Month: December 2022

Applications are invited from eligible candidates for the Teach For India Fellowship Program 2023 by January 31, 2023.

ABOUT

India Fellow is an 18-month leadership program for young professionals from various walks of life, willing to live and work alongside some really remote and marginalized communities and find their leadership potential to bring about change.

It is an experiential journey to immerse in the social realities of our country and be our best version to build a better future.

India Fellow has the following four major aspects:

1. Working with Communities: India Fellows spend most of their time (16.5 months) working at the grassroots with leading social organizations committed to bringing positive change. This can be anywhere across the country. The fellow is expected to live in their work area, typically a rural or a peri-urban setup, and understand the complexities at that level.
2. Training: India Fellow has 45 days of residential training, spread across the duration of 18 months. This is divided into 3 parts of 15 days each at the start, middle and end of the journey. The India Fellow pedagogy is unique; it engages a strong collective of various leaders, academicians, social scientists and practitioners. Training is in locations like Udaipur, Delhi, Bhuj, the Himalayan belt, and Sundarbans amongst others.
3. Constant engagement: Throughout the duration, fellows document their observations, experiences and insights; engage in intense blended learning modules, and group online courses for certification and fundraising to build a holistic understanding of the development and gain crucial skill sets.
4. Mentor-ship: Every fellow is exposed to a pool of mentors, who are experts with deep experience in their domain. Along with that, the fellowship ecosystem consists of facilitators, alumni and experienced professionals who are available to interact with the fellows to enrich their experience.

STIPEND

The fellow also gets a modest but adequate stipend from the host organization for sustenance. This is INR 22,000 per month in metro cities and INR 18,000 per month in the rest of the country. This ensures that they do not spend anything out of pocket on this journey.

ELIGIBILITY

• You are between 20 to 30 years of age
• You are already a graduate (in any discipline) or will be before the fellowship begins on 10th April 2023.

ROLES

• You are ready for an 18-month full-time commitment to the fellowship until 5th October 2024.
• You understand that this is not just a job and will expect you to be engaged 24X7 with the local community
• You understand that you can be placed in any part of India (outside your hometown) on any social issue.

SELECTIONS

• Fill out the online application form.
• Participate in a short telephonic conversation with alumni.
• Respond to a situation judgement test online.
• Attend the assessment day (group activities and personal interviews).

IMPORTANT DATES

• Application Deadline: January 31, 2023
• The final cohort will be announced by March 2023.
• Fellowship begins on April 10, 2023.

https://www.indiafellow.org/apply-now/

Disclaimer: All information posted by us on Lexpeeps is true to our knowledge. But still, it is suggested that you check and confirm things on your level.

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The Editorial Board of the NUJS Society for Insolvency, Bankruptcy and Restructuring Laws is inviting submissions from the legal academia.

ABOUT

The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences was established under the WBNUJS Act, of 1999. NUJS is considered one of the best among the elite national law schools in India built on the five-year law degree model proposed and implemented by the Bar Council of India.

NUJS Society for Insolvency, Bankruptcy and Restructuring Laws is formed to discuss the legal, socio-economic and business issues related to the sector of IBR on a national and international level.

They aim to update the community at large, with the latest developments in these sectors via society’s blog posts, newsletters, online talks, workshops, and short interviews of experts on contemporary developments in the field of Insolvency, Bankruptcy and Restructuring laws.

SIBRL Blog invites submissions from students, academicians and practitioners surrounding insolvency, bankruptcy, restructuring and allied laws in India and abroad. Write about something that is important to you, you are an expert in, or that holds a significant interest of yours.

The tone does not have to be formally academic. If you wish to adopt a more informal or conversationalist tone, feel free as this is a common characteristic of blogs.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Word Count: Try to keep your post within the 1500-2000 word limit. If you feel 1500 words is too limiting for the topic you wish to address, perhaps consider breaking the content down into multiple posts which develop your topic or idea. They would welcome evolutionary blogging and regular contributors.
• Structure: Snappy introductory sentences are always a good place to start. Outline the key points of your article and your argument at the beginning as opposed to the end, and engage the reader early on. A clear structure can help create a sense of coherency in more expressive posts that draw on opinions or experiences. Subheadings, images and graphics can break up longer blocks of text (please remain aware of various copyright limitations).
• Footnotes: They prefer hyperlinks rather than footnotes or in-text citations. Wherever possible, provide a URL to reference your claims or to provide further information on the topic. Links may include but are not limited to: other blogs and websites, news stories, and academic articles (open access preferred).
• Formatting: The content must be written in Times New Roman and justified. The font size should be 12, with a line spacing of 1.5.

CONTACT DETAILS

In case of any queries, please contact sibrl@nujs.edu

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-Report by Gaurav Raj

The special leave petition in the case ANJALI BHARADWAJ v/s CPIO, was dismissed by the Supreme court on 9th December because one cannot rely on news articles and reports.

