BOON OR BANE?

While hearings have their pros during the pandemic, they are not without embarrassing glitches as tech-deficient advocates and judges grapple with the system. There is also the fear of security being compromised

A GIFT OF CITIZENSHIP?

Though the Constitution does not expressly guarantee any fundamental right to citizenship, a rapid survey of all ex parte decisions to decline this important right should be done in a time-bound mode. That is what minimal justice demands

Let Reforms Be Reformative

The centre's announcement of reforms in criminal laws should not be at the cost of losing the cardinal principles of these laws. The principle of “Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas" should be adhered to

VIGILANTE CRIMES ON THE RISE

Mob lynching has assumed frankensteinian proportions. Despite Supreme Court guidelines, states are yet to get their act together. Only three states have enacted anti-lynching laws, till date. Has vigilante crime got the better of political will? Have cattle protection laws given a fillip to mob violence? Are institutional changes needed in law and policing methods?APN channel did an in-depth discussion to get answers to these questions on its special show India Legal. The show was moderated by the channel's Editor-in-Chief, Rajshri Rai. A report:

LIVING ON YOUR TERMS

The pandemic had exposed all of us to our own mortality. The severe mental stress that many people are experiencing is leading to those under financial and mental strain taking their own lives. Taking control of one's life and death will be looked at with what the law permits.

HEADING FOR TROUBLE

A college in Karnataka has got drawn into a row over hijabs and saffron shawls and banned both of them on the campus despite the Constitution allowing such a dress code

SUSPENDED IN ANIMATION

The suspension of 12 BJP MLAs in the Maharashtra assembly for a year came up for criticism in the apex court. It said that period of suspension should not exceed the session and was “against democracy”

MARTIN LUTHER KING AND VOTING RIGHTS

The family of Dr Martin Luther King marched for the passage of voting rights legislation in Washington last week to honour the assassinated civil right leader on his birthday, a national holiday. King was assassinated in 1968 but his legacy on voting rights is even more relevant in today's America

First sentencing in 2020 Delhi riots case

A Delhi Court awarded a five-year jail sentence to Dinesh Yadav, after he was found guilty of rioting and setting the house of a Muslim family ablaze.

DIVORCED FROM LAW

A petition filed by a 28-year-old Muslim woman in Delhi High Court-who with her nine-month-old child was deserted by her husband after triple talaq—has raised questions about the legal status of different forms of divorce in the Muslim community

DOUBLE ADVANTAGE

The Uttarakhand HC has asked the EC to use virtual rallies and online voting for polls. It is time to use advanced technological tools in Covid times and remove the evils of money and muscle power

CHEETAH CALLING

In an effort to reintroduce cheetahs to India, 50 of them will be translocated from Namibia and South Africa. This is the first such effort to relocate them and the first batch will stay in Kuno National Park, MP

Are We Deaf To The Supreme Court?

IT is a matter of good tidings for supporters of democratic-republican governance all over the world to see the Indian Supreme Court in action under Justice NV Ramana.

Social Media: India's New Epidemic

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's course correction on national TV was not the mea culpa that his critics expected, but rather an exercise in blame-sharing. Government and ruling party spin doctors were quick to blame the social media for misleading the public regarding the government's intentions and actions.

A LEADER WITH A HEART

As the Chief Justice of India-designate readies to take over the country’s top judicial position, the system prepares for a balanced, humane approach to issues

A SURGICAL STRIKE

The government’s new guidelines for ethics and digital media are related to recent events but it has been in the works for some time. The legal implications are worth examining

STRIKING A BALANCE

The Maharashtra imbroglio has shown the need to keep a balance between institutions. It is best to apply the first principles of criminal law here-police investigate, judges decide

DIFFERING LEGAL PERSPECTIVES

A debate has started whether the impeachment is a legal, political or political-legal trial. Will it be unconstitutional to impeach a POTUS who has left office? Will it ultimately have to be decided by SCOTUS?

SUPREME GUIDANCE

The Court came to the rescue of the nation by intervening with a statesman-like approach when the centre was faltering in its administrative capacity, leading to much-needed course correction

THUNDER IN THE COURTS

THAT the courts and the judiciary have had to step in to virtually dictating how to address the corona holocaust that is cutting a swath of death and destruction across the country is an ample demonstration of malfeasance, misfeasance and the collapse of governance throughout the nation.

WRITTEN LIKE A TRUE JUDGE

HERE'S some really nourishing food for healthy and robust thought: A democratically elected government should be pleased when it faces dissent as this tells it what is going wrong with its administration and how to rectify wrongs. Handling it with an imperial heavy-handedness through the police is self-destructive and ultimately counterproductive.

“EVERY JOURNALIST ENTITLED TO PROTECTION AGAINST SEDITION”

In a landmark order, the Court quashed a sedition case against Vinod Dua by invoking the 1962 Kedar Nath case. It said a citizen has the right to criticise the government as long as he does not incite people to violence

Modi Versus Modi

Businessman and former IPL head Lalit Modi’s mother Bina Modi, his sister Charu and brother Samir have filed a suit seeking to restrain the arbitration proceedings initiated by London-based Lait Modi in Singapore over property disputes in the family. The apex court may have found a way to ease the way for a settlement

Child Marriage Bill - 2022 And Patriarchy Lives On…

Raising the marriage age of women from 18 to 21 years has its drawbacks. In reality what is needed is their economic and health empowerment and achieving sustainable development goals

Consent is Supreme

The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court recently held in a case that touching the feet of a woman by a stranger without her consent amounts to outraging her modesty under the Section

Long Wait for Justice

The High Court’s order of acquittal of a murder convict comes 38 years after the incident took place. During the lengthy pendency of the case, five other accused who had also filed an appeal died. The abnormally lengthy timeline reflects the intricacies of the judicial system

Not a Foolproof System

The new Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 proposes to link electoral rolls with Aadhaar to curb multiple enrolments of the same person at different places. But it also runs the risk of identity theft

Stick to the Brief

A judge created a stir recently by making unnecessary remarks in a bail order. These go against the principles of judicial discipline and secular ethos. A judge is supposed to go by facts and laws

The Curse Of Human Trafficking

The draft Bill, to be presented in Parliament soon, has brought a ray of hope to all those who have suffered due to various lacuna in the legislation owing to which trafficking in persons,especially women and children, has reached an all-time high

A Short, But Urgent Constitutional Message

In a welcome development, the Supreme Court advised the political class to be more tolerant of each other’s opinion and said that the debasement in dialogue had become the chief problem of democracy