Page 4 - Judges

Apple illegally interrogated staff about union, labour board judge rules

In a Tuesday decision, a National Labor Relations Board judge wrote that Apple violated the rights of employees at its World Trade Center store in New York City

Day before retirement, SC judge Justice Joseph pronounces two verdicts

Supreme Court judge Justice KM Joseph on Thursday pronounced two verdicts, a day ahead of his superannuation. Justice Joseph, who is set to retire on Friday, was accorded a warm farewell by the Supreme Court and lawyers bodies on May 19, the last working day before the top court closed for the summer vacation. On Thursday, Justice Joseph, along with Justice BV Nagarathna, pronounced two verdicts including one involving Coal India Limited in which the bench ruled that the Competition Act, 2002 also applies to the public sector company. Justice Nagarathna, after the pronouncement of the verdict said, "It was an honour to share the bench with Justice Joseph. I wish him a happy and active retired life." Justice V Ramasubramanian, who is set to retire on June 29, also pronounced three verdicts together with Justice Pankaj Mithal. Justice Ramasubramanian, was also given farewell by the Supreme Court and the bar bodies on May 19. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had paid glowing ..

President Murmu appoints 4 additional judges to Madras High Court

President Droupadi Murmu on Friday appointed four additional judges to the Madras High Court, including P Dhanabal, the Registrar General of the High Court. "...the President is pleased to appoint S/Shri (i) Ramasamy Sakthivel, (ii) P. Dhanabal, (iii) Chinnasamy Kumarappan and (iv) Kandasamy Rajasekar, Judicial Officers as Additional Judges of the Madras High Court for a period of two years with effect from the date they assume charge of their respective offices," read a notification issued by the government. Additional judges usually serve a term of two years before they are made permanent judges of high courts. The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the names of the four judicial officers for appointment as judges of the Madras High Court on March 21. The appointments came a day after Arjun Ram Meghwal assumed charge as the Law Minister replacing Kiren Rijiju. The president appointed two Supreme Court judges on Thursday.

I am not a person to retire, will start new inning': SC Justice MR Shah

Fourth senior-most Supreme Court judge Justice M R Shah on Monday got emotional in the courtroom on his last day in office, saying he is not a person to retire and will start a new inning in life. Sitting on the ceremonial bench presided over by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice Shah broke down at the end of his address and quoted lines from Raj Kapoor's iconic song "jeena yaha, marna yaha". "I am not a person to retire and I am going to start a new inning of my life. I am praying to the almighty God to give me strength and courage and good health to play the new inning," said Justice Shah. "Before parting, I would like to remember a song by Raj Kapoor kal khel me hum ho na ho, gardish me tare rahenge sada', he said choking with emotions. With the retirement of Justice Shah, who was appointed to the top court on November 2, 2018, the number of judges in the top court will now come down to 32, including the CJI. A day before, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari demitted the office. The

Streaming of court proceedings has flipside, judges need to be trained: CJI

CJI DY Chandrachud on Saturday said live streaming of court proceedings has flipside and judges need to be trained as every word they say is in the public realm in the age of social media Addressing the National Conference on Digitisation, Paperless Courts and e-initiatives at the Odisha Judicial Academy here, CJI Chandrachud said courts across the country are likely to become paperless soon. "We have been using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for transcription of the proceedings of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court. The transcript is provided to lawyers to clean up any errors," he said. "AI is replete with possibilities. How do you expect a judge to digest the evidence in a statutory appeal in a record involving 15,000 pages? AI can prepare the entire record for you," he said, adding that many courts across the world were experimenting with AI. However, CJI Chandrachud said AI has a flip side as well. "For instance, it would be very difficult in allowing artificial ...

Kiren Rijiju announces appointment and transfer of judges in High Courts

Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju announced the appointment and transfer of judges in the High Courts on Thursday

Without preparing judgment, judge can't pronounce concluding portion: SC

A judicial officer cannot pronounce the concluding portion of a judgment in the open court without the entire text of the judgment being prepared or dictated, the Supreme Court has said. The top court also directed the sacking of a trail court judge in Karnataka found guilty of pronouncing the outcome of a case without preparing the judgment. The SC direction came on a plea filed by the Registrar General of the High Court of Karnataka who had challenged the HC's division bench order on the judge's reinstatement by quashing the termination order passed by its full court. Coming down heavily on the Karnataka High Court for "white-washing" serious charges, a SC bench of justices V Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal said the conduct of the judge is unacceptable. "It is true that some of the charges revolve around judicial pronouncements and the judicial decision-making processes and that they cannot per se, without anything more, form the foundation for departmental ...

No proposal to take help of retired judges in drafting legislations: Govt

There is no proposal to take the help of retired judges and senior advocates in drafting legislations, the government told Rajya Sabha on Thursday. In a written reply, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju also said Legislative Department in the Union Law Ministry has been taking necessary steps to ensure that legislative drafting is simple, plain, precise and unambiguous. "Efforts are also being made to aim at clarity of expressions and use of appropriate words and expressions," he said. Rijiju was asked whether the government was aware that one of the main reasons for litigation in high courts and the Supreme Court was the "defective and faulty drafting" of legislations containing provisions admitting more than one interpretations. He was also asked whether the government has any proposal to take the assistance of retired Supreme Court and high court judges as well as senior advocates in drafting new legislations for making them more accurate. The Legislative Department is mandated with ...

