By Bhoomika Agarwal Policemen so cherish their status as keepers of the peace and protectors of the public that they have occasionally been known to beat to death those citizens or groups who question that status. - David Mamet The events that took place in the last few months have raised a very essential question … Continue reading Law Against Police Brutality
By Nayan Grover Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (“NDPS Act”) is a Sue Generis Code and thus anything provided in this act will prevail over the general law. The offences under the NDPS Act are considered to be of more serious nature than usual and also viewed with more scrutiny by the courts. … Continue reading Whether Section 37 of NDPS Act Renders the Provision of Anticipatory Bail Infructuous
By Sri Hari Mangalam Introduction Three Strikes and you are out, a common baseball phrase is also the underlying principle for criminal penalties in America. The measure originally enacted to curb the increase in violent crimes across the country is as of now, centred in a few states. California passed the law in 1994, in … Continue reading Three Strikes and You’re Out: Indian Criminal Legislation Needs Baseball Rules?
By Himanshu Tyagi The Supreme Court of India recently emphasized on the need of having special public prosecutors in the case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The Hon’ble Court observed that the prosecutors must be trained to deal with child witness in sexual harassment cases. As we all … Continue reading The Credibility of Child Witnesses
By Sneha Singh Introduction The lockdowns following the COVID-19 pandemic have surged up the number of domestic violence cases among many countries worldwide. The populations were directed to stay indoors at their respective homes as it had been proved to be an effective measure for fighting against the coronavirus. While stopping the spread of the … Continue reading COVID-19 – XIII: Domestic Violence: The Unseen Crisis of the Pandemic
By Abhinav Sekhri On 22.04.2020, Ordinance No. 5 of 2020 was passed to amend the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. It was a response to the most recent pleas by medical professionals for greater legal protection against physical attacks. I say most recent because this issue has been raised on many a prior occasion, but it only seems to have assumed critical importance … Continue reading COVID-19 – XII: Some Thoughts on the Ordinance to Protect Health Care Workers
By Alivya Sahay and Raj Krishna INTRODUCTION On 23rd January 2020, the International Court of Justice in a landmark ruling has directed the state of Myanmar to cease all atrocities and human rights violations against the Rohingya Muslims. It is interesting to note that for the very first time the ICJ has heard a genocide … Continue reading Gambia v. Myanmar: Critical Analysis of the ICJ Ruling on Rohingyas
By Pallavi Diwakar and Stuti Bhargava Introduction- Situation around the Globe “While there is no doubt as to the fact that our homes provide safety against the onslaught of this growing pandemic, what protects us from the abuse that we face at the hands of our near and dear ones?” While a lot of facilities … Continue reading COVID-19 – XI: Domestic Violence: An Essential Byproduct of COVID-19?
By Abhinav Sekhri On April 22, 2020, a Three Justices' Bench of the Supreme Court decided a reference made to it in Hira Singh [Crl. Appeal No. 722 of 2017, decided on 22.04.2020]. The primary issue before the Court was the correctness an earlier decision by a Two Justices' Bench of the Supreme Court, E. Micheal Raj v. Intelligence Officer [(2008) … Continue reading There are No Right Answers: The Supreme Court and the Purity / Mixture Debate under the NDPS Act
By Keshab Roy Choudhury Introduction The concept of justice is an ever-elusive one. What exactly does one mean when they say they want justice? In the Indian context, the concept of ‘instant justice’ has entered the discourse again post the rape and murder of a 26-year-old doctor in Hyderabad last year. This ‘instant justice’, in … Continue reading Deconstructing Section 46(3) of the CrPC: A Tacit Approval for Encounters
By Harpreet Singh Gupta Recently, while hearing a revision petition, the Jharkhand High Court enlarged the accused on bail who was sentenced for one year for obstructing running of trains, etc. under Section 174(a) of the Railways Act. The conditions that the court put were rather interesting. The accused were directed to: (a) deposit Rs. … Continue reading COVID-19 – X: Jharkhand High Court’s Recent Bail Conditions: Improper exercise of Judicial Discretion?
