In this issue

As Greta Thunberg's 'How Dare you' speech became the most discussed topic post the 2019 UN Climate Summit, the world is seeing an exponential increase in the number of people taking up the cause of acting on climate change. Amidst the hullabaloo lies India with its numerous laws battling one of the worst tragedies. Be it the unending air pollution in northern India or the water scarcity in southern India, our environment laws seem to be taking us on a road to nowhere. Rachna Rana Bhattacharya questions the fundamentals behind the application of these laws and discusses the way forward. On the International front, Purdue Pharma held responsible for the Opioid crisis in USA has filed bankruptcy succumbing to pressure from more than 2,600 lawsuits. But the important question remains, will this move allow the Sacklers, the owners of Purdue, to go scot free? Plus all our regular features that includes Panorama, a list of high profile cases under the CBI-ED ambit and Glossary, a breakdown of all the laws scrapped, amended and applied to the Union Territory of J&K.

Time For Action

Since time immemorial, the environment has had a larger-than-life place in the Indian scheme of things. But the Nineties and the new century have really been a sad story of a virtually unending line of laws failing to combat the increasing levels of pollution brought forth by urbanisation, and the global pressure about greenhouse emissions resulting in the Paris accord that now brings in its wake greater pressure on countries to tighten laws. Amidst all this, India shines as a classic example of the irrational mindset of enacting more laws to produce less pollution. RACHANA RANA BHATTACHARYA, while examining the dizzying number of laws that engulf us and the incredulously lopsided judicial pronouncements made by different courts, poses a simple question: What is the way forward?

10+ mins

Who's Responsible For Fukushima?

Even as the Fukushima nuclear disaster continues to haunt a section of the Japanese people and the world, a Japanese Court’s decision to acquit the nuclear power company, TEPCO’s bosses after three years of trial, raises questions over the use of nuclear power for energy needs.

5 mins

Tata, Bye-Bye?

What would one choose between their right to vote in local body elections and to receive world class civic amenities? The answer isn’t as simple as it looks. Jamshedpur — the land of the Tatas has been struggling with this question for the last 30 years and looks like they still haven’t found an answer. Maintained by the Tatas, there has been a steady incline in the number of voices demanding a government operated municipality to take over the town. In the midst of consecutive orders by various High Courts, the Supreme Court and clashing opinions, SHWETA MENON in her visit to the steel city found that the majority verdict by the janta remains in favour of the Tatas.

10+ mins

No Winners In The Opioid Case

Pain can make you rich and the opioid issue in the US is testimony to that. But other than the wealth it spawned, opioid has generated a huge number of legal cases in the US – and quite a few of them have been filed by the states. Will the Sacklers, one of the richest families in the US and the makers of the pain-relieving drug OxyContin, go scot free?

9 mins

J&-K A Jumble Of Laws

The transition of Jammu and Kashmir from a state to a Union Territory hasn’t been an easy one.

2 mins

Tourism Of A Different Kind

Is settlement tourism making the situation worse in the disputed West Bank region? That is a question that remains to be answered. Despite Airbnb changing course on its earlier decision to ban listings for Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the legal battle continues.

7 mins

Another Toothless Commission!

There was a walkout by the opposition, protests were staged across the capital, activists were shoved into police vans, letters were written to the President urging him to not sign the amendment and yet the central government was finally able to hit a six in its second attempt this year to amend the RTI (Right to Information) Act!

3 mins

Labour's “Decent Life” Dreams Continue

“Every moving The Code on Wages Bill, 2019 made it a point to inform the Members of the Rajya Sabha that the government had accepted 17 out of the 24 recommendations made by the Standing Committee which had scrutinised a similar bill introduced in the previous Lok Sabha.

3 mins

Article 370 - The Albatross Around The Neck

Considered an ‘albatross around the neck’ by the present BJP government at the centre, the sudden and surprising abrogation of Article 370 has opened the doors to a flood of emotions. The abrogation will be debated and tested in the Supreme Court, but it seems that the move has already won in the peoples’ court.

9 mins

UAPA Amendment: Need Of The Hour

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019, which has received the Presidential assent after being passed in both the Houses of Parliament in the just-concluded session, empowers the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to designate an individual as a “terrorist”.

6 mins

MV Bill Some Good News And Bad…

Nitin Gadkari retains his portfolio as Minister for Road Transport and Highways and that is good news for Road Safety lovers.

4 mins

NMC - A Reform Vehicle

The gazette notification of August 8, 2019 has established the National Medical Commission (NMC). NMC has now become law and will regulate medical education and practices in India.

3 mins

No Fishy Business

Belief, they say, moves mountains or in this case cures asthma. The annual Fish Prasadam jamboree in Hyderabad – that has been going on for the last 174 years – attracts asthmatic patients in thousands from all over the world. Legal Notes peeps in to provide a low-down on the hugely popular ‘fishy business’.

1 min

No Kingdom For Lions

A new in the list of PILs seeking to address and act on the issues of wildlife conservation is the one filed by wildlife activist Biren Pandya. This time it is for the protection of Asiatic lions. With the primary concern being around their unnatural deaths, the PIL finds resonance with a similar one filed last year for elephants. But the question that one needs to ask is where are we headed with these individual PILs and suo moto cases, if all that is being done on the ground is the shooting of these animals to drive them away.

7 mins

India Continues To Dither On Marital Rape Issue

India’s highest temple of justice, it seems, is not keen to deal with marital rape - a sensitive issue in our social context. Activists are demanding that it should be declared a criminal offence.

4 mins

No Trespassers In This Kingdom

Tiger, tiger burning bright…

2 mins

Fixing The Judiciary, Pak Style

Pakistan’s judicial community is up in arms against what could best be described as a government-judiciary stand-off, where Justice Qazi Faez Isa, one of its most cited judges – and slated to take over as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 2023 – is being hounded by the government and the army. His crime: Delivering independent judgements and remarks in cases against the government and the powerful army.

5 mins

Full-Stop To Toothless Death Penalty?

The one question that troubles law-makers and law-enforcers alike is: death or life imprisonment. While law-makers often hesitate and ponder before passing the final sentence, human rights activists and pacifists simply say no to the death sentence. Shweta Menon presents the views of the two sides and wants you to take a stand.

10+ mins

Auditing The Auditors

Chartered accountants and auditing firms in the country – especially the big four – are in the spotlight for their transgressions that have largely gone unnoticed. Now that the government has introduced the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) under the Companies Act, 2013, CA firms and CAs can be investigated. A special report on the government's determination to hold auditors accountable and the tightening of the regulatory framework.

10+ mins

That's Life - But It Could Be Much Better

If Delhi is there, Paris is not far behind! In a first, a French court has faulted the country over air pollution.

1 min

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Legal Notes Magazine Description:

Legal Notes, the latest addition in the Newsline Publications group, proposes to bring a fresh perspective to legal issues.
On any given day, there could be 40 different items in the news with respect to courts – right down from the Supreme Court to the district court on a range of issues from Blue Whale to NEET to Love Jihad and Blackberry messages. It’s as bewildering as it is exhilarating. In fact, it’s liberating that in this democracy of ours we have the ability to debate agree or dissent as we continue our march onwards.
Legal Notes will seek to assess, analyse, debate and dissect how the business of law impacts our lives in a hundred different ways. LN hopes to record the business of law each month for your reading pleasure.