Ubi Jus Ibi Remedium

(Published in Legal News & Views, Indian Social Institute, New Delhi, Vol 23: No. 8: August 2009) Safety of patients from incompetent and negligent doctors and safety of doctors from undue harassment from unscrupulous litigants has been a perennial problem faced by the Medical Jurisprudence. But when a two judges bench of the apex court in the case of Martin F. D'Souza v . Mohd. Ishfaq [1] directed in February 2009 that whenever a complaint is received against a doctor or hospital by the Consumer Forum or by the Criminal Court then before issuing notice to the doctor or hospital it should first refer the matter to a competent doctor or committee of doctors, specialized in the field relating to which the medical negligence is attributed, and only after that doctor or committee reports that there is a prima facie case of medical negligence should notice be then issued to the concerned doctor/hospital, many perceived that balance has tilted in favour of doctors as a team of ...

Published in Chartered Secretary, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 2, Feb. 2008, pp. 176-178 (Monthly publication of ICSI, N. Delhi) Arbitration is one of the alternative dispute resolution mechanism designed to solve the problem of mounting arrears of cases pending in regular courts of law. M.A. Sujan observes: “In popular parlance, arbitration may be defined as a private process set up by the parties as a substitute for court litigation to obtain a decision on their disputes.” [1] Arbitration is an ‘alternative’ or ‘substitute’ for the regular courts of law empowered to dispense justice. Self-contained code in itself The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1908 (hereinafter “the Act” for short) of India is a self-contained code in itself providing within it all the procedural and substantial aspects of Arbitration. Section 19 (1) of the Act provides that the arbitral tribunal shall not be bound by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 or the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Section 16 of the Act provides abso...

(Published in Legal News & Views, Indian Social Institute, New Delhi, January 2007) “Any young man who makes dowry a condition of marriage discredits his education and his country and dishonours womanhood.” …Mahatma Gandhi [1] I. PROLOGUE Marriages are made in heaven, is an adage. A bride leaves the parental home for the matrimonial home, leaving behind sweet memories there, with a hope that she will see a new world full of love in her groom's house. Alas! the alarming rise in the number of cases involving harassment to the newly wed girls for dowry shatters the dreams. In-laws are characterised to be outlaws for perpetrating terrorism which destroys the matrimonial home. The terrorist is dowry which is spreading tentacles in every possible direction. [2] An average of one dowry death is reported every 77 minutes according to the National Crime Record Bureau and victim support groups say complaints of dowry harassment are rising. II. MEANING OF DOWRY Section 2 of the...

*Published in CNN, Vol. 3, No. 10, October 2005, pp. 57-58 Become fairer within a week, buy 2 get 1 free, Sale- clothes below factory rates and get credit card absolutely free. Open a newspaper, switch on the television, surf the net or just walk in street- all of them are flooded with these types of advertisements, which assertively highlight the distinct and salient features of innumerable goods and services. They look so appealing and so genuine that there is hardly any scope for not believing what they articulate. All rosy but legitimate expectations and dreams go down like World Trade Center in no time when consumers find the goods or services drained of any asserted quality or facility. Hence, the question arises as to the fate of the hapless consumers. FORMS OF FALSE ADVERTISEMENTS 1. Provocative / Enraging/ Sentimental Advertisements Now a days, these types of advertisements are latest tools in the armory of sellers. They publish an advertisement, which strike directly ...

*Published in I DLR (S) (2004), pp. 248-267. (Annual publication of Faculty of Law, University of Delhi) “Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future.” : V. R. Krishna Iyer, J. [1] “… the humanistic approach should not obscure our sense of realities. When a man commits a crime against society by committing a diabolical, cold-blooded, pre-planned murder of one innocent person the brutality of which shocks the conscience of the court, he must face the consequence of his act. Such a person forfeits his right to life.” : A. P. Sen, J. [2] 1. Introduction Whether to retain or to abolish the sentence of capital punishment has been a universal subject of endless debate, countless studies, several researches and plenty of experiments but no conclusion has been reached yet which can socially, morally and legally be accepted. Almost all states have two groups –one who supports the retention of capital punishment and other who argues to abolish it. In India, the debate was revived...