By Devangana Kuthari and Ishani Mookherjee The term ‘Protest Petition’ has not been defined under any statute in India, whether the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973 or the Indian Penal Code, 1860. However, it has been accepted in practice and has been a part of the criminal procedure in India, even before independence, though with … Continue reading Protest Petitions as a Tool to Check Unconvincing Closure of Cases
By Nabira Farman and Utkarsh Shubham Does the Veil of Freedom of Speech & Expression Immune the Media from Penal Liabilities? INTRODUCTION When India was already blazing under the communal fire post the introduction of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, the novel CoronaVirus came to make people realize that this battle is not religious. It … Continue reading COVID-19 – IX: A Pandemic for the world, Antagonism for the Indians
By Nishtha Nikhil Gupta The lockdown due to COVID-19 has impacted one and all. The courts are no exception to it. While many courts are not working, yet some others are hearing only urgent and important matters. Even the Supreme Court has been hearing only important cases through video conferencing. The Supreme Court has ordered … Continue reading COVID-19 – VIII: Plea Bargaining- A Simple Solution for Difficult Times
By Devanshu Anada Introduction It was unimaginable for the government of most of the countries that a pathogen not even visible to a naked eye would have the potential to bring even the most developed countries down to their knees and their economies to a virtual standstill. As unprepared the immunity system of our bodies … Continue reading COVID-19 – VII: Is the Indian Legal Framework Capable of Handling the Coronavirus Pandemic
By Tanay Singh and Tanya Rathod INTRODUCTION The term bail essentially means the interim release of an accused from the judicial custody and to place him/her under the custody of some monetary assurance to serve the accused person his right to enjoy the personal freedom. Granting of bail in the Indian criminal justice system has … Continue reading COVID-19 – VI: India’s Decaying Bail System: A Virus Exposes the Truth
By Dhruti Lunker and Isiri S.D. Introduction In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union Government has announced a nationwide lockdown mandating its people to stay indoors. The Government has taken all measures to contain the spread of the deadly virus that has taken a high toll across the world. The doctors, nurses, … Continue reading COVID-19 – V: Violence and Coronavirus: Saving the Frontline Health-workers
By Abhinav Sekhri (This is the fifth post in a multi-part series. Earlier posts can be accessed through here) The previous post in this series discussed how a growing political consciousness across British India led worried administrators to use the law as a means to suppress civil liberties. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code … Continue reading Section 144 Cr.P.C. — Part V: Combating the Repressive Law (1921 to 1940)
By Rishabh Warrier Introduction Modern times have seen our lives being pervaded by algorithms, from suggestions on Netflix to music recommendations. An area where this pervasion is seeing a stark increase is in the domain of criminal sentencing. Prisons in the United States hold more people than any other country across the world. This problem, … Continue reading Analysing The Use Of Artificial Intelligence in Criminal Sentencing through the Loomis Decision
By Aditya Krishna Introduction In March of 2018, in the case of State of West Bengal v Animesh Boxi,[i] which is widely considered the first-ever,[ii] the Sessions court in Tamluk, West Bengal, sentenced a man to five years imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 9,000, for uploading private and objectionable pictures of a girl … Continue reading Revenge Porn: Prosecution Under the Current Indian Legal System
By Ranjeet Soni and Rohit Shrivastava INTRODUCTION A clean environment is an indispensable fundamental right which is vested with all the people Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Supreme Court elucidated that any disturbance of basic environmental elements namely air, water and soil would amount to punishment. To prevent disturbance reasonable restrictions may be put … Continue reading COVID-19 – IV: Infectious Diseases: Rein on Quarantine & Archaic Laws
By Amrashaa Singh The recent killing of the four accused in the Hyderabad veterinary doctor’s rape case created a huge hue and cry across the nation. While some people praised the incident, others pointed out the human rights violations caused by the incident. Many famous personalities, praised it, including Jaya Bachchan, a Rajya Sabha M.P., … Continue reading Extra-Judicial killings: A solution for preventing crime in Adityanath’s UP?
By Kartik Agarwal India went into a state of despair on December 16th, 2012 when a 23-year-old girl was raped by six men in a moving bus in Delhi. Five of them were sentenced to death in 2013 by the Fast track court and one was sent to the juvenile justice board. The death penalty … Continue reading Are Rights of Victim Subservient to the Rights of Convicts: An Analysis in Light of the Nirbhaya Case
By Abhinav Sekhri (This is the Fourth Post in a series on the Blog. Previous posts can be accessed here) The previous post expanded upon the officers who dealt with the powers conferred under what, by 1898, was Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code [Cr.P.C.]. The post also elaborated upon the expansion of such powers … Continue reading Section 144 Cr.P.C. — Part IV: Public Order and Political Agitation (1901 to 1920)
By Shreyash Mittal Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Hate the crime, not the criminal.” Introduction The aim of the criminal justice system is the reformation of criminals rather than inflicting punishment on them. Probation is an alternative to the customary form of punishments, where instead of sending the offender into the jail; he is released on … Continue reading The Probation of Offenders Act, 1958- An Extremely Crucial but Underplayed Legislation
By Nishtha Gupta “The safety of the people is the supreme law.” -Markus Tullius, Roman statesman and lawyer The Indian state has recently faced the world’s largest lockdown wherein 1.6 billion people have been subjected to an unprecedented lockdown. This has obviously led to a certain protest in terms of people not following the lockdown … Continue reading COVID-19 – III: Is Use of Lathi by Police During Lockdown Justified?
By Yashwanth J With the onset of nationwide lockdown following the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the coronavirus, various photos and videos have surfaced on the internet and the TV news channels portraying the highhandedness by the police officials against the flouters of the impugned curfew. The Government’s Guidelines on the measures to be taken by … Continue reading COVID-19 – II: Lockdown and the Wave of Police Brutality
By Manan Daga The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) is one hundred and twenty-three years old legislation. It was incorporated by the Britishers to fight the bubonic plague epidemic in 1896 in the Bombay Presidency.[1] This underlines a vital fact which cannot be ignored. The Act was a mechanism for … Continue reading COVID-19 – I: Does the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 Call for an Amendment?
By Raj Krishna and Rishika Introduction Human dignity is harmed when minority groups are marginalized. – Judge Michael Leburu On 30th March 2020, the High Court of Singapore, in Ong Ming Johnson v Attorney-General and other matters, upheld the colonial-era law that criminalized homosexuality between two consenting adults. The Court held that Section 377A of … Continue reading Singapore High Court’s Judgment on Homosexuality: A Critique
By Ashima Sharma and Nidhi Pratap Singh The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019 ( “Bill”) has been formulated to create a national DNA database for use in criminal investigation and civil matters. DNA technology can be used to ascertain the identity of a person and can be of use in criminal investigation … Continue reading The DNA Technology Regulation Bill, 2019 and its Impact on Marginalised Communities
