By- Niharika Mukherjee (This article forms the first part of a two part series) Introduction This article shall review the case of Barendra Kumar Ghosh v King Emperor,  with a focus on its interpretation and application of Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 [“IPC"]. In this part, the article shall, first, shall briefly … Continue reading Returning to Barendra Kumar Ghosh- The Group Liability Conundrum (Part 1)

By Vidhi Srivastava Introduction Legal Moralism is a criminalisation theory that advocates employing criminal law to penalise immorality per se and ‘wrong’ conducts, irrespective of whether they adversely affect others.[1]  In India, ‘obscenity’ has been viewed from the lens of morality and decency. The law is embodied in s. 292 of the IPC. This provision … Continue reading Rethinking our Perspectives to Criminal Obscenity- From Moralism to Harm Principle

By Srushti S Kekre & Udisha Surana A man is a man; an act is an act; rape is a rape, be it performed by a man the “husband” on the woman “wife” -Justice M. Nagaprasanna The prevalence of marital rape in India emanates from the archaic doctrine of coverture where a wife is considered as … Continue reading Marital Rape through the lens of Judicial Activism in India

By: Abhinav Sekri Razorpay, a payments platform, got a request under Section 91 of the Criminal Procedure Code 1973 [Cr.P.C.] from Delhi Police asking it to furnish information in connection with an ongoing investigation in connection with the journalist Mohammad Zubair and the fact-checking platform Alt News. From news reports and public statements made by parties concerned, it appears … Continue reading On Section 91 Notices and the Razorpay Furore

By: Kajal Jamdare Introduction The recent flux of headlines about celebrities and star kids being found in possession of drugs prohibited by law has brought the issue of possession offences to limelight in India. Another, often ignored case of possession offences in India is the detention of individuals for possession of fire-arms and ammunitions. Many … Continue reading Possession Offences: Of Strict Liability and The Indian Judiciary’s Take

By: Aryaman Kapoor Introduction The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1973 [‘CrPC’] is applicable to the whole of India for investigation, inquiry and trial of every offence which is committed under the Indian Penal Code and most statutes which regulate offences that are criminal in nature. However, when it comes to the offence of money … Continue reading Comparing the Procedure of CrPC with PMLA

By: Ria Goyal Introduction The Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as “IPC” or “the Code”) contains several provisions imposing joint or constructing liability upon members of groups for criminal acts committed in furtherance of common intention. These sections do not create any distinctive offences – rather, they act as evidentiary principles rendering every person … Continue reading The “Presence of the Accused” Requirement under Section 34 of the IPC: An Analysis

By Abhinav Sekhri It appears that by an interim order passed on 03.06.2022, the Delhi High Court has stayed operation of a portion of an order passed by the Trial Court whereby it had directed that Satyendar Kumar Jain, who has been arrested by officers of the Enforcement Directorate and remanded to their custody for ten … Continue reading Why the Delhi High Court is Wrong to Deny Satyendar Jain his Right to Counsel

By: Shailendra Shukla Introduction The 21st century has seen a meteoric rise in the commission of white-collar crimes, which can be attributed to the rapid pace of technological advancement. Now, money can be transferred to any part of the world in seconds. Additionally, there is increased interconnectivity across the globe, which gives miscreants access to … Continue reading Resolving corporate successor liability through substantial continuity

By: Saumya Shankar & Pratik Rath Section 122 of The Indian Evidence Act states that spouses shall not be allowed to reveal any communication between them, except with the consent of the other. The bar is not just limited to communications of a confidential character rather, the provision is applicable to all communications between the … Continue reading Extending Privileged Communication to Live-in Partners: Protecting Mutual Trust

By Abhinav Sekhri In a much-publicised judgment, the Supreme Court set aside the order granting bail to the main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident from October 2021 [Jagjeet Singh & Ors. v. Ashish Mishra & Anr., Crl. Appeal 632 of 2022 (decided on 18.04.2022) ("Ashish Mishra")]. At the outset, it would be necessary to clarify that the court … Continue reading Victims and Bail — The Judgment in Jagjeet Singh v. Ashish Mishra?

By Nishant Kumar INTRODUCTION The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 got the approval of the President on April 18, 2022. The bill replaces The Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 which allows the collection of identifiable information like fingerprints, footprints from the convicts. The primary motive cited behind the introduction of the bill is to increase … Continue reading Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill 2022: A Necessary Evil?

