Murali's Writeups...

1. Can Foreign Offices be more transparent when they address the problems of their local population groups? 1. Recently, the British Appellate Courts had reversed the finding of the Magistrate Courts order refusing the Extradition of Louis Assange to the United States for facing a Criminal Trial for Espionage and violation of the Official Secrets Act. Edward Snowden, who is now somewhere in Russia must be quite happy that he does not face such prospects. I must record that even after the British Appellate Court ordered the extradition of Louis Assange to the USA, I am fairly sure that this is less likely to happen. We also read reports that one of the famous detenus in Tihar Jail had written to Boris Johnson, the British PM, asking him to impose economic and political sanctions against India. The point is, increased Globalisation had maximised opportunities for non-citizens’ interaction with Foreign Governments. Recently, we saw that 2 Canadian nationals were held in Chinese prison

1. In many ways the above order is path-breaking. If I am not mistaken, this is the first revocation of Plant Breeders Rights, that too owned by a market leader MNC in respect of a very popular potato snack. Around the world, the Pepsi Group of Companies is perceived to be a “ generation next ” Beverages/fast food company that sought to introduce the concept of wellness in their promotion of the health drinks market. The Plant Variety registration sought by one of the group companies of the Multinational PepsiCo was available in the Indian market way back in 1990. Originally, the applicant sought to obtain protection of this variety as a “ New Variety ”. Only when it is a ‘ new variety ’, would it have Monopoly Protection. Actually, during the prosecution of the application, apparently, because of their inability to establish ‘ Novelty ’, they converted the Application for Registration to Registration of “ Extant Variety ”, which would not have had monopoly rights protection. This w

  Hats Off State Bank of India! You Have Made a Difference – FIRST BATTLE WON! THE WAR IS NOT OVER!! 1)The recent decision of the Debt Recovery Tribunal handing over to the Indian Banks Consortium the sale proceeds of the shares held by Mr Vijay Mallya and the companies controlled by him, will bring about Rupees Six Thousand Five Hundred Crores to the kitty of all the lender banks. From and out of the recovery, SBI can appropriate around Rupees One Thousand Six Hundred Crores which they had earlier written off.   SBI , in the last financial year reported an annual profit of 23,000 Crores.This recovery of 1500croreswould mean an increase of 15% of the preceding Quarterly Profit. So, this recovery will add to the profit of this financial quarter in the SBI balance sheet. I am sure the banks and the Serious Frauds Office of the Union of India have identified other assets in South Africa and Europe. Mr Mallya himself would have other assets under his control in India which CBI or SFO w

1. This will be my third blog on Mr Kulbhushan Jadhav . Two years ago, within a span of seven days, I wrote two blogs on Kulbhushan Jadhav . The first was relating to the trivia that surrounded the ICJ Judgement, permanently staying the Pakistani military court’s order that sentenced Kulbhushan Jadhav to death. The other was more specifically focused on some of the evidentiary law aspects of the sordid saga of Kulbhushan Jadhav investigation by Pakistani authorities. Every blogger desires that even their old blogs should be read and reread! I am no exception; hence, I am providing you with the links to my earlier blogs ( International and Evidentiary Laws implication of ICJ Judgment of Mr Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case ) ( Some reflections on the International Court of Justice Judgment on Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case ).  2. An executive summary of ICJ judgement in Kulbhushan Jadhav ’s case . a. Mr Harish Salve, the superstar international lawyer, made many Indian lawyers proud. He char

  PATENT WAVIER FOR COVID-19 RELATED INVENTIONS-- MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING?? Mrs Indira Gandhi’s Famous Speech at WHO 1. As of today, i.e., 8 rd June 2021 there have been 3.76 million confirmed COVID-19 deaths, Undocumented deaths would easily be double the number. Since COVID-19 leads to permanent damage to the lungs and overall immunity, at least another 20 million human lives would have been lost before the end of this year. The scale of death is as immense as in the World Wars. So, rightly there have been demands that given the magnitude of the global pandemic, COVID-19 related inventions should be outside the ambit of patenting. Mrs Indira Gandhi, once declared before WHO that those inventions that save millions of human lives should not be driven for profits and that they must be available to all people around the world at no cost, if not, at an affordable cost. Now it is left to her BJP successor Prime Minister Mr Modi to amplify Mrs Gandhi’s earlier demand, this time at a ne