Concept of contempt of court

The concept of contempt of court came into existence in India with the enactment of the Constitution of India. By including the concept the Constitution puts some restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression, and the personal liberty it otherwise guarantees.

The Article 129 of the Constitution confers on the Supreme Court (SC) the power to punish when there is an instance of contempt of itself. The Article 215 confers a corresponding power on the High Court as well.

The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, gives statutory backing to the measures to address contempt of court. The act is intended to safeguard the status and dignity of the courts in the interest of justice dispensation.

Introduction

The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (HAS), in its original form did not give the daughter of a coparcener equal right to the ancestral property as that of a son. Therefore the act was amended in 2005 to counter balance the gender. After the amendment, the daughter of the coparcener in a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) has got equal rights, liabilities, and duties as her brothers. Hence any ancestral property has to be shared equally among all coparcenary members including women since 2005. The amendment came into effect on 9th September 2005. The marital status of the daughter also does not make any difference in their right over their undivided family property.

However the 2005 amendment of the act left some confusion and the courts started issuing conflicting judgments in regard to the woman’s right. Among those judgments the Prakash v Phulavati judgment in 2015 and the Danamma v. Amar judgment in 2018 are the most crucial ones.

What is meant by defamation?

Defamation essentially is making or publishing any Imputation to harm the reputation of a person or body. It is a dishonest false statement to discredit or put disrepute a person or body.

In examining the issue of defamation, a person’s character is considered quite different from his reputation. Character is what a man is, but reputation is what he is supposed to be in the eyes of the people or what people say he is. The former depends on the actual attributes he possesses but the latter rests on the attributes which others believe him to be in possession of. In short, a man’s opinion of himself cannot be called his reputation.

Defamation, according to IPC, is making or publishing any imputation concerning any person to harm the reputation of such [person. It can be in written, oral, sign, or graphical form. It must be made knowingly and believing that it will harm the reputation of the person against whom it is made.

What is an anticipatory bail?

Anticipatory bail is a kind of bail that a person accused of committing a non bailable offence and apprehending arrest can apply for under the Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC). It is issued by the High Court or the Court of Sessions.

Anticipatory bail is a pre-arrest bail. In the order of bail, the court gives a direction that the accused person should be released on bail in the event of his arrest by the police. No anticipatory bail can be issued after the arrest of the person.

Anticipatory bail is an extra ordinary privilege. It should be granted in exceptional cases only.

Evidence: What it means

The term evidence is a bit ambiguous one. It refers to what is adduced by a party in a court in order to establish a fact or its truth.

Evidence essentially refers to those things that make the truth of a disputed matter quite evident or convincing to a court.

No other reform is as important as establishing an All India Judicial Service (AIJS) in revitalising Indian judiciary. But the proposal for setting up an AIJS, in the lines of Indian Civil Service, is hanging fire for more than five decades despite there were several proposals and decisions including that of the apex court, in its favour. It is quite curious that a key judicial reform of such a magnitude remains wholly neglected at a time when more than 5000 judicial posts are lying vacant and as many as 2.3 crore cases are pending in the country. There is widespread hope that AIJS can deal with great many ills Indian judiciary face right now and revitalize it into a far more vibrant constituent of Indian governance and democracy.

Bail is the rule but not its refusal

Bail is the rule and refusal of bail is the exception. When the bail is refused the personal liberty of the citizen is deprived. Such deprivation can be done only by following the principles and procedures known to law. That means refusal of bail must be done by following due process of law. Bail can be granted at any stage of the trial.

NIA deals with terrorism & such activities

The National Investigation Agency Act provides for creation of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the country.

The NIA Act was enacted in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks of 2008. The enactment of NIA Act in fact was a course of action perilously close to crossing the constitutional limits because policing is a state subject under the Constitution. No central police force could be established except having the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is acting as a substitute for a national police force at times as police is not a union subject for law making. However there has been a plea for enacting a CBI Act for creating a national police force which did not go much forward.

NIA is the only federal agency in the country, along the lines of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States of America. NIA is much more powerful than the CBI though its resources and facilities are quite limited.

Encumbrance means what

The term encumbrance refers to the charge created on any property, particularly the immoveable property.

An Encumbrance Certificate (EC) discloses whether the property in question is free from any liability or is with liability such as a mortgage or an un-cleared loan. The certificate is issued by the Department of Registration. It contains all the transactions registered relating to a particular property for a period requested for. It will show the proper entitlement of the particular property.

Introduction

An accused or any other person is not entitled to get a certified copy of the deposition recorded under Section 164 CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code, 1973) during the stage of investigation in a rape case, even though the statement is a public document.