By: Aditi Roy & Sanjana Gupta I.         Introduction Indian courts are bludgeoned under the growing number of criminal cases. The chronic delay in disposing of the cases has led to prisons filled with prisoners who are incarcerated without undergoing a trial. It was in response to this dismal status quo of the justice system that … Continue reading Plea Bargaining: A Comparison Between USA And India

By: Abhinav Sekhri As expected (mostly), parliament passed the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill 2022 in double quick time without referring the bill to a committee. It is disheartening, given the obvious flaws that are present in the Bill, but in an environment where courts are unable to hear matters pertaining to important matters of constitutional law … Continue reading Errantry — Further thoughts on the new Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act

By: Aman Saraf The legal framework regulating Jammu and Kashmir can in recent terms be adequately referred to as protean and erratic – and for good reason. Post the Constitutional Order 273 passed by the President declaring that Article 370 of the Constitution of India ceased to be operative (barring the applicability of the Constitutional provisions to … Continue reading A Peculiar Problem Posed by the J&K Reorganisation?

By: Abhinav Sekhri In a much-publicised judgment, the Supreme Court set aside the order granting bail to the main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident from October 2021 [Jagjeet Singh & Ors. v. Ashish Mishra & Anr., Crl. Appeal 632 of 2022 (decided on 18.04.2022) ("Ashish Mishra")]. At the outset, it would be necessary to clarify that the court … Continue reading Victims and Bail — The Judgment in Jagjeet Singh v. Ashish Mishra

By: Hritik Merchant (This article is a Part I of the submission.)                                                                                             I. Introduction Exception 4 to Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (“IPC”) posits that if a person dies in a sudden fight with the accused, the accused’s culpability will be reduced to culpable homicide not amounting to murder (“the sudden fight … Continue reading THE SUDDEN FIGHT EXCEPTION: AN ANATHEMA TO CRIMINAL LAW?

By: Aditi Pandey INTRODUCTION Women as individuals have been victimized in various manners including gender-based violence which is solely justified as culture. Whereas, it is nothing but the supremacy of men over women through established “patriarchy” in the society. As a result, there exists tremendous trauma to women both on physical and psychological levels. According … Continue reading PRACTICE OF WITCH HUNT IN INDIA: FALLACIES IN STATUTES AND EXIGENCY FOR A CENTRAL LEGISLATION (GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE)

By: Chaitanya M. Hegde Introduction Recently, when the process of framing charges had begun in the Elgar Parishad case, the accused filed a plea before the Bombay High court seeking stay of the trial as certain vital materials relied by the NIA was not provided to them. This once again has shed the light on … Continue reading Prosecutorial fair disclosure – A concept conveniently swept under the carpet?

By: Srishti Gupta Introduction Recently, the courts have been adapting to new set of circumstances and leaning towards bail to decongest prisons. Due to COVID-19 outbreaks in detention centers, courts are rethinking whether pre-trial custody is necessary to maintain public confidence in the criminal justice system. In a recent Allahabad High Court order, anticipatory bail … Continue reading Whether Apprehension of death on account of COVID a valid ground for anticipatory bail?

Where do we draw the line? Priyanshi Jain & Preeti Bohra Introduction India’s internet user population is increasing tremendously. However, the gender imbalance on the internet is an ever-existing challenge. Patriarchy operates consistently when a woman often comes across as invading a man’s cyberspace, primarily when they express their views on politically sensitive issues. At … Continue reading Cyber-crime and Bulli Bai App:

By: Aprajita Tyagi Though the existence and acceptance of transgender persons have long been recorded in ancient Indian texts, the recognition of their legal rights is a recent occurrence in the country. It was only in 2019 that the Indian Parliament enacted the nation’s first legislation, namely the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 … Continue reading TRANS RIGHTS AGAINST SEXUAL OFFENCES IN INDIA: IS PROTECTION FROM RAPE STILL A FAR CRY?

By: Ridhi Aggarwal and Vedant Bisht Although the term First Information Report (“FIR”) hasn’t been explicitly mentioned in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ("CrPC”), S.154 of CrPC provides for the process of registering the information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence. The concept of Zero FIR eliminates the barriers of territorial jurisdiction … Continue reading Zero FIR: purview, analysis and propositions

By: Martin Kwan John Stuart Mill’s harm principle is one of the most common justifications for the criminalization of a certain conduct. In simple terms, the principle provides that acts that cause harm to others should be criminalized. Naturally, the aim of the offences involving child pornography would be to prevent harm to children – … Continue reading The crime of possessing or viewing child pornography: Cannot always agree on who is harmed?

