Debate on rape and consent...

Hello Juris Students

I do not know how many of you have found time to go through the debate/discussions that were going on on the blog "Law and Other Things". The relevant link is on the right hand side of this blog, under the links column.

Having recently posted a comment on the issue, I thought it better to invite comments on my comment : ).

Alternatively, you may read my comment at http://sunanda.bharti.googlepages.com/rapeandconsent

It would be wonderful to share thoughts on this...

Happy reading!

Romanticizing the workshop

The Upendra Baxi workshop has been far above my expectations…the simplicity of that apparently eccentric academician is striking. For two days I sat there, mute and mesmerized, completely beguiled by his impeccable charms, charisma and ofcourse the inimitable style. I should stop here, lest I be branded as a sycophant! : )

Insofar as the content is concerned, ofcourse, I did not understand all of it. It is sometimes difficult to get his drift; to board his train of thought.

I am here documenting some of the points that my mind cataloged (all of which I enumerate may not be his thoughts as such…many indeed are the ones he just recounted; but nonetheless I heard them at the workshop), and those which do not cease to amuse me every now and then. : )

1) How to make jurisprudence interesting? Well, raise questions; let the spirit of renaissance not die. Reinforce the fact that while it might be prudent to rely on the intellectual wealth of the preceding generations, the capacity to think was definitely not exhausted by them! How simple and yet so difficult to achieve!

2) Take examples from daily life…without the fear of being charged for ‘vulgarizing high traditional knowledge’. The example of the movie Shahenshah wherein the protagonist epitomized the Austinian concept of power and authority and enacted the directive principles of state policy by the night was hilarious and yet so apt. : )

3) Speaking of humor, the capacity to laugh and make light of the situation is a must. It invigorates the audience…a skill perfectly displayed by the maestro.

4) Habit, Custom, Tradition, Rule and Practice are all different concepts and can/should not be used interchangeably. Words should not be taken lightly as they are powerful. They create an impact.

5) The entire world comprises of two types of people…those who are book worms and the rest who are ordinary worms! : ). It is up to us which category we choose to be in.

6) Why should we study human law and not divine law? Because renaissance saw it is a sign of progress to study human will than the divine commandment; after all it was supposed to regulate human behavior.

7) There are five types of judges…and this was brilliant…1) Activists, 2) Restraint prone, 3) Moody and temperamental, 4) Dullards and 5) lazy bones! The last ones just hijack someone else’s efforts by writing ‘I agree' at the end of someone else's opinion!

8) Jurisprudence is just a method of reading law. On ‘reading’, he had so many pearls to share…

· It is a misconception that writing should precede reading. How can one possibly read an unwritten constitution?!

· Reading is a political activity…it is impossible to be completely neutral while reading. So, nothing like objective reading exists. Your own ideas, beliefs and internal convictions would make you read even what is not written.

· Reading like a man is different from reading like a woman! Oh yes, I love this one! A woman would inevitably be more sensitive and emotional towards things…especially women related aspects. So true…often I quote in my lectures on feminist jurisprudence that while a man might read section 376 of the IPC as just another crime against the human body, only a woman would understand and perhaps live through the ordeal that it explains. All, I believe, stems from the fact that a woman experience is essentially different from that of a man…and infact sometimes, there is no parallel male experience available to enable them understand the whole issue. Hence their understandings remain incomplete mostly, for no fault of theirs! Okay…so I am digressing here a bit! :)

· Reading is either Complacency or Resistance…so says one of my many scribblings...no clue what this means…I forgot!

· Birth of a reader entails the death of the author…fantastic, I must say! Sovereignty of interpretation is the denial of the authority of the author…whatever might have been the intention of the author in writing a piece, the reader has a right to interpret and read it in his/her own way…attribute his/her own connotations to it. Yes, indeed! By way of example, he gave the instance where the Supreme Court judges interpret a point of law by attributing everything to the ‘intention of the founding fathers of the Constitution!’

· Limits of my language are the limits of my words…again, so true! Some time ago I read a quote in the Readers’ Digest which said something to the effect that one cannot write what one cannot imagine…it’s the same difficulty I guess.

· Reading involves dissection, demolition, reassembling and redoing…I forget what exactly it was that he said…

· Word is the world…someone help me on this. There was more to this...the capacity of human mind to forget is remarkable isn’t it!

9) An activist would consider speaking for others morally wrong, so he/she speaks with others…another option is to speak after (in regard to) others when it becomes impossible to speak with others…say when one is protesting for animal rights…cool distinction I must say!

10)Why the Constitution is called the ‘constitution’ and not anything else? Any novel thoughts on this one? ; )

11) Some people say that ‘we the people of India’ constitute the sovereign…but how can the quintessential common man…illiterate, impoverished…with no roof over his head, no bread to eat, minimal shred of clothing over his body, and not even the prospect of a decent burial be a part of the sovereign? Well said…Laxman’s common man just lost another case! : )

12) Then somewhere he mentioned something…bits and pieces of a story which included the following quote “I am a regular bullshitter myself, but I do not mind an expert doing it for me occasionally!” Sorry, I do not remember the context…loved the saying though ; )

13) When someone felt offended at one of his remarks, he quipped that if he ever intends to insult, there would not be any ambiguity to it!!

