Even though the deadlock between the collegium and the Centre over judicial appointments seems to have been broken, the permanent Benches of the Karnataka High Court continue to suffer from an acute shortage of judges. The Bench at Kalaburagi is especially short of personnel, with only 3 judges sitting presently. Earlier this month, it was reported that the Centre had agreed to sign off on 44 appointments to various high courts. However, only 2 of these appointments are to the Karnataka High Court, a court that is functioning at less than half its capacity. With the retirement of Justice AN […]
Indian origin sikh lawyer, Palbinder Kaur Shergill has been appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in New Westminster while Nitya Iyer has been appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver. Justice Shergill replaces Madam Justice E.A. Arnold-Bailey, who retired effective May 31, 2017, and Justice Iyer replaces Mr. Justice K. Bracken (Victoria), who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective March 30, 2017, reported Department of Justice. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Justice Shergill practised as a lawyer and mediator with her law firm, Shergill & Company, Trial Lawyers. She has extensive trial and appellate experience […]
Link Legal India Law Services promotes Durgesh Singh to partnership in Delhi and P Ravi Charan as an Associate Partner in Hyderabad. A graduate of Delhi University, Durgesh joined the firm in 2015 from Dua Associates. He is part of the Projects and Infrastructure practice. He has previously also worked at the Mumbai office of Amarchand Mangaldas in the Projects team. Ravi is a 2001 graduate from Osmania University, Hyderabad. He is part of the Dispute Resolution and Real Estate team of the firm. Ravi joined the firm in 2012. Prior to joining Link Legal, Ravi has worked with Fox Mandal […]
The Central government has extended the deadline to enroll for Aadhaar for availing various benefits/ subsidies/ services, till September 30. An Office Memorandum (OM) issued by Ministry of Electronic and information Technology states, “In order to facilitate convenient and seamless delivery of services/ benefits/ subsidies covered by these notifications to the intended eligible beneficiaries and to avoid hardships to such beneficiaries, it has now been decided to extend the stipulated date in the notifications to 30th September for those beneficiaries who have not enrolled for Aadhaar.” The OM specifically clarifies that this relaxation is available only for those beneficiaries who […]
Hearing of the petitions filed by students against scrapping of revaluation policy by CBSE continued today in the Delhi High Court. Students had approached the Court after multiple discrepancies were reported in the valuation of the 12th board exam answer scripts. The Court, in the previous hearing, had asked CBSE as to why they want to do away with the revaluation policy and had observed that errors in valuation , could be damaging to the career of the students. ASG Sanjay Jain appearing for the CBSE submitted two reasons for withdrawing the revaluation policy. Firstly, no weightage is being given […]
In a gargantuan blunder, Canara Bank attached the property of a wrong person leading to a major snub by the Delhi High Court. A Bench of Acting Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anil Kumar Chawla came down upon the Bank for failing to verify title documents before attaching the property and directed the Chairman of the Bank to inquire into the matter. The directions were issued by the court in a petition filed by one VK Bhatnagar, a resident of Sainik Farm, New Delhi. Facts A branch of the Canara Bank situated at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh had extended financial facilities […]
The Uttarakhand High Court yesterday berated the state government for its failure to implement the directions of the court to provide basic facilities in schools. A Bench of Justices Rajiv Sharma and Alok Singh also directed the state government not to buy luxurious cars, furniture and air conditioners till further orders from the court. This unusually strong order was passed in a Miscellaneous Application moved by one Lalit Miglani. In 2016, the High Court had passed a detailed judgment directing the state government to provide all the schools with benches, desks, blackboards (with chalk and duster), computers, well-stocked libraries and well-equipped science […]
The Bar & Bench Causelist #441 A summary of important cases from the causelists of the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court. TABLE OF CASES Supreme Court of India Sharmishtha Chakrabortty and Anr. v. Union of India Secretary and Ors. Okafor Chukwuka Ugochukwu v. Narcotics Control Bereau Delhi High Court Kashish Mittal v. Central Board Of Secondary Education and Anr. SUMMARY OF CASES Supreme Court of India 1. Sharmishtha Chakrabortty and Anr. v. Union of India Secretary and Ors. [Item 1 in Court 4 – WP (C) No. 431/2017] Bench: DY Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul JJ. Petition challenging the […]
Responding to the counter affidavit filed by the Central government in the Aadhaar case, petitioner Kalyani Sen Menon has filed a rejoinder affidavit rebutting the Central government’s submissions regarding the reach and achievements of Aadhaar. The affidavit, which has been filed through Advocate-on-Record Vipin Nair, specifically rebuts the contention made by the Centre regarding the figures pertaining to enrolment for Aadhaar. The Centre had submitted that around 115 crore people have enrolled for Aadhaar, thereby questioning the petitioner’s locus to file the petitions as a PIL. Responding to this, the petitioner has stated, “…the Respondent has attempted to conflate the […]
