LEX ASPIRANTS

The Indian Constitution provides immunity to an accused against self-incrimination under Article 20(3).  It  provides that no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself. It is based on the maxim " Nemon tenetur seipsum accusare " which means ‘ No one is obligated to blame himself. ’  This protection is also backed by various other principles of criminal law, which are as follows: Presumption – Accused to be innocent until proven guilty. Onus – Rests upon the head of the Prosecution to prove the guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Right to remain silent – Accused cannot be compelled to disclose any information against his will. In M.P. Sharma v. Satish Chandra AIR 1954 SC 300 court made a view that "to be witness is nothing more than to furnish evidence" and the court held  1. 'To be a witness' is not equivalent to 'furnishing evidence' in its widest significance; that is to say, as including not merely making of ora...

The witness is one of the key players in the justice delivery system. He comes to help the court in reaching the correct point of the matter and to administer justice. Hence his statements are of paramount importance. According to Bentham, witnesses are the eyes and ears of justice. A witness is an individual who has seen a crime being committed and is able to give evidence in court. Chapter IX of the Indian evidence Act deal with competency, compellability, privileges and quantity of witnesses required for judicial decisions. Section 118 of the Act states that all persons shall be competent to testify unless the court considers that they are prevented from understanding the questions and unable to give rational answers to those questions. Thus, every person is competent to be a witness. It is the discretion of the court to see whether the person is capable of understanding the questions and his ability to give rational answers to those questions. Even a lunatic is not declared as inco...

Recently the Supreme Court expressed its serious concern and criticised the continuation of Section 124A IPC (Sedition) in India. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana questioned Attorney General Venu Gopal  “This was the law used to silence Mahatma Gandhi. Do you think it is needed after 75 years of Independence”? The Court orally observed that the power to misuse this law is enormous. It’s like giving a saw to a carpenter who cuts down the entire forest. The law of Sedition is defined in section 124A of IPC and was introduced a d drafted by Macaulay in 1890. It is defined as an offence against government which is committed when any person by words, either spoken or written or by signs or pictorial representation bring hatred or contempt or disaffection against government.  Sedition is a non-bailable offence. Punishment under the law varies from imprisonment up to three years to a life term and fine. A person charged under this law can't apply for a government job. ...

  Actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra has been arrested for allegedly being a ‘key conspirator’ in a case pertaining to pornographic films. Here’s what the laws say. The allegations against Kundra involve forming a company to develop ‘Hotshots’, a mobile application allegedly used to publish porn,  supervising its functioning and monetary dealings through WhatsApp groups, setting up another company to protect Hotshots’ videos from piracy, and having suspiciously large global transfers in bank accounts.  In india three Acts mainly cover the subject of pornography: 1. Information Technology (IT) Act ,2000 2. Indian penal code 3. Protection of children from sexual offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. In india watching porn in your private room or space is not illegal. As we all know the Article 21 gives the fundamental right to life and personal liberty. The Supreme Court in the july 2015 orally remarked in a case that watching porn in a private room may fall und...

This article will scrutinize Sec 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 which talks about accused person examination. The section is based upon the natural justice principle and made for the purpose of enabling the accused personally to explain circumstances appearing in the evidence against him. Recently the Supreme Court in Reena Hazarika v. the State of Assam , 2018 SCC OnLine SC 2281, decided on 31-10-2018 held that Section 313 cannot be seen simply as part of Audi alteram partem. It confers a valuable right upon an accused to establish his innocence and can well be considered beyond a statutory right as a constitutional right to a fair trial under Article 21 of the Constitution, even if it is not to be considered as a piece of substantive evidence, not being on oath under Section 313 (2). As per section 313(1)(a) -  The court may examine the accused at any stage of the trial and put necessary questions to the accused without warning. As per section 313(1)(b) -  T...