FACT

Feeling aggrieved by the decision of the Delhi high court, the petitioner filed an appeal by Special Leave in the Supreme Court. The petitioner herein preferred an RTI application before CPIO, Supreme court regarding the decision taken in collegiums of supreme court held on December 12, 2018.

Vide communication dated 12 December 2018, the said application was turned down. Due to this, the appellant further filed an appeal before the First appellate authority under RTI Act, 2005. The authority rejected the appeal by contending that there has not been any final decision taken in the collegiums dated 12.12.2018. The second appeal by the petitioner was also turned down by the single judge bench by reiterating that there has not been any final decision taken in the subsequent meeting dated 10.01.2019. The learned single judge believed that there was no formal resolution came to be drawn up so there is no question of providing any information regarding the decision taken on 12.12.2018. The order passed by the learned single judge was upheld by the Division bench of the high court by impugned judgement and order. Feeling Aggrieved by the order and judgement the petitioner has preferred the present appeal.

APPELLANT’S CONTENTION

Shri Prashant Bhushan, appearing on the behalf of petition contended that certain decisions were taken by the collegiums in the meeting held on 12.12.2018. and it must be uploaded into the public domain the decision taken by the collegiums is required to be informed under the RTI act 2005.

Shri Prashant Bhushan heavily relied upon an article uploaded by Bar and Bench that one of the members of the collegium had stated that he was disappointed that the decision taken by the collegiums was not uploaded on the supreme court’s website.

It is submitted that as per the article certain decisions were taken by the collegiums in the meeting held on 12.12.2018. However, it cannot be contended that no decision was taken at the meeting held on 12.12.2018 only because the decision was altered at a subsequent meeting held on 10.01.2019. it was submitted that everybody has the right to be informed about the decision taken in collegiums as per the previous resolution of the high court dated 03,10,2017.

COURT’S DECISION

The learned court has refused to comment upon the statement given by one of the members of the collegiums. The court is of the view that, in the earlier meeting dated 10.01.2019, it was mentioned that in the meeting dated 12.10.2018, the process for consultation was not over and remained un- concluded and it is only after the final resolution is drawn and signed by the members of the collegiums, the same to be published on the website of the Supreme Court of India as per resolution date 03.10.2017. Therefore, no reliance can be made on any news article in the media. What is to be seen is the final resolution signed by the members of the collegium. So, there is no substance in the above special leave to appeal and the same deserves to be dismissed and is accordingly dismissed.

Engaging one with the co-curricular activities is very necessary because they are designed and balanced with the academic curriculum whereby each and every student gets to learn beyond subjects. Since the curriculum is designed in such a way so as to give the students theoretical knowledge regarding the subjects of the law such as constitutional law, criminal law, and company law, but the study of law specifically is not only concerned about the theoretical knowledge rather more of the practical exposure which should be provided by each law school for the personality and career enhancement of the students. There are many attributes which are to be learnt such as social skills, intellectual skills, moral values, personality progress and character appeal. Holistic approach is what should be the teaching pedagogy of the institutes. The grooming of the students is primarily done by involving them with such other multi disciplinary activities’ such as engaging them with the debate clubs, media clubs. This engagement will add up to your qualities of teamwork , leadership skills, problem-solving, organizational skills, event planning, critical thinking skills, decision making, fundraising experience, time management, hard work, business skills and active listening skills. We can realize that this is one of the rich resources.

Besides the expert faculties in a good law school, students also look for the advanced learning management system whereby the responsive curriculum is designed and the innovative pedagogy is incorporated in the teaching. Since Global Immersion is what every student look forward for his/ her career building, having command over any of the foreign language enhances hard skills which are constantly on the rise and usually pay better! This will also demonstrates your word work, interests in self development and the cultural awareness. Being active members of the debating team, drama clubs add up to your time management skills or you can say to show up your specific hard or soft skills. This builds strong networking with the students, having a strong rapport with the faculties. Involving oneself with the voluntary work demonstrates motivation, self starter attitude, teamwork, work ethics and organizational skills. You can also do peer tutoring, specific way of giving your time to others, since this will show your employers that you are not only knowledgeable in any given area but also that you are willing and able to share that knowledge and help others grows, moreover this will be your specific expertise, flexibility and communication. Doing internships is also career

booster since this will improve your researching sills and getting the field knowledge. Since career building involves engagement with the extra achievements as well, so one should not forget to take a leg forward in participating with the fellowship programs, Olympiads, stipends internships, internships with the legal services authority. Being technological sound is the need of the hour, now besides learning from the books, focus should be made on e-learning and the schools in the upcoming times will be adopting this mode for teaching, since we have already seen in this pandemic times that those who are technology friendly have been able to survive well during these hard times, while those who are devoid are struggling hard to cope up. These are relatively hard traits but will value a lot once you have hold of them!

