Chatter #12: Essential Legal Bytes (Exemplary Contempt, Twitter Rights, Gendered Terms, Foreign Bar members, Judicial Overreach)
1. Exemplary Contempt of Court Punishment
The Delhi High Court has sentenced a lawyer to six months of simple imprisonment for being guilty of contempt of court. This was to give an exemplary punishment to a member of the legal profession.
The lawyer did not comply with judicial orders to pay use and occupation charges to the landlord for a property located in the Kingsway Camp area. Justice Manmeet Pritam Arora also imposed a fine of Rs. 2,000 on the lawyer, noting that this is a case where leniency shown by the court may be seen as weakness.
2. Twitter and Fundamental Rights
According to Additional Solicitor General R Sanakaranarayanan, who was arguing for the central government in the account blocking case, Twitter is a foreign entity and is therefore not entitled to fundamental rights in India. The counsel also stated that the platform does not have any legal recourse against the government's decision to block certain Twitter accounts, and cannot rely on Article 19(a) of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech to citizens.
3. Appropriate Gendered Terms
In a welcome move, which if it remains confined to well meaning things like this it will be good, the Chief Justice of India has started an exercise create a legal glossary of inappropriate gendered terms used in legal discourse.
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud plans to release a legal glossary of inappropriate gendered terms used in legal discourse. This glossary aims to highlight why and how women were discriminated against not only in society and the legal profession, but also in the language used in legal matters. CJI cited some judgments where a woman was referred to as a "concubine" even when she was in a relationship. In verdicts where there were applications for quashing of FIRs under the Domestic Violence Act and Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, women have been called thieves.
4. Foreign Lawyers can be part of Bar Council of India
India is moving ahead wth the plan to be the International arbitration hub.
The Bar Council of India (BCI) has announced that foreign law firms and lawyers are now permitted to practice law in India. In accordance with the Bar Council of India Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and Foreign Law Firms in India (2022), foreign lawyers and law firms will be able to practice international law and international arbitration in India. The BCI has stated that these rules are designed to promote the principle of reciprocity in a regulated and controlled manner.
5. Yet another judicial overreach
In yet another incursion into the executive domain, the Supreme Court of India has questioned the actions of the Governor of Maharashtra.
The Supreme Court made strong observations on Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's role in the Maharashtra vote that unseated the Uddhav Thackeray-led government last year. According to the court, a Governor should exercise power cautiously and be aware that calling for a trust vote could bring down the government, as it did in this case. The court emphasized that calling for a trust vote solely on grounds of differences within a ruling party can topple an elected government.
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