Page 3 - Judicial Infrastructure

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

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

US court reprimands judge for conduct during Parkland school shooting trial

The Florida Supreme Court publicly reprimanded the judge who oversaw the penalty trial of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz on Monday for showing bias toward the prosecution. The unanimous decision followed a June recommendation from the Judicial Qualifications Commission. That panel had found that Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer violated several rules governing judicial conduct during last year's trial in her actions toward Cruz's public defenders. The six-month trial ended with Cruz receiving a receiving a life sentence for the 2018 murder of 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after the jury could not unanimously agree that he deserved a death sentence. The 15-member commission found that Scherer unduly chastised lead public defender Melisa McNeill and her team, wrongly accused one Cruz attorney of threatening her child, and improperly embraced members of the prosecution in the courtroom after the trial's conclusion. The commission, ...

Israel takes major step in Netanyahu's plan to overhaul judicial system

Israel's parliament on Monday approved the first major law in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious plan to overhaul the country's justice system, triggering a new burst of mass protests and drawing accusations that he was pushing the country toward authoritarian rule. The vote, passed unanimously by Netanyahu's ruling coalition after the opposition stormed out of the hall, deepened the fissures that have tested the delicate social ties that bind the country, rattled the cohesion of its powerful military and repeatedly drew concern from Israel's closest ally, the United States. It came just hours following Netanyahu's release from a hospital. As Netanyahu's allies celebrated their victory and vowed to press ahead with more changes, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and opponents said they would challenge the new law in the Supreme Court. It's a sad day, opposition leader Yair Lapid said after the vote. This is not a victory for the ...

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

Verdict is out: High Court appointments at 9-year high, shows data

At the SC, against a sanctioned strength of 34, 27 judges, including the Chief Justice of India, are working

Govt doing everything possible to strengthen judicial system: Kiren Rijiju

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday said the government is doing everything possible to strengthen the judicial system and have a "very close, cordial relationship" with the judiciary. The remarks come close on the heels of the minister attacking the collegium system of appointment of judges and describing it as something alien to the Constitution. Addressing the Constitution Day event at the Supreme Court in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud, Rijiju said, "We work as a team from the government's side under the visionary leadership of the prime minister." "We are doing everything possible to strengthen the Indian judicial system and also to have a very close, cordial relationship with the Indian judiciary," he said. Rijiju said he is fortunate to have shared a very cordial relationship with the previous two CJIs N V Ramana and U U Lalit, and incumbent Chandrachud as well as the judges of the Supreme Court and high ...

Assam to spend Rs 300 cr to upgrade judicial infra in districts: CM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that his government will spend Rs 300 crore in the next three years for developing and upgrading the infrastructure of the district and sub-divisional courts in the state. He also urged people to move courts only for serious matters and not overburden the judiciary with frivolous cases. The state government will spend a total of Rs 300 crore in the next three years to develop and upgrade the infrastructure of the district and sub-divisional judicial courts, Sarma said at the inauguration of the newly constructed court building of Barpeta district. Gauhati High Court Chief Justice R M Chhaya was present on the occasion. Sarma appealed to the people to opt for out-of-court, traditional system of solving disputes through mediation by family elders in less serious matters so that the formal judicial system can dedicate its workforce and time to issues of serious nature such as murder and rape. Cases of less serious nature are ...

Inefficiency, out of court

Poor governance is adding to judiciary's woes

SC seeks Centre's stand on plea regarding Judicial Vista construction

A Bench of Justices Vineet Saran and JK Maheshwari asked the Centre to apprise its stand on the petition

Making efforts to fill up vacancies, improve judicial infrastructure: CJI

Justice Ramana said he wanted to see that there are no pending vacancies either in the high courts, Supreme Court or the district judiciary

CJI rues lack of basic judicial infra, stresses need of filling vacancies

The CJI was speaking as the chief guest at the National Seminar on Adjudication of IPR Disputes in India which was organised by the Delhi High Court

Don't leave HCs at state govts' mercy for infra funds, SC tells Centre

The Supreme Court Wednesday asked the Centre not to leave high courts at state governments' mercy for funding of judicial infrastructure

Nearly 20% judges have no place to sit, 42% courts lack toilets: CJI

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Saturday made some shocking revelations

Centre has taken various decisions to improve judicial infra: Rijiju

Rijiju was speaking at the inauguration of two wings of the annexe building at the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court.

SC says India can't have a dual judicial system for rich and poor

The Supreme Court on Thursday said India can't have a dual judicial system -- one for the rich and the other for the poor, and pulled up Madhya Pradesh Police for attempting to shield Govind Singh

Portents after the vaccine rollout

Since the lockdown in March last year, a large section of the legal profession and litigants has found that virtual courts (VCs) are a beneficial innovation and should be institutionalised

Poor infra, staff shortages: Here's what is slowing down fast-track courts

Fast track courts (FTCs) were first recommended by the Eleventh Finance Commission in 2000 "to substantially bring down, if not eliminate, pendency in the district and subordinate courts"

Justice delayed

Supreme Court intervention often takes too long