Page 15 - Indian Judiciary

Subordinate judiciary in MP to be called district judiciary: HC circular

Subordinate judiciary in Madhya Pradesh will now be referred to as the district judiciary and lower courts as trial courts, as per a High Court circular. This was resolved at a full court meeting of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in which Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and other judges took part on Friday, it said. "All courts other than the High Court shall hereinafter be referred to as the district judiciary and not as subordinate judiciary and that all courts other than the High Court shall be referred to as the trial courts and not as subordinate courts," it reads. The circular is issued by the order of the MP chief justice and signed by its Registrar General Ramkumar Choubey. "The resolution junking the use of subordinate judiciary and subordinate courts is aimed to drive home the point that every court is independent within its jurisdiction," a top registry officer of the HC told PTI. He said when MP high court chief justice Malimath was acting chief justice of Himachal Pradesh

Trust us to be guardians of liberties of our citizens: CJI Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Saturday said the confidence of citizens in the due process of law and the protection of liberty rests in the judiciary which is "guardians of liberties". Delivering a lecture here, the CJI emphasized through the lives of the members of the bar, who fearlessly espouse those causes, the flame of liberty burns bright even today. Delivering the Ashok H Desai memorial lecture at the Y B Chavan Center here, he referred to a theft case where a man would have spent 18 years in jail had the SC not intervened to say "trust us to be guardians of the liberties of our citizens". The event was organised by the Bombay Bar Association. Yesterday in a seemingly innocuous case, where an accused was sentenced to two years of imprisonment in sessions trial for theft of electricity, the trial judge forgot to say that the sentences will run concurrently. "So then the consequence was that this person who had stolen electricity equipment like poles would have to

Courts must work for a min 300 days a year to curb pending cases: Cong MP

Senior advocate and Congress Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh Vivek Tankha on Friday said courts should remain functional for at least 300 days a year to reduce the pendency of cases. Judges can go on leave but not courts, and only then can five crore pending cases be disposed of, he said. "Judges can go on leave but not courts. They should remain functional for at least 300 days in a year and then only the five crore cases pending in the courts will be disposed of. It should not happen that the entire court goes on vacation," he told reporters. "This was the practice during the British period when the judges went back home, so they declared a two-month holiday for courts like schools. If the court remains open then pending cases will be disposed of in a speedy manner. Currently, courts remain open for 200 days (per year). If a reform takes place then they will remain functional for at least 300 days," he added. Asked about the controversy over the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer film

Govt needs to bring National Judicial Appointments Comission: Manoj Jha

Disagreeing with current collegium system, RJD member of parliament from Rajya Sabha Manoj Jha said that with the new changes, the government needs to bring the Judicial Appointments Commission bill

Vacancies in judiciary to linger till a new system is created, says Rijiju

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the issue of vacancies and appointments in the higher judiciary would continue to linger till such time a new system is created for the same. Replying to questions in the Upper House of Parliament, the law minister said the Centre has limited powers over appointments of judges. As on December 9, 777 judges are working in the high courts against the sanctioned strength of 1,108, leaving a vacancy of 331 (30 per cent). In the Supreme Court (as on December 5), against the sanctioned strength of 34 judges, 27 are working, leaving seven vacancies. Giving answers to supplementaries during the Question Hour, Rijiju said the total number of cases pending in various courts is about to touch five crore. He observed that the impact of such a huge pendency of court cases on the public is obvious. The minister pointed out that the Centre has taken various measures to reduce the pendency of cases. "Currently, the government has li

SC collegium recommends 3 chief justices, 2 judges of HCs for elevation

The five judges who have been recommended by the six-member Collegium led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud for elevation as apex court judges include three chief justices and two judges of different high courts. The Collegium's recommendations, if accepted by the Centre, will raise the total number of judges in the apex court to 33 against the sanctioned strength of 34, including the CJI. The five judges whose names have been recommended are Justice Pankaj Mithal, Justice Sanjay Karol, Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Manoj Misra. Of them, the senior-most is Justice Pankaj Mithal who took over as Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court on October 14 this year. Born on June 17, 1961, Justice Mithal is a 1982 commerce graduate from Allahabad University. He completed his LLB in 1985 from Meerut College and enrolled as an advocate in the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh the same year. He started practising in Allahabad High Court in 1985 and served

Selective arguments

Executive and judiciary need to find common ground

SC grants anticipatory bail to Raj Kundra, others in pornography case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to businessman Raj Kundra and others, including actors Sherlyn Chopra and Poonam Pandey, in connection with an FIR against them for allegedly distributing pornographic videos. A bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna also directed Kundra and the other accused to cooperate in the investigation. "Having heard the counsel for the parties, we are of the view that the petitioners may be granted anticipatory bail," the bench said. Senior advocate R Basant, appearing for one of the petitioners, submitted that a chargesheet has already been filed in the case and the accused are cooperating with the police in the investigation. The top court had earlier granted interim protection from arrest to Kundra in the case. Kundra had been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, Indecent Representation of Women (Prevention) Act and Information Technology Act for allegedly distributing/ transmitting sexually explicit ...