14) Upenisms…his experiments with language…one of the best ones stated that Constitution is of three types…C1, C2 and C3. C1 comprises the pure form…the words on paper; C2, the interpretation given by the State and citizens wherein the politicians act out of self interest and the citizens out of ‘enlightened’ self interest!; C3 is that ideal form that does not exist but influences C1. Original! Nothing more to say…

15) Perhaps the most disturbing of all for me was his idea of demolishing the manner of teaching through schools of law…as it promotes parochial thinking, stifles creativity. Now, when I see it…it appears to be so true. Why schools…why not topic wise…or say scholar wise…to keep things less rigid/more fluid. As he said, in some context which I again forget…we should change…by teaching the same things, we systematically foster and prescribe ignorance and then make rhetoric about lack of intellectual progress (or gripe about stagnation, if I may take the liberty to modify: ))

I am sure there were more …and it is the capacity of my mind that has failed me…would definitely add as I remember.

Meanwhile enjoy these!!

: )

We exist on the Internet now!

Hello all

There is some good news! The official website of Law Centre-I is finally ready, up-and-functioning!.
You may spread the news that we EXIST! : ))

The link is http://law.du.ac.in/

Do go through it once. Comments and suggestions are invited.

Check this out!

Cardiff Law Schools website has been uploaded. It has something about the Training Programme, in case you are interested : )

Click the following link: http://www.law.cardiff.ac.uk/news/news_display.php?id=387

When I die...

Sifting though your student days class notes can be fun sometimes.
See what I bumped into...
These were my sentiments then about Juris.
And as luck would have it, I teach it now...and enjoy it too!


When I die, bury me deep,

Five feet down fast asleep…

Place Dias in my right hand,

Tell the juris teacher, nothing I understand…

Lay my Salmond at my head,

He is ‘liable’ that I am dead…

I’ll make sure I meet Paton in that sleep,

He is the one who made me weep…

Ah yes…tell the teacher I've gone to rest,

And won't be back for that test

For I am using that 33% at my best…

My friends I advise not to flush,

They may fail now and avoid the Feb rush…

In the end I give no discourse

Someone tell them to scrap the course…

: )

Composed by Sunanda Bharti ages ago as a
student of LL.B, Campus Law Centre
(edited a bit for this post)

The Mindset and the Digital Electricity Meter.

Bloggers Note: Vivek Sethi, a final year student of Law has written the following piece. Comments are invited...

The privatization of distribution of electricity in Delhi has not always considered as a boon for the city. The part privatization has always seen with absolute cynicism, and alleged to be detrimental to interests of the consumers. The fact, that the power theft has reduced substantially and the supply system slowly and gradually steadied, has seldom found any appreciation among large segments of the society.

Well that is altogether a different story. I just have to tell you an interesting story about a significant and often neglected aspect: the phobias that surround digital revolution. Most of the NDPL and BSES consumers I have met nurse this phobia that the digital meter installed at their premises is unscrupulous. They hysterically believe that these meters work even when there is no electricity supply. Some sarcastically suggest that if Narayan Karthikeyan could drive his F-1 machine as fast as these meters’ he shall break all previous records of Michael Schumacher.

The said phobia is in turn the result of the strong canards that are omnipresent. I had heard them quite often like any other citizen of Delhi. The increasing consumer complaints at the various consumer courts and media coverage render enough circumstantial evidence to strengthen them further.

On a fine afternoon of 24 September 2006, our panic-stricken neighbor bumped inside our house. On enquiring, he told that a new digital meter has replaced the old meter at their residence. We also learnt from his expressions that like any good neighbor he was most concerned about the misfortunes in his neighborhood. He shamelessly expressed his resentment, as he hinted that only he would necessarily face a hiked bill and not us, his neighbors.

Much to the delight of our neighbors, on 26 September 2006 our old meter paved way for its new digital avatar. So far so good, but the same apprehension started to sink in my heart, to my utter surprise, I myself started worrying about our electricity bill.

I started keeping a strong vigil over the meters readings. Most astonishingly, I started to eliminate any wastage of electricity. Initially I faced some resistance from my family members; they started making perpetual fun of me. Like the famous dialogue of the film ‘Sholay’, my family invented a dialogue, “save electricity or Johnny aa jaayega”. However, they too, inadvertently started saving electricity.

The digital meter revolutionized the pattern of our electricity consumption. The entire family readily became pure conservationist. Our efforts realized the most unexpected returns. I never bothered to ask our neighbors but at the end of the billing cycle, the NDPL sent us a comparatively lighter bill. Thanks, to the meter and the rumors that motivated us to monitor and save, as much as possible, the prestigious electricity units.

Although, I now strongly feel that I should ask my neighbors about their electricity bill. So that in any case, if they still are in darkness, they shall realize that those rumors have no substance but our efforts can bear great results for the whole country. Needless to say, “thou shall love neighbors.”