Senior Advocate and Constitutional Law expert KK Venugopal writes a tribute to former Chief Justice of India Justice PN Bhagwati. On March 18, 1996 the Time magazine, London published an interview of former Chief Justice of India PN Bhagwati where he stated, “The Supreme Court (of India) today is the most powerful court in the world”. The article proceeded to state, “Nowadays, however, Indians are less likely to rely on politicians for redress of their grievances than on the Supreme Court. From garbage disposal to the removal of polluting factories from the vicinity of the Taj Mahal, hardly any matter […]
The Student Bar Association of National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bangalore has resolved to fight Karnataka’s move to introduce a 50 per cent state domicile reservation at India’s oldest national law school. The state Law Minister TB Jayachandra had tabled the ‘2017 National Law School of India University (Amendment) Bill’ on June 20. It was passed by the Legislative Assembly, but is yet to be passed by the Legislative Council. Quite unsurprisingly, the Student Bar has reacted strongly to the amendment, terming it as antithetical to the University’s cultural and regional diversity. A letter written by the Student Bar states, […]
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday lambasted the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for its blatant defiance of court orders in yet another animated hearing of the matter pertaining to sanitation and spread of vector-borne diseases in Delhi. Another ground report of ABP news was played inside the courtroom before the the Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar, as has been the norm since the past couple of hearings. Reporter Ankit Gupta of the channel had earlier been appointed as the local commissioner for the case. The report showed the grim reality which encapsulates the city. […]
The President of India has signed off on the appointment of six new additional judges to the Madras High Court. All the fresh appointees are from the Bar. Among the names is Assistant Solicitor General of India for the Madurai Bench of the High Court GR Swaminathan, along with M Dhandapani, Jagdish Chandra, Bhavani Subbarayan, Audikesavalu and Abdul Quddhose. The new appointments have taken the High Court’s working strength to 54 judges, as against a sanctioned strength of 75. We had earlier reported that the High Court would see the appointment of these six judges within a week. Read the Ministry of Law’s notification:
As reported yesterday, National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore is likely to introduce a 50 per cent state domicile reservation. The 2017 National Law School of India University (Amendment) Bill was tabled by Karnataka Law Minister TB Jayachandra yesterday. The Bill has been passed in the state legislative assembly, but is yet to receive assent in the legislative council. The Bill seeks to amend Section 4 of the NLSIU Act so as to reserve not less than fifty per cent seats for resident students of Karnataka. It is also interesting to note that the Statement of Objects provides for […]
A day after he was arrested in Coimbatore, Justice CS Karnan has been denied bail by a vacation Bench of the Supreme Court. Mathews Nedumpara appeared before a Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul today, also seeking a suspension of the sentence imposed on Karnan J. The Bench, however, was in no mood to grant any sort of relief to . . . To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year access to all archival material Access […]
The Bar & Bench Causelist #440 A summary of important cases from the causelists of the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court. TABLE OF CASES Supreme Court of India Chelsea Resorts Pvt. Ltd. Through its director v. Society For Preservation and its Environments. Delhi High Court
Three decades after its establishment in 1987, the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore is likely have 50 per cent of its seats reserved for candidates who are domiciled in Karnataka. According to Economic Times, an amendment to that effect in the NLSIU Act, 1986 was passed by the Karnataka Legislative Assembly today . . . To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year access to all archival material Access to all Bar & Bench reports Register Already a […]
Retired Calcutta High Court judge, Justice CS Karnan has been arrested today. According to ToI, he was arrested at Coimbatore and taken to Chennai. Justice Karnan had stayed for a few days at a resort in Cochin after which he had moved to Coimbatore when he was arrested today by the West Bengal police. On May 9 this . . . To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year access to all archival material Access to all Bar & Bench […]
The Central government has directed all Ministries and government departments not to ask for Aadhaar number while dealing with RTI applications. An Office Memorandum issued by the Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions states the following: “it is requested that all Ministries/Departments of Govt. of India including the subordinate offices may ensure the following while handling RTI applications viz. receiving, replying and uploading on websites etc.:-
Singh and Associates has further expanded its operations by opening a new office at Gurugram. The firm, which is headquartered at New Delhi, now has a total of 5 offices, which are spread out in various parts of the country including Mumbai and Bangalore. Commenting on the development, Founding Partner Manoj Kumar Singh said, “We are delighted to announce the opening of our new office in Gurugram. This is a very strategic location which will further aid to our constant growth. We have been growing rapidly by virtue of the immense trust we have earned from our clients all these […]
The Punjab & Haryana High Court is seized of yet another case relating to appointments to lower judiciary. The petition filed by one Gurkirat Singh Dhillon challenges the appointments to the post of Civil Judge (Junior Division)-cum-Judicial Magistrate for Punjab Civil Services (Judicial Branch) for 2013-14. The case was heard by a Bench of Justice Mahesh Grover and Shekher Dhawan, which issued notice in the matter. Advocate Animesh Sharma appeared for the petitioner.
