IndianKanoon.org – Another tool for citizen empowerment
I was introduced to “IndianKanoon” a few days ago by Sushant.
In his email Sushant wrote: “I am a PhD student in University of Michigan and I (have) started a search engine for Indian law called Indian Kanoon last year.”
That did not sound very exciting – until I remembered that there was a High Court ruling that I had been desperately trying to get a copy of.
I decided to try IndianKanoon out. I was not disappointed.
Sushant has done a great job here. The site is a huge help to find relevant court rulings on a number of different subjects. It is clutter free and remarkable user-friendly. The search engine worked very well the few times I tried it.
I would encourage readers to use it to look up on court judgements on matters that interest them. And just in case you were wondering – It is free!
More on Sushant and the genesis of this idea in the press release.
P.S. This is the ruling I was looking for.
Somewhat related posts:
“Jaago Re!†and ADR – Two Excellent Initiatives
Two great ideas…but do they work?
ADR’s latest initiative: MyNeta.info
*** UPDATE ***
I am traveling until the 20th of June with very limited internet access. There will be some delay before I am able to respond to (and moderate) comments.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
***
Pl. note that if you do not enter your email address while leaving a comment, it is very likely to get stuck in the moderation/spam queue.
To avoid this, pl. enter a valid email address OR use this email address instead: satyacomment AT gmail.com
Email addresses are not published on the site.
Very interesting. Thank you. Do you know of any website to search for constitutional articles and amendments?
@ Satyabhashnam: Not sure if this still works..but worth a try:
http://viveks.info/search-engine-for-constituent-assembly-debates-in-india
Very creative. By all means, i’m going to have it in my favorites, got quite a bit of cases to follow up 🙂
Hi Shantanu, First I want to thanks you, for starting this kind of blog from where we can meet our people & make network of people who have same thoughts. Yes opening a site on indian Laws are very good, In india People says keep your self away from Doctors & Lawyers. Because they are professionals thives. I am not pointing to all but some of them. In india the big problem is awareness in people & if some people knows about they dont want to contribute. So starting this kind of sites will help people, but we need to start advertise this site. People should know that this site can help them to solve their prolem.
@ Nanda: Good luck!
***
@ Dhiren: You are right…we need to make more people aware of this…I am toying with the idea of a section on this blog called “citizen’s tools” or a similar name which will have links to sites such as these.
What do others think about the idea?
it is very good and helpful to advocates
hi shantanu
would like to congratulate you o this. i was wondering if the case laws available on indiankanoon are admissible in courts. please let me know.
cheers
Dipayan: Congratulations should really go to Sushant who dreamt up the concept and created the site..
Not sure if the case laws are asmissible in courts or not.
Perhaps one of our readers with some knowledge of law can throw some light on this?
Thank you very much for publishing the case laws. As a practicing lawyer I find it very useful.
Indiankanoon is simply unparalleled. I’ve used SCC Online Casefinder and Manupatra, and I was amazed when I discovered that this free website often works better than these paid services that literally cost a ton. It simply cracks the backbone of these paid services!
With a wide breadth of case-law and an amazing search engine, it’s simply superb. IK saves so much of my time.
Just hope it remains free (my only nagging fear is that a service that good cannot remain free for long).
Thanks for your appreciation Atul! Just wanted to reiterate my promise that the document access and search functionality (including any future improvements) would always be unconditionally free on Indian Kanoon.
Hey Sushant. Thanks a megaton for the website. Now, I wonder how you are managing it all. Is there any way I could contribute to the effort, in my limited ways, as a practicing lawyer?
I have purchased a small house building site 208 sq.yd on 20-12-1984 in Hayathnagar and it was registered by the Sub-Registrar(East) Hyderabad on the very same day. The Registered Sale Deed at S.No.7, clearly states that it was not a Govt. assigned land meant for SC and ST communities as per Act No.9 of 1977. However, the land was taken over by the Govt. in the year 2008 stating that it was Govt. assigned land. As Sub-Registrar being a Govt. Officer has registered it, my contention is that the Govt. should own the responsibility and compensate me as per the current market price or restore the land to me. The Govt. wanted to construct flats there under Rajiv Swagruha Corpn Ltd but the cash strapped Corpn scrapped its plans and the area is lying vacant.
