking sites, and before you knew it, your time is gone.

 

Just wake up! Look around and understand what is going on. That facebook quiz or the emoticon is not just a cute little thing – it is a money making tool for someone somewhere who knows there are thousands like you who will think it to be a cute little thing or irresistibly interesting, and spend their time hanging around in their websites, applications and online stores.

 

This is not how it needs to be. You can take control of the web aggressively. Use the internet to improve your life, not to give your time away to others so that they can make money from it. They value your time in terms of hard currency (or paypal account figures), do you value your own time?

 

There is no end to the power of internet – you can transform your life with it. It is sheer magic. Hack it (in the ethical way, of course! Read about what hacking means here. Read about my favourite hacker here and see how internet has been hacked to help students to prepare for law entrance exams here) and you could be a millionaire, learn from it and you shall find that it is the best teacher ever.

However, if you really need to read this article to know this, I guess I should also tell you where to start. It is important to have a target in your sight as you make a move to benefit from what you shall read here. Think for yourself, what is that you have been wanting to acquire very badly over some time now, but have been falling short of it constantly. Maybe it is learning a new skill – like baking a cake or something more complex – learning a language. Maybe an easy way to recover from your hamstring injury. Decide what you want to achieve using the internet. For the purpose of illustration, I shall assume you want to learn Spanish and you are an absolute beginner.

 

Become a finder: Search engines are the most powerful hacks ever. Everyone says information is power, but no one never knew what that really means till search engines like Google bloomed!

 

Think for a moment: why is google such a business empire? It all started from one thing – a great way to search the entangled web. It brought together a lot of information in an organised way, and it does that best till today. It is so big because of the value it creates for everyone who uses it. Use google right and you shall see your life has begun to change. Why? I shall give you a very strong reason.

 

It is highly unlikely that your problem, your situation is abolutely unique in this world. Probably someone else encountered that problem, that question before. Maybe they found an answer, or made some progress towards solving it. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just take their insights and solutions and apply in your situation, or start improving from where they left? These days, chances are high that the solution or the answer has been kept online for you to find. You can find it with a search engine. Some people know this, and that's why soemthing that looks as simple as google search is a superpower if you know how to use it. It combines your thinking, innovativeness and ingenuity with that of many others all around the world. It brings to individuals the information and the ideas that they can use to build something more valuable than the existing forms. Remember this, and start looking for solutions to your problems online. There's more useful things here than one can imagine.

 

Instead of wasting you time planting money trees for others on the internet, start looking for the information that can change 'your' life. I believe that everyone can change their life with the right set of information – but what will be the right information that depends on the person. Also, no one but the person himself will know what is the right information, and when he sees it, he will know it.

 

If you are yet to master searching, start this way. Make a list of five of your problems. Try to find the solution through google search. If you dont find at once, try changing the keywords. Using the right keywords is very important, and it takes a while to learn to find things on google only for this reason. This is your first step in learning to find solutions on internet. Make it a habit to look for things/solutions on google. With time, you will become a great finder of information. I will repeat, that in itself is nothing short of a super-power.

 

How can you use these insights to learn a language like Spanish? Firstly, Spanish is a very popular language all over the world, and there are millions of people learning and teaching spanish. There is no dearth of teachers or study material for learning Spanish. The best of it is paid, but a lot of good stuff comes for free. It is not only reading material, but you must look for audio files as well as videos that will assist you in learning. Apart from materials, you shall find there are several online forums for learning the language, where you can interact with co-learners, Spanish speakers and teachers willing to help you out. Locating none of these will be vey difficult, but deciding what works best for you may be more tricky and usually takes some time.

 

For me, a mixture of the following worked the best: daily newsletters from about.com, livemocha.com (you have paid stuff in this website, but a lot of resources and the forum are free. You can submit your assignments for other people knowing that language to rate and correct your mistakes as well), and a paid course from learningspanishlikecrazy.com (I paid about Rs. 2000 in Indian money for some awesome audio files for self-learning, much lesser than what I would have paid for a Spanish course in any langauage school, not even taking into account the time I would spend in going there, availabiliy of classes etc) and when I compare this to my attempts to learning a foreign language from a brick and mortar language school, I only feel that I have found a wonderful solution.

