Justice Kannan's Legal speak

Seventy ago on November 26, the Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly. The Preamble to the Constitution of India bears testimony to the historic occasion. However, the Constitution was only partially adopted that day. The full adoption came two months later on January 26, 1950 - the day is celebrated as the Republic Day to mark the anniversary of occasion. Post Emergency, after the then Janata party also failed to hold on to the government at the centre, there were strong waves of introspection of the situation that gave place to emergency. The flagrant violations of human rights at that time, the ADM Jabalpur decision during emergency when the Court infamously said that there was no right to life at all when there was emergency in operation, the memory of supersession of judges and when A.N.Ray was appointed as CJI because three other judges who delivered the Kesavanada verdict were found as not towing the government's policies and the obvious affront t...

Settling the Ayodhya case once and for all There must be an understanding that in the outcome, there is neither victor nor vanquished Sushil Kumar VermaSushil Kumar Verma The Ayodhya issue is tantalisingly poised and there are only guesses about how the case could pan out — the Supreme Court of India had allowed arguments before the court and mediation talks to proceed simultaneously. It has been an unusual step. The dichotomy of this approach could perhaps be explained by the fact that the Court had marked August 15 as the deadline for turning in the settlement. Then, in July the pace of mediation was stepped up and the court wanted a report by August 1. Since there was no settlement by then, it commenced hearing. Down the line some parties made requests for a resumption of talks. It looked as if the court was unwilling to stop the hearing but also reluctant to let go of the possibility of a compromise. Parties to appeals, settlement The appeals pending before the cour...

The suggestion of the Supreme Court for considering mediation for resolving the Ayodhya Mandir-Mosque dispute shall be seen as sagacious counsel to seize the opportunity to bury the hatchet between the warring parties and usher an era of understanding and camaraderie. Court’s exhortation is not an abdication of its duty to adjudicate. It is a propitious reminder to seek answers that are not binary options; if multiple, they cannot be ticked as right or wrong; or just or unjust: Is not the Ayodhya dispute outside court and not inside? Can the lawyers be trusted to argue the cases with dignity? Will the opinion of the court represent a dispensation of justice to all parties? Will all the people rest in quiet after the verdict and go about peacefully? Do we not have answers that could bring victory to all of us Indians as siblings in arms and not sepoys with arms? Standards of proof in court are different It is difficult to say when the ‘Ayodhya dispute’ itself started. There was no ...