26 February

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Usurpation of executive and legislative powers by the Indian higher judiciary

by Mathews J. Nedumpara The front page of the Times of India dated 1st April 2017, which I have in my hands now, has almost 80% covered by Court news with the caption “Highway liquor vends, bars must close from today: Supreme Court”, being the most prominent heading. On its right “Won’t apologize if work not restored: Justice Karnan to Supreme Court”, followed by another three Court-related news items, including the caption “No early Supreme Court hearing in Ayodhya case”. What is said about 1st of April, 2017 could be true about all Tuesdays and Saturdays, for, on Mondays and Fridays,...

26 February

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Have Articles 226 and 32 led to denial of Justice. Will repeal of it lead to injustice?

Posted by Mathews J Nedumpara

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Have Articles 226 and 32 led to denial of Justice. Will repeal of it lead to injustice? Ambedkar described Article 32 as the very heart and soul of the Constitution. Our founding fathers, many of whom were victims of illegal arrest and confinement, being part of the freedom struggle, incorporated in our constitution, Part III, fundamental rights. By virtue of Article 32 of the Constitution a citizen can approach the Supreme court for the enforcement of his/her fundamental rights and that very right to access the Supreme Court itself was declared to be a fundamental right. It is almost 70 years...

26 February

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Ne bis in idem, the simple solution for mounting arrears

Posted by Mathews J Nedumpara

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1. Faced with the mind-boggling burden of arrears which today is more than 3.4 crores in the case of the subordinate courts and more than 51.5 lakhs in the case of the High Courts and even 62,064 in the case of the Supreme Court, our legislature and the superior Courts invoking even legislative powers, which the founding fathers had never visualized, have created large number of tribunals in substitution of the Civil Court, even the High Court. However, far from reducing the backlogs, such laws and tribunals have contributed in inconceivable terms, towards adding to the existing backlog of cases....

26 February

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Demolition of 350 residential flats, Harish Salve’s monumental failure to defend Govt. of Kerala

Posted by Mathews J Nedumpara

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27.09.2019 Today is probably one of the saddest days in my life as a lawyer. Sri Harish Salve, whom the media has always glorified as one of the greatest of lawyers for his hair splitting arguments, a national icon since his appearance in Kulbhushan Jhadav, reduced himself to be one of the very ordinary lawyers, a defacto psychofant, agreeing to every word of the court, servile to the very core and betraying the state of Kerala whom he represented. The court took a very high moral standing, that it is ordering the demolition of the building to save the thousands of...

26 February

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Four- fifths of the CJs of High Courts are sons, sons- in -law, nephews, juniors of Chief Justices, Judges, Attorney Generals, Advocate Generals, Ministers et al.

Posted by Mathews J Nedumpara

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1. Our Constitution provides that the President (i.e., the executive) shall appoint the judges of the Supreme Court in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and such other judges of the Supreme Court and HCs, and in the case of judges of the High Courts the CJI and the CJ and the Governor (i.e. the state executive) of the state concerned. In other words, the executive, accountable to the Parliament and thereby the people of this country, is vested with the power of appointment. The only obligation is to consult the Chief Justice of India et al. 2. However, in the...

26 February

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Who are the Judges of the Supreme Court of India?

Posted by Mathews J Nedumpara

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The Supreme Court of India is the most powerful court on the planet. It probably is the only apex Court which is also the court of first instance. Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, a citizen can approach it without recourse to any other court, complaining violation of fundamental rights. The founding fathers felt it necessary to provide so because of their concern for the lives and liberties of the citizens, for the horrors witnessed during the colonial rule. The constitution of India is a perfect blend of the concepts of federalism and that of a centralized government. It...

26 February

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This letter I had addressed to the Chief Editor, Malayalam Manorama

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This letter I had addressed to the Chief Editor, Malayalam Manorama, way back in 2011 when the allegations of corruption against Chief Justice Balakrishnan was the talk of the town, not merely in the corridors of the bar. The editor told me that since it is about the judiciary, they cannot touch it, for, the threat of contempt hangs over their head like damocle's sword. What he further said provoked my thought, namely that if the court issues a contempt notice for speaking the truth about judicial corruption, the press will not even get a lawyer to represent them except...

26 February

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Have Articles 226 and 32 led to denial of Justice. Will repeal of it lead to injustice?

Posted by Mathews J Nedumpara

in Blogs/Articles

Have Articles 226 and 32 led to denial of Justice. Will repeal of it lead to injustice? Mathews J Nedumpara 98205 35428 Ambedkar described Article 32 as the very heart and soul of the Constitution. Our founding fathers, many of whom were victims of illegal arrest and confinement, being part of the freedom struggle, incorporated in our constitution, Part III, fundamental rights. By virtue of Article 32 of the Constitution a citizen can approach the Supreme court for the enforcement of his/her fundamental rights and that very right to access the Supreme Court itself was declared to be a fundamental right. It is...

26 February

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NLC’s agendas are certain to become a reality

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10.5.2021 NLC's agendas are certain to become a reality because: a) unlike before, a large section of the legal fraternity, informed public, and in particular the press, is aware that the Collegium system of appointment and designation of lawyers as senior advocates have completely destroyed any semblance of inclusiveness in the higher judiciary as well as the in designated bar. People now readily accept that there is a real apartheid in the justice delivery system, b) the concept of virtual court, which includes making available the records of the court proceedings to the litigants cannot be denied forever. The mounting public opinion willl...

26 February

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Referring Questions of Law to Larger Benches is in Ignorance of the Doctrine of Stare Decisis

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Referring Questions of Law to Larger Benches is in Ignorance of the Doctrine of Stare Decisis By Mathews J. Nedumpara It is said that even Homer nods at times, meaning that sometimes even very eminent and scholarly men err, for, to err is human. Lord Halsbury, known for his monumental work titled “Halsbury’s Laws of England”, in London Street Tramways Co. v. London County Council [1898] AC 375 (HL), had held that House of Lords is bound by its own decisions. That was a great deviation from the view hitherto then in force that no precedent is absolutely binding, but is only...

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