D Odbayar, a graduate of National Law School of India University Bangalore, has been elected as the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia. The Parliament of Mongolia had appointed D. Odbayar to serve as a judge of the Constitutional Court in November, 2016. The Head of the Constitutional Court is elected from among the 9 members of the Court . . . To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year access to all archival material Access to all Bar & […]
Governor of Bihar Ram Nath Kovind has been announced as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate for President of India. Before joining politics, Kovind was a lawyer appearing in the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court. He enrolled as an advocate in 1971 and was Central Government Advocate at the Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979. He became an Advocate-on-Record at the apex court in 1978. According to the data available on the website of Supreme Court of India, his AoR Code is 567. He was also Central Government Standing Counsel in the Supreme Court from 1980 to 1993. […]
In a judgment which might have significant implications on the legal community, especially lawyers employed in law firms, the Gujarat High Court has held that when a person is employed as a legal consultant/expert even on a contractual basis, he/she cannot be allowed to enroll and practice as a lawyer. The judgment was delivered by Justice NV Anjaria in a petition filed by one Jalpa Pradeepbhai Desai (petitioner) against the Bar Council of India (BCI) and Bar Council of Gujarat (BCG . . . To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One […]
Former Supreme Court judge Dalveer Bhandari J is set to be re-nominated as a member of the International Court of Justice, the Wire reports. The report states that the nomination papers will be filed in New York today. Should his re-appointment go through, he will serve as a judge of the ICJ for another nine years. The members of the ICJ . . . To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year access to all archival material Access to all Bar […]
Former AZB Capital Markets Partner Meera Singh has joined KPMG as General Counsel. Confirming the news, Meera Singh said, “I am very excited and happy to join the KPMG family and I am looking forward to being here.” Meera had resigned from AZB & Partners in 2014 for personal reasons and has . . . To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous interviews, columns and articles One year access to all archival material Access to all Bar & Bench reports Register Already a subscriber ? […]
In a remarkable order, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the Central government to respond to the queries posed by RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agarwal regarding the BCCI and its functioning. The queries include the reason for the continued use of the logo designed by the British instead of the symbol of Union of India, and failure to bring BCCI within the scope of Right to Information Act. The order was passed by Central Information Commissioner M. Sridhar Acharyulu . . . To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of […]
In what could turn out to be a major battle concerning tribunalisation, the Madras High Court yesterday issued notice to the Central government in a petition challenging Sections 156 to 189 of the Finance Act, 2017 and the Tribunal, Appellate and other Authorities (Qualifications, Experience and other conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2017. The petition filed by Madras Bar Association was heard by a Bench consisting Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar. Senior Advocate Arvind Datar appeared for . . . To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of […]
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has notified the final norms for fast track corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP). The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Fast Track Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) Regulations, 2017 (Regulations) have been notified to give effect to Chapter IV of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. Chapter IV of the Code provides for the substantive provisions relating to fast track insolvency, while the Regulations lay down . . . To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access to previous […]
The Bombay High Court yesterday held that an Amul advertisement depicting the difference between ice-cream and frozen desserts amounted to slander of goods. Earlier this year, Kwality Wall’s had filed a plaint in the High Court claiming that an advertisement put out by Amul sought to mislead consumers by stating that all frozen desserts contain Vanaspati, an ingredient proven to be unhealthy. The judgment was reserved on April 28 this year. Senior Advocate Virag Tulzapurkar argued for . . . To read the entire article, get a premium account With a premium account you get: One year of unrestrcited access […]