Page 11 - Indian Judiciary

Who threatens the court?

Modi's reference to the 'committed judiciary' takes us back to the 1970s, when Indira Gandhi's government twice superseded senior judges while appointing the CJI

Lawyers write to CJI against groups trying to 'pressure' judiciary

A group of lawyers, including senior advocate Harish Salve and Bar Council of India chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra, have written to the Chief Justice of India, alleging that a "vested interest group" is trying to pressure the judiciary and defame courts "on the basis of frivolous logic and stale political agendas". "Their pressure tactics are most obvious in political cases, particularly those involving political figures accused of corruption. These tactics are damaging to our courts and threaten our democratic fabric," their letter, dated March 26, addressed to CJI D Y Chandrachud said. The letter, shared by official sources, targeted a section of lawyers without naming them and alleged that they defend politicians by the day and then try to influence judges through the media at night. This interest group creates false narratives of a supposed better past and golden period of courts, contrasting it with the happenings in the present, the letter said, claiming that their comments ar

Preventive detention based on capricious exercise of powers must stop: SC

Observing that preventive detention is a draconian measure and any such move based on a capricious or routine exercise of powers must be nipped in the bud, the Supreme Court has set aside a Telangana High Court order rejecting a detenu's appeal. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Thursday said the essential concept of preventive detention is that the detention of a person is not to punish him for something he has done but to prevent him from doing it. "Inability on the part of the state's police machinery to tackle the law-and-order situation should not be an excuse to invoke the jurisdiction of preventive detention," the bench also comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said. "Preventive detention being a draconian measure, any order of detention as a result of a capricious or routine exercise of powers must be nipped in the bud. It must be struck down at the first available threshold," the top court said. The appellant was arrested under

UP Madarsa Education Act, 2004 'unconstitutional', declares Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court Friday declared the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004, "unconstitutional" and violative of the principle of secularism, and asked the state government to accommodate current students in the formal schooling system. A division bench comprising Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi of the Lucknow branch of the court declared the law ultra vires on a writ petition filed by a person named Anshuman Singh Rathore. Rathore had challenged the constitutionality of the UP Madarsa Board as well as objected to the management of madarsa by the Minority Welfare department, both by Union of India and the state government.

SC recommends names of 6 lawyers for appointment as judges of Kerala HC

The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday recommended to the Centre the names of six advocates for appointment as judges of the Kerala High Court. The Collegium, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai, also recommended that judicial officer Mohammad Yousuf Wani be appointed as an additional judge of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. "In view of the above, the Collegium resolves to recommend that Abdul Hakhim Mullappally Abdul Aziz, Syam Kumar Vadakke Mudavakkat, Harisankar Vijayan Menon, Manu Sreedharan Nair, Easwaran Subramani and Manoj Pulamby Madhavan, advocates, be appointed as judges of the High Court of Kerala. Their inter se seniority be fixed as per the existing practice," said one of the Collegium resolutions uploaded on the apex court website. Regarding one of the recommended names, it said, "The report of the government notes that nothing adverse has come to notice regarding the integrity of the candidate. ..

Mutual fraternity necessary for equality in country: CJI Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Saturday said mutual fraternity is necessary to maintain equality in the country. Addressing a state-level 'Hamara Samvidhan Hamara Samman' campaign in Bikaner, the CJI asked how will the country progress if people fight with each other. "We should have respect for each other in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution," he said. Justice Chandrachud said that "human dignity was of supreme importance in the minds of the makers of our Constitution". "Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar, as Chairman of the Drafting Committee, ensured that the Constitution promoted the values of justice, liberty and equality as well as the spirit of fraternity and dignity of the individual," he added. The Chief Justice of India (CJI) said that many efforts are being made to improve the condition of district courts. "We want to sensitize the district courts because this is the first step towards justice. We are making many efforts to improve the condition of the dist

Court directs CM Kejriwal to appear before it after fresh complaint by ED

A Delhi court on Thursday issued summons to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on a fresh complaint by the ED for allegedly evading its summonses in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra directed Kejriwal to appear before the court on March 16. The Enforcement Directorate filed the complaint before the court on Wednesday, seeking prosecution of Kejriwal for skipping multiple summonses issued to him in the case. The latest complaint pertains to the Aam Aadmi Party national convenor not honouring summonses number 4 to 8 sent by the federal probe agency under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED said. The ED had earlier moved a local court seeking Kejriwal's prosecution for not attending the first three summonses issued to him in the money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

Abhijit Gangopadhyay likely to join BJP, resigns as judge of Calcutta HC

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay resigned as a judge of Calcutta High Court on Tuesday, sources said. Justice Gangopadhyay sent his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu with copies to CJI DY Chandrachud and the Chief Justice of the Calcutta HC TS Sivagnanam, they said. He came to his chamber at the high court in the morning, following which the resignation letter was sent. He is scheduled to address the press in the afternoon, where he is likely to divulge his future plans, amid speculations that he will join politics. Justice Gangopadhyay had on Sunday announced that he will resign on March 5.

