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…
The Right to Information Act: Application Processing and Fees The Right to Information (RTI) Act provides for charging of the fees under three sections: section 6(1), section 7(1) and section 7(5). I am surprised that till date the government has not laid down any rules for the collection of fees u/s 7(1) — this is not the same as initial application fees of Rs 10 charged u/s 6(1). Of course,…
The Critique of the IPC Amendments in Justice Verma Committee Report (Comments Dated 24.01.2013) My critique of the IPC Amendments in Justice Verma Committee report (download here) vide Appendix 4 of the report is as follows: Sec 100 : S 326A is not only grievous hurt; “which shall include” creates confusion about the intention of the legislature. The courts may misinterpret the provision to allow this defense even in those cases…
In this blog post, I am making suggestions for the trial of sexual assault cases in India suggesting measures that can be taken to expedite the rape/sexual assault proceedings and, more importantly, the measures that can be taken to bring in the certainty of results reflected in the larger number of genuine convictions. Trial of Sexual Assault Cases: Assumptions The amendments in the IPC expanding the definition of rape to…
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…
Regularization of Unauthorized Colonies, Delhi: The Big Risk Regularization of unauthorized colonies, Delhi, is a hot issue, and it is also inevitable but to regularize them. Elsewhere, I have also opined that the unauthorized colonies have, ironically, been a boon for the citizens of Delhi. However, the Delhi government is trying to short-circuit the process of regularization of unauthorized colonies, Delhi. In the guidelines for regularization as well as in…
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….
The two essential elements of judicial accountability in India (or wherever else) are ensurance of veracity of judicial proceedings and scrutiny of judiciary. If these two elements are ensured, there is hardly much judicary can do to do corruption. I am concisely commenting on the two elements of judicial accountability in India below. Judicial Accountability in India vide the Records of Judicial Proceedings Ideally, all proceedings of the courts should…
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…
