Author: Ranjeev C Dubey

Persecuting victims: Justice for the emotionally overblown

By Ranjeev C DubeyCriminal Law
Long before Tarun Tejpal’s legendary libido unfairly dented her credibility; Tehelka’s Shoma Chaudhury devastatingly demolished CBI’s case against Arushi Talwar’s parents back in June 2013. Avirook Sen’s recent book on the subject expands substantially on her critique without necessarily unearthing a great deal of new data. What neither Chaudhury nor…

Law And Living-in

By Ranjeev C DubeyFamily Law
Here’s a confusing contradiction for the connoisseur: Indian courts are very slow to decide anything at all, but they are exceedingly quick to evolve laws to respond to ever-changing social mores. The battle over the rights of homosexuals may not be the best example of this, but in most departments…

Reimagining India’s Legal System

By Ranjeev C DubeyCriminal Law
There comes a time in everyone’s life when they must stop to radically rethink their priorities. For nations, we call them inflection points, sometimes cultural transformations. For mature managers, we call them midlife crises! In every case, it’s about testing basic ideological assumptions about what we believe we want, or…

What really hurts about Vyapam

By Ranjeev C DubeyCriminal Law
It is that those uncovering such scams cannot actually be protected, notwithstanding the Whistleblower Protection Act Notwithstanding the flak directed at the Madhya Pradesh home minister, Babulal Gaur, for commenting that he could not secure the safety of Vyapam witnesses any more than Indira Gandhi could be protected, the fact…

Striking Disservice

By Ranjeev C DubeyLegal Profession
For 5000 years, we have believed that the individual is defined, not by his rights, but by his duties. How this has transformed into an environment of rights and entitlements is quite the untold story. On most days of the week, the Supreme Court of India undoubtedly does very brave…

Freedom To Offend

By Ranjeev C DubeyConstitutional Law
Getting rid of 66A doesn’t allow citizens to assume that we’ve lost our criminal laws on defamation or obscenity. This free speech one is unlikely to go much further. The valedictory flag marches around the Supreme Court’s striking down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act greatly exaggerates the immediate…

India’s Silenced Daughters

By Ranjeev C DubeyConstitutional Law
We may not have noticed but India seems to be having a Charlie Hebdo moment. Given the rioting in Rajpath in December 2012 following the horrific Nirbhaya Rape case, the Government has moved to pre-empt public outrage over Leslee Udwin’s documentary “India’s Daughter” by banning it. I dislike bans, be…

AAP And The Endless Land Acquisition Lament

By Ranjeev C DubeyLitigation
Delhi isn’t overrun by poverty stricken subsistence farmers. It is overrun by ex-farmers, their lands long gone, who want better jobs and better opportunity. They would vote for those who look like they mean to deliver on their developmental promises. It seems India will not cease washing its land acquisition…

Home Truths About Home Comings

By Ranjeev C DubeyConstitutional Law
For ten vociferous years, strident Hindutva activists complained bitterly that their brothers were converting to other religions, mainly Christianity. Six states tried to stem this purported tide by legislating against religious conversion. With the change of political dispensation in Delhi last summer, those who complained about conversions commenced conniving with…