 

Become a giver: While it is a great thing to use Internet and google like a your private genie to solve the problems, on an advanced stage in your interaction with the web, you should be able to solve problems of others and give answers to questions that others are asking – on your blog, or webpage, or maybe on Facebook or Squidoo. When you are doing these things, you know you have a purpose of using the internet. You are free, not anymore chained to the self imposed chains of activities - like checking mail, replying, archiving, opening facebook, taking a quiz or reading a blog because you have nothing better to do. You would not feel like reading those silly articles if you had better things to do. many of the ridiculous Facebook quizzes that are so captivating now will turn out to be very boring. You will use the Internet now, and not let yourself get used on the Internet by strangers on their quests to make millions.

 

And then, you shall want your content, your blog or webpage to be found on the Internet by strangers from all over the world who may be interested in what you are writing, saying or performing. Then again, you can use google like a genie to ensure it takes your work to all the people out there.

 

With respect to Spanish, this will entail writing about your experience of learning spanish, the tricks you discovered, the courses and the habits that worked for you, the forums that you loved. You can write a blog, you can help people who are beginning to learn, and could do with some guidance on forums and social networking sites. This will cement your own learning as well and help you to meet a lot of new people pursuing similar interests as you are.

 

Join in the conversation: Everybody who matters is present on the Internet. Once you are free from the cyclic patterns that the average Internet-slave follows, you are an enlightened being using the Internet for growth and prosperity. Now you can join in the conversation. You should be using search engines properly and you would be on the way to become a master finder, and naturally you would be encountering a wealth of information, insights and greater things everyday. You would know you are doing it right when you would find it yourself because you want it rather than the content coming and finding you in your inbox, facebook wall or desktop without you ever asking for it.

 

Now you would certainly not be so bored that you shall have to take quizzes or open facebook once in every half hour to check if you have got another wall post or friend request. However, this is the time you shall start finding truly great people on the web – maybe people writing blogs, talking in webinars or developing things you want. You shall find yourself in conversation with them – sometimes on social networking sites, at other times you shall write your own blog, make podcasts or hold webinars to reply to theirs. You will not only learn from the masters out there on the web, but you will teach them too, and those others who care to listen. Realisation will dawn on you, and not at all dramatically: you are no average Joe or Jane born to serve the empire of Internet. Your time has come.

 

Join in the hunt: Whoever said hunting is illegal these days, had no clue. Today's internet is a great hunting ground: for knowledge, for skills, and for profit. All the time people are joining their forces on the Internet to bring about great things. After you have gone through the last two phases, you can be one of the hunters. Sometimes alone, at other times in collaboration with others like you, you will find solutions, create and teach hacks, moving and shaking things around internet. How would that be made possible? If you use search engines effectively, you will be privy to cutting edge knowledge and information that very few care to look for. You would be able to keep track of the best in the web, and the best of the web is normally really powerful stuff! You can find what you want quickly, you can pick up a new skill in a few days, you can have a readership. If someone comes with a problem to you, you can fix it up, or at least provide a direction. You can network on the Internet. And when you collaborate with other denizens of internet like you, great things could take place.

 

There is a huge demand on the internet for skilled and unskilled work. There is scope for starting your own venture as well as providing a service against money. There is demand for almost all sort of work - creative writing, photography, video editing, online marketing. You can learn almost any skill, and make money from it. The most well known places to look for work are craigslist, guru.com, elance.com etc. However, operating profit can be much higher if you can locate job yourself, or even better, if you can become an online expert on your area and let your customers / possible partners find you on the internet and approach you with work.

 

07 March 2010
News and current affairs


Narco Analysis a need of the hour


In modern times with the advent of technology and increasing knowledge of the same, the criminals are gaining a lot from it. To catch up to the standards of such technically advanced and intelligent criminals, who leave no evidence, Narco Analysis has come as a relief for the investigation agencies. It is the need of the hour to introduce innovative methods to prove the accused guilty. Since law is a living process, it should change according to the changes in society, science, and ethics and so on. The Legal System should imbibe developments and advances that take place in science so far as it does not infringe fundamental legal principles that are for the good of the society. The criminal justice system should be based on just and equitable principles. Hence, to adjudge the legality of the truth serum test is very important.

Even though Article 21 is couched in a negative language enjoys a fundamental ascendancy over all other attributes Right to life and personal liberty are compendium terms which include a variety of rights and attributes. The expanded meaning includes the right to hold a particular opinion, to sustain and to nurture that opinion

Article 21 is repository of all important Human Rights, essential for a person or a citizen and when there is a natural calamity, the State as a guardian of people is obliged to provide support to the victim to save their lives.

 Narco Analysis is not used in all the cases. In selected cases where interest of society at large is involved and in other serious cases only it should be used, if necessary.

