Mergers: A Travesty Of Justice

The Tenth Schedule to the Constitution of India, otherwise popularly referred to as the 'Anti-Defection Law' was inserted by the fifty-second amendment to the Constitution in the year 1985. Paragraph 2 of the Tenth Schedule lays down certain acts which would amount to defection and attract disqualification from the House; primarily voluntarily giving up of membership and voting (or abstaining to vote) contrary to the wishes of the party. Paragraph 3 of the Tenth Schedule, prior to its...

A Debate Drifting Off-Course? Analysing The Narratives Against The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019

The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) amended the Citizenship Act, 1955 to provide fast-tracked citizenship to Hindus, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis and Buddhists fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The list of religions is conspicuous for the exclusion of Muslims from the list. As this law draws a distinction between persons based on religion, it has evoked passionate protests and debates across the nation. While many of the arguments based on...

The Jurisdiction Of The Arbitral Tribunal To Bifurcate Arbitral Proceedings

Bifurcation in arbitral proceedings most often refers to the separation or division of jurisdictional issues from the merits, hence creating a separate phase to consider the jurisdictional and admissibility objections raised in the course of arbitral proceedings. A viable reason for bifurcation of arbitral proceedings has been furnished to as- splitting the merits of a case into liability and quantum phase.[1]In essence, bifurcation in arbitral proceedings is most desirable in investment ...

Beyond Us And Them: Kashmir, A Case Against Third Party Mediation

The Kashmir conflict has seemingly identifiable historical roots. The chronology of events culminating in the present state of the conflict is largely indisputable and the literature on it, abundant. The Kashmir conflict, however, derives its infamy, not from the happening or non-happening of said events but from the deeply disputed interpretation of them. The seven decade long legacy of the Kashmir conundrum has shown that ruminations over its history are rarely fruitful. Ever since the...

Once A King, Always A King? No

Preference shareholders, by virtue of their position, enjoy a number of benefits. The primary benefit is that whenever the company decides to pay dividends, the preference shareholders will be the first to be paid. They do not enjoy normal voting rights like ordinary shareholders. The reason being that they are already in a relatively secure position. Also, this is a trade-off made so that they get an assured income. Section 43 of the Companies Act, 2013 provides that on the...

Transformative Constitutionalism And The Sabarimala Judgment

The Indian Constitution is a great social document, almost revolutionary in its aim of transforming a medieval, hierarchical society into a modern, egalitarian democracy and its provisions can be comprehended only by a spacious, social science approach, not by pedantic, traditional legalism.[1] The whole idea of having a Constitution is to guide the nation towards a resplendent future. Therefore, the purpose of having a Constitution is to transform the society for the better and this...

How to Make Legal Education in India ‘Meaningful’?

A cluster of universities established by respective state/provincial legislatures in India prefer adding the prefix ‘national’, ultimately making them national law universities also popularly known as NLUs. Often, such a nomenclature gets associated with the overall quality of an institution. For stakeholders, primarily budding lawyers and aspiring law students, one of the most common concerns is whether receiving education from a university or a college outside the NLU cluster would help...

Increase in Retirement Age of Judges Isn’t Solution to Pressing Problems of Judicial Backlogs and Vacancies

Recently, BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay addressed a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting an increment in the retirement age of judges in India to 70 years.A major concern behind the proposal seems to be the huge backlog of cases and inordinate delay, which deprives the citizens of the right to speedy trial. The underlying logic for such a request seems to be that it would help retain judges, which would reduce judicial vacancies and hence clear up the backlog....

Should The Supreme Court Proceedings Be Live Streamed?

In case of Supreme Court, the right to transparency must end an inch before the right to speculate is created. The proponents of live streaming often advance various examples but chief among them is, other countries where the practice prevails, comparison of court with Parliament and the fact of latter allowing live streaming, and the need for educating the masses on how courts decide cases, and so forth. All these reasons combined together are too tempting for a neutral citizen to not favor...

Genetic Discrimination & Health Insurance: An Analysis

According to Order VIII, Rule 6 (3), Illustration (c) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, ‘insure’ means to secure payment of a sum of money in the event of loss or damage to property, or, death or physical injury to a person in consideration of the payment of a premium and observance of certain conditions. ‘Insurance’ is a contract by which a person (insurer) in consideration of a sum of money (the premium), becomes bound to secure a party against the risk of loss occasioning from certain...

Opinionated Criminals

“An official prohibition on offence would not eradicate 'offensive' views, but preserve them.”The issue of hate speech has assumed greater significance in the era of internet since the accessibility of internet allows offensive speeches to affect a larger audience in a short span of time. We are perpetually enraged by the attires of women, artistic freedom, freedom of the press, Facebook status, to say the least. A stand-up act can lead one to the jail or to the receiving end of death threats. ...

Need For Reconsideration Of Triple Talaq Bill

Ascribing criminal nature to any matrimonial offence has always remained a contentious issue. With the Supreme Court giving a landmark judgment declaring the practice of triple talaq as unconstitutional, the course to be taken related to its punishment has come under the scanner. In this article, the writer seeks to delve upon the implications that the current Bill may have on large sections of the society, adversely affecting their rightful interests.Despite being the nation with the 3rd...