CJI Chandrachud inaugurates 10 district court digitisation hubs in Odisha

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Monday virtually inaugurated 10 district court digitisation hubs (DCDH) in Odisha, and said that modernisation of judiciary is the need of the hour. With Monday's inauguration, a total of 15 DCDHs have now become functional in the state, with each catering to a neighbouring district, thus covering all 30 district courts. Appreciating the information and communication technology (ICT) measures adopted by the Orissa High Court under the leadership of its Chief Justice S Muralidhar, he said, "Digitisation should be accompanied by a push for e-filing of cases." He also said that the Orissa High Court, with its digitisation initiatives, is now a "role model" for all other high courts of the country. "Very soon, the Orissa High Court would be mentoring the entire judiciary of the nation in the field of digitisation," he added.

Delhi HC reserves order on PIL seeking ban on deities' images on walls

The Delhi High Court reserved its order in a plea against the practice of sticking gods' images and posters on walls in order to prevent public urination, spitting, and throwing garbage

Manish Tewari gives adjournment notice in LS on face-off with judiciary

Amid the ongoing friction on the issue of appointment of judges, the Supreme Court told the Centre that Collegium system was the "law of the land", which should be followed

UP to have integrated court complexes in 10 districts; Rs 400 cr earmarked

The chief minister reportedly said the number of courts was increased to ensure the delivery of speedy justice

Laws passed in haste, court's comments not good, says Kharge in Rajya Sabha

Speaking on Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar's first day as the Rajya Sabha Chairman, Leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said that he hoped that no law will be passed in haste

Must create multitude of equitable ways for different groups: CJI

'In order to make sure that we are providing equal access to justice, attention must be paid to the design and administration of the judicial set-up'

Power of people was undone, world doesn't know of any such instance: V-P

Dhankhar said the doctrine of separation of powers is fundamental to "our governance"

As CJI constitutes an all-women bench, what's the status of women in law?

Shrinking numbers: A third of judges in subordinate courts are women, but only 13.2% in high courts & 12.5% in SC

SC flags concerns about ECI autonomy and 'lightning speed' CEC appointment

The SC's observations on the appointment of Election Commissioners have focused attention on one of India's most respected institutions

Need to learn to trust district judiciary, says CJI D Y Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Saturday stressed the need to learn to trust the district judiciary, saying it would truly answer the needs of common citizens who seek access to justice. Justice Chandrachud, the 50th CJI, said the district judiciary is as important in the affairs of the nation's judicial system as is the Supreme Court and high courts. Speaking at a function organised by the Bar Council of India (BCI) to felicitate him on being appointed as the CJI, Justice Chandrachud talked about the use of technology in judiciary, district judiciary, judicial infrastructure, legal education and women in the judicial system. The CJI said an independent bar is inextricably linked with the independence of judiciary and the reason for that is as judges "we have no personal defence or a platform to defend ourselves". Justice Chandrachud said district judiciary is the first point of interface between the judiciary and common citizen. "So the process of dispensing justice is

Aadhaar Act must be amended to give remedies, says Justice Abhay Oka

Justice Abhay Oka of the Supreme Court on Saturday said the Aadhaar Act must be amended to provide remedies to those who are deprived of the important document and to make it "citizen-centric". He was speaking at a seminar on 'Dispute Resolution Mechanism in Telecom, Broadcasting and Cyber-Sector Issue, Approach and Way Forward' organized by Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). Justice Oka rued the lack of "legal literacy" among the educated class and said people "silently suffer injustice" as they do not avail remedies for problems. In 2019, the appellate jurisdiction relating to the Aadhaar mechanism was assigned to the TDSAT. "The Aadhaar Act, 2016 provides for securing the confidentiality of the information supplied by the citizens to the authority. When one applies for the Aadhaar card, one needs to supply various information and data. So the Act provides for securing the confidentiality of the information," said Justice Oka. There are restrictions on sharin

SC says rising trend to scandalise courts; issues contempt notices

There is a rising "trend" to scandalise courts, the Supreme Court said on Friday while issuing contempt notices, including to two advocates, for allegedly attributing motive to a Madhya Pradesh High Court judge in a matter related to lease of fishing rights. Taking strong exception that the endeavour is to allegedly scandalise the court, the apex court said a judge is not "infallible" and may have passed a wrong order which can be set aside later, but attributing motives to the judge cannot be permitted. "There is a trend to scandalise the court which is rising," a bench of justices S K Kaul and A S Oka orally observed. "You have attributed motive to the chief justice of the high court for passing an order which may be right or may be wrong," the top court observed. The Supreme Court was hearing a plea against the order passed in August by a Madhya Pradesh High Court division bench of which its chief justice was a part. It also issued notices including to an advocate-on-record (Ao