The Bar & Bench Causelist #435 A summary of important cases from the causelist of the Delhi High Court. TABLE OF CASES Delhi High Court Arun Jaitley Vs. Arvind Kejriwal and Ors. Virbhadra Singh vs. Enforcement Directorate Delhi High Court 1. Arun Jaitley v. Arvind Kejriwal and Ors. [Item 1 in LOK ADALAT. 1 (OS-E) – CS(OS) 236/2017] Before: Sh. Pankaj Gupta, Joint Registrar (Judicial) Matter pertains to the fresh defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after controversial remarks were made by Kejriwal’s counsel Ram Jethmalani. During the last hearing of the […]
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has filed another defamation suit against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. A second 10 crore defamation suit has been filed after Kejriwal’s counsel, Ram Jethmalani, made some unsavoury remarks against him during the cross examination. Touted by many as the second most powerful man in the BJP government at the Centre, Jaitley had earlier filed civil and criminal defamation cases against Kejriwal and other members of the Aam Aadmi Party after allegations of corruption were made regarding Jaitley’s tenure as the DDCA President. After the heated exchange during the last hearing, Senior Advocate Ram Jethmalani had called Jaitley “a crook“ in the […]
The final year post-graduate students of Azim Premji University, Bangalore have come out with a report on RTI compliance by nine High Courts in the country, titled the Legal System Reforms Project (LSRP). The report revealed that the Punjab & Haryana High Court was the most RTI-compliant, while the Allahabad High Court was on the opposite end of the spectrum. The selection of the High Courts itself revealed some unwelcome facts. Though there is no restriction on the method of applying for information under the RTI Act, many High Courts had specific Rules mandating the submission of the application in […]
The Bar & Bench Causelist #434 A summary of important cases from the causelist of the Delhi High Court. TABLE OF CASES Delhi High Court Arvind Kejriwal Vs. Arun Jaitley and Ors. Savyasachi K. Sahai Vs. Union of India and Ors. Gauri Grover Vs. Govt. of NCT of Delhi Delhi High Court 1. Arvind Kejriwal Vs. Arun Jaitley and Ors. [Item 8 in Court No. 27 – CRL.M.C. 1898/2017] Bench: AK Chawla J. Matter pertaining to the criminal defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. An application has been moved by Kejriwal seeking […]
The Delhi High Court on Friday, directed the Delhi Government to ensure that adequate shelter is provided to people who were rendered homeless due to the demolition of a Night Shelter in Amir Khursro Park in Delhi’s Nizamuddin Area. The Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and newly sworn in Justice Pratibha M. Singh took note of a newspaper report in The Times of India regarding the said demolition which was effected on a court order. The Standing Counsel for Government of NCT of Delhi, advocate Satyakam informed the Court that the Amir Khusro Park Area had three night shelters […]
A law student from Kerala has bobbitised a Swami who had allegedly been raping her for the past seven years, reports NDTV. The 23-year-old student from Thiruvananthapuram claims that the godman had been repeatedly raping her at her house since she was 16. He would frequently visit her mother and conduct religious ceremonies at their house. The 53-year-old Swami has been identified as Gangesananda Theerthapada aka Hariswami, a former member of the Panmana Ashram in Kollam. According to the report, when the accused Swami again showed up at her house last night and tried to force himself on her, she got hold of […]
It is high time that the CLAT Core Committee seriously thinks about the quality and nature of the question paper which is supposed to filter out the set of talents most suitable for a career in law. At first look, I thought CLAT 2017 was a brilliant paper, but actually, except a few good things, the paper is of poor quality. I have listed the 15 sure shot errors which I could find out till now. There were at least 10 more that I have not included here, because they are either debatable or I need more confirmation. Apart from […]
The Supreme Court today witnessed a high voltage hearing in the Aadhaar case as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and Senior Advocate Shyam Divan made vociferous submissions before a Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Navin Sinha. The petitions, filed by Shanta Sinha and Kalyani Sen Menon, have sought interim reliefs against making Aadhaar mandatory for 17 social services schemes. The matter had first come up before a Bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, when the Court had issued notice to the Centre and tagged the case with the main matter, which is to be heard by a Constitution […]
