Page 11 - Indian Judiciary

SC data will be available on National Judicial Data Grid: CJI Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Thursday announced that the Supreme Court will soon be linked to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), a repository of data relating to pendency of cases and disposal rate of courts right from the taluka level to the national level. At present the portal shows data only up to the high court level. As the CJI started the day's proceedings in the apex court, he said data of the top court will be uploaded on the NJDG on real time basis. "A small announcement. It is a historic day. It is a unique and informative platform which is developed by the NIC and in house team of Supreme Court. Now at the click of a button you can see real time information on pendency and disposal of cases, year-wise, total pendency of registered and unregistered cases, number of cases decided quorum- wise," the CJI said. The CJI stated that uploading of data on the NJDG will ensure transparency and accountability in the judicial domain. The NJDG is a database of orde

Cabinet approves eCourts project phase-III with cost of Rs 7,210 crore

The eCourts project has been under implementation since 2007 for ICT enablement of the Indian Judiciary. The Phase II of the project has concluded in 2023

Show-cause notice issued to Gehlot on 'corruption' against judiciary remark

A division bench of the Rajasthan High Court on Saturday issued a show-cause notice to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on a PIL seeking suo moto criminal contempt proceedings against him. The PIL was filed by local advocate Shivcharan Gupta on Thursday following the chief minister's remark suggesting "corruption" in the judiciary. A division bench headed by Justice M M Shrivastava and Justice Ashutosh Kumar heard the matter on Saturday and issued the notice to Gehlot, directing him to respond within three weeks. While talking to reporters in Jaipur on Wednesday, Gehlot said, "Corruption is rampant in the judiciary today. I have heard that some lawyers themselves take the judgement in writing and the same judgement is pronounced." However, after facing criticism, the chief minister later clarified that what he had said was not his personal opinion and that he has always respected and believed in the judiciary. In protest against the chief minister's comment, thousands of advocates ...

New tender process for Dharavi redevelopment transparent: Maha govt to HC

The new tender issued in 2022 for the Dharavi slum redevelopment project in Mumbai was transparent and no undue favour was shown to the highest bidder Adani Group, the Maharashtra government has submitted to the Bombay High Court. The government earlier this month submitted its affidavit in response to a petition filed by the UAE-based company Seclink Technologies Corporation, challenging the government's decision awarding the project to Adani Properties Private Ltd. "The petitioner has made unfounded and reckless allegations such as actions of respondents being politically motivated without any basis or material as indeed none exists. For making such reckless allegations alone, the writ petition deserves to be dismissed with costs," the affidavit said. A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor will hear the plea on Thursday. The affidavit filed by the deputy secretary of the state housing department said the petitioner company has made "false and ...

Madras Bar Association passes resolution against renaming of IPC, CrPC, IEA

While introducing the bills, Home Minister Amit Shah said the soul of these three new laws will be to protect all the rights given by the Constitution to the citizens

HC rejects PIL to connect coaching centres with schools, colleges

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday rejected a public interest litigation to connect coaching centres with schools and colleges, terming it as "misconceived". A bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said a court cannot direct the government to frame a policy in this regard. This court cannot direct the state government to frame a policy to connect coaching centres with schools and colleges and to partner with them. This court does not find reason to grant the relief prayed in PIL; rather it is a misconceived PIL.The PIL is accordingly dismissed, said the bench, also comprising Justice Sanjeev Narula. The court also observed "coaching is optional and it is not mandatory for each and every student to attend a coaching centre". Delhi government standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi said connecting coaching centres with schools and colleges, as prayed by the petitioner, would create a new exploitative regime. Opposing the petition which also sought publishing of data and

SC seeks AG's help to fix time limit for govt regarding collegium proposals

The Supreme Court has sought the assistance of Attorney General R Venkataramani in deciding a plea seeking a direction that a time limit be fixed for the Centre to notify the appointment of judges recommended by the apex court collegium. The plea came up for hearing on Friday before a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. "A copy of the petition be served on the office of the Attorney General for India. We request the Attorney General to assist the court," the bench said and posted the matter for hearing on September 8. The apex court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Harsh Vibhore Singhal. "The instant writ petition does not in any way challenge the Supreme Court Collegium (SCC) system for the appointment of judges. Rather, it seeks to further cohere and strengthen the SCC for greater judicial independence," it said. It has sought a direction to plug the 'zone of twilight' of there being no time for notifying the collegium's

