Late Shri Samareshwar Mahanty was a highly renowned and adept advocate with over five decades of legal experience in The Orissa High Court and The Supreme Court of India, practising in a wide array of subjects including Civil, Constitutional, Revenue, Administrative, Property, Contract, Commercial, Banking, and Company Laws; with Energy, Environmental and Maritime and Admiralty Laws as his cardinal areas of specific interest and practice. He was a pioneer and expert in the country on Maritime and Admiralty Law, and conducted the first Admiralty Case at The Orissa High Court and drafted the rules of the Court on Maritime Jurisdiction, before arguing on several matters relating to The Admiralty Law in The Supreme Court of India. Due to his vast experience and expertise on the subject, he was a regular speaker at various Conferences on Maritime Security and Anti-Piracy Conventions not just across various National Law Universities in India but also abroad – at the USA, England, France, Germany and Australia. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Centre for Maritime Law and conceptualising the International Maritime Arbitration Moot ─ both at National Law University, Odisha. Unfortunately, on the verge of finishing the second edition, he left for his heavenly abode in May, 2017. The task of completing the minor pending portion of the book was subsequently taken up by his son, Shri Pravahan Mohanty, with the assistance of Shri Pallab Das, Research Associate and Teaching Assistant at the Centre for Maritime Law, National Law University, Odisha.
Maritime Jurisdiction and Admiralty Law in India, second edition is a detailed and comprehensive commentary on maritime liens, maritime torts, loss of life and personal injury, collisions at sea, damages, maritime claims, charter-parties, mortgages, limitation of liability, maritime safety, anti-piracy actions, amongst others. Pursuant to the huge success of the first edition which was published in 2009 ─ it was reprinted in the years 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015 ─ the second edition intends to consolidate and put forward the latest standing of Maritime and Admiralty Laws in India and abroad. The edition also includes a new chapter on “Maritime Safety and Anti-Piracy Actions”, along with a commentary on creating a better International Maritime Security Investment Fund. The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act, 2017 which repealed the application of laws such as the Admiralty Court Act, 1861, the Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act, 1890, the Colonial Courts of Admiralty (India) Act, 1891 and the provisions of the Letters Patent, 1865, has been deliberated in detail. This refreshed and revised edition will be useful for a wide circle of readers: lawyers, judges, mercantile marine, arbitrators, students, academicians and anybody interested to learn about Maritime Jurisdiction and Admiralty Law.