This month, the President of India has signed off on the appointment of as many as seven judges and sixteen new additional judges across seven high courts in the country. We had earlier reported the appointment of four new judges – Rekha Palli, Pratibha M Singh, Navin Chawla and Hari Shankar JJ to the Delhi High Court. Yesterday, two judges were appointed to the Uttarakhand High Court; Lok Pal Singh and Manoj Kumar Tiwari JJ were sworn in today. Justice BR Pradhan has been appointed as a judge of the Sikkim High Court. As many as six additional judges were […]
The Delhi High Court is touted as one of the most effective high courts and has produced some of the best judges in the country. However, one major grunt at the Bar, especially in recent times, has been that the Chief Justices who have come from other High Courts have many a time failed to live up to expectations. Interestingly, in the recent past, the Acting Chief Justices who have donned the task for brief periods during the absence of Chief Justices, have had a positive bearing on the court. Be it the current Acting Chief Justice, Gita Mittal or Justice Badar Durrez […]
The Bar & Bench Causelist #433 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 Shantha Sinha and Anr. v. Union of India Ministry of Finance Delhi High Court Court On Its Own Motion Vs. Union Of India Virbhadra Singh Vs. Enforcement Directorate SUMMARY OF CASES Supreme Court of India 1. Shantha Sinha and Anr. v. Union of India Ministry of Finance [Item 1 in Court No. 5 – WP(C) 342/2017] Bench: AM Khanwilkar, Navin Sinha JJ. Challenge to the mandatory requirement of […]
On Thursday, Bennett Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL), owner of the “Times Now” Channel, filed a suit against Arnab Goswami’s “Republic TV” in the Delhi High Court for violation of contract of employment and infringement of intellectual property. The Plaintiffs have claimed that Arnab and his team are using intellectual property, which they had acquired during the course of their employment with TIMES NOW and which exclusively belonged to the Plaintiffs. A few clippings of the telecast by “Republic TV” regarding the circumstances of Sunanda Pushkar’s death were also played before the bench of Justice Manmohan. Appearing for the Plaintiffs, Senior […]
Even as rights of women were being debated in Chief Justice’ court, an unsavoury incident in court today, once again brought to fore the issue of safety of women in the apex Court. A law intern had to ward off this man, who attempted to molest her, by asking him to leave the court room, while the hearing in the Triple Talaq case was progressing. The perpetrator, a young man in civilian clothing seemed like a visitor, who had come to watch the proceedings in the case. The crowded visitors section of the court room was packed with scribes, law […]
The International Court of Justice today granted India’s request for provisional measures in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. Effectively, Jadhav’s execution will now have to be put on hold pending the court’s decision on merits. Here is how today’s verdict played out (read tweets from bottom up): Until court has given final order it shall be siezed of the #KulbhushanJadhav case. pic.twitter.com/dGVQeS0sT4 — Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 18, 2017 Judge explains that ICJ orders have binding effect on the parties #KulbhushanJadhav #KulbushanJadhav pic.twitter.com/fpfSSC3AyY — Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 18, 2017 #Khulbhushanjadhav Court unanimously stays #Kulbhushan execution. pic.twitter.com/WsZc4rhD8z — Bar […]
Updates on Triple Talaq Hearing from Supreme Court – Day 6 A vacation Bench of the Supreme Court continues to hear the challenge to the Islamic practices of Talaq-e-Biddat (Triple Talaq) and Nikah Halala this week. Here is a summary of the action from the Supreme Court as it happens: #TripleTalaq: Day 6 hearing commences in Supreme Court. — Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 18, 2017 #TripleTalaq: “My submission is Islam is not patriarchal, I disagree with AIMPLB in this regard”, Salman Khurshid. — Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 18, 2017 #TripleTalaq: “Islamic values are informed by equity anx conscience”, Arif Mohammed Khan. — Bar & […]
The Bar & Bench Causelist #432 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 In Re: Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality Delhi High Court Court On Its Own Motion Vs. Union of India Arun Jaitley Vs. Arvind Kejriwal and Ors Court On Its Own Motion Vs. State SUMMARY OF CASES 1. In Re: Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality [Item 501 in Court 1 – Suo-moto Writ Petition (Civil) 2/2015] Bench: Chief Justice JS Khehar, Kurian Joseph, Rohinton Fali Nariman, UU Lalit, S […]
