Author: lawumbrella

Advocate Deven Khanna, an alumnus of the esteemed National Law School, is currently engaged in legal practice at the High Court of Himachal Pradesh and the Supreme Court of India. His practice primarily focuses on areas such as Civil liberties, Constitutional law, Writs, Labour and Service matters, Public Interest Litigations, and Bail matters. His academic contributions include articles in national journals, judging moot courts, and presentations at various legal conferences. He is committed to advancing legal education. For inquiries, he can be contacted at khannadeven@gmail.com or on mobile at 7018469792.

Himachal Law Journal: Service Rights, Criminal Justice and Environment

Himachal Law Journal masthead beside the snow-covered Tudor-style Himachal Pradesh High Court building.
~ lawumbrella ~ Leave a comment

This week’s Himachal Law Journal consolidates the judgments, orders and substantive legal developments tracked after the 4 October 2026 edition across the Himachal Law Daily, the weekly Service Law Digest and the Public Interest and Environmental Law Watch. The issue covers public employment and retiral rights, criminal justice, election law, arbitration and insolvency, pharmaceutical regulation, environmental supervision, judicial well-being and selected Himachal Pradesh precedents from the continuing HPLD archive.

Continue reading “Himachal Law Journal: Service Rights, Criminal Justice and Environment” →

Himachal Law Journal: Succession, Service Law, Arbitration and SARFAESI

Himachal Law Journal masthead beside the snow-covered Tudor-style Himachal Pradesh High Court building.
~ lawumbrella ~ 1 Comment

This week’s Himachal Law Journal consolidates the decisions and substantive orders tracked after the 27 September 2026 edition across the Himachal Law Daily, the weekly Service Law Digest and the Public Interest and Environmental Law Watch. The issue covers succession, service benefits and disciplinary law, arbitration and MSME remedies, SARFAESI and secured enforcement, criminal procedure, parole, property rights, environmental supervision and selected Himachal Pradesh precedents from the continuing HPLD archive.

Continue reading “Himachal Law Journal: Succession, Service Law, Arbitration and SARFAESI” →

Opening Lush Green Forests to Commercial Development: HP High Court Draws the Line at Upper Bakrota

Upper Bakrota, Dalhousie with forested hills and snow-covered Himalayan ranges in the background
~ lawumbrella ~ 1 Comment

A hotel proposal in Upper Bakrota has produced a judgment about something much larger than one building. In allowing CWPIL No. 16 of 2025, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has explained why a statutory Development Plan cannot be reduced to a suggestion, why planning discretion needs reasons, and why the first arbitrary exception in an eco fragile hill zone can be more dangerous than the twentieth.

Continue reading “Opening Lush Green Forests to Commercial Development: HP High Court Draws the Line at Upper Bakrota” →

Himachal Law Journal: Service Law, Arbitration, Criminal Justice and Public Interest

Himachal Law Journal masthead beside the snow-covered Tudor-style Himachal Pradesh High Court building.
~ lawumbrella ~ 3 Comments

This week’s Himachal Law Journal brings together the important decisions and developments tracked across the LawUmbrella daily case-law brief, the weekly service-law digest and the public-interest and environmental law watch after the 19 September 2026 edition. The compilation covers recent Himachal Pradesh High Court rulings, Supreme Court decisions of wider practice value, service-law developments, environmental compliance orders and selected Himachal precedents from the continuing archive series.

Continue reading “Himachal Law Journal: Service Law, Arbitration, Criminal Justice and Public Interest” →

Himachal Law Journal: Service Rights, Pension and Civil Procedure

Himachal Law Journal masthead beside the snow-covered Tudor-style Himachal Pradesh High Court building.
~ lawumbrella ~ 3 Comments

This consolidated Himachal Law Journal brings together decisions on service benefits, pension, recruitment, maternity protection and amendment of pleadings. Recent decisions and selections from the Himachal Pradesh High Court archives appear in separate sections, with the facts, legal essence and headnote for each judgment.

Continue reading “Himachal Law Journal: Service Rights, Pension and Civil Procedure” →

Who Guards the Guards? A Citizen, a Forest and the Ward Office That Put Shimla’s Watchdogs on Trial

~ lawumbrella ~ 1 Comment

There are public interest cases that begin with petitions, affidavits and carefully numbered grounds. This one began with a citizen who looked at what was happening below Sanjauli and decided that somebody ought to know.

The complaint concerned Bangala Colony in Shimla. The allegations were hardly subtle. Construction was said to be taking place on forest and public land. Green areas were being cemented. Deodar trees were allegedly being damaged. Pathways were being obstructed. Garbage and wastewater had become part of the grievance. Structures, the complaint said, were steadily occupying land that was not meant to be privately built upon.

The citizen first approached the local administration. When an effective answer did not follow, the grievance reached the Himachal Pradesh High Court. The sender chose anonymity, citing apprehensions about personal safety.

The Court did not treat anonymity as a substitute for evidence. It did something more useful. It sent someone to look.

Continue reading “Who Guards the Guards? A Citizen, a Forest and the Ward Office That Put Shimla’s Watchdogs on Trial” →

Himachal Law Journal: Investigation, Compulsory Retirement and Service Law

Himachal Law Journal masthead beside the snow-covered Tudor-style Himachal Pradesh High Court building.
~ lawumbrella ~ 2 Comments

This edition of the Himachal Law Journal brings together recent decisions on further investigation, compulsory retirement, securities fraud, partnership assets, contractual security, malicious prosecution and criminal process. It also consolidates the week’s principal Himachal Pradesh service-law rulings on regularisation, recruitment, compassionate appointment, compliance with judicial orders, probationary termination and cadre structure, followed by selected decisions from the Himachal Law Archive.

Continue reading “Himachal Law Journal: Investigation, Compulsory Retirement and Service Law” →

Himachal Law Journal: Increments, Recruitment Rules and Compassionate Appointment

Himachal Law Journal masthead beside the snow-covered Tudor-style Himachal Pradesh High Court building.
~ lawumbrella ~ 2 Comments

Three recent Himachal Pradesh High Court decisions clarify when a retired HRTC employee may receive additional increments, why courts cannot rewrite mandatory recruitment qualifications, and why compassionate appointment cannot be claimed after the immediate financial crisis has passed.

Continue reading “Himachal Law Journal: Increments, Recruitment Rules and Compassionate Appointment” →

The Right to Die with Dignity in India: The Law After Harish Rana

~ lawumbrella ~ Leave a comment

The right to die with dignity in India is not a general right to end one’s life. It is the legally protected right of a competent person to refuse unwanted medical treatment and, in narrowly defined circumstances, to permit the withdrawal or withholding of life-sustaining treatment when recovery is no longer possible. The law has taken more than a decade—and four important Supreme Court decisions—to reach its present form.

Continue reading “The Right to Die with Dignity in India: The Law After Harish Rana” →

From Protest to Recruitment: How Himachal’s Blind Community Took the Disability Rights Gap to the High Court

~ lawumbrella ~ 1 Comment

Nearly three years of protest, repeated demands over reserved vacancies, an unfinished disability-rights framework, and now a clear judicial direction: take effective steps to fill vacant Class-IV posts for visually impaired persons and issue the necessary advertisement.

Continue reading “From Protest to Recruitment: How Himachal’s Blind Community Took the Disability Rights Gap to the High Court” →