This article is written by Abhijeet Chahal Student, a BA.LL.B fifth-year student from the Geeta Institute of Law.

Introduction and Historical Evolution

Offences, in general, and crimes, in particular, are characterized into various subgroups (under different chapters) by the Indian Penal Code, 1860, based on the nature of the offence, such as offences affecting the human body, offences against property, offences affecting public health and safety, and so on. Moreover, persons from varied backgrounds can commit an offence, such as a poor person, middle-class employee, lower-incomed or working class, and a top-most and affluent professional. Therefore, for classifying offences based on the person committing them, scholars have suggested unique names, including the pertinent category of White-Collar Crimes committed by, as the name suggests, handsomely paid and high-classed businessmen being in the top-most ranks of their occupation or companies. It was way back in 1939 when an American Criminologist, Edwin Sutherland, coined this unique term to draw a completely new profile of offences, as crimes are usually committed, at that time, by indigent persons in want of satisfying their hunger due to lack of earning power. Later scholars like Marshall Clinard, Paul Tappan, and Frank Hartung, among others, gave a well-structured definition to these crimes as offences committed by a person, which can either be an artificial person (firm) or agents of the firm acting on its behalf, which is specifically in high-profiled and social status, having the wide-ranging power of management over the business’s affairs of the company.

The first white-collar crime in the modern world was reported in 15^th century England in the famous Carriers Case, where the agent of a wool business attempted to steal the wool consignment while in transit. However, these classes of crimes are not new to India and date back to the ancient kingdoms. This fact is evident from the texts of Manu Smriti and also from Kautilya Arthashatsra, wherein strict punishments were prescribed for offences such as indulging in counterfeited currency, fraud, cheating, improper weights and measures for attaining unlawful gain, etc.

Forms of White-Collar Crimes and Indian laws

White-Collar Crimes are no specific offence but a class among many, which mainly concern economic offences committed in multiple forms, which inter alia include public corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, banking frauds, insider trading, antitrust violations, computer and internet fraud, environmental law violations, government fraud, bribery, counterfeiting, trade secret theft. The aim behind these offences is to secure unlawful gain from either a lawful or unlawful transaction. Similarly, there is no particular enactment dealing with all the white-collar crime in one place, but, multiple laws in India deal with multiple of these offences. The principal enactment for any offence in India- The Indian Penal Code, under numerous chapters and section, define and penalize various white-collar crimes. A list of all the white-collar crimes under the penal code includes:

1. Chapter IX- Offences by or relating to Public Servants u/s 167 to 171, including, among others, a public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury, unlawful engaging in trade, buying or bidding property, personating s servant
2. Chapter XII- Offences relating to Coin and Government Stamps, included u/s 230 to 254. It includes offences ranging from making, selling, importing or exporting, and possessing counterfeit coins.
3. Chapter XIII- Offences relating to weights and measures included u/s 264 to 267.
4. Chapter XVII- Offences against property- much of this category of offences can be considered white-collar crimes as they mainly involve attaining unlawful gain. These include more specific offences such as-
5. Extortion, u/s 383 to 389- Involving intentional inflicting of fear of any injury to dishonestly induce the person so put in fear to deliver to any other person any property, valuable security or anything signed or sealed which may be converted into a valuable security.
6. Criminal Breach of Trust u/s 405 to 409- Dishonestly misappropriating property for his/her own use or using it in any other manner which is forbidden by law or any specific contract. More specifically, this offence deals with unlawful actions by an employer in breach of his employees’ rights and by professionals like bankers, brokers, and agents.
7. Cheating u/s 415 to 420- Is the most common and obvious element to constitute a white-collar crime as it inculcates the core element of dishonest and unlawful gain.
8. Chapter XVIII- Offences relating to documents and property marks u/s 463 to 477A. This class of offences ultimately involves forgery in multiple forms, such as record forgery of a Court or public register, valuable security or a will, forgery for cheating, for harming reputation, and so on.
9. Criminal Intimidation u/s 503- Threatening a person, living or dead, to cause injury to a person, reputation, or property, with the criminal intent to enable that person to do any act that he is not legally entitled to do.

Apart from IPC, multiple specific legislations also inculcate provisions dealing with white-collar crimes, which include:

