Our courts have said, repeatedly and without much dissent, that a false allegation raised by either spouse of adultery, of dowry harassment, or through a fabricated criminal complaint is itself cruelty, independent of whatever other physical or mental cruelty has been pleaded. What has troubled me across fifteen years of handling these disputes is a narrower and more practical question: what degree of proof does the law actually demand before such allegations can be said to b

In the domain of matrimonial disputes and the litigation that follows, practitioners routinely encounter certain omnibus allegations from the husband's side refusal to do household chores, refusal of the wife to take care of the in-laws, prolonged stay of the wife at her maternal home, or refusal to live with in-laws in a joint family setup. Equally, we see allegations from the wife's side of being treated as a maid servant, being made to do household chores by the husband a

Women Who Wrote Themselves Into India's Constitution We grew up hearing about the Father of the Nation and the other founding fathers. But behind the freedom struggle and the drafting of the Constitution stood women who deserve the same place in our history books. I call them the Founding Mothers and this piece is dedicated to them. When India's Constituent Assembly convened in 1946 to write the founding document of a new nation, popular memory of that moment is almost entir

My First Case In August or September of 2012, I walked into the chambers of a lawyer on my father's reference, fresh off a short stint at a small law firm. I didn't understand much about the intricacies of law yet. What I had instead was hope, and a vague dream of making my mark in the profession someday. That day, Sir handed me a file , a civil suit pending before the Delhi High Court on its Original Side. The client had challenged his illegal termination from a private bank

After dealing with a fair share of matrimonial cases from Trial Courts to the Supreme Court of India I concluded that a successful union requires both emotional intelligence and practical foresight. Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge a difficult reality, while we often speak of progress, freedom, personal choice, most households especially in India are still guided by older social expectations/conventions. For both men and women, choosing a path outside of conventi

Justice Jafar Imam By Studio Kaala As lawyers, most of us have come across the ongoing debate about judicial propriety, especially when it comes to family members appearing in courts where their relatives are judges. This includes situations like a father appearing before his son, or vice versa, and in some cases, people appearing before uncles and aunts, which Former Justice Markandey Katju infamously termed as ‘Uncle Judge Syndrome’. There is often talk in legal circles abo

They say hard work is the key to success. I say, not always. Let me illustrate this through a social experiment by Francis Alÿs titled Paradox of Praxis 1 (Sometimes Making Something Leads to Nothing). Artwork by Studio Kaäla In 1997, Francis Alÿs was video graphed pushing a massive block of ice across the streets of Mexico City for over nine hours. By the end, it had melted into a small cube of water. He explained it this way: sometimes, efforts yield no meaningful result. I

Illustration of Supreme Court of India By Studio Kaäla The Legislative Assembly of the State of Uttar Pradesh committed one Keshav Singh, who was not one of its' members, to prison for its contempt. Keshav Singh through his Advocate moved a petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution and Section 491 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as it stood then challenging his committal being in breach of his fundamental rights ; he also prayed for interim bail. The High Court (Lucknow

In general parlance the meaning of Shifting baseline Syndrome is the way how we gradually accept environmental degradation as normal over generations, and why this psychological phenomenon undermines any or all conservation efforts. The term shifting baseline syndrome was first coined by marine biologist doctor Daniel Pauly in 1995. It is the gradual shifting of the accepted norm when it comes to the condition of natural places. We notice the changes occurring in our lifetim

The concept of this Gross National Happiness is measurement of collective happiness of a nation. It is based on a holistic and sustainable approach towards creating a harmonious balance between material well-being and the spiritual, emotional and cultural needs of society in total. The four essential pillars of Gross National Happiness are Sustainable and Equitable Socio Economic Development, Good Governance, Environmental Conservation and Preservation and Promotion of Cultu

Artwork By Studio Kaäla The Indian judiciary is replete with examples of politician lawyers becoming constitutional court judges as well as of Supreme Court and high court judges in the evenings of their lives deciding to jump onto electoral battle tracks. We have often heard discussions about the constant need for a ‘cooling-off’ period before the High Court and Supreme Court enter the political arena, but haven’t seen any changes from the First Judges Case to the Third Judg