In common law, a judgment that is per incuriam has no legal force or validity, and does not count as precedent. Classically, per incuriam is a very narrow concept, applicable only in two circumstances: to a judgment that is passed in ignorance of a relevant statutory provision, or without considerin...
Constitutional Law
(In this Guest Post, Udit Bhatia, a doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford, examines the question of anti-defection laws, in light of the recent political and legal tussle in Uttarakhand) — The anti-defection law, introduced by the 52nd amendment to the Indian Constitution, prohibits legisla...
In a judgment delivered today, a two judge bench of the Supreme Court rejected the constitutional challenge to criminal defamation, and upheld the validity of Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code. The opinion was written by Justice Dipak Misra. In this post, I shall discuss the judgment whi...
In a judgment handed down today, the Supreme Court held that the de-boarding of a disabled passenger from a Spice Jet airplane was illegal and violated her rights. It also issued some guidelines with respect to the treatment of disabled persons at airports under existing laws and regulations. In add...
At noon today, the Finance Minister introduced a Bill in Parliament to address the issue of delayed debt recovery. The Bill amends four laws including the SARFAESI Act and the DRT Act, which are primarily used for recovery of outstanding loans. In this context, we examine the rise in NPAs in India a...
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 is listed for passage in Rajya Sabha today. Last week, Lok Sabha passed the Code with changes recommended by the Joint Parliamentary Committee that examined the Code. [1] , [2] We present answers to some of the frequently asked questions in relation to the In...
(In this guest post, criminal law specialist Abhinav Sekhri examines the concurring opinion of Gupte J., which struck down Section 9B of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act (the reverse burden clause) — In a post yesterday, the Resident Author of this Blog engaged in a thorough analysis of vario...
Earlier this week, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court handed down a unanimous judgment (with a majority and concurring opinion) in the case of Modern Dental College vs State of Madhya Pradesh . The Petitioner’s had challenged the constitutional validity of the ‘Niji Vyavasayik Shikshan Sansth...
In a significant judgment delivered yesterday, the Bombay High Court struck down Sections 5D and 9B of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, while upholding the other provisions of the act. Section 5D penalised the possession of beef, even if it had been brought from outside the state of Maharash...
Yesterday, Members of Parliament in Lok Sabha discussed the situation of drought and drinking water crisis in many states. During the course of the discussion, some MPs also raised the issue of ground water depletion. Last month, the Bombay High Court passed an order to shift IPL matches scheduled f...
Last week, the Indian Express reported that in proceedings before the Supreme Court, the Additional Solicitor General was asked by the bench about how the State planned to regulate “explicit” pictures on condom packets. The case seems to have arisen out of a 2008 order of the Madras High Court (whic...
The final version of the Maharashtra Protection of People from Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2016 contains a few key departures from the draft bill (available here ) The most important is the scope of the word “victim” under the definitional clause (S. 2(h)). The Draf...
Advocate K.V.Dhananjay raises a question here; a question that he was asked – men perform the role of priests in Hindu temples; women have been traditionally and customarily barred from this role. Do women have a constitutional right to demand assignment of priest roles to them? Of course, in Hindu ...
April 17, 2016 · 6:52 am Last month, Punjab passed the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Act, which inserts a new Section 295AA into the IPC. 295AA, according to reports, prohibits “sacrilege” to the Guru Granth Sahib, and imposes life imprisonment as a punishment. I haven’t yet been able to obta...
It is unfortunate to see that Indian courts have started interfering in Hindu religious customs and traditions. It is surprising to note that being atheist institutions themselves, our courts including The Supreme Court of India are ruling over religious matter which is not supported by constitution...
(The following post is based on my understanding of how oral arguments progressed in Court, since I do not have access to the pleadings. Pointing out of errors would be very welcome) — Arguments in the Sabarimala Temple Entr y case are underway before a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court. Based ...
Advocate K.V.Dhananjay argues here that a number of judges, including judges of the Supreme Court, have invented or imagined a crime that simply does not exist in the penal statute at all; these judges have been ignorantly punishing young men who have had sex with a woman on a false promise of marry...
Ladies and Gentlemen, We at Chanakya National Law University, Patna (CNLU) have the honour to present to you the 1st P. A. INAMDAR INTERNATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2016 . The objective of this moot is to develop an awareness about rights of minorities and to provide a platform for law students ...
Sedition or rather disputes surrounding sedition are the flavor of the season. Both in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Hyderabad Central University (HCU) conversations around nation, nationalism, freedom, democracy and dissent have been doing the rounds. There have been demands to amend the IP...