1. Public officials are the most debatable and highly criticized for their involvement in white-collar crimes, being the most influential authorities in India. As a result, to combat this specific class of offenders, section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 punishes criminal misconduct by a public servant that involves habitual acceptance of gratification from third parties, including businessmen, misappropriation or conversion of public property entrusted to them for management as their property.
2. Indulgence in criminal activities per se does not constitute a white-collar crime. However, the occurrence of crimes on a large scale, that too for a specific purpose of conducting a racket or operating an illegal business line, having possession and being part of such illegal trade, amounts to money laundering. Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) describes multiple forms to constitute money laundering, such as concealment, possession, acquisition, use, projecting as untainted property, or claiming as untainted property, of proceeds from unlawful activities.
3. The growth of telecom services and the accessibility of computer gadgets has resulted in the tremendous growth of IT services usage for diverse purposes, including essential usages like e-commerce. This further led to the growth of computer fraud, termed Cyber Crime. Chapter XI of the Information Technology Act 2000 deals with various computer-based crimes, including sections 65 to 78.
4. A typical outcome after the commission of a white-collar crime is evading the offender to a foreign land to escape the process of law in India. This not only results unable to prosecute or at least try the person with Indian laws but also the loss of crores of money to a foreign land. This trend is simply evident from the fact that white-collar crimes are committed by already wealthy and professional persons who have already secured travel visas and possess huge money and connections in a foreign land to flee away easily. To prevent this outcome, the Indian parliament recently enacted the Fugitive Economic Offences Act 2018.
5. Tax evasion is the most widely known and practised form of white-collar crime not only within India but also across the world. Offenders within this category constitute the highest bracket of taxpayers, being in the highest ranks of businesses, thereby rendering it a white-collar crime. The income Tax Act 1961 is the apex legislation in India governing tax-related issues. Therefore, chapter XXII of the act specifically deals with the provisions on tax evasion, prescribing punishments and penalties for numerous offences such as incorrect reporting of income u/s 270A, concealment of income u/s 271, and not collecting tax directly at source (u/s 271C). Chapter XXII deals with further offences and prosecution, including section 276C- wilful attempt to evade tax, falsification of accounts (u/s 277A), abatement of false returns (u/s 278), and various others.
6. Further statutes dealing with similar economic offences include-
7. Section 138- Dishonour of cheque for insufficiency, or otherwise of funds in the account- of the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881.
8. Section 3 of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988.
9. Section 12A- Prohibition of manipulative and deceptive devices, insider trading, and substantial acquisition of securities or control- of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
10. Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.
11. Section 132(5) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
12. Chapter IV of the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999.

Impact on Society and other areas

The diversified and elaborated laws on white-collar crimes themselves depict the gravity and need to tackle such crimes. This is specially to combat the negative consequences the country as a whole must face. The consequences are primarily economic and gradually turn into societal externalities that include-

1. Loss of Government revenue:

The most basic and well-known outcome of the commission of a white-collar crime is the loss of a hefty amount that is otherwise under the government’s exchequer. Though there is no specific finding on the total accumulated loss of revenue to the Indian government due to these crimes, the numbers of a few biggest scams in India, including the Satyam Computers Scam (2008) worth ₹14,000 crores, Saradha chit fund case (2013) worth ₹ 20,000 crores, 2G spectrum scam (2007) worth ₹176,000 crores, Commonwealth games scam (2010) worth ₹35,000 crores, Telgi Scam (2003) worth ₹20,000 crores, Harshad Mehta Securities Scam (1992) worth ₹5000 crores, goes on to show how many lakh crores of rupees have got diverted from the government treasury which otherwise needs to get diverted to the welfare of the poor. Furthermore, reports by government authorities show that India lost over ₹100 crores every day over the past five years in the form of bank frauds and scams, though the value of such crimes came down to ₹648 crores in FY 2021-22 from as high as ₹61229 crores in 2016¹. In FY 2021, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) reported 22,300 instances of fake GST identification numbers, reporting frauds worth ₹55,575 cr, and arrested around 700 persons, which included 20 CA/CS professionals².

2. Increased Costs- leading to depletion of savings:

White-collar crimes always involve default of payment to the victims, be it the widely known case with banks and financial institutions, or to the government in case of tax evasion, or any regulatory authority such as SEBI in case of securities transactions. When such a large-scale default involving a tremendous sum of money (which exceeds the SGDP of numerous smaller states) occurs, the victims who are to receive their lawful money fall short of their requirements to continue their operations. In such situations, the only alternative is to raise the prices of those products or services. Such situations are especially prevalent in cases of default to financial and insurance companies wherein, to compensate for the default, a rise of lending interest rates, insurance premium rates, and banking service charges is inevitable. Even in case, the victim is directly the government, in case of tax evasion and FERA violations, a future tax rate rise becomes inevitable. All this adds undue negative externality in the form of increased costs to the future and existing law-abiding customers, further leading to a gradual reduction of their savings.³

3. Bankruptcy and Unemployment:

Offenders in these crimes, as the definition itself, states, is one among or only a group of top-most ranked professional of a large company. Due to the infringement of law by this small group of offenders, the entire reputation of the company tarnishes⁴, and once prosecuted, especially when that particular offender(s) holds a majority share in the company, liquidation or bankruptcy forms the inevitable outcome. When the entire company collapses or gets merged or acquired by another existing company, all the employees who are dependent on the company’s operations need to lose their jobs in the lay-off process, leading to unemployment⁵, which is already a significant problem for the densely populated Indian economy.

