Legal Education

  Privacy on Trial: Phone Tapping and WhatsApp Messages as Digital Evidence   Sidhant Malik Advocate 7011490440 INTRODUCTION The jurisprudence on privacy in India is a study in contradictions. The Nine-judge bench in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017) elevated privacy to the status of a fundamental right under Article 21, recognising it as the very essence of dignity and liberty. Yet, in practice, this constitutional promise is continually diluted by judicial balancing in favour of State interests. Courts have sanctioned phone tapping under the Telegraph Act, admitted WhatsApp chats and electronic records as evidence, and permitted expansive surveillance through Aadhaar and CCTV monitoring, provided it meets the tests of “legality, necessity and proportionality.” Yet, real-world controversies, from the Pegasus spyware revelations to forced disclosure of Aadhaar for basic services, underscore the fragile state of informational autonomy in Indi...

    PAWS AND LAWS: SUPREME COURT’S SUO MOTO ON STREET DOGS Sidhant Malik Advocate Supreme Court of India   INTRODUCTION On August 11, a two-judge bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan had directed that stray dogs in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) be relocated in masse to shelters on the city’s outskirts. However, Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai subsequently reassigned the matter to a three-judge bench led by Justice Vikram Nath, with Justices Sandeep Mehta and N.V. Anjaria, which on August 14 reserved its order on an interim plea seeking a stay on the earlier directive. Concerns have also emerged that stray dogs were being rounded up in various localities even before the Supreme Court’s order was uploaded. It remains unclear whether the Chief Justice’s intervention was prompted by the strong public outcry or by the very nature of the order itself. The August 11 ruling has triggered widespread outrage among animal lovers, experts ...

  │HOW MANY INMATES ARE SUFFERING? │ │BAIL GRANTED BY THE SUPREME COURT STILL NOT RELEASED FROM THE JAIL │   Sidhant Malik Advocate +91 7011490440 CASE BACKGROUND : A man, Aftab, secured bail from the Supreme Court on April 29, 2025, in a case under Section 366 IPC and Sections 3/5(i) of the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act. Thereafter, the Ghaziabad trial court issued a release order on May 27, 2025, directing his immediate release upon bond execution — yet the Jail authorities did not release him. Want to know why? A bench of Justice K V Viswanathan and Justice N Kotiswar Singh directed the state government to pay ad hoc monetary compensation of INR 5,00,000/- [Indian Rupees Five Lakhs Only] to the Accused, who was released from district jail Ghaziabad on June 24, after almost one month from the Order of his release. The bench said the officers must be sensitized about the importance of liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constit...