A Law Student's Contention

The recent appeal of the Archbishop of Delhi, Mr. Anil Couto for a ‘secular nation’ has not been taken in good spirits by the nation at large and has sparked controversy being the subject matter of much debate. In a letter where Archbishop identifies the contemporary political atmosphere as ‘turbulent’, he has in a pious request asked people of all casts and creed to observe a day of fast and offer penance for the country. As soon as the content of the letter went public, the religious leader was under attack from all the corners by people who thought that the statement was unwarranted. It did not take much time for pseudo liberalists of our country to come to his defense with initially ‘not so rightist’ political parties backing his letter solely for political mileage.  In a day or two, a well reasoned defense from the intelligentsia of this country also saw the light of the day which advocated his right to freedom of speech and expression to make such statement which is a

If someone makes a list of ‘most talked legal personalities of the country’ then I doubt that such a list would ever include the serving Chief Justices of any of the 24 High Courts (let alone small High Courts like Uttarakhand, Jharkhand or Chhattisgarh) but we right now have a beautiful exception to this general rule in the form of Hon’ble Mr. Justice K.M. Joseph who has become the contemporary baton of Independence of Judiciary. It is the general conception in the mind of people that the most brilliant legal minds always make to the apex court or rather, the most brilliant minds of legal profession are found only in the supreme court and we always forget Judges like A.P. Shah and M.C. Chagla but one name that we will not be forgotten for quite some time is that of K.M. Joseph. The most recent development in the matter is the reiteration of the name of Mr. Joseph by the Collegium for elevation to the Supreme Court is a welcome step to many but my paranoid mind says that ther

Recently a rat race concluded amongst all the major political parties in commemorating ‘father of the Indian Constitution’ on his 127th Birth Aniversary a.k.a 'Ambedkar Jayanti'. Though there are gossips that it was solely to up-ease a substantial segment of voters in the country who take Dr. Ambedkar as their leader but as I said, just gossips. Before I begin advancing my contentions, lets me state some of the facts that even I for one cannot deny. That Dr. Ambedkar played a decisive role in the up easement of the ‘Scheduled Castes’( Scheduled Tribes are deliberately excluded here), In the eradication of untouchability and the making of the Constitution of India but here comes the problem, I certainly feel that the contribution of Dr. Ambedkar in the framing of the Constitution is a hyperbole.  He like many other members of Constituent Assembly played an important role but I doubt that he was anyway near to the role of a ‘Father’. “I Came into Constituent Assembly ju

One of the first subjects that make way into our curriculum in the very early stage of our life is ‘Moral Science.’ I never found anything scientific in morals and I have tangible proof that neither the majority of my countrymen did. Also, being one of the subjects to which kids are introduced to in very early stage, it is also one of the first to be forgotten. This phenomenon has lead to a very sorry state of affairs which in my considerate opinion is an indication that it is ‘Armageddon’, not for humans but for humanity. Though there are a number of such instances I found these three recent instances particularly disturbing. Holi with semen filled balloon in Delhi Protestors outside Delhi Police headquaters, Image courtesy: Zee News First of all a very happy Holi to all and if you are lucky enough to be a girl then on the auspicious occasion of this festival you may be splashed with a water balloon filled with ‘semen’ because this is what is happening on sacred Hindu f

‘So why exactly did you opt for a career in law?’ is a question that has been haunting me for the past three years in law school, maybe not that frequently nowadays but still this question baffles me and my minds keep gliding around it even after I deliver a humorous answer to the interrogator. I am a prospective first-generation lawyer who had science in senior secondary. There is no lawyer, judge or anyone anyhow related to law in my immediate family, extended family and I believe not even in my clan (no pun intended). So, under the above-stated circumstances, this question becomes the personal favorite of everyone and is fired straightaway. It was my Achilles heel in my initial days in law school and will have to sadly admit it still is. Initially, when we join law school we are frequently ambushed with a variety of questions that in their gist have just one query – ‘why law?’ Well, let me make one thing very clear beforehand that telling truth was never an option in my

A judiciary independent of a king or executive alone is a good thing; but independence from the will of the nation is a solecism, at least in a republican government. -Thomas Jefferson (Declaration of Independence) ‘Independence of Judiciary’, a phrase for which people around the world have sacrificed their lives since time immemorial. It was emphasized by the founding father of our constitution and was made a part of basic structure of the Constitution of India in Keshwananda Bharti v. Union of India (1973) so that it could never be compromised. Supreme Court has been proactive and has been sitting like a watchdog to wreck any attempt made on its independence, NJAC was struck down on the pretext of independence of the judiciary as it was allegedly seen as an attack from the Executive on Judicial Independence. Never to mention, Supreme Court has unpreceded success in recent times also in this mission of theirs. But the question still stands tall, ‘is our judiciary

Well, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 a.k.a Instant Triple Talaq Bill which is a consequence of the Supreme Court judgment in Shayara Bano v. Union of India has been passed by the Lok Sabha with an overwhelming majority. Supreme Court, in that case, held that instant Triple Talaq ( Talaq-e-Biddat) is unconstitutional and manifestly arbitrary for women. Further, Justice Khehar in his minority opinion directed the government to legislate on the subject of triple talaq within six months. Government obediently pretending to be acting under the direction of Supreme Court (though direction was given in minority opinion) drafted this controversial bill which has been ambushed by many scholars, experts, and political parties. This article highlights the real and the alleged issues with the bill and also does a political and legal analysis of it (you cannot separate law from politics, can you?). The statement of objects and reasons of the bill states that