4. Ruing families due to economic hardships:

As pointed out earlier, it is primarily the poor and middle class who depend on the white-collar offenders, either by being employees of the bankrupt company or being a trustworthy follower of the offender, viz., usually the case with scams pertaining to Ponzi scheme investments and securities transactions. In such cases, while the offender cheats and passes off with the proceeds of the crime, innocent victims not just lose their hard-earned savings but also may get falsely implicated in the case, unknowingly, by further fraudulent acts of the offender. When these innocent and middle-class victims in these forms get negatively impacted, this impact is not just restricted to economic terms but to their personal sphere by ruining their family lives due to the adverse economic impact of losing jobs, repayment of credits, and depletion of savings.⁶

Conclusion

It is a very positive sign for a developing country like ours to witness the growth of digital literacy, increased institutional financial access, Indian businessmen securing ranks as Asia’s richest person or securing top 10 positions and the everyday rise in the direct and direct tax collections. Nevertheless, at the same time, there is a rise in the commission of white-collar crimes, not by professionals or industrialists, but by the leaders and rulers of the country and states. The very identification of a white-collar crime is in itself a tedious task. However, the presence of solid investigative agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), and Income Tax department, among others, provide India with a solid framework to combat such crimes. Even the Indian courts have laid down explicit norms that clever tax planning and availing tax exemptions to reduce tax liability is very much legal as long as the legal framework is not overcome.⁷ But the recent incidents over the years have raised doubts about the independence of these agencies and being a caged parrot in the hands of the ruling party⁸. All this discussion, therefore, follows the simple logic that earning money is not one’s ambition in life but to earn money within the legal framework. Especially to white-collar job holders who already earn handsomely and enjoy due respect in Society by earning within the legal framework, one must curtain their greed and stay away from unhealthy and unlawful competition over peer professionals, thereby avoiding white-collar crimes commission and living as a respectable citizen of the nation by discharging primary duties such as proper and correct payment of taxes. Here lies the goodness to everyone, the white-collar professional, middle-class, and every citizen of the nation, and the nation itself, as a whole.

References

1. Chetan Kumar, India loses Rs 100 crore to banking fraud every day, The Times of India (Mar 29, 2022, 09:48 IST), https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/india-loses-rs-100-crore-to-banking-fraud-every-day/articleshow/90509071.cms
2. Press Trust of India, GST evasion of Rs 55,575 crore detected in last two years, 719 persons arrested, The Economic Times (Nov 10, 2022, 11:16 AM IST), https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/gst-evasion-of-rs-55575-crore-detected-in-last-2-years-719-persons-arrested/articleshow/95418723.cms?from=mdr
3. Wayne Waweru, Impact of White-Collar Crime on Society, Acadmia.edu (2019), https://www.academia.edu/40135705/IMPACT_OF_WHITE_COLLAR_CRIME_ON_SOCIETY
4. Indian National Bar Association, White-Collar Crime Survey 2019, https://www.indianbarassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/White-Collar-Crime-Survey-2019.pdf
5. Fredericks KA, McComas RE, Weatherby GA. White collar crime: recidivism, deterrence, and social impact. Forensic Res Criminol Int J, Jan 2016 at 6.
6. Supra Note 4.
7. CIT v. A. Raman and Co., [1968] 67 ITR 11 (SC); Union of India v. Azadi Bachao Andolan, (2003) 263 ITR 706 (SC).
8. Comments made by the Supreme Court of India in the Coalgate Case- Manohar Lal Sharma v. Principal Secy., (2014) 2 SCC 532.

This article is written by Mokshith Venkata Shiva Bhyri, a 2nd-Year Law Student (BA., LLB [Hons]) student from the National Academy of Legal Studies and Applied Research (NALSAR), Hyderabad.

Centre of Competition and Regulations, National Law School of India University, Banglore is inviting submissions for their blog.

ABOUT

The Centre for Competition and Regulation (CCR), National Law School of India University, Bangalore, has been instituted with the intention of providing research, training and consultation in the area of Law and Economics in general with a focus on Competition Law and Economics.

The CCR Blog invites contributions in the following categories –

• 1. Comments on contemporary legal developments.
• 2. Articles on legal issues which relate to competition law in India and abroad.
• 3. Book reviews engage with recent literary works.

