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The Mandrake’s Head and the Mandate: Apartment Life Under the Shadow of the Judicial Capital

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  Apartment living was never a choice for me. I was instead pulled by the city that holds Kerala's judicial capital—a non-negotiable professional backdrop to my own domestic migration. The philosophy of migration, even within a state, held true: the pursuit of better professional ground. It began in the late nineties, manifesting as a frantic, daily commute on the Coimbatore Superfast, courtesy KSRTC, departing Kollam at 5 AM. That 'day's caller' routine gradually softened, progressing from a single lodge room to a one-bedroom apartment, then two, and culminating in our current space: a three-bedroom apartment complex.   The expansion of this new life accelerated recently: I purchased my apartment in 2021, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, while my son and daughter-in-law acquired the adjacent unit in early 2024. These purchases were driven by strong commercial considerations—easy access to highways and a major super-specialty hospital—all while being located in a quiet, su...
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A System Abused: How a 'Happy Couple' Misused the Family Court

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Many things that had faded away have been resurrected—listening to the radio, watching movies in theatre, and several others. Movies were once an addiction; 9 pm was almost always movie time, and the language or genre didn't matter. That habit has since  died down. While OTT platforms have taken over a part of it, the addiction itself largely doesn't exist anymore. Instead, writing has become an obsession, and finding topics for it has become another addiction. In the life of a lawyer, especially after many years in the profession, experiences are overwhelmingly legal. Therefore, the law naturally provides the most fertile ground for topics. Today's subject, for instance, is a little fraud that was exposed in Court 5A of the Kerala High Court. The court was hearing a set of matrimonial appeals between one Anu and one Bina. (The names of all parties involved in this case have been changed to protect their privacy.) Now, don't be surprised—they were not in a matrimonial t...
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The Heart of RERA: How the Allottee's Rights Unlock the Act

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  Author's Note: The Genesis of this Article This article stems from a recent, practical teaching challenge. While serving as a faculty member for the internship on real estate law, jointly organized by the PCL Foundation and LJRF Voice, I was tasked with making the dense RERA Act, 2016, intuitive for a new generation of law students. In preparing that material, it became clear that a traditional, sequential reading of the Act—starting with definitions and registration—was not the best approach. The 'key' to unlocking the statute, and making its complex machinery feel logical and purposeful, was to abandon that traditional start and instead begin at its very heart. This article is a refined version of that core teaching, offering what I hope is a simple and illuminating path to mastering the Act by starting with the "why": the rights and duties of the allottees. Chapter 1: From a Failed Compact to an Enforced Right In Indian epics like the Mahabharata, 'Dharma...
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