[Intern]

Section 95 of the Indian Penal Code talks about this. Slight harm is the one, as it mentions in the definition, that is so slight that no person of ordinary sense and temper would complain of such harm. For example, if a person plays light music with low volume at a party and it is a one-time thing. He doesn’t always disturb his neighbours with such activities and the time is well before the restricted time. Now, if a person living next to this person’s neighbour complains against him, and if they find that no one except the complainant has any problem with the music, this act would be considered as “slight harm”. One can also conclude that the person having a complaint had bad relations with this person and only wanted to get back at him in some way or the other. We come to this conclusion because, no one else has any problem with the music, the volume is low and the timing seems appropriate.
This would surely not be considered as an offence. If it was, every person who has some sort of dislike for the other would have filed a complaint against him/ her for trivial issues. This would constitute a wrong and the courts would eventually become overburdened. A harm is a “slight harm” if it is established that the complainant has trouble for reasons a normal person would not have. It depends on the circumstances and the past actions of both the parties. The court will have to determine this first before coming to a decision regarding the same.
It does not merely depend on the physical injuries caused. As depicted in the example above, it may also be mental injury. This could include factors like disturbance or causing irritation. In many parts of the IPC, the word ‘harm’ is used. Depending on the context in which it is used, its meaning would vary. It means injury to a person’s body, mind, reputation or property. The Court would make the final decision as to the severity of the harm.

[Intern]

Acceptance must be ABSOLUTE as per the Indian Contract Act, 1872.
It means that the acceptance should be without any condition. Acceptance with a condition does not count to mere acceptance but is termed as a counteroffer or a counter-proposal.
If the offeree has signed acceptance with a condition, then in such a case the contract is not enforceable till the proposer accepts the variance. This is an example of a counter-proposal but is not considered as acceptance.
Absoluteness also means that the offer must be communicated without any variation, so then acceptance made is considered absolute. If an offer has not been communicated, then in such case the acceptance can be revoked and the acceptance is not absolute.
Acceptance must also be done without any duress or any kind of undue influence. In such cases, the contracts are voidable, if the acceptance is done while being kept under some kind of duress or influence. And the acceptance can also be not considered as absolute acceptance.
If acceptance is given with false conditions then the contract is not enforceable and since the acceptance was given under false conditions, the acceptance cannot be considered absolute and the acceptance is revoked.
In conclusion, acceptance can be considered as absolute when acceptance has been given without any variance, the conditions have been communicated between the parties, the acceptance has been given without any party being kept under duress or any undue influence, and also when the acceptance is given without any party being under pretenses.

[Intern]

To convert a proposal into a promise, the acceptance must be absolute which means it must be without any ambiguity so that the second party can understand it easily.

Absolute acceptance represents the unconditional expression of the will of a person to conclude a contract on the terms offered by the other party. The acceptance must be absolute and without any room for doubt. If an acceptance contains additional terms, it becomes a conditional acceptance, as the person to whom the offer is made tells the offeror that he/she is willing to agree to the offer provided if some changes are made in its terms and conditions or some event. It becomes a counter offer as the offeree is offering to make changes in the contract.

[Intern]

Acceptance of a particular offer requires obedience of the words written or implied. An agreement involves acceptance in two ways – Conditional or Absolute. Either the terms are echoed or some twists are tied with them.
Section 7 of the Indian Contract Act 1872, states that Acceptance by the promisor must be absolute and unqualified which means that clarity and unambiguity is a must in order to accept terms stated by the party in an absolute contract.
If the words used in the offer accepted are beyond simplicity, it may lead to contingency which eliminates the firm identity of the offer. If the offer is accepted in relatively same way or words by the promisor, it makes the contract absolute. For instance if X offers to sell his car for 1 lakh rupees, then the acceptance is absolute when Y accepts to buy that car for 1 lakh rupees leaving no hidden clues or confusion.
The word absolute means something which is definite and outright. Anything which is absolute means a path with no bypasses or diversions. Stating it in contractual terms, every contract has terms to agree upon contributing to its immortality. When a contractual relationship is established it is important that the terms are a one way street i.e not attached with certain conditions. The conditions attached to the primarily formulated terms make it a counter offer. As such any offer made must have terms with no conditions attached to it.
Every contract commences with the introduction of an offer by a party. Acceptance of the terms of offer relies on the other party offered with a proposal. The other party can exercise its own discretion in order to accept the proposal only when he/she is satisfied with the terms offered. In case any variations are attached with the particular offer, the party has the choice either to stick with the current offer along with the conditions or reject the whole offer.
Absoluteness of the contract strengthens the very objective of signing a contract. It ensures rigidity of the terms and values agreed leaving no ambiguity and confusions in the minds of the parties. Also it enables parties to have their interests alive even after the contract is concluded.