Please note that this is not exhaustive and we would be happy to publish other pieces as long as they fall within our mandate specified above.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Articles for the blog must be between 1,000-2,000 words and the relevant references must be hyperlinked.
• Footnote references (if absolutely necessary) must conform to the Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA).
• All contributions must be made in .doc or .docx format.
• The content of the article should be in Times New Roman style, font size of 12, with 1.5-line spacing. All headings must have uniform formatting.
• The indentation of the paragraphs should be justified.
• Use double quotes and italicize the text when quoting verbatim.
• Wherever case law, statutory material or other resources are being referred to, appropriate hyperlinks must be provided in the text of the submission itself. For Indian case laws, contributors may provide a link to the case at https://indiankanoon.org/, if available, or the website of the relevant court.
• Speaking endnotes are not allowed.
• They accept contributions to the CCR Blog on a rolling basis. The Blog Team strives to ensure a speedy and efficient review process. Authors should be prepared to make suitable changes to their articles as required by the Blog Editors before publication.
• Submissions must be made in an electronic (.doc or .docx) form to ccr@nls.ac.in.
• Please note that submissions not conforming to these guidelines may be returned or rejected.
• Co-authorship of 2 authors is permitted. While we strive to provide substantive feedback for every submission we receive, it may not always be possible to do so, given a large number of submissions. We reserve the right to reject submissions without providing substantive feedback.
• They attempt to review and process articles within 4-6 weeks of submission. Please follow up with them, if you have not heard from us within 6 weeks.

CONTACT DETAILS

For more detailed information on CCR, its submission guidelines and policies, please log on to https://www.ccr.nls.ac.in/

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Moot Court Law Society, Campus Law Centre is conducting a workshop on the art of cross-examination in the milieu of trial advocacy

ABOUT

Campus Law Centre fondly known as CLC is one of the premier legal education centres in the country. It was established in 1922, under the aegis of the University of Delhi in its foundation year. Moot Court Law Society, Campus Law Centre is conducting a workshop on the art of cross-examination in the milieu of trial advocacy and the session will be handled by Advocate Jayant Bhatt. Advocate Jayant Bhatt is a lawyer based out of New Delhi, India who holds diverse experience in handling an array of matters for Governmental and Non-Governmental Bodies, Multinationals, Financial Institutions and individuals. He is also a Senior Panel Counsel for the Union of India in the Delhi High Court and a Panel Counsel for the State of Rajasthan in the Supreme Court of India.

TOPIC

The Art of Cross-examination in the Milieu of Trial Advocacy

DETAILS

• Date: December 13, 2022
• Time: 12.00 PM
• Venue: Seminar Hall, Campus Law Centre

https://forms.gle/S29KDz4935T5gNB98

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Jindal Forum for International and Economic Laws is organizing a conference on International Law and is inviting submissions for the same.

ABOUT

The Jindal Forum for International and Economic Laws (JFIEL) is a blog affiliated with O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat.

The theme for the conference is ‘Making International Law Relevant: Promises and Challenges for India’. The conference acknowledges the fact that international law is not a prominent part of Indian legal practice and public discourse.

The conference aims at challenging this status quo with analytical, reflective and grounded papers which show the significance of international law to the Indian context.

The submissions could highlight how international law could become an arena through which the Indian State could advance its strategic interests, whether in tribunals, international organisations, or in its relations with other States and international actors (as most clearly seen in the Khulbushan Jadhav case or India’s attempt to secure a permanent seat at the Security Council).

Submissions could similarly discuss how India should align its domestic practices and policies towards compliance with international law to serve strategic interests, such as avoiding repetitions of Vodafone-like litigation.

In sum, submissions should not only engage with the law but offer compelling policy reasons for the practical importance or utility of taking international law seriously.

THEME

Equally, we welcome pieces arguing for the relevance of international law where it is absent in mainstream literature on any domestic controversies in any context. All fields in public and private international law may be engaged with, including:

• International human rights law
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Note: They are happy if any interested authors wish to share their topic of interest with them before writing. If pieces purely include an application of the law or rearticulate it in contexts where it has already been extensively debated, they would encourage sending them to their rolling blog, rather than the Conference. If authors wish to write on any historical issue, their analysis should nevertheless be linked to some contemporary debates or events.

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• It is compulsory for authors to submit a 100-200 word abstract.
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PRIZES

• All selected attendees will be given a certificate of merit.
• Please note that authors will be considered for awards in two separate categories ‘Internal’ (JGLS students) and ‘External’.
• The five best-ranked submissions in each category shall be rewarded with a certificate of excellence and individual Gift Vouchers amounting to INR 5,000/-each.

IMPORTANT DATES

• Deadline for Abstract Submissions: 25th December 2022
• Notification of Abstract Selections: 20th January 2023
• Deadline for Paper Submissions: 4th February 2023
• Paper Presentation: Late March to Early April 2023 (final dates to be announced)

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In case of any queries, please contact jfielconference@jgu.edu.in

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Centre for Policy Research and The writing Urban India Collective are inviting applications for the Writing Urban India Fellowship

ABOUT

WUI 2.0 is a mentoring initiative to nurture early career scholars in writing and publishing on urbanization in India.

The initiative aims to enable the candidate with the skills and knowledge required to produce a structured writing output that is academic in nature- through- capacity-building workshops, seminars and one-to-one mentorship.

The programme will involve offline and online interactions based on feasibility.