Greatest challenge is to eliminate barriers to accessing justice: CJI

Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud Tuesday said the greatest challenge before the Indian judiciary is to eliminate barriers to accessing justice and make sure that the judiciary is inclusive and accessible to the last person in the line. Soon after being lauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on the Independence Day for the apex court's move to translate operative parts of judgements in regional languages, the CJI said till now, 9,423 judgements of the top court have been translated in regional languages. Speaking at the Independence Day celebrations organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) at the apex court lawns, the CJI also talked about efforts of the apex court to make all its 35,000 judgements available to citizens in regional languages. He also said that there is a need to overhaul the infrastructure on a priority basis to make courts accessible and inclusive. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, who was also present at th

Barriers to accessing justice biggest challenge before judiciary: CJI

Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday said the greatest challenge before the Indian judiciary is to eliminate the barriers to accessing justice and make sure that judiciary is inclusive and accessible to the last person in the line. He also said that there is a need to overhaul the infrastructure on a priority basis to make courts accessible and inclusive. Speaking at the Independence Day celebrations organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) at the apex court lawns, the CJI said the aim is to create a judicial system which is more accessible and cost-effective for the people and that full potential of technology has to be tapped to overcome the procedural barriers to justice. While referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the Red Fort, Justice Chandrachud said the PM mentioned about the apex court's efforts to translate judgements in Indian languages. The CJI said up to now, 9,423 judgements of the top court have been translated in region

SC judge recuses himself from Umar Khalid's plea on bail in UAPA case

Supreme Court judge Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra on Wednesday recused himself from hearing a plea filed by former JNU student Umar Khalid seeking bail in a UAPA case related to alleged conspiracy behind the riots here in February 2020. Khalid's petition challenging the October 18 last year order of the Delhi High Court, which had rejected his bail plea in the matter, came up for hearing before a bench of Justices A S Bopanna and Prashant Kumar Mishra. "This will come before some other bench. There is some difficulty for my brother (Justice Mishra) to take up this matter," Justice Bopanna said at the outset, without assigning any reason for Justice Mishra's recusal. Advocate Rajat Nair, appearing for the Delhi Police, told the bench that they have filed a counter affidavit but there is an objection shown by the apex court registry on it. "There are certain portion of statements which we have extracted, that portion is in vernacular," he said, adding, "That statement itself is in ..

Courts must not be hypersensitive in exercising contempt jurisdiction: SC

Courts must not be hypersensitive or swung by emotions while exercising contempt jurisdiction, the Supreme Court has said. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sanjay Karol made the observation while setting aside a Calcutta High Court order that had revoked a doctor's license for contempt of court. "The Court has time and again asserted that the contempt jurisdiction enjoyed by the Courts is only for the purpose of upholding the majority of the judicial system that exists. "While exercising this power, the Courts must not be hypersensitive or swung by emotions but must act judiciously," the SC said. The bench said the doctor's license cannot be suspended as penalty in contempt proceedings. "A medical practitioner guilty of contempt of court may also be so for professional misconduct but the same would depend on the gravity/nature of the contemptuous conduct of the person in question. "They are, however, offences separate and distinct from each other. The former is regulated by the

Chennai publisher held for alleged comments on judiciary over Manipur issue

Chennai-based publisher and blogger Badri Seshadri was arrested on Saturday for his alleged comments on judiciary while discussing Manipur violence in an interview to a Youtube channel. The arrest was made early this morning by the Perambalur district police following a complaint from a lawyer Kaviarasu, a resident of Kunnam, who claimed that he was disturbed by Seshadri's views on the judiciary, during an interview to a Youtube channel on July 22. The police booked cases under IPC sections 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 153 A (1) (a) (promote enmity between groups through words), 505 (1) (b) (causing fear and alarm in public) against him. Condemning the arrest, BJP state chief K Annamalai accused the ruling DMK of resorting to arrests as it was unable to handle opinions expressed by the common man.

Delhi court sends Supertech chairman Arora to judicial custody till Jul 24

A Delhi court on Monday sent R K Arora, the chairman and promoter of real estate major Supertech Group, to judicial custody till July 24 in a money laundering case. Special Judge Devender Kumar Jangala sent Arora to jail after he was produced before the court by the Enforcement Directorate on the expiry of his 12-day custody. The agency told the judge that it did not require his further custody. Arora was arrested on June 27 under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after three rounds of questioning. ED's Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta, along with advocate Mohd Faizan Khan, told the court that the money-laundering case against the Supertech group, its directors and promoters stems from a clutch of FIRs registered by police in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The ED has been probing the matter related to 26 FIRs registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh police against Supertech Ltd. and its group ...