[Intern]

The new Consumer Protection Act 2019 has enhanced the pecuniary limits of consumer fora which is provided as under:
Section 34: District Commission’s pecuniary jurisdiction increased from 20 lacs to Rupees 1 crore

Section 47: State commission’s pecuniary jurisdiction increased from Rupees 1 crore to Rupees 10 crores

Section 58: Earlier, the National Commission dealt with cases where value of goods or services paid as consideration exceeded 1 crore. Under the new Act, the limit has been increased to beyond 10 crores.

Section 107 of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 which repeals the old act saves anything done or any action taken under the old act to the extent it is not inconsistent with the new act. Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 is also relevant in this regard. It provides governing principles which are to apply in case of repeal of any enactment unless there is a different intention. Clause (c) of the section provides that the repeal shall not affect any right, privilege or obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under any repealed statute. Section 6(e) provides that any investigation or proceeding or remedy in respect of such right, liability or punishment etc. shall be done, instituted or enforced as if the repealing act has not been passed. Hence, it is clear that the legislature intended for the consumer protection legislation to be prospective and not retrospective.

[Intern]

Q.) Whether the proposed constituency of the council, its diversity, and possible lack of representation of the transgender community, becomes a travesty to the assurance of justice?

There has been the accrual of many provisions and policy making powers to the National Council. To say the least therefore, there is eminent probability that the decisions taken thus by the council would directly affect the outcomes of initiatives and methods reflecting on the Transgender Community. To understand the same, a perusal of Section 17 of the Act, showcases that the council acts to advise the Central Government on policies, programmes, legislations and projects. It also monitors and evaluates the impact of these policies and programmes which serve the purpose of promoting equality of transgender persons. The Council is also the grievance redressal forum. However, Section 16 only outlays 5 representatives from the transgender community from the regions of North, South East, West and North East Region on a rotation basis between all the states. This clearly highlights the lack of representation to the community sought to be helped through this legislation and that the assurance of being heard (fairly) and for positive actions to be taken for them to be hampered. In proposal a larger number of individuals from the Transgender community would greatly improve the ability of the problems to be addressed, on a more practical basis backed by first hand experiences and also to balance the constitution of the council, with an overwhelmingly large number of members present who are representatives of just the government.

[Intern]

Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 deals with the power of a civil court to grant interim measures. Similarly, Section 17 of the Act deals with the power of an arbitral tribunal to order interim measures. These interim measures are:
a) Appointment of a guardian for a minor or a person of unsound mind for the purpose of arbitral proceedings
b) Obtain custody, preservation and sale of any goods which are the subject matter of an arbitration agreement
c) Securing the amount in dispute in the arbitration
d) Obtaining interim injunction
e) Appointment of a receiver
f) To detain, preserve and inspect any property or thing which is the subject matter of an arbitration agreement
g) Such other interim measure of protection as may appear to be just and convenient

The difference between the two sections is that in Section 9, an application for interim measures can be filed at three stages i.e.,
1. Before arbitral proceedings.
2. During arbitral proceedings.
3. At any time after the making of the arbitral award but before it is enforced.
But under Section 17, an application for interim measures may be filed only during the arbitral proceedings.
It is to be noted that once the arbitral tribunal has been constituted, no application for interim measure under Section 9 is entertainable by the court unless the court finds that circumstances exist which may not render the remedy provided under Section 17 efficacious.
Also, in case the court passes an order for interim measure of protection before commencement of arbitration, the arbitral proceedings shall be commenced within a period of 90 days from the date of such order.