  Section 154 of the CrPC deals with first information report. But the term FIR is not mentioned any where in the code. Section says " information in cognizable cases". FIR is the information given by a person about the commission of a cognizable offence and recorded by the police in accordance with Section 154. Police officer shall read the FIR to the informant and obtain his sign in the statement. Also, he need to enter it in a book kept in the police station as prescribed by the state government. The police officer shall give a copy of the FIR to the informant at free of cost. State of Bombay v. Rusy mistry - In This case court defined the term FIR. It means the information given to the officer in charge of the police station in relation to the commission of a cognizable offence and on which the investigation is commenced. Lalitha Kumari v. Government of UP - court held that provision under section 154(1) is mandatory and it is the duty of the police officer to reg...

    Set off means a claim set up against another.     It is a cross-claim, where there are mutual debts between plaintiff and defendant. then one debt may be settled against another.     It is a plea in defense available to the defendant.     By adjustment set off either wipe out or reduces the claim of the plaintiff.     The doctrine of set-off may  be defined as " the extinction of debts of which 2 persons are reciprocally debtors to one another by the credits of which they are reciprocally creditors to one another" It is a "reciprocal acquittal of debts between two persons"     Setoff is of two types: 1) legal setoff (order 8 rule 6)                                       2) Equitable set off (order 20 rule 19 (3)).   Conditions of set-off (legal set-off)   1) The su...

                                                                 Recently All India Trinamool Congress won the election in West Bengal, but unfortunately, their leader Mamata Banerjee lost in Nandigram. even though she has lost the election she has sworn as the chief minister of the state. whether there any legal validity for her appointment. let's take a look Article 164 of the constitution - deal with the appointment of the chief minister and other ministers Article 164(4) states that if a person who is not a member of the legislature of the State becomes the Minister for 6 consecutive months he shall cease to be minister at the expiration of that period. Hence the person can become a minister without electing only for a period of 6 consecutive months. In the case  Har Sharan Verma vs Tribhuvan Narain Singh ...

 

      The term written statement has not been defined under the code.     It is the pleading of the defendant wherein he deals with every material fact alleged by the plaintiff in his plaint and also states new facts in his favor or object to the plaintiff's claim.      It can be filed by the defendant or his agent Jugeshwar Tiwari V. Sheopujan Tiwary - the court held that                    1)  If there are several defendants the common written statement can be filed. But it must be signed by all of them.                   2) Verification of the common written statement can be done by anyone who knows the facts of the case                   3) Written statement filed by one defendant is not binding on other defendants.     The defendant must submit a writ...

  Recently there was a discussion that happened before the bench of justices Maheshwari and Aniruddha bose, relating to section 97 of the criminal procedure code. The case has been filed under Article 32 by the petitioner (husband) contenting his wife has been wrongfully detained by her family because they are against their marriage. the bench asked the counsel why they are not approached the high court and the counsel replied  was due to covid situation high court is giving hearing dates after 3-4 month and the trial court is also not mostly functioning. the court asked why cannot take recourse to section 97 Cr. P.C. the court remarked that section 97 has become a dead letter in the code because of the short-cuts.  Our usual point of view is that if a person has been wrongfully confined or detained or missing the only way of remedy is to file a habeas corpus before apex court or high court. but there are other remedies that are more effective and speedy than moving with ...

  INTRODUCTION: Cannabis has been used in India for thousands of years and finds mention in many ancient scriptures for medicinal purposes and otherwise.   Bhang, which is made using the leaves of the cannabis plant, has close ties to the worship of Shiva in Hinduism as well as the celebration of the festival Holi across India in the form of a drink called ‘thandai’. The sale and consumption of bhang is permitted under law in India due to the NDPS Act’s definition of cannabis.   Unlike western countries India has a cultural connection of adapting certain natural forms of narcotic substances for celebrating some religious festivals. Thus, this cultural difference is an important aspect to be considered while framing and forcing any drugs laws in India.   In1961, the international treaty,”  Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs “classified cannabis as a hard drug. The Indian delegation opposed this because of the social and cultural use of cannabis in Ind...