Justice Kannan's Legal speak

Life and death are no longer in the realm of only god’s activity. Or, at least, so it seems. Medical science, through In virto fertilization (IVF procedures) brings to reality certain aspects of human procreation hitherto not known to be possible. Again, when a person shall die may even be decided by a suave physician; he may deliver a death shot at a chosen time, without being charged with the offence of murder. Euthanasia is its name. But euthanasia is not legal yet in India. It may soon be, if global trends are any indication. Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, and Ethics) Regulations with regard to professional conduct, etiquette and ethics notified in 2002 also declares expressly euthanasia to be unethical conduct. However, the Regulation allows withdrawing life-supporting devices to a patient which shall be decided only by a team of doctors and not merely by the treating physician. A team of doctors shall declare withdrawal of support system. Such team shall consist of...

A public interest litigation in Punjab & Haryana High Court is reported to have been filed ‘to curb the menace of tantriks promising magical cures within minutes’ through advertisements in newspapers, television channels and even web sites (The Tribune dated 19th Nov ’08). Are there laws that regulate or prohibit such advertisements? Do such types of objectionable advertisements abound elsewhere outside India? The Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 establishes the Medical Council of India (MCI). The Council has notified Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, and Ethics) Regulations in 2002 which mandates observance of the code of conduct on the pain of suspension or removal of the licence to practice for the breach of its regulations. They include the practice against promising magic remedies and advertisements. To the extent to which the Regulations are directed against practitioners of only the allopaths, it is obvious that we have to look elsewhere for the practitioners of...

Times of India, dated 18th November 2008 reports that an Israeli gay couple Yonatan and Omer Gher had a child, which they named as Evyatar meaning ‘more fathers’ in Hebrew, through a surrogate mother at a fertility clinic at Bandra, Mumbai. Thankfully, the child found itself soon after its arrival the felicity of being cradled in the hands of two fathers but Baby Manji Yamada delivered at Anand, Gujarat few months earlier was not as lucky initially. The surrogate mother had abandoned the child at the hospital, the Japanese couple that hired the surrogate mother divorced and the grandmother flew in to India to take the child for her son after a delay of few months when the Supreme Court cleared the decks for its transportation to Japan, however on an Indian passport. Surrogacy is normally referred in the context of a married couple (i) who have had multiple miscarriages; or (ii) who have failed repeated IVF attempts for unexplained reasons, seeking the help of a willing woman to bear th...

1. Human rights, as being fundamental to life and civil liberties, as guaranteed through Constitution and other laws, when put through the prism of Court machinery obtain a refraction of diverse hues of reliefs for different categories of persons. The scenario unfolds poignantly more in the context of denial of rights and liberties than their positive assertions. The courts, they are, who invariably play the vital link between rights and their enforcement. If we have come by a situation in Tamil Nadu where human rights transgressions are not alarmingly high but minimal, if we may say modestly, we need to deduce that it is in no small measure due to the role of our courts, more particularly the Madras High Court. 2. The triad of fundamental freedoms of expression, movement and association found the first affirmation in A.K.Gopalan [1] and V.G.Row, the names that are etched into constitutional history via the Madras High Court. His challenge to preventive detention law only ...

The recent reported dilemma Haresh and Niketa Mehta had a reason to grieve. Scientific (medical) tests on Niketa showed that the child in her womb had serious congenital deformities. They did not want to bring to world a child that could have on its birth a congenital heart blockage and mal-positioned arteries. Mehtas’ doctor advised that the pregnancy could be terminated. The JJ Hospital panel which had said that the child could be born with severe incapacity made a volte face a week later to predict that the incapacitation could be a matter of ‘least chance’ (sic). The Bombay High Court said that it would not approve of the abortion. The couple was distraught and a couple of days later, a more composed Ms.Niketa was reported to have braced herself to be ready to fight the illness for the child. The Union Health Minister said that the matter required a serious debate. One more week passed. Nikita had a miscarriage. The child arrived dead and unfortunately now, the whole episode has co...

What is the face of Police that is familiar to you? Do you see it as the protector against wrong and a punctilious enforcer of law and order? Or, you have been exposed to only an ugly corrupt countenance of the police force and hence would want none of it for resolving your pressing problems with a brazen transgressor of law? The Hindu mythology assigns to Vishnu the role of a cosmic protector, who constantly participates in worldly affairs, ensuring that all is well. Outside the ring of Agamic pantheon of Hinduism, lies the rural tradition of worshipping grama devadai, which is called kaval deivam. Along with Karuppasamy or Muniswaran or Sudalai or the formless Nadukkal, you will find a stony police man also, with a long moustache but having a kind face. Worship is offered to the statue of police in so many villages. From a protector, police has unfortunately become a symbol of oppression and protector of the bully and the villainy rich. The more fearsome he looks the closer to realit...

A popular English daily lists out several strange laws legislated in efforts to maintain law and order in diverse legal regimes across the world. They range from legislation that makes illegal for chicken to lay eggs on Sundays to legislation that require the permission of a husband by a wife to wear dentures. The constant refrain has always been that there are a lot more laws than necessary. A country that is regulated by rule of law is not necessarily a country that has enormous laws. The efficacy of enforcement mechanism alone makes the difference. We have laws to prevent crimes; we have laws to punish practitioners of untouchability; there are laws that protect women and children. All of them have not guaranteed a crime free society. They have not effaced the scourge of untouchability. Our women cannot still walk on the roads in hours of darkness without fear. Our children do not lead lives of frolic. Many of them slave under hard labour and are the breadwinners for their famil...

The world is not any the less equal only because men and women are made differently, - the ways their biological differences make them think, look and behave. These differences themselves have assigned to them dissimilar roles to play in the society. So long as the physical prowess helped men dictate the primacy of their actions, they could claim superiority. But men are challenged in every field, in studies, in professional skills, in the study of science, in expressions through arts and what have you. However, men have always held their own in the arena of sports; women in the pride of bearing children. They never contested each other in these fields alongside but see now, a man has challenged womanhood even in the act of creation. Not just novelty this, but scary! Thomas Beatie was born female, underwent surgery and took hormone treatment to become a male; kept her reproductive organs, got artificially inseminated by a donor sperm, became pregnant and has delivered of a baby on 29th...