The Telegraph reports that the Chief Justice of India,S.H. Kapadia has plans of setting up of a State-wise, Special Bench in subordinate courts which will deal with problems faced by the Bench and the Bar. He said, “We will appoint an amicus curiae to assist us. The High Courts will be asked to list the problems they are facing and these will be forwarded to the States for action”. A Constitution Bench will be set up to dispose important cases involving Interpretation of the Statute pending before the Supreme Court. This action has been initiated due to excessive backlog in courts across the country.

The Indian Express has reported that 20 law students from the Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) will be working at the office of the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court and help classify cases to deal with the backlog in the court. This is part of their Clinical Papers course and they belong to the ninth-semester i.e. the final year of their law. The entire batch will get a chance alternatively for a month to work at the CJ’s office.

The Times of India has reported that Additional Solicitor General, Amarjit Singh Chandhiok has backed a private firm, CIMMCO Birla to land a contract seeking to participate in a tender floated by the Ministry of Railways. Now the firm is pressing the railways to consider its case for a lucrative contract, saying the ministry is legally bound to consider it, as a serving ASG has opined so. Earlier the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction had declared the firm to be a sick unit.

The Hindustan Times has reported that Senior Counsel, Fali Nariman regretted winning the Judges Appointments case in the Supreme Court in 1993, which gave the control of appointment of Judges to a panel of five senior most Judges in the country. In his autobiography, ‘Before Memory Fades’, he doubts the wisdom and competence of the collegium, responsible for the appointment and promotion of Judges. He has devoted a chapter to the Supreme Court Advocates on Record vs. Union of India case, where the court reversed its earlier decision of 1981, which had allowed for Government dominance in the appointment of Judges. Nariman has previously criticised the collegium for not promoting Chief Justice A.P. Shah to the Supreme Court and also campaigned against Chief Justice P.D. Dinakaran’s promotion.

The Times of India has reported that the Mangalore Air India air-crash victims have hired three American law firms namely, Masry & Vititoe; Girardi & Keese and Engstrom, Lipscomb & Lack to represent their case before the insurance companies. These firms have further appointed M .Dhruva & Partners along with George Hatcher, the President of Air Crash Consultants to assist them in processing of their claims for damage.