Legal opinions

LI reporter Prachi Shrivastava argues that, to date, the pillars of the Indian constitution have been remarkably efficient and fair in the investigation and reporting of the sexual harassment allegations against former Supreme Court Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly.

Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) senior research associate Surabhi Shukla argues that the Supreme Court made a serious error in its judgment, which would pave the way for a review petition of the judgment.

Nikhil Kanekal explores the media furore and arguments surrounding the swirling #InternJudge sex harassment case that has thrown media, bench and bar into a tizzy.

Those who are accusing the Supreme Court of washing its hands of the allegation that a former apex court judge sexually harassed a former intern (“SJ”), have it wrong.

I have wanted to write some of these things at different times since it happened, and always shied away, argues Mihira Sood, gathering the courage to speak out about sexual harassment in the courts.

A law firm pro has penned a response to the controversial Ramblings of a GC column from last week.

While hourly rates continue to increase and add up, the quality of India’s legal advice unfortunately continues to spiral downwards. Affronted? Well, you should be.

So, Legally India sometimes gets accidentally addressed mail making us privy to some of the less public proposals law firms receive.

Monday’s Madras high court judgment by Justice Karnan caused debate, outrage and counter-outrage in and between traditional, new and social media, which unfortunately missed the wood for the trees, argues Prachi Shrivastava.

In last week’s Mint: Travel site Cleartrip landed a massive PR victory and garnered lots of Internet brownie points this month, ironically after firing its PR company.

In today’s edition of Mint: A lot of Indian law firms are run like the personal fiefdom of a senior or founding partner. The senior partners are a law unto themselves and are neither accountable internally nor externally. Such systems can breed unique pressures and cultures, quite separately from associate satisfaction with their salaries.

Editorial: Bangalore’s police, media and educators have shown themselves at their worst in the past days, appearing intent to keep slinging mud on a law school student who was allegedly the victim of a violent sex crime.

A lot of the recent frictions between the judiciary and the media are little more than misunderstandings, argues Kian Ganz.

Freedom of speech is impossible to agree about. While hardly anyone will dispute that freedom of expression is essential for a democratic society and an effective free market, almost no one will be able to agree about exactly where to draw the line.

In one corner, fighting for unbridled expression in various degrees, you have a disparate group that may include various shades of liberals and conservatives, freedom fighters, anarchists, journalists, academics, libertarians, criminals, terrorists, artists, copyright pirates, pornographers and paedophiles.

The other day a public relations (PR) agency called me and said that it really wanted an article written for Mint about one of its clients, a fairly well known Delhi lawyer. They said they wanted an interview with or a quote from that lawyer to appear by next week and they would arrange a meeting as soon as possible. As far as pitches for stories go, it was pretty weak.

In today’s edition of Mint: The Indian lawyers’ pie may be large but taking the first nibble is often the hardest part.