“No arrest should be made only because the offence is cognizable and non- bailable and therefore, lawful for the police officers to do so”.

Abuse of power to arrest by the police has been significantly curbed by the Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar v. State Bihar, where the court highlighted the problems related to hasty arrests by the police. Continue reading “Prevention of Mechanical Arrests, Due Process to be Complied With” →

When we think of a Bill of Rights, there are two structural questions that we must answer before we even get to analysing its substantive content. Against whom are the rights enforceable – i.e., which parties are subject to the obligations that the rights impose. And who is entitled to enforce the rights – a question that often (but by no means always) translates into the question of which parties do the rights protect. Both these questions have been controversial. Evidently, individuals are beneficiaries of fundamental rights. But what about corporations? Continue reading “What is the “State”? – I: Article 12 and Constitutional Obligations” →

In Ajay Hasia, the question was whether the Regional Engineering College of Srinagar was “State” within the meaning of Article 12. The College had been established, and its administration was carried on, by a Society that was registered under the J&K Societies Act. Consequently, the first argument of the Society was that it had not been set up by the government under a statute, and so could not come within the meaning of Article 12. Unsurprisingly, following R.D. Shetty, the Court rejected this contention. It cited R.D. Shetty copiously, and declared itself to be following its decision. The impact, however, was rather different.
Continue reading “What is the State – IV: Agency/Instrumentality as a Function of State Control” →

In Dr. Janet Jeyapaul v SRM University, the question was whether a writ petition was maintainable against the SRM University, which is a “deemed University” within the meaning of S. 3 of the UGC Act (the petitioner had filed a writ petition complaining of unfair termination of services).
Continue reading “Deemed Universities and Article 12 of the Constitution” →

“God sleeps in the mineral, awakens in the vegetable, walks in the animal and thinks in man.” Kathryn Breese

Introduction

According to Aristotle there is a hierarchy within living beings. He believed that, human beings are superior to animals because of having capacity for using reason. Continue reading “Conceptualising the future of Animal Rights in India” →