Citizens for Justice and Peace
Terror Laws under a Proto-Fascist Regime Draconian laws are repealed when citizens' protests multiply and grow
18-Sep-2021
Senior counsel, Mihir Desai delivered this lecture of September 5, 2021 at an online event organised by the Gauri Memorial Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace. CJP is happy to bring the entire text of the lecture here. It is a pleasure as well as a privilege to be invited to present this paper…
COVID-19 and the Indian Supreme Court It is in times of crisis that the Constitution and the mechanisms to enforce it, are tested. The SC's failure is just starker amidst the current crisis.
30-May-2020
This article is not about the efficacy of the video conferencing hearings or about how many or often judges should sit for hearings during this lockdown. It is about how, the Higher Courts and especially the Supreme Court, have dealt with the various Petitions filed concerning COVID 19 and how our Courts, especially the Supreme…
SC extends power to grant anticipatory bail till completion of trial Appellate or superior court also granted power to consider the correctness of the order granting anticipatory bail at the behest of the State or investigating agency
03-Feb-2020
Judgement Primer: Anticipatory bail protection till end of trial Sushila Aggarwal and others Vs. State (NCT of Delhi) and another Supreme Court of India: Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Indira Banerjee, Justice Vineet Sharma, Justice MR Shah and Justice SR Bhat Date of Judgement: January 29, 2020 Delivered by: Justice Justice Shah and Justice Bhat Introduction:…
Justice Done, Delhi HC Reads into evidence of ‘hostile witnesses’, convicts husband on charges of dowry driven murder Delhi High Court's judgment analysed
28-Nov-2019
Judgment Primer: New precedent for cases with hostile witnesses Salek Ram Vs. State of NCT Delhi and ors. High Court of Delhi at New Delhi: Justice G.S.Sistani And Justice Chander Shekhar Date of judgment (pronounced): Nov ember 20, 2019 Delivered by: Justice G.S.Sistani Introduction: Witness turning hostile is the biggest nightmare for the prosecution of…
The Lower Court – Higher Court paradox Is it always our higher courts that deliver substantial justice?
24-Oct-2019
Recently we saw two judgments, one from a district court and one from a High Court, both dealing with gender justice (the rights of women and crimes against women) and both resulting in contrasting outcomes. While the lower court, in a civil case, upheld and recognised a woman’s maternity benefit to be an integral right, the…
Being a Sycophant and Saffron is a Potent Mix When the Indian Judiciary has, faced with Authoritarian Leaders, Turned Unconstitutional
14-Dec-2018
There have been moments in the past seventy years or so, when the most authoritarian governments have drawn out the most supine responses from India’s higher judiciary. Remember Justice Bhagwati’s actions during ADM Jabalpur when he not just ratified the suspension of fundamental rights by then prime minister, Indira Gandhi (Justice HR Khanna was the…
Nirbhaya & Bilkees Bano: Different Parametres for Justice?
07-May-2017
Two judgements within a day of each other have caught national attention. The first is the Supreme Court judgement in the Nirbhaya case. The second is the Mumbai High Court judgement in the Bilkis Bano case. Two cases, two women, two standards of justice. The Nirbhaya case aroused the conscience of India in an unprecedented…
Salaams and Salutes to the Witness-Survivors of Gulberg Society as We Wait for Justice: Advocate SM Vohra
17-Jun-2016
UPDATE: Today, June 17 is the day that final judgement will be delivered in the Gulberg Society Massacre. Witness Survivors have filed detailed Written Arguments making a strong case for life sentence. The advocates for the survivors, backed by Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) have also ,ade out a strong case for Compensation under…
Towards a Secular South Asia
15-Aug-2015
by Teesta Setalvad Identity Politics has a way of dividing men, women, ideas, cultures and societies. So when we kill and maim in the name of a faith, when communalism dominates our political worldview, there is a real danger of every reaction, every initiative being looked at in the name of faith. Nothing could be…
The Importance of the Zakia Jafri Petition
25-May-2013
by Teesta Setalvad It is not often that the battle against aggressive communalism, the sustained mobilization that precedes brute and targeted violence and includes hate speech and hate writing, the deliberate debilitation and paralysis of preventive and pro active measures of law and order that minimize the spread of reprisal violence and protect lives and…