Bilkis Bano case convict gets 10-day parole to attend nephew's wedding

The Gujarat High Court has granted 10-day parole to Bilkis Bano case convict Ramesh Chandana to attend his nephew's wedding scheduled for March 5. Chandana, who moved the High Court for parole last week, is the second convict in the case to be granted parole after all 11 convicts in the case surrendered at a jail in Godhra town on January 21 following a Supreme Court order. They were convicted in a case of gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots. "By this application, the convict-applicant prays for parole leave on the grounds of attending the marriage ceremony of the son of his sister. Taking into consideration the grounds urged in this application, the applicant-accused is ordered to be released on parole leave for a period of ten days," said Justice Divyesh Joshi in his order issued on Friday. As per the Gujarat government's affidavit before the Supreme Court, Chandana had enjoyed parole for 1,198 days and a furlough of

Fali S Nariman: A fearless advocate with unmatched eloquence and tenacity

The illustrious career if Nariram, a stalwart in the field of law, spanned several decades, leaving an indelible mark on India's legal landscape

Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi honoured with Assam's highest civilian award

Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi was honoured on Tuesday with the Assam Baibhab, the highest civilian award in the state

If judges can go to National Judicial Academy, why not lawyers: SC

If judges can go to the National Judicial Academy for training, why not lawyers, the Supreme Court said on Friday while asserting that all advocates should undergo compulsory training and they should not be allowed to practise unless they have a certificate from a recognised law university. The remark was made by a bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal while hearing the bail plea of Souvik Bhattacharya, son of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Manik Bhattacharya, arrested in connection with the West Bengal teachers' recruitment "scam". Appearing in the court on behalf of Bhattacharya, senior advocate Sidharth Luthra submitted that a bail application was filed by one of the lawyers in the trial court despite the absence of a summoning order. "Why don't you have a law academy for lawyers? We have for judges. No action is being taken against erring lawyers by the Bar Council. They should be educated properly. Do something. There must be compulsory training for every lawyer, ...

Rajiv Mani to be appointed secretary of Legislative dept under Law Ministry

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Rajiv Mani as the secretary of the Legislative Department under the Union Ministry of Law and Justice

Sanjay Bhandari case: Court stays NBW issued against UK national Chadha

The accused, through his lawyer, has moved the court for the cancellation of the NBW against him in the case

Centre notifies elevations of several judges of HCs as permanent judges

The Centre government, through the Ministry of Law and Justice has elevated several judges of Calcutta High Court, Kerala High Court, Jharkhand High Court and Punjab & Haryana High Court from additional judges to permanent judges.On January 30, the government issued separate notifications for each judge.According to the notifications, Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, Additional Judge of the High Court of Jharkhand, will be appointed a Judge of that High Court.Justice Shoba Annamma Eapen, Additional Judge of the Kerala High Court appointed to be a Judge of that High CourtJustice Lapita Banerji, Additional Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court appointed as a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court against a vacancy of permanent Judge of the Calcutta High Court, with effect from the date she assumes charge of her office, as stated in the notification.Justice Shampa Dutt (Paul) and Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury, Justice Ananya Bandyopadhyay and Justice Rai Chattopadhyay, ...

Soumya Vishwanathan case: HC asks police to respond to convicts appeals

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the police to respond to appeals filed by four convicts in the case of murder of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan challenging their conviction and life sentence. A bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain issued notice to the police on the appeals by Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljit Singh Malik and Ajay Kumar. The high court also asked the authorities to file reply to the convicts' interim application seeking suspension of their sentence. It listed the application for hearing on February 12. Soumya was shot dead on September 30, 2008 while she was returning home in her car from office. The police had claimed robbery as the motive behind the killing of Soumya.

NewsClick's HR head withdraws plea in SC against arrest under UAPA

NewsClick's human resources department head Amit Chakravarty on Monday withdrew from the Supreme Court his petition against his arrest under the anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Earlier this month, a Delhi court had allowed Chakravarty to turn an approver in the case lodged against the news portal under UAPA over allegations that it received money to spread pro-China propaganda. The separate pleas filed by Chakravarty and NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha against their arrest under the anti-terror law came up for hearing before a bench headed by Justice B R Gavai. An advocate appearing in the matter requested the bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta, that Chakravarty be allowed to withdraw his plea. "Let him withdraw if he wants to withdraw," Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the Delhi Police, told the bench, while responding to the lawyer's prayer. The bench allowed Chakravarty to withdraw the plea.

Judiciary pillar of democracy, should have spirit of service: CM Bhajanlal

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Saturday said the judiciary is playing an important role as a strong pillar of democracy and exhorted lawyers to work with a spirit of service by helping provide timely justice to victims. Sharma was addressing the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected executive of The Bar Association Jaipur. "The Indian judiciary is highly respected in the world today due to the important contribution of lawyers in the freedom movement to the making of the Constitution. This pleasant result has been possible only due to the work done by the lawyers in the interest of society," an official statement quoted the chief minister as saying on the occasion. He said advocates have a very high status in the society. "By living in the society, they remain aware of their problems and work with commitment to provide them timely justice. Besides, they also work to connect the society". Sharma said lawyers should perform the duty of providing timely justice to t

Hand over keys of basement in Gyanvapi complex to Varanasi DM: Court

A district court has ordered that the keys of the basement located in the Gyanvapi complex here, known as "Vyas ji ka tehkhana", be handed over to the district magistrate. District Judge AK Vishwesh said in his order on Wednesday that there is a need for taking proper care of the basement of Vyas ji located at the southern end of the complex, Hindu side's counsel Madan Mohan Yadav said. "Therefore, district magistrate of Varanasi is appointed receiver of Vyas ji's basement," the court said. Yadav had earlier said that authorities had barricaded and locked the basement in 1993. Prior to it, the basement was used for worship by Somnath Vyas, a priest, Yadav had claimed in his plea.

SC issues notice to Gauhati HC in connection with Dhemaji Bomb Blast case

A bench of justices J K Maheshwari and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia issued notice to respondents on the petition against Gauhati High Court