ELIGIBILITY

• Urban practitioners
• Students (in postgraduate or PhD programmes)
• Early career academics with a focus on urban studies

DEADLINE

December 18, 2022

CONTACT DETAILS

For details, write to wui@cprindia.org

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Case Number

Special Reference No. 1 of 1964

Case Citation

AIR 1965 All 349, 1965 CriLJ 170

Bench

J Takru, G Mathur

Decided on

10 March 1965

Relevant Act/Section/Article

Art. 211, Art. 22, Art. 194, Art. 21, Art. 143

Introduction

The Kesavananda Bharti case is well-known and frequently discussed, yet few people are aware that the Kesavananda Bharti case was assigned to a bench with less than half the judges who decided the Keshav Singh case. It required the combined efforts of numerous justices of the Supreme Court, High Court judges, MPs and MLAs, and ultimately the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India to take on this case. One of the most remarkable examples from Nehru’s presidency is this one. This case is of utmost significance to the Indian judicial system, but it has never been talked about.¹

Facts: Who was Keshav Singh?

In the Uttar Pradesh city of Gorakhpur, Keshav Singh was born. He belonged to the socialist party or served in municipal politics. The Congress Party was in power during the time. When a leaflet titled “exposing the shortcomings of Narsingh Narain Pandey” was published, it implied that Pandey, a legislator for the Congress Party, was dishonest. Narsingh Pandey started working on a case against Keshav Singh as soon as he learned about the booklet or leaflet. Pandey and other MLAs from the Congress party disagreed with the leaflet. They claimed that the leaflet violated their right to privacy. When Singh was asked to confirm his name on this issue by the district of the legislative assembly in Lucknow, he remained silent regarding the accusations made against him. When queries were directed at him, he stood with his back to the speaker and stayed silent. On February 19, 1964, Keshav Singh was supposed to go before the assembly and accept a reprimand, but he didn’t because he didn’t have the money to go (according to his excuse). The assembly decided that whatever that couldn’t be achieved amicably would have to be taken by force after Keshav Singh’s defense. On March 14, Singh was apprehended and brought before the assembly. If it weren’t for the decision dismissing Keshav Singh and his attorney’s appeal, the litigation and the issue might have been over at that point.

When the speaker of the legislature keeps asking questions, Singh chooses the challenging course. After then, things started to get worse, and the speaker called Congress MLAs to the assembly. Singh had written to the speaker to protest his conviction, attest to the veracity of the charges made in the leaflet, and denounce the authoritarian nature of the arrest warrant. By entering the home, Chief Minister Sucheta Kripalani imposed seven-day house detention on Singh after the MLAs had enough consensus on the same. The legislature approved a resolution in the format suggested by the chief minister, and Singh was then taken to prison for his one-week sentence. One day before Singh was scheduled to be released after serving his sentence, a lawyer on his behalf submitted a petition to the Allahabad High Court asking for his immediate release. The petition claimed that Singh’s imprisonment was unlawful because the assembly lacked the right to imprison him and because he was not allowed to defend himself after being brought before the court.

Issues

1. Whether or not the Legislative Assembly has no criminal jurisdiction and no authority to punish anyone for its contempt;
2. Whether or not the Legislative Assembly has such authority, the petitioner’s detention is illegal and violates Article 22(2) of the Constitution.
3. Whether or not the Legislative Assembly’s action in punishing the petitioner was malicious.

Observations and Decisions of the Court

The Supreme Court concurred, pointing out that the resolution of the assembly violated the independence of the judiciary. Article 211 was an essential component of the system that allowed courts to make difficult decisions, even if they were wrong, without worrying about political retaliation, therefore it could not be reduced to a meaningless assertion. The Supreme Court ruled that Keshav Singh can be granted bail while awaiting a decision and that the high court has the authority to consider his appeal. The parliament lacked the legal right to order Solomon’s arrest or to ask Justices Beg and Sehgal for an explanation. If the consent of the justice addresses the audience, the drama may compromise the independence of the judiciary. On the other hand, if they show up and make a strong defense, the assembly might be forced to stop acting to avoid being accused of harassing well-meaning judges. The judges have the option of filing a petition with the supreme court, but there was no guarantee that the judges would share the same outcome as the justices who heard the plea. They petitioned the Allahabad High Court, arguing that the assembly’s actions were against Article 211 of the Constitution, which forbids state legislatures from discussing the conduct of any high court or Supreme Court judge. While the case was still pending in court, Justices Beg and Sehgal requested a hold on the resolution against them.²

The court referred to English law, which states that any detention is prima facie unlawful, and the act is justified by the person who ordered the detention. Further, the court held that the appeal was flawed and could only succeed if the petitioner established his or her claims. Prima facie, the detention cannot be considered illegal, and the petitioner must prove that the duty was illegal, the court must decide whether the obligation is lawful. The court does not understand why the defendant should not be allowed to argue that the bond, warrant, and commitments used to detain the petitioner were valid. In any event, the court is entitled to the assistance of the defendant’s attorneys in resolving the issues raised in the case.