Mayhem ensued in Room No. 2 of the Delhi High Court as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s cross examination in the defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal resumed today. Heated arguments and verbal assaults were exchanged between Senior Advocate Ram Jethmalani and the counsel of Jaitley from the very first question put forth in the cross examination. Jethmalani, appearing for Kejriwal, repeatedly questioned Jaitley regarding an article published in a leading newspaper. The article, criticising the Finance Minister, was written by Jethmalani himself. This was vehemently objected to by the lawyers appearing for Jaitley as being completely irrelevant to the case and […]
The Delhi High Court on Monday pulled up the authorities of the Central Excise department and asked them to explain the practice of collecting undated cheques from assessees. A writ petition was filed in the High Court by Digipro Import & Export Pvt. Ltd, a company that manufactures mobile phone batteries, chargers and LED bulbs. The company was paying excise duty @ 2% ad valorem on mobile phone battery and mobile phone charger, and 6% on LED bulbs. However, the respondents claimed that the tariff rate of duties on these products is 12.5% ad valorem. The petitioners claimed that they […]
Updates on Triple Talaq Hearing from Supreme Court – Day 5 A vacation Bench of the Supreme Court continues to hear the challenge to the Islamic practice of Talaq-e-Biddat (Triple Talaq) this week. Here is a summary of the action from the Supreme Court as it happens: #TripleTalaq: Day 5 – Sibal opposes taking up case suo moto “It is as if every member of the community wakes up in the morning and does it” — Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 17, 2017 #TripleTalaq: “For 67 years, faith of people in this Court has been fundamental”, Sibal ends his arguments with an emotional appeal. […]
The Bar & Bench Causelist #431 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 In Re: Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality Shanta Sinha v. Union of India Delhi High Court Arun Jaitley Vs. Arvind Kejriwal and Ors Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay Vs. Union of India SUMMARY OF CASES Supreme Court of India 1. In Re: Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality [Item 501 in Court 1 – Suo-moto Writ Petition (Civil) 2/2015] Bench: Chief Justice JS Khehar, Kurian Joseph, Rohinton Fali Nariman, UU Lalit, […]
Trilegal Partner and Litigation Head Sitesh Mukherjee will be relocating to Mumbai to build the firm’s disputes practice in the city, something that he has already done in Delhi. Confirming this decision, Partner Rahul Matthan said, “We are looking to significantly invest in building our litigation capabilities in Mumbai, therefore, we have decided that Sitesh would move to Mumbai with a view to kick starting the litigation practice in Mumbai. The idea for Sitesh’s move is to replicate in Mumbai what he did for our litigation practice in Delhi.” Mukherjee had joined Trilegal in 2009 from HSA Advocates. Since then, […]
In a heartwarming show of support, the people of Mumbai made an effort to help put a third year student of the city’s Government Law College (GLC) through law school. In a series of tweets, Radio City host Suchitra Tyagi (@Su4ita) revealed the heart rending story of Nikita Shukla, who is visually impaired. On account of her disability, Nikita’s parents sought to get her married after she completed school. However, Nikita refused, as she wanted to fulfill her dream of studying law. As a result, she was forced to leave the house. With a little help from her friends, she […]
Trilegal Mumbai Disputes Partner Faraz Alam Sagar has resigned from the firm and will be joining Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, according to sources. Confirming his exit, Trilegal Partner Rahul Matthan said, “We wish him well.” However, Cyril Shroff was not available for comment at the time of publishing the story. Sagar had joined Trilegal in 2015 from Economic Laws Practice, where he was an Associate Partner. He has significant experience in the area of investment dispute arbitrations and commercial litigation and has represented a number of domestic and international clients in institutional as well as ad-hoc arbitrations under the rules of almost […]
Debevoise & Plimpton has promoted Ramya Tiller to partner in its New York office. Tiller, a 2002 graduate of National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore, also holds an LL.M. (Corporate Law) from New York University School of Law. She joined Debevoise in 2007, prior to which she worked for Udwadia & Udeshi in Mumbai. She then joined Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer from 2010 to 2012, before moving back to Debevoise. Tiller is part of the firm’s Finance Group, and focuses her practice on complex acquisition and leveraged finance transactions.