[Intern]

Section 2(k) and Section 2(z) of The Code On Wages 2019 defines employee and worker respectively.
Section 2(k): The employee definition includes all employees engaged on wages to do skilled, semi-skilled, unskilled operational or manual work including managers, supervisors and administrative staff except an apprentice engaged under the Apprentices Act 1961 and members of the Armed forces of the Union.

Section 2 (z): The definition of worker includes any person employed in any industry to do any manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational,clerical or supervisory work for hire or reward.
It includes working journalist and sales promotion employees but does not include a person:
a) who is subject to Air Force Act or the Army Act or the Navy Act
b) Employed in the police force or as an officer or other employee of a prison
c) employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity
d) employed in a supervisory capacity drawing wage of exceeding rupees 15000 per month or a sum notified by the Central Government
e) who is apprentice engaged under the apprentices act 1961

The difference between an employee and worker is that the term ’employee’ is inclusive of all employees including managers, supervisors and administrative staff whereas the definition of ‘worker’ does not include administrative and managerial staff.

[Intern]

Section 55A of the Criminal Procedure Code discusses in detail about the conditions and custody of the accused.
There are various crimes that can be committed when the accused is in custody such as – violence, murder, rape, culpable homicide, abetment to suicide, etc. Section 304 of Indian Penal Code, [Here after referred as IPC] states the punishments wherefore a police officer can be charged and punished for custodial death. Except for murder, he is liable for ‘culpable homicide not amounting to murder’ under this. Custodial death is defined as the death of a person due to any form of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by the police officers, whether it occurs during investigation, interrogation or otherwise.
There is a Commission named the Law Enforcement and Conduct Commission which has been empowered with the task of investigating about the death of accused in the custody of the police officer. They have been appointed for the task of reducing the numbers of crimes committed by police officers in India. The number of merely custodial deaths is about five persons dying daily in 2019-2020. This rate is huge and depressing especially in a democratic country like India where ‘rule of law’ is of much importance.
As to answer the question posed here, Section 304(A) of IPC provides details about ‘causing death by negligence’. It is as follows:
304A. Causing death by negligence – Whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
The police officer will be liable for punishment under section 306 of IPC for abetment of suicide if proved guilty of it. A punishment is also prescribed for voluntarily causing hurt under IPC Sec 330 and 331.
The magistrate is the one holding inquiry under section 176(1A) of CrPC. He investigates the police officer under whose custody the accused died. The death of the accused has to be conveyed/ reported and his/her body should be sent to the nearest civil surgeon for further investigation within 24 hours of death.
A sad example of this case is the Custodial death of P Jayaraj and Bennicks of Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu). In this case, the father and the son both were beaten to death by the police officers. The alleged charge was of lockdown violation which would have prescribed the punishment of imprisonment of maximum three months; if they were found guilty.
This case is a horrible reminder of custodial deaths. Police officers ought to remember their limits and that the accused are also humans. They are entitled to all the basic human and fundamental rights even when in custody. Also, the families of the victims need to get good compensation for their irrecoverable loss because compensations in these cases are hilarious.
There is a web-series named “Illegal” which is generating awareness about custodial deaths and tortures. It is a good source to know about the real happenings taking place these days!

[Intern]

To answer this question two things, have to be kept in mind, i.e Moveable
Property and Actionable Claims as mentioned in the definition of Goods in section 2(7) of
The Sales of Goods Act,1930.
An “actionable claim” is not defined anywhere in this act but in The Transfer of Properties
Act, 1882, which states that it is a claim to any debt, other than a debt secured by mortgage of
immovable property or by hypothecation or pledge of movable property, or to any beneficial
interest in movable property not in the possession, either actual or constructive, of the
claimant, which the Civil Courts recognize as affording grounds for relief, whether such debt
or beneficial interest is existent, accruing, conditional, or contingent.
There can be no doubt that the purchaser would have a claim to
a conditional interest in the prize money on purchasing a lottery ticket, which is not in the purchaser’s possession. The right
would fall within the definition of an actionable claim and would therefore be excluded from
the definition of goods under the Sale of Goods Act. Thus, lottery tickets are not goods.
The same was held by The Supreme Court in the judgment Sunrise Associates v.
Government of NCT of Delhi, 2006.

[Author]

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