Legislature has not yet passed legislation regulating the powers, privileges, and immunities of the House, but the power to do so is granted by Entry 39 of List II of Schedule VII of the Constitution. The powers and privileges of the Legislative Assembly must therefore be determined according to Article 194(3). There is no express or implied prohibition in the Constitution against the Legislative Assembly exercising the privilege enjoyed by the House of Commons to commit for its contempt. The possession of power or privilege The argument is that the House of Commons had a similar penal power and that the inclusion of a separate provision in Article 193 regarding the penal power indicates that the Constitution’s authors did not intend to include any penal power under Article 194 (3). In other words, the argument is that Article 193 encompasses all penal powers conferred on the Legislative Assembly and that no penal power can be assumed as a result of the provisions of Article 194(3). The court didn’t agree with this assertion. Article 193 merely limits the power and privilege of state legislatures to punish people who sit or vote in the legislature without authority, in our opinion. This Article cannot be read as exhaustive of all the penal powers of the State Legislatures to commit for contempt is a judicial power is, in our opinion, not a compelling reason for denying the power to the Legislative Assembly because our Constitution does not provide for a rigid separation of powers. Since, even according to the petitioner’s learned counsel, Article 193 gives the Legislative Assembly the power to punish a person who sits or votes as a member of the Assembly in certain circumstances, which is also like judicial power, it cannot be said that the idea of the Assembly exercising judicial power was abhorrent to the Constitution-makers.

The HC rejected Keshav Singh’s argument that the facts discovered against the petitioner by Parliament did not constitute contempt of Parliament. The HC also ruled that the defendants did not violate Article 21 or natural rights because the Legislatures had established procedures for investigating allegations of violation of privilege. The HC also said the county jail warden is within the jurisdiction to execute the chairman’s warrant. Noting that the provisions of Part III of the Constitution do not apply where Article 194(3) of the Constitution applies, the HC notes that the fundamental rights of Part III are governed by Article 194(3) of the Constitution. The HC also ruled that the applicant was deprived of his liberties following the legal procedure set out in the last part of Article 194(3). Petitioners also argued that Congress’ decision to arrest him was motivated by political animosity and hatred. The Court couldn’t prove it for that reason alone. The Supreme Court dismissed the Keshab Singh case and refused to infer parliamentary malice. In dismissing Keshav Singh’s motion, the High Court said only the House could decide whether there was contempt of the House of Commons in a particular circumstance and that the court had not addressed the question of legality.

While the case is about violations of fundamental rights and constitutional crises, the focus is on symbolic gestures of solidarity by judicial authorities and how they collectively resolve disputes while they exist. It is about upholding the dignity and basic rights of citizens. enshrined in the Indian Constitution. This case highlights the importance of the separation of powers as one of the key building blocks of the constitution and how each can control excesses and respond appropriately. This decision ensured a proper balance of power between the two peers.

The Supreme Court also ruled that Articles 105(3) and 194 should not be used to limit the rights of citizens and lawyers to bring cases before the court. The Supreme Court has ruled that the House of Commons, as the highest court of record in the country, not Congress, can only try someone for contempt with an unwarranted general arrest warrant. The principles of Fundamental Rights and Judicial Review, especially Articles 32 and 226, not only empower but also impose obligations on the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court to exercise fundamental rights. The Indian Parliament and the State Legislatures are entitled to such privileges. As a result, courts may view the House’s implied warrant as a statutory order to punish someone for contempt. The SC not only wanted to recognize that the House has the power to punish insults and violations of privilege. The independence of the judiciary is seriously undermined if the House asserts the right to question the actions of judges. Not only that, the house has the power to punish disrespect and violation of privilege. Before a decision is made, the Privileges Committee will conduct an investigation and allow the complainant to comment.

Conclusion

If it weren’t for several defects and errors in judgment, the conflicts between the high court and the Uttar Pradesh assembly would never have escalated to the extent that they did. It was unusual for Singh’s attorney to enter a plea with only one day left in Singh’s sentence. The judge would have promptly revoked Singh’s bail if the government’s attorney had arrived at the high court at 3 p.m. with a report on the case. The fact that this case shows how readily constitutional institutions can turn against one another and how tough situations are best resolved by statesmanship rather than brinksmanship makes it noteworthy in and of itself.

References

1. Keshav Singh vs Speaker, Legislative Assembly AIR 1965 All 349, 1965 CriLJ 170
2. Atharva Kulshrestha, Keshav Singh – Case commentary,aishwaryasandeep.com(Last Accessed: 09 July, 2022) https://aishwaryasandeep.com/2021/06/07/keshav-singh-case-commentary/

This blog is written by Jay Kumar Gupta, a student of the School of Law, NMIMS Bangalore, currently in the second-year of BBA LL.B.(Hons.).