-Dhruv Madan and Maya Sarmah In Part I of this two-part post, we examined the shifting jurisprudence under Sections 375 and 377 IPC, through the cases of Imran Khan @ Ashok Ratna v. State of U.P. and Mohd. Mustafa & Ors. v. NCT of Delhi. Both these cases take a contradictory stance on whether the … Continue reading From 375 to 377: right to orientation conflicting with right to consent? Part- II
-Dhruv Madan and Maya Sarmah Introduction The law on sexual offences in India has witnessed substantial doctrinal shifts, yet certain judicial interpretations remain anchored in outdated binaries. Despite reforms via the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 and Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, Indian High Courts continue to inconsistently distinguish between ‘natural’ and ‘unnatural’ … Continue reading From 375 to 377: right to orientation conflicting with right to consent? Part- I
-Ishan Vijay Introduction There is a lot of uproar of Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or Sections 85 and 86 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) i.e. cruelty, and its misuse, from activists to courts. And while that remains to be an existing challenge, this article seeks to focus on a less … Continue reading CRUELTY; BUT NOT FOR THE SECOND WIFE
-Jugaad Singh INTRODUCTION Overflowing and overburdened prisons are often a consequence of either an increased crime rate or an increased conviction rate. However, in India, the situation is neither. It is the consequence of a delayed judicial process, as more than 75% of the in-mates are under trial prisoners. While the overflow of prisons is … Continue reading UNCERTAINTY UNDER-TRIAL: DISCRETION IN DENIAL OF BAIL U/S 436A
-Srinjoy Debnath INTRODUCTION For an act to be criminal, a person should not only commit an offense but should also have mens rea or guilty mind; but what happens when someone commits an illegal act but did not have the knowledge that it was criminal or illegal? The maxim Ignorantia Juris Non Excusat which … Continue reading MISTAKE OF LAW DEFENSE: A TOOL FOR SAVING INNOCENTS FROM INCARCERATION
-Avanti Deshpande Introduction In January 2022, a Division Bench of the Supreme Court set aside an order of externment against a man from Maharashtra who had been externed from the Jalna district for a period of two years, holding that, an order of externment was not an ordinary measure, but an extraordinary one, and it … Continue reading Evaluating Externment: Does the Anachronistic ‘Exile’ Continue to be an Effective Practice?
- Nidhi Agrawal Sec. 354(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure in 1973 introduced the requirement of courts to record “special reasons: for their choice of the death penalty or life imprisonment or imprisonment for a period of time if the offence provided for alternative offences. Rajendra Prasad v. State of Uttar Pradesh provided the first interpretation of “Special Reasons” … Continue reading Circumstantial Evidence as a Mitigating Factor
-Ms. Lovleen Sharrma & Sakshi Komal Dubey Introduction As per the Prison Statistics India Report, 2021 the figure of prison inmates in women’s jails adds up to 3,808. The Women In Prison Report, 2018 which sought to study the condition of women prisoners highlighted that the prison population increased drastically, and had therefore created challenges … Continue reading Addressing the Right of Female Prisoners (to Bleed): Menstrual Management Behind the Bars
-By Harsh Panwar Introduction Access to legal aid is considered a pertinent issue by the stakeholders in the criminal justice system. However, much of the conversation on legal aid mechanisms have only been centred around access to legal aid to an accused. At the same time, there exists hardly any conversation around guaranteeing the ‘effectiveness’ … Continue reading Assessing the Quality of Legal Aid: Need for A Uniform Legal Framework
-By Tanmay Gupta and Yashasvi Raj Introduction As per Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (“Code”), an accused can be remanded for a maximum period of fifteen days at a time, up to ninety days. Conventionally, since the first day is included in the 24-hour production before the Magistrate, in practice, the maximum … Continue reading Need for Application of Judicial Mind in Granting Remand: Discerning the Nexus between Remand Periods and Media Pressure
By Aniket Panchal and Diya Vaishnav Introduction "It is forbidden to kill; therefore, all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." This distinct quote by a French Writer Voltaire exposes a jarring truth in the realm of the domestic legislation of India. The substantive law of India … Continue reading India’s blow to Humanity- Ignorance of Genocide and Prearrangement of Impunity
By Abhiraj Das and Nihal Deo Sudan has in April 2020 banned and criminalized Female Genital Mutilation. India is also no less a victim of the practice, but the absence of special legislation and inadequacy of the existing laws has allowed FGM to persist in silence. What is FGM? WHO has defined Female genital mutilation/Cutting … Continue reading Female Genital Mutilation: When Will India Take Concrete Steps?
By Sezal Mishra INTRODUCTION The ‘loaf of bread’ example has frequently been employed in philosophical discussions of necessity. The classic problem is often posed as "Would you steal a loaf of bread in order to feed your family?" and is what is known as a moral dilemma. However, a legal solution to the moral conundrum … Continue reading COVID-19 – XVII: Survival Crime in the Time of Coronavirus