SC gets an update: Wifi, virtual meetings, LED screens in courtrooms

This system enables unhindered remote participation, increasing the accessibility and connectivity of courtrooms manifold

Important to highlight work done in back offices of Indian judiciary: CJI

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Friday said very little is known about the work done in the back offices of the Indian judiciary and stressed that it is important this be highlighted. He was delivering the inaugural address of the 19th Legal Services authority Meet at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) here. "Judiciary has been a poor communicator just because we feel that we don't need marketing," the Chief Justice of India (CJI) said. "It is also known by the delays in judicial process, very little is known about the work done in the back offices of the Indian judiciary, and it is important we highlight the work which is done in the back offices of the Indian judiciary as well because that is the spine of our judiciary," he said. CJI Chandrachud said a judiciary is known by the decisions it delivers or sometimes by the decisions that it doesn't deliver. He also talked about the voluminous work being done at the back-end of courts. The website,

Judiciary cannot make legislation: Naidu on supremacy of legislature

Former vice president M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday upheld the supremacy of the legislature in law-making and asserted that the judiciary has no role in the process. Addressing the National Legislators Conference here, Naidu said Constitution has clearly defined roles for the executive, the legislature and the judiciary and none should "think they are supreme and overstep their limits". "The legislative powers are solely given to the legislative bodies. Whether legislation is in accordance with the Constitutional provision or not, let the courts decide. But, courts cannot make legislation. The judiciary cannot make legislation, this has to be borne in mind," the former vice president said. "The legislature decides, the executive implements and finally if anybody violates the provisions one can go to court. The judiciary must be dynamic and they must dispose of at the earliest," Naidu said. The former vice president's remarks come in the wake of a row over the Constitutional separati

One cannot malign judicial officers by using social media, says SC

One cannot malign judicial officers by using social media, the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday while dismissing a plea challenging a Madhya Pradesh High Court order that sentenced a man to 10 days in jail for making corruption allegations against a district judge. A vacation bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra said it was not inclined to interfere in the matter. "Just because you don't get a favourable order doesn't mean that you will malign the judicial officer. Independence of (the) judiciary doesn't just mean independence from (the) executive but also from outside forces. This has to be a lesson for others also. "He should have thought twice before casting any aspersion on the judicial officer. He maligned the judicial officer. Think of the damage done to the judicial officer's image," Justice Trivedi observed orally. The counsel appearing for the petitioner sought leniency from the Supreme Court and said the imprisonment order was excessive. The

Adopt technology like judiciary: Meghwal's message to state officials

Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Thursday urged officials of state legislatures to adopt technology the way the executive and the judiciary have done to improve their functioning. When the executive, through the Digital India programme, and the judiciary, through the eCourts Project, have adopted technology to their benefit, the legislature should also use it to its advantage, the minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs said. Delivering the valedictory address at a two-day workshop on 'National eVidhan Application (NeVA)' here, Meghwal said there was an initial hesitation when technology was introduced in the industry, such as steam, electricity, IT solution and artificial intelligence. "But technology has become an integral part of our lives," the minister said, underling the need to adopt it. NeVA seeks to make the functioning of state legislatures paperless and integrate all 37 legislative houses on to 'One Nation, One Application'. Meghwal was recently also given the ch

Shifting Rijiju out of law ministry victory of judiciary system: Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday claimed the central government has taken note of the judiciary's "resentment" to Kiren Rijiju and hence he has been moved out of the Union law ministry. This is a victory of the judicial system, the Rajya Sabha member told reporters. In a sudden development, Rijiju was moved out of the law ministry and replaced by Arjun Ram Meghwal on Thursday. Rijiju was named as law minister on July 7, 2021. As law minister, Rijiju had been the most vocal in the government in criticising the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and high court judges and described it as being "alien" to the Constitution. His recent remarks on some retired judges being part of an anti-India gang had evoked strong reactions. He had claimed that a few retired judges and some activists who are part of the "anti-India gang" were trying to make the Indian judiciary play the role of opposition party. Reacting to the development, Raut claimed there is no one in the

SC to hear Gujarat judicial officers' plea whose promotions it stayed

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear in July a plea of several Gujarat judicial officers whose promotions were stayed by it. A bench headed by Justice M R Shah, now retired, on May 12 had stayed the promotion of 68 Gujarat lower judicial officers, including Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma who had convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala took note of the submissions of senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the judicial officers, that they have been reverted back to their original lower cadre by the Gujarat High Court in pursuance of the apex court's decision of May 12. Several judicial officers are suffering humiliation due to the demotion and moreover, six states in the country follow the principle of seniority-cum-merit for promotion, said the senior lawyer. We will list it after the summer vacation in July, the CJI said, adding