Political background not absolute bar to appoint judge: Govt cites SC order

The government on Friday said in Lok Sabha that the Supreme Court has observed in a recent order that political background by itself has "not been an absolute bar" to appoint an otherwise suitable person as a judge. It also said "generally", it is not a practice to seek Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) reports on proposals for appointment of judges in high courts and the Supreme Court except in "extraordinary circumstances, involving issues related to national security". In a written reply, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said according to the Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of judges of high courts, the proposals recommended by High Court Collegiums are to be considered in the light of "such other reports/inputs as may be available" to the government for assessing the suitability in respect of the names under consideration. "Accordingly, IB (Intelligence Bureau) inputs are obtained and provided to the Supreme Court Collegium for making assessment on the recommendees," he ...

Vivek Agnihotri to appear before Delhi HC over tweets against judge

Agnihotri had put out tweets against Justice Muralidhar. Pursuant to the tweets, Agnihotri had put alleging bias against Justice Muralidhar

FTX bankruptcy judge denies request for independent examiner in the case

The judge presiding over the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has denied a request by the U.S. bankruptcy trustee to appoint an independent examiner in the case. The trustee, who serves as a government watchdog in Chapter 11 reorganizations, argued that the company's financial affairs and business operations, including allegations of unprecedented fraud leading to its collapse, should be reviewed by a disinterested person, not left to an internal investigation. But Judge John Dorsey rejected the request on Wednesday. He agreed with FTX and its official committee of unsecured creditors that an examiner's work would be too costly and would duplicate investigations already under way by FTX's new leadership, the creditors committee and several federal agencies. "There is no question that if an examiner is appointed, the cost of the examination, given the scope suggested by the trustee at the hearing, would be in the tens of millions of dollars and would likely exceed 100 millio

Thousands march in Israel as Netanyahu allies push judicial overhaul

Thousands of Israelis protested outside the country's parliament on Monday ahead of a preliminary vote on a bill that would give politicians greater power over appointing judges, part of a judicial overhaul proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. The committee vote, expected to take place after a stormy session, marked the opening salvo by Netanyahu and his allies in a plan that has divided the country, triggered mass protests and even drawn concern from President Joe Biden. Trainloads of protesters arriving in Jerusalem streamed up escalators in the city's main train station chanting, democracy, cheering and whistling, and waving the national flag. A few hundred others gathered in protest at Jerusalem's Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray. In parliament, opposition lawmakers vocally protested the proposed reform to judge appointments ahead of a committee vote that would send the bill to the full parliament for a vote. During an unruly session, .

SC Collegium recommends 5 judges for elevation as Chief Justices of HCs

The Collegium's resolution said that the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court does not have representation amongst Chief Justices of High Courts since the retirement of Justice AM Margret

Aspersions should not be cast on appointment of Victoria as HC judge: Govt

Differences of opinion are a part of democracy and there are ways to find solutions to that, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Thursday in Rajya Sabha on whether there exists differences between the judiciary and the executive on the issue of appointment of judges. The government also said aspersions should not be cast on appointment of Victoria Gowri as a judge of the high court, asserting that she has been appointed through a process. Asked by TMC member Jawhar Sircar whether the appointment of Gowri was right even when she has been accused in public of making casteist remarks, of remarks against minorities, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal sought the indulgence of the chair. "I think there should be some decorum. An honourable judge has been duly appointed through a process. I don't think we, as honourable members here, should be casting aspersions of this nature. I seek your indulgence," Goyal said. Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the three wings of the state have to

Rijiju supports view that lawyers with political affiliation can be judges

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday appeared to support the view that lawyers with political affiliation can become judges. This comes amid a debate on the issue following a recent recommendation by the Supreme Court Collegium. Rijiju retweeted a post by Supreme Court advocate and former governor Swaraj Kaushal who said that in the past too, sitting members of Parliament representing political parties had been elevated as high court judges. "Justices K S Hegde and Baharul Islam were both sitting Congress MPs when they were appointed as HC judges. Justice V R Krishna Iyer was a Cabinet Minister in Kerala. Once you take the oath of office, you have to live by the oath," Kaushal had tweeted a couple of days ago. Kaushal tagged a news report which said that Madras High Court advocates had urged the SC Collegium to recall its proposal to elevate Victoria Gowri, who had been associated with the BJP, as a high court judge citing her alleged remarks against minorities and political ...

The Supreme Court's supremacy

It should not be challenged, yet judges should not select judges

Centre rejects Saurabh Kirpal's name for elevation as Delhi HC judge

On November 17, Kirpal told the media that his promotion had been delayed 'at least since 2017' due to his sexual orientation

Judges at grassroots hesitant to grant bail for fear of being targeted: CJI

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Saturday said Judges at the grassroots are reluctant to grant bail due to the sense of fear of being targeted for granting bail in heinous cases

A fresh beginning

Justice Chandrachud's term will be closely followed

SC dismisses plea to block Justice Chandrachud's appointment as next CJI

The petition sought contempt proceedings and criminal action against Justice Chandrachud, objected to CJI Lalit hearing the case