Misintrepretation of the Law of Sedition The only relevant portion in Kanhaiya Kumar bail order is paras 54 to 57. The order has completely misintrepreted the law of sedition. Even though Section 124A of IPC has been quoted, it has not been followed. There is no connection between anti-nationalism and disaffection against the government. What is punishable under the section is the preparatory actions of waging war against the state…

Kedarnath Judgment: Procedural Lapses There were four appeals before the Supreme Court of India (SCI) in reference to Kedarnath judgment on sedition. C.A. 169 of 1957, which arose from the grant of special leave to appeal, was dismissed. The three other appeals, i.e. C.A. 124-126 of 1958, which arose from the certificate granted by the high courts, were allowed, and the cases were remanded back to the high court. The…

Aarushi Talwar Murder Case: Facts The judgment of the trial court in the Aarushi Talwar murder case has been pronounced and Aarushi Talwar’s parents have been held guilty for the Aarushi Talwar murder along with that of Hemraj on the basis of circumstantial evidence. The undisputed facts of the case are that Nupur Talwar, Rajesh Talwar, Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj were last seen together on the night of 15/05/2008 in…

The Sources of Existence The recent Guwahati High Court judgment on CBI in W.A. No. 119 of 2008 (Navendra Kumar vs. Union of India) has created an existential crisis for the CBI. The CBI tried to justify its existence before the high court on the basis of two sources: As a “police” force established under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DSPE Act). As a central bureau of “investigation” established…

Comment Dated 12.09.2011 In Zakia Jafri case, a special investigation team (SIT) investigated the matter on the directions of the Supreme Court of India (SCI). The SCI also appointed an amicus curiae and directed him to file his report after an independent assessment of the statements of the witnesses who deposed before the SIT. The witnesses also included Sanjeev Bhatt. As per media reports, the SIT rejected the statement of…

Procedural Fairness under the Indian Legal System The 2G judgment by the Supreme Court of India has introduced “due process of law” in India by linking arbitrariness in decision making to the decision itself. Let us see how. The equality, enshrined under article 14 of the Indian Constitution, can be ensured in two ways: By challenging the law/policy/action of the state on the principle of intelligible differentia and rational nexus….

Right to Privacy of Sleep Introduced Baba Ramdev judgment, available here, is basically a judgment on the legality of implementation of ex-parte order dt. 04.06.2011 passed by the ACP, Kamala Market, Central Distt., Delhi, u/s 144 CrPC. However, the judgment by Justice B. S. Chauhan is also a primer on the right to privacy u/a 21 of the Indian Constitution. The judgment has clearly identified the right to privacy of…

In this blog post, I will discuss the most important angle of criminal conspiracy in the Binayak Sen judgment. The conspiracy has been held to be proved against Binayak Sen. He has been held guilty under section 124A IPC read with Sec 120B IPC for conspiring with Narayan Sanyal and Pijush Guha in spreading hatred against the state. Binayak Sen Judgment: The Facts/Evidence The evidence with respect to Binayak Sen…