Civil law

The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 (HMGA) and the Guardians and Ward Act, 1890 (GWA) are the two acts that deal with guardianship. Both the acts define the rights, obligations, relations between adults and minors. The GWA applies to everyone regardless of caste, creed, or community and it includes the procedure on how to petition courts for the appointment of a guardian. The HMGA has an overriding effect in regard to all other laws relating to guardianship, as per Section 5 of the HMGA.

The court, on an application by a party, can appoint or declared a guardian for a ward. The purpose is to ensure the welfare of the minor and take care of the ward’s person and property, as per the Guardian and Wards Act, 1890 (GWA).

The owner or the person in custody of any paddy land or wet land in Kerala shall not have any power to convert or reclaim such lands, since the enactment of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008 (2008 Act) on 12th August 2008 and the allied rules enacted in 2008. The removal of sand from wetland is also prohibited by the 2008 Act. However, there are two exceptions to this general rule. One is that the owner of the land can seek permission to convert paddy land and construct a residence, and the other is conversion of land for public purposes.

Permanent Lok Adalat (PLA) is a judicial body consisting of one judicial officer and two technical officers. Its purpose is to consider and decide the disputes relating to public utility services such as transport, Post and telegraph, sanitation and public conveyance, conservancy, hospital, dispensary service and insurance.

No law exists in India that provides for a mechanism or procedure to appoint for a person in comatose state. However, there is a law that provides for appointment of guardian for a minor as well as the persons with disabilities like mental retardation.

A recent judgement of the High Court says in Bosco Leuis v State of Kerala, t is the prerogative of the building owner to decide whether to levy parking fee from the customers. The judgement says that if the building owner decides to levy fees it can be done after obtaining a licence from the local authority under Section 447 of the Kerala Municipality Act.

The laws in India prohibit employment of children in labour, provides for punishment for any violation but do not altogether disallow their employment. Certain forms of work done by children like running a family business or performing as a child artist, etc. are allowed under certain conditions.

A caveat can be filed in respect of an application to be made or has been made in a suit or proceeding instituted at or to be instituted by another person, in a court. The Section 148 A of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) provides for filing a caveat. The person who files the caveat is called a caveator.

If a property, unfit for being included, is wrongly included in the Data Bank constituted as per the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland, 2008 then the aggrieved person is at liberty to file an application for removal of the property from the data bank on the ground of wrong inclusion. This is what Kerala High Court of Kerala ( HC) says in RDO v Poothotta Resorts Pvt Ltd [ 2023(1) KLT 155].

Defamation is making or publishing any Imputation to harm the reputation of a person or body. It is a dishonest false statement to discredit or put disrepute on a person or body. In Indian law, defamation is both a civil wrong and a criminal offence. But this write up focuses on it as a civil wrong, even though its definition in Indian Penal Code (IPC) is given to clarify the concept behind it.

In urgent cases of imminent danger to property and consequent public nuisance, the District Magistrate (DM) or a Sub-Divisional Magistrate or any Executive Magistrate can exercise a ready procedure and issue a conditional order to remove public nuisance or such activities, under Section 133 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC).