LEX INSIGHT

  DEDICATION This article is respectfully dedicated to the Litigation Governance Team . As the Course Director of the Litigation Governance Course 2026 , held in collaboration with the Project Complete Lawyer Foundation and the Legal Aid Centre of NUALS , Kochi I offer these reflections to our participants. May this serve as a bridge between the tradition of the Bar and the innovations of the future. To the students and faculty: may your journey from the classroom to the courtroom be one of purposive growth, professional dignity, and enduring excellence. Our law firm recently welcomed several interns and a fresh graduate recently enrolled, Mr. Sanketh Sajan. Interacting with them is always an experience—it feels as though I have time-traveled across more than three decades. While trying to walk in Sanketh’s shoes, I realized that the world has changed irreversibly. It has been a massive journey: from the Brother typewriter to the electronic version; from massive desktop screens t...

The legal landscape for apartment ownership in Kerala is undergoing a significant transformation as the High Court of Kerala intensifies its oversight of the implementation of the Kerala Apartment Ownership Act (KAOA), 1983, in conjunction with the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA), 2016. Recent judicial directions have set the stage for a more transparent and accountable real estate sector in the state. Judicial Oversight and the Call for Accountability In a pivotal order dated February 4, 2026, a Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M., directed the Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA) to file a formal affidavit. This affidavit must detail the concrete steps taken by the authority to implement the government’s mandates regarding the Kerala Apartment Ownership Act, 1983. The court's demand for a "formal affidavit" within a fortnight underscores its commitment to ensuring that administ...

  Saturday, January 17, 2026. Saturday mornings usually have a distinct rhythm for a lawyer. If the court diary doesn't demand my presence, the family assumes a certain pace will follow. But as I was getting ready this past Saturday, my wife noticed I wasn't in my usual "court mode." "No court today?" she asked, pausing her own routine. "No," I said, adjusting my collar. "I’m heading to the Government Law College, Ernakulam." She looked puzzled. "What for?" "I have a session there," I replied, perhaps with a hint of self-importance. Her response was immediate and cut right through my professional vanity: "Why do you want to trouble those poor students on their weekend?" I froze. Just moments before, I had been buoyed by a wave of noble enthusiasm. In my head, I wasn't just "going to a session." I was heading to the 'Navigating the High Court of Kerala' program, organized by the PCL Found...

  The apartment ownership law of Kerala is now about 42 years old, yet it has hardly done wonders for home buyers in the State. It is a matter of record that, with the solitary exception of 'Gold Tower, Vazhakkala', scarcely any condominium has been effectively submitted to the provisions of this law. Born with a disability, the Act has been ailing ever since its birth. Despite serious attempts to kill it, the law has survived all such threats. Now, the Government has been forced to declare that this law cannot be prematurely killed. Here, we discuss the recent Government Order which declares that the Kerala Apartment Ownership Act, 1983 is not only alive but mandatory and liable to be enforced. The "Forced" Disability and the Missing Teeth The disability was not in the Act’s "genes"—it was not an inherent flaw in the concept of apartment ownership itself—but was rather forced upon it by its legal draftsmen. The Legislature, seemingly without necessary deli...