By: Ann Sarasa K R India’s devastating second wave has wreaked havoc on lakhs of people across the country, and the statistics are disheartening. In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) showed that over 30,000 children lost either one or both parents or were abandoned … Continue reading Why we need to strengthen Child Welfare Committees

By: Meghana Senthil Introduction India has witnessed multiple major bank frauds over the course of the last decade. As per the Annual Report of the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”), the reported bank fraud cases have increased by 159% in value during the fiscal year of 2019-2020. The increased complexity and costs involved in them … Continue reading Major Bank Frauds: A Need For A Rethink Of ‘Offences Against Property’ In The Indian Penal Code

By: Shivani Mody Introduction The Chief Justice of India, while hearing the case of Mohit Subhash Chavan v. State of Maharashtra, asked a rape accused to marry the victim in order to potentially reduce punishment for the offence, which resulted in widespread backlash and condemnation. However, the truth is that such deliberations are not new … Continue reading An Analysis of Mitesh Ashokbhai Chunavala v. State of Gujrat – using Section 482 as a Backdoor for Reinforcing Patriarchal Norms in Rape Trials

By: Nishant Nagori ‘Panopticism’, one of Foucault’s most intriguing concepts on surveillance is premised upon the Panopticon, a prison where guards are positioned within a central tower to employ surveillance on all the inmates. This creates a conscious sense of ‘permanent visibility’ amongst the ones under surveillance, eventually leading to internalized authority and self-discipline. This … Continue reading CCTVs Cameras in Police Stations: A Comprehensive Step to deter Custodial Violence?

By: Manas Agarwal and Ritu Bhatiya Introductory Remarks The absence of consent is a sine qua non element of the offence of rape involving people above the age of 18. This paper focuses on one such category of consent, which is consent based on the promise of marriage. Two provisions of the Indian Penal Code … Continue reading Consent in Section 375 is Superior to Consent in Section 90

By: Abhinav Sekhri [This article is a second part of a conspiracy series.] Over the next two posts, we will discuss the substantive offence of conspiracy. We will first  try and identify what purpose is this offence of conspiracy designed to serve, its costs and benefits,  and only then turn to the Indian statutory provisions … Continue reading Conspiracy: The Substantive Offence (Part I)

-By Akanksha Singh [The article is the 2nd part of a two-part series] Not all psychopaths are criminals/serial killers If we again consider the example of the above mentioned fictional characters of Sheldon Cooper and Villanelle, for anyone who has watched the shows, it is evident that Sheldon Cooper is far from engaging in any … Continue reading “The Unscrupulous”: Invariably and Unalterably Criminals? (Part II)

-By Abhinav Sekhri [The article is the first part of a conspiracy series] It would not be an overstatement to suggest that the idea of conspiracies has come to underpin almost all prosecutions where more than one person is accused of an offence, be it a blockbuster case (Elgar Parishad, Delhi Riots, Kerala Gold Smuggling, … Continue reading Conspiracy: Introducing the series

-By Akanksha Singh [The article is the first part of a two part series] Theophrastus, one of Aristotle’s disciples, was probably the first person to ever write about psychopaths, calling them ‘the unscrupulous’, which precisely translates to ‘someone having or showing no moral principles; not honest or fair’. These people lack the ordinary connections that … Continue reading “The Unscrupulous”: Invariably and Unalterably Criminals?

-By Devansh Pandit INTRODUCTION: Complete or partial immunity from lawsuits accorded to the members of judiciary or those exercising powers on behalf of the state, is not a novel concept. For example, no civil or criminal cases lie against the British Crown, or those exercising powers on their behalf; The United States itself accords prosecutorial … Continue reading WHAT IS THE EXTENT OF PROSECUTORIAL IMMUNITY ACCORDED TO JUDGES & PUBLIC SERVANTS? ANALYSIS OF SECTION 197, CrPC.

By: Kapil Devnani and Ashutosh Kumar Introduction                      “I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free and wanted other people to be also free.” This famous quote by Rosa Parks presents the true value of the Right to liberty, and it would not be wrong to say that the framers … Continue reading SIDDHARTH V. STATE OF U.P. – Doing away with unnecessary custody

By: Abhinav Sekhri It is fairly well known that under the Criminal Procedure Code 1973 [Cr.P.C.], the investigating agency files a Report before court upon completing an investigation, sharing the finding of its investigation [Section 173]. What is not so well known is that, at this stage, if police concludes that there is sufficient evidence … Continue reading The New Supreme Court “Guidelines” on Bail

-By Varda Saxena Introduction India is an example of an adversarial system of law. However, there are instances when the Magistrate steps up to assist the course of justice. The powers under Section 311 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 ("CrPC"), which complement Section 165 of the Evidence Act, 1872 (“Evidence Act”) is a sound … Continue reading Bridging the Gap: Analysing Section 311 of the Criminal Procedure Code

By-Aditi Gupta Introduction “In October 2020, a Malayalam journalist named Siddique Kappan was charged under sections 124A (sedition), 153A (for promoting enmity between groups), and 295A (outraging religious feelings) of the IPC and UAPA.   He was detained while on his way to cover the Hathras event in Uttar Pradesh.” This detention raises questions in a … Continue reading SECTION 295A AND ITS ARBITRARINESS