The FSL, Bangalore, has subjected more than 300 persons connected with a variety of crimes "involving organised crime by terrorist outfits, cyber crimes and other heinous crimes” from across the country, to such tests. The success rate has been 96-97 per cent as evaluated from the feedback received from investigating agencies and others. About 25 per cent of the total number of individuals subjected to Narco Analysis turned out to be "innocents". The answers are believed to be spontaneous as a semi conscious person is unable to manipulate the answers.

Article 21 is a declaration of deep faith and belief in Human Rights. In this “pattern of guarantee woven in Chapter III of the Constitution of India, personal liberty of man is at root of  Article 21 and each expression used in this Article enhances Human Dignity and Values. It lays the foundation for a society where Rule of Law has primary and arbitrary or capricious exercise of power

Thus, protection against self incrimination is an instrument for the protection of the innocent and not intended for the acquittal of the guilty. The framers of the Bill of Rights believed the rights of society were paramount to the rights of the criminal. Believing in the same principle in a spate of high-profile cases, such as those of the Nithari killers, the Mumbai train blasts, Arushi Murder case, Malegaon blasts and the most recent Mumbai blasts case suspects have been made to undergo Narco Analysis, drugged with the sodium pentothal

The discovery of the truth is the desideratum of investigation, and, all efforts have to be made to find out the real culprit, because, one guilty person, who escapes, is the hope of one million. Courts have, therefore, to adopt a helpful attitude in all efforts, made by the prosecution for discovery of the truth. If the Narco Analysis and Brain Mapping test can be helpful in finding out the facts relating to the offence, it should be used and utilized and the courts should not obstruct the conduct of the exercise

02 March 2010
News and current affairs

A lawyer issued a legal notice to quit on behalf of his client. He posted it through registered AD and courier. Since he did not receive any AD card, h filed a complaint with the Post office .In the meantime, he sought for the proof of delivery from the courier company. He entrusted his clerk with the responsibility of pursuing the courier company and procure the hard copy of the proof of delivery.

Below you find the email conversation which ensued:

 

Clerk to the courier company

 

Please provide us delivery report for the shipment sent on September 09 vide AWB No. 123449276. It has extremely urgent due to legal requirement and has to be filed in the court tomorrow. So kindly favour us in this regard as required either by soft or hard copy to submit the same

 

Regards,

 

P.K.Gidpade

 

The next day, the clerk received a reply from courier company with the soft copy of the proof of delivery attached.Since  he was asked to procure a hard copy of the same, he immediately wrote:

 

Dear Mr. Cheepak,

 

How could we explain our request which could be heard by your Jury (Ms. Jharokha & You). The day (03.02.2010), we had requested for the hard copy of said delivery report, it was assured by you telephonically and by Email of Ms. Jharokha that we will definitely send on 04.02.2010 and from that day after making several contacts, the matter is still on your wishes and obligation. Because you people have words to convince the customers and ignore the matter, however it is most important for customer and we are helpless with your great cooperation. This kind of issues have been raised to the upper channel time to time, but a single email simplify by mentioning as “We are looking into the matter” and story finished for future also. So this is the service standard we are getting through the Yellow Dart. Our firm has to file the matter in the court as mentioned in the trailing mail but the advocates has to wait until the turn of Yellow Dart ‘s wishes and blessings  will come to the queue  of our firm. So could we ask the day on which we can have your attention and could be bale to file the same in the court?

 

Regards,

 

P.K.Gidpade  

 

The clerk received the dart of a reply immediately from the courier company

 

Dear Mr Gidpade,

 

Jharokha is out of station, had to leave due to some emergency..hence seems missed out actioning mail on time.

 

We can send only electric details

 

The clerk was furious. He wrote

 

Dear Mr. Taqlief,

 

We have this kind of electric details but this could not be filed as evidence before the court. This has already discussed with Mr. Cheepak that we need copy of delivery receipt and agreed to collect from the Dhokhla Hub. Then Mr. Cheepak said that we are sending the scanned copy within two hours and hard copy will be received in morning i.e.04.02.2010. So please manage for the same as required.

 

With regards,

P.K.Gidpade

 

To this, Mr. Gidpade was sent a soft copy of the delievery report.

A frustrated Gidpade replied :

 

Dear Mr. Jayjay,

 

Please see my trailing mail wherein I have clearly asked for DELIVERY REPORT not for Delivery Details and this document could only be accessed from your distribution hub. Please manage to provide me as needed for legal requirement.

