Author: Harshit Manaktala

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered overcrowded jails to free all undertrials who have served half their maximum term, a landmark ruling that marks the Narendra Modi government’s first step towards judicial reform. More than two-thirds of India’s nearly four million prisoners are awaiting trial, according to human rights organisation Amnesty International, and many have already spent years in prison. The law says prisoners awaiting trial must be released once they have served half the maximum sentence they would receive if found guilty, but that law is rarely implemented. An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice…

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In petitions that have been rejected, but sentence has not been carried out, convict may come back seeking open court A Five-Judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, in a majority judgment, decide that review of death sentence cases will be heard in open court by a Bench of three judges. In a 4:1 majority judgment, the Bench led by Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha directed that death row convicts whose death penalty have been reviewed by a Bench of less than three judges can move the Supreme Court in one month to re-open their review petitions. Justice J.…

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The Supreme Court on Wednesday, Aug. 27,2014 held that the High Courts while exercising their revisional power in rent laws “cannot re-appreciate evidence” and perusal of evidence is confined “to find out legality, regularity and propriety” of the order impugned before it.  A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice RM Lodha said “the consideration or examination of the evidence by the high court in revisional jurisdiction under these acts (rent control laws of different states) is confined to find out that finding of facts recorded by the court/authority below is according to law and does not suffer…

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National Conference on Intellectual Property Rights Jointly organized by Colloquium Opus & Intellectual Property Analysis and Advocacy Centre Colloquium Opus, the Seminar Committee of National Law University Odisha is pleased to announce that it is organizing a National Conference on Intellectual Property Rights in collaboration with Intellectual Property Analysis and Advocacy Centre of NLUO on the 18th and 19th of October 2014 at NLUO. The core focus of this Conference is to provide a suitable and conducive platform to discuss, debate and present contemporary research in the area of Intellectual Property Rights and its management. Participation from students and professionals…

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The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India turned down the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). Holding the petitions to be premature, the 3 judge bench-comprising of Justice Anil R. Dave, Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Jasti Chelameswar stated that it is not the right stage to address the issues. “We are of the view that the petitions are premature. It’s open for the petitioners to approach the court at later stage on the same ground,” the bench said. Four PILs had been filed in the apex court for declaring…

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Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) has decided to mentor law graduates aiming to be legal entrepreneurs. In a bid to instill business skills to start a legal venture, GNLU has set the ball rolling for an incubation centre. In what seems to be a first of its kind centre by a law school in India – GNLU Legal Incubation Centre – will give an opportunity to two GNLU graduates to become initial incubates as it aims to create jobs, train entrepreneurs, have innovative start-ups, legal firms and companies.  Director of the law university Dr Bimal Patel said, “It is an effort to incubate…

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The Apex Court  issued notice to the Centre on Tuesday, August 19,2014 in pursuance of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) soliciting its direction to the government to amend the Article 348 of the Constitution of India and to make Hindi as the official language for conducting court proceedings in the Supreme Court and the High Courts of India. The present provision prescribes English as the language to be used in the higher courts.  The bench issuing the notice consisted of Justice H L Dattu and Justice S.A. Bobde. The PIL was filed by Mr. Shiv Sagar Tiwari, an advocate. He contended that…

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Lex Apotheke,  a  firm specializing in  Alternative Dispute Resolution,  in association  with the World Mediation Organization brings a two day Mediation Training Program, to be conducted in Chennai. At the end of the training program, all the applicants will be awarded certification by the World Mediation Organization as a trained Mediator. This is a chance for the budding lawyers, or for those who are working as professionals in the Legal sphere to apply for Batch 3 of this Training Program. To know more about the benefits and offers regarding the fees and for any other queries, drop them  a mail at admin@ lexapotheke.com.  Visit their …

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                                                                                                                     (Image courtesy:mediaethicsindia.wordpress.com) Justice Markendey Katju is again in the news, but this time it is not related to the appointment of Judges. Justice Katju had to say that the judicial supremacy cannot be based on the law of kings in a democracy.…

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(Image courtesy – www.livemint.com) On Wednesday, the 23rd of July 2014, the Indian Government expressed the need to make certain changes in the various labour laws existing in the nation. The Government is undertaking due consultations for the same. The government seeks to make a number of amendments in Child Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1986, Factories Act 1948, Minimum Wages Act 1948, Apprenticeship Act 1961 and Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Act 1988.  Proposals for more work hours, more overtime, and a national minimum wage are also being made. Vishnu Deo Sai, Minister of State for…

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