Niloy Pyne has joined the VFS Global Group in Dubai as it’s Group General Counsel effective May 1, 2017. Prior to joining VFS, Pyne was working with US-based consulting firm Barret & Averro Consulting (earlier known as Haig Barret & Averro) as it’s sole India partner. In a release, Niloy commented, “It was always my professional dream to represent or be associated with an entity that’s truly global in its outlook, business and operations. So when this offer came my way, I was convinced that this was a wonderful opportunity to work for a large corporate group with wide cross-border interests and who […]
Updates on Triple Talaq Hearing from Supreme Court – Day 4 A vacation Bench of the Supreme Court continues to hear the challenge to the Islamic practices of Talaq-e-Biddat (Triple Talaq) this week. Here is a summary of the action from the Supreme Court as it happens (best to read from bottom to top): Today Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for All India Muslim Personal Law Board, made his arguments. Yesterday, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Centre, submitted that personal laws have to undergo the test of Articles 13, 14 and 15 and that the Bombay High Court decision in Narasu Appa Mali […]
The Bar & Bench Causelist #431 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 In Re: Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality Karmanya Singh Sareen v. Union Of India & Ors. Delhi High Court Virbhadra Singh vs. Enforcement Directorate Gauri Grover Vs. Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Ors. SUMMARY OF CASES Supreme Court of India 1. In Re: Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality [Item 501 in Court 1 – Suo-moto Writ Petition (Civil) 2/2015] Bench: Chief Justice JS Khehar, Kurian Joseph, Rohinton Fali […]
Today, the Delhi High Court’s room no. 2 witnessed the continuation of the verbal duel between Senior Advocate Ram Jethmalani and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the defamation case filed by the latter against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Ram Jethmalani, who represented Kejriwal in his cross examination today, questioned Jaitley regarding the funding for the construction of the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi. Jethmalani stated that various public figures and the Central Government had made proposals for funding the construction of the stadium in return for naming the stadium after a specific individual. However, these proposals were not seriously considered […]
The “rankings” become more farcical by the year. If the fact that a number of law colleges were missing from the top last year raised a few questions, this year’s India Today rankings certainly warrant a full-blown inquisition. It comes as no surprise that NLSIU, Bangalore is once again at the top; what is surprising is most of the other names on that list. Aligarh Muslim University’s Faculty of Law is in second place, followed by, less bewilderingly, WBNUJS, Kolkata. Quite astoundingly, Amity Law School, Noida and Christ University’s School of Law complete the top five. Bharati Vidyapeeth’s New Law […]
Snapdeal Group General Counsel Ashish Chandra has quit ahead of the Snapdeal-Flipkart merger finalisation. With Chandra’s exit, Group CFO Anup Vikal has been given the additional role of General Counsel. Confirming his decision to leave Snapdeal to Bar & Bench, Chandra said, “It was one of my best experiences, as a Group General Counsel. I saw this company grow from $500 million valuation to $6.5 billion valuation and change 360 degrees.” Chandra is grateful to co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, and Anup Vikal for trusting him and expanding his role as General Counsel to include heading the tax division and also allowing him to lead a particular business […]