Page 10 - Kiren Rijiju

AI can help arbitrators in document review, analysis, research: Rijiju

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday batted for institutional arbitration in the country and pointed at loopholes in "ad hoc" arbitration, saying such proceedings are susceptible to court interventions which delay the final outcome. He also said artificial intelligence (AI) can help arbitrators in tasks such as document review and analysis, legal research, and drafting of awards. Addressing a Delhi Arbitration Weekend event at the Delhi High Court, he said majority of the people go for "ad hoc" arbitrations where the proceedings are not governed by pre-determined rules. As a result, these proceedings are susceptible to court intervention at various stages which leads to delay in final decision for the parties involved. On the other hand, Rijiju pointed out, institutional arbitrations are regulated by the rules of an institution that provide for a more structured and secure process. In addition, parties can benefit from the expertise of the arbitral institution having good quality ..

Whole ecosystem is in full swing once again: Rijiju's swipe at Congress

In an apparent swipe at the Congress after it questioned the appointment of a retired Supreme Court judge as a governor, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said the "whole ecosystem" is once again in "full swing" over the issue. They should better understand that they can no longer treat India as their "personal fiefdom", the minister said, without naming anyone. The government on Sunday appointed six new faces as governors, including Justice S Abdul Nazeer (retd), who was part of the historic 2019 Ayodhya verdict, and four BJP leaders, besides carrying out a rejig of the gubernatorial posts in seven states. Nazeer has been appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh. The Congress attacked the government over Nazeer's appointment and called the move a "great threat" to the independence of the judiciary. Taking to Twitter, Rijiju said India will be guided by the provisions of the Constitution. "The Whole Eco-system is once again in full swing on the appointment of a Governo

Two HC judges elevated to SC, total strength of apex court reaches 34

Two high court chief justices were on Friday elevated to the Supreme Court, bringing the total strength of the apex court to its maximum of 34 judges. "As per the provisions under the Constitution of India, Hon'ble President of India has appointed the following Chief Justices of High Courts as Judges of the Supreme Court. My best to them: Rajesh Bindal, Chief Justice, Allahabad HC and Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice, Gujarat HC," Law Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted. Once they take oath, the top court will achieve its full strength of 34 judges, including the Chief Justice of India. Their names were recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium last month. Last week, five judges were appointed to the Supreme Court.

Proposals for transfer of 10 HC judges under process: Kiren Rijiju

Proposals for transfer of 10 high court judges are under various stages of processing, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju told Lok Sabha on Friday. Rijiju's statement comes days after the Supreme Court expressed displeasure over Centre's delay in clearing recommendations for transfer of HC judges, saying it was a very serious issue. In his written reply, the minister asserted that "no timeline" has been prescribed in the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) for transfer of judges from one high court to another. "As on February 06, 2023, proposals for transfer of 10 high court judges from one high court to other high courts are under various stages of processing," Rijiju said. He said judges of high courts are transferred according to the procedure laid down in the MoP prepared in 1998. As per the existing MoP, the proposal for transfer of high court judges is initiated by the Chief Justice of India in consultation with four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, he pointed out. The MoP further

Pending court cases near 50 mn, initiatives being taken to expedite: Govt

Pending cases across various courts in the country are moving towards the five crore-mark with an over 4.32 crore backlog in subordinate courts, according to data shared by the government in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. In separate written replies, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said as on December 31, 2022, the total pending cases in district and subordinate courts was pegged at over 4.32 crore. He also said over 69,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, while there is a backlog of more than 59 lakh cases in the country's 25 high courts. Citing details available on the Supreme Court website, Rijiju said 69,511 cases were pending in the top court as on February 1. "There are 59,87,477 cases pending in high courts across the country, as per the information available on National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) on February 1, 2023," he said. Out of these, 10.30 lakh cases were pending in the Allahabad High Court -- the biggest high court of the country. The Sikkim High Court has the least num

Govt returned 10 proposals reiterated by SC Collegium: Govt in RS

Amid an ongoing tiff between the Executive and the Judiciary over the procedure to appoint judges, the government has asked the Supreme Court Collegium to reconsider 10 proposals reiterated by it, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju told Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Out of these 10 proposals, the SC Collegium has reiterated its earlier recommendation for appointment in three cases. On the remaining seven reiterated proposals, the collegium has sought additional inputs from the high court collegium, he said in a written reply to a question. "Ten proposals reiterated by SCC (Supreme Court Collegium) were recently referred back to the SCC for reconsideration," he said. In view of various reports and input received by the government, which in its opinion warrant further consideration by the Collegium, the Centre has sent such reiterated cases for reconsideration as was done in the past as well, Rijiju explained. "There have been instances in the past when the SC Collegium had agreed to the views ...

No provision for reservation in judiciary, says Kiren Rijiju in Parliament

The government informed Parliament on Thursday that the existing policy does not provide for reservation in the judiciary but judges, especially collegium members, have been told to keep in mind sections of people who are not represented adequately while making their recommendations for appointments of judges. During Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, DMK leader Tiruchi Siva asked if the government would consider the possibility of introducing a reservation policy in the appointment of judges. Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju said, "As per the existing policy and provision, there is no reservation in the Indian judiciary." "However, I have already reminded all the honourable judges, especially the collegium members, to keep in mind while recommending the names to include members from backward communities, women and other categories which are not represented adequately in the Indian judiciary," he added. Responding to a separate query on the pendency of cases in Gujarat, Ministe