WILL YOU PLEASE FORTIFY MY CASE WITH A SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT IN THE LIGHT OF THE POSITION EXPLAINED ABOVE. THE HIGH COURT OF A.P. HAS GIVEN A STATUS QUO BUT THE GOVT. COUNSEL FIRMLY STATED IN THE COUNTER THAT IT WAS GOVT. ASSIGNED LAND AND THE HON. JUDGE WAS INCLINED TO ACCEPT THE VIEW PUT FORTH BY THE GOVT. THE CASE IS COMING UP IN HIGH COURT FOR FINAL HEARING ON 14-6-11. PLEASE HELP ME TO QUOTE SOME APEX COURT RULING TO WIN THE CASE.
REPLY / REJOINDER SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER TO THE COUNTER FILED BY THE GOVT. COUNSEL
1. The Counter did not touch upon even on a single fact highlighted
by the Petitioner. It has tried to subvert the judicial system by
distracting and diverting the attention from the truth.
As these facts can’t be countered, it has resorted to “beating around the bush†without commenting on the core issues.
2. The Counter has not refuted / contradicted / denied the facts mentioned by me from which it is not difficult to conclude that there exists no “rebuttal†against the facts mentioned by me.
(i) The truth of the matter is that in the instant case, the Central Govt. Counsel has verified all the records in Revenue Deptt. as well as in Sub-Registrarar’s Office and then only given Clearance Certificate to a BSNL Officer. Further, the Central Govt. Counsel in his Certificate has clearly mentioned that the plot has a valid and clear marketable title
(ii) Based on the clearance given, he was granted HBA in
two installments
(iii) The house was mortgaged to the ‘President of India’
(iv) He is paying House Tax since 2002-03 without any default
(v) Besides the above, about 80 people have constructed houses in the same Survey Number—44/1
3. The Counter has maintained stoic silence like a “sphinx†on the aforesaid vital issues and chosen to avoid them for which the reasons can very easily be guessed and not difficult to conclude
4. The two writs said to have been dismissed earlier might be due to failure to produce documentary evidence in support of the case
5. Now, in the light of “New Revelations†made by me
and also the documents as material evidence presented by me, the case may kindly be re-looked afresh and justice be done to me.
a) when the site was registered on 20-12-1984, it was not Govt. assigned land according to M.R.O. in his Affidavit to the A.P.H.R.C.
b) the MRO has informed it as Govt. assigned land only on
12-8-1991 to the Sub-Registrar (East), Hyderabad.
Therefore, the contention now held that it was Govt. assigned land at the time of purchase is totally false and untrue
c) the cash strapped Rajiv Swagruha Corportion Ltd to whom the land was allotted in the year 2008 has shelved / scrapped its plans to construct flats in Survey No.44/1
d) nearly 80 people have already constructed houses in the same Survey No.44/1
e) it is very close to Ramoji Film City and the current market price is Rs.6,500/- per sq.yd
6. If the land is assigned land as reported in the Counter then the question arises as to why and how did the Sub-Registrar had undertaken its Registration?
7. If the Sub-Registrar was hand in glove or in league with the land mafia, the State Govt. has to own its responsibility and is liable to pay compensation or provide alternate land besides exemplary punishment to the Sub-Registrar.
8. The Counter itself is contradictory from the sworn affidavit submitted by the District Registrar, Hyderabad to the A.P.H.R.C. For the inconsistent stand taken in the Counter, they can certainly be tried for “Perjuryâ€.
9. There is no reason as to why an innocent Sr. Citizen like me should be victimized for buying a legal piece of land in my very own country shattering my plans to settle in Hyderabad after retirement from New Delhi.
10. When the State itself becomes a “Predatorâ€, the only course left for the common man is to knock the door of the Court, but if justice is denied here too what fate is to befall him?
S.S. Rao, M.Sc.(Ag.)
samsrirao@rediff.com
Jodimetla Village, Warangal Highway
Pin Code:500088
PARTY-IN-PERSON