 

Regards,

 

P.K.Gidpade

 

The clerk received the below mail the next day

 

“Hard copies are only kept for 90 days”

 

To which he replied

 

Dear Mr. Jayjay

 

Now it’s clear to go ahead but spent time in processing of the said matter

 

No Regards,

 

P.K.Gidpade

 

 

02 March 2010
News and current affairs

The judgment of the Supreme court in Sundaram Finance Ltd v. NEPC India Ltd., reported in   (1999) 2 SCC 479 observed at para 12 thereof that though section 17 gives the arbitral tribunal the power to pass orders, the same cannot be enforced as orders of a court and it is for this reason only that Section 9 gives the court power to pass interim orders during the arbitration proceedings.

Subsequently, in M.D. Army Welfare Housing Organisation v. Sumangal Services Pvt. Ltd., reported in  ( 2004 ) 9 SCC 619 , the Apex Court had held at para 56 thereof that under section 17 of the Act no power is conferred on the arbitral tribunal to enforce its order nor does it provide the judicial enforcement thereof.

However, in the case of Sri Krishan Vs. Anand, OMP. No. 597/2008, decided on 18.08.2009 by Mr. Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, J. of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court, reported in Manu/De/1828/2009, the Hon’ble Delhi High Court held that Enforcement of an order of injunction passed by the Arbitral Tribunal would be enforced under Section 27 (5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 which deals with "Court assistance in taking evidence” which is as under:

 

Persons failing to attend in accordance with such process, or making any other default, or refusing to give their evidence, or guilty of any contempt to the arbitral tribunal during the conduct of arbitral proceedings, shall be subject to the like disadvantages, penalties and punishments by order of the Court on the representation of the arbitral tribunal as they would incur for the like offences in suits tried before the court.”

The Court stated as under:

Any person failing to comply with the order of the arbitral tribunal would be deemed to be "making any other default" or "guilty of any contempt to the arbitral tribunal during the conduct of the proceedings". Thus the remedy of the other party is to apply to the arbitral tribunal for making a representation to the court to meet out such punishment, penalty to the guilty party, as would have been incurred for default in or contempt of the court. Naturally, the arbitral tribunal would make such a representation to the court only upon being satisfied that the party/person is in default or in contempt. Once such a representation is received by this court from the arbitral tribunal, this court would be competent to deal with such party in default or in contempt as if in contempt of order of this court, i.e., either under the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act or under the provisions of Order 39 Rule 2A Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.”

The Hon’ble Court also clarified that Section 27(5) was not noticed in Sundaram Finance Ltd. or in Sumangal Services Pvt. Ltd. (supra) perhaps, because it was hedged in the heading/title of Section 27. However, since the said heading/title cannot limit or narrow the otherwise wide amplitude of Sub-section (5) of Section 27, the default, contempt mentioned therein cannot be limited to that only in appearance of witnesses before the arbitral tribunal. To do so, would be to render the words "any other default" and "guilty of any contempt" therein otiose.

 

In arriving at the aforesaid dicta, the Court found support of the following  decisions which held as under:

(i)                 Anuptech Equipments Private Ltd. v. Ganpati Cooperative Housing Society Ltd. AIR 1999 Bombay 219 where in para 16 reference is made to Section  27(5) in the context of holding that the arbitral tribunal discharges the inherent judicial function of the State – it is for this reason only that in a major departure from 1940 Act, power of contempt of arbitral tribunal has been conferred; once a person can be punished for contempt of the arbitral tribunal and which can bring the administration of justice into disrespect or interference with the administration of justice, it shows the legislative intent qua the arbitral tribunal and

(ii)              Maharashtra State Electricity Board v. Datar Switchgear Ltd. reported in MANU/MH/1187/2002 also holding that Section 27(5) reveals the scheme of the legislation; the contempt of the arbitral tribunal has been made subject to imposition of disadvantages, penalties and punishments by order of the court on the representation of the arbitral tribunal, also approved by the Hon’ble Gujarat High Court in Saurashtra Chemicals Ltd. v. Hon'ble Mr. Justice K. Ramamoorthy (Retd.) reported in MANU/GJ/0329/2005.

26 February 2010
News and current affairs

I began to write this about three weeks ago. A lot has changed since then. Terror has shaken our relatively sleepy city from its sense of security.  


“And yes, we need peace more because we have a good thing going in India and we have more to lose” says Bhagat and in a way that sums up what he is trying to say – we need peace for ourselves, to hell with ‘them’. Something about the title of the column really irked me. His column is titled the ‘Underage Optimist’. I began to wonder, is he supposed to represent what the youth think? So I write this just to say, I’m young as well and this is what I think.  