Bombay HC dismisses PIL seeking action on VP Dhankhar, Law Minister Rijiju

The Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed a public interest litigation filed against Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar for their remarks on judiciary and the collegium system for appointment of judges. The plea filed by Bombay Lawyers Association had claimed Rijiju and Dhankhar showed lack of faith in the Constitution with their remarks and conduct. It had sought for orders to restrain Dhankhar from discharging duty as the vice president, and Rijiju from discharging duty as cabinet minister for the central government. The PIL claimed the "frontal attack not just on the judiciary but the Constitution" by the two executive officials has lowered the prestige of the Supreme Court in public. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice S V Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne briefly heard the petitioner's lawyer, Ahmed Abdi, and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh for the respondents. "We are not inclined to grant any relief. The petition is

Rahul questions rise in Adani's fortunes, says happened during BJP's rule

A belligerent Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday led a blistering opposition attack in Lok Sabha over the Hindenburg report, claiming that the meteoric rise in Gautam Adani's fortunes happened after the BJP came to power in 2014 as he rose in the global rich list from the 609th to the second spot eventually. The Congress leader's remarks drew a sharp response from the treasury benches, with Law Minister Kiren Rijiju asking him not to level "wild allegations" and furnish proof of his claims. Outside Parliament, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Rahul Gandhi of making baseless, shameless and reckless allegations and charged that the Congress and the Gandhi family were involved in "big scams" which "tarnished" the image of the country. Speaker Om Birla disapproved of the Congress leader displaying two pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - one in which he can be seen with Adani inside a plane and the other in which he is getting down from a plane which has an Adani logo on it - to ...

Adani saga in Lok Sabha: BJP takes exception to Rahul's 'magic' jibe

Gandhi said that during the yatra people also asked him how Adani's net worth incre­ased from $8 billion to $140 billion between 2014 and 2022

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 ...

Country run by people, guided by Constitution: Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

The Union Law Minister attended the 150th anniversary of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association in Prayagraj

672,000 cases pending in district, subordinate courts for 20 yrs: Rijiju

Nearly 6.72 lakh cases are pending in various district and subordinate courts for more than 20 years, government told Lok Sabha on Friday. In case of High Courts, there are 2,94,547 such cases. In a written reply, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said, "The number of cases pending for more than 20 years in the Supreme Court of India, as per the data retrieved from the Integrated Case Management Information System (ICMIS) as on January 27, 2023, is 208 cases." "In case of the (25) high courts, there are 2,94,547 cases and 6,71,543 cases in the district and subordinate courts that are pending for more than 20 years as per data available on National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) on February 01, 2023," he said. So far as the reasons for such long pendency of court cases is concerned, the Supreme Court has stated that there is no conspicuous reason which can be depicted for long pendency of cases, he said. "Pendency of court cases is a multi-faceted problem. Due to the increase in the population

No proposal to use remote voting machine in upcoming election: Rijiju in LS

There is no proposal to use the remote electronic voting machine (RVM) in the "upcoming election" in the country and it is also not proposed for the use of Non-Resident Indian (NRI) voters, Lok Sabha was informed on Friday. Responding to a question in the Lower House of Parliament, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in a written reply that according to the Election Commission (EC), it has "not proposed to introduce the RVM for the upcoming election in the country". Several assembly polls are due this year, while the Lok Sabha elections will be held in 2024. The minister said the EC has also informed that the RVM is not proposed for the use of NRI voters. Rijiju noted that public sector unit Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), under the guidance of the EC and the Technical Expert Committee of the poll panel, has developed a prototype of the Multi Constituency Remote Electronic Voting Machine. The EC, he said, had circulated a concept note to all national and state political

Five names recommended by Collegium for SC to be cleared soon: Centre

The Centre on Friday assured the Supreme Court that the Collegium's recommendation for the appointment of five judges in the apex court will be cleared soon. Attorney General R Venkataramani told a bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka that warrant of appointments of these five names is expected to be issued soon. The bench expressed displeasure over the delay by the Centre in clearing recommendations for transfer of high court judges, saying "it is a very, very serious issue". "Don't make us take a stand which will be very uncomfortable," the bench observed. The apex court, which was hearing a matter related to the Centre's alleged delay in clearing names recommended by the Collegium for appointment as judges to the Supreme Court and high courts, has posted it for further hearing on February 13 The Collegium on December 13 last year recommended five judges for elevation to the apex court -- Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal, Patna High Court Chief Justice Sanjay

PIL in Bombay HC against Dhankhar, Rijiju for recent remarks over judiciary

The Bombay Lawyers Association has filed a plea in the Bombay High Court against Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju for their remarks against the Judiciary

Union Budget 2023: Kiren Rijiju hails outlay of Rs 7,000 crore for e-courts

Rijiju has termed the allocation as "unprecedented", which will create paperless courts for faster delivery of justice

SC to hear pleas against BBC docu ban on Feb 6, Rijiju slams petitioners

The Supreme Court will hear next Monday pleas challenging the Centre's decision to block a controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots even as Law Minister Kiren attacked the petitioners for "wasting precious time" of the top court. Taking note of the submissions of lawyer M L Sharma and senior advocate C U Singh, appearing for veteran journalist N Ram, TMC MP Mahua Moitra and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan, seeking urgent listing of the petitions against the Centre's ban on the two-episode BBC series using its emergency powers, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said it will hear the matter on February 6. One of the petitioners also alleged that the ban on the documentary 'India: The Modi question' was "malafide, arbitrary and unconstitutional". Reacting strongly, Rijiju tweeted "this is how they waste the precious time of Hon'ble Supreme Court where thousands of common citizens are waiting and seeking dates for justice".

Those moving SC against BBC documentary ban wasting its time, says Rijiju

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday hit