The original op-ed can be found here


Heres what I would have written:  


The attacks in Mumbai in November 2008 were a stern test to India’s foreign policy and its commitment to peace. The administration had to contend with a rising public demand for retaliatory measures, criticism from all corners of the political arena of how the attacks were handled and the fear of looking weak in its response.  


The administration in its reaction has made an important distinction between the who it is dealing with. By ensuring that they did not sever ties with Pakistan, the Government displayed the sense to say that Pakistan did not solely consist of terrorist groups or even just of those supporting the terrorists. Whether the Government of Pakistan is doing enough to combat these elements is a question which certainly needs to be answered. But it is clear that that is where India’s foreign policy needs to be focused. Our neighbours share common histories with us, have faced common hardships and share common cultures. Why then should we vilify all those across the border and claim that the intent of some is equal to the intent of all?  


The blast in Pune shook me. I have been in Pune for almost five years and have always felt that the city has a distinct small town feel to it. German Bakery is a place I have been to countless times. It wasn’t just that it had good food; there was an atmosphere of freedom which I loved. The fact that such an unimportant place could be a target has really hit home, what could they target next? The threat seems almost too real now. They have struck fear in our hearts, we are afraid, we wonder if our friends are safe, our parents constantly check if we are back home. Something as innocuous as a bag has now become a source of fear, why just a few days ago there were two bomb scares on the same day. How are we supposed to go on from here – as a city, as a country? For now the terrorists have won. 


What worries me is that if we do not choose our response carefully, we will let the terrorists win long term. If our response is to snap ties with Pakistan, or put untenable pre-conditions on talks, how are we ever going to break this cycle? The Pune blast was just a few days ahead of the scheduled foreign secretary level talks between Islamabad and New Delhi. To me, talks present the only way to establishing a long term and sustainable peace.  


Yes, we have a good thing going on in India but is that the only reason we want peace? How can we wish peace just for ourselves, has our indifference overshadowed our humanity? Having seen the carnage that violence creates up-close, I cannot wish such pain and suffering on anyone. So in that sense I love you my Pakistani brothers and sisters. I hope you and your families are not affected by violence.I certainly hope that the violence doesn’t originate from my country.  


And no, I will not sign your petition.

20 February 2010
News and current affairs

Rajani Associates, a Mumbai based law firm has concluded private equity deal whereby New Silk Route has invested in Nectar Lifesciences Limited, listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.

 

Nectar Lifesciences Limited a fast growing pharmaceutical company with ambitious plans to become market leader in the segment, also, intending to scale its share in $35-billion healthcare industry which would be touching $75 billion by 2012.

 

A fast track private equity deal in the listed entity was approx. USD 20 million fetching NSR Direct PE Mauritius LLC a significant minority stake in Nectar Lifesciences Limited.

 

Rajani Associate has advised the Company while Desai & Diwanji had advised the NSR Direct PE Mauritius LLC  on structuring and negotiating the transaction on a time crunched private equity transaction to make it a win-win deal for all the parties with fast, focused and effective strategy.

19 February 2010
News and current affairs

A few days after the Lawyers' Collective judgment last December, Ashurst Asia emailed out "Season's Greetings from Ashurst offices around the world", with 13 shiny balls for each country it operated in.

Next to the US and France, the Indian liaison ball was the smallest of them all.

Now that Ashurst is closing its Delhi office, everyone is wondering what will happen to that delightful shiny orange ball.

Will the firm have to take down the Indian ball for next year's Christmas?

Legally India is holding an appeal to give the ball a new home. Anyone who can take it in and save it until next Christmas, please contact us.

Christmas Greetings from Ashurst

19 February 2010
News and current affairs

http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/jan/15/govt-proposes-test-for-budding-lawyers.htm#write


I have a mixed feeling. It definitely is a positive step of the Govt to choose Quality over quantity. However, it is pertinent that the govt also provides job opportunities and set up more courts with better facilities. 

Its a good way to encourage competition and skim out the cream. However, I very strongly feel that , it should be a 2 way communication. For instance, let us  have the  salary revised for the quality lawyers and lets also have better courts and court facilities. Provide good, basic facilities to the quality lawyers to work proficiently and expeditiously like good internet connection and connected P.C in the courts. 

The idea is, to encourage talented lawyers to channelise their energy for the betterment of the whole Indian legal system. Cutting out the quacks from the good ones doesn't actually solve the real problem that the Indian legal system faces today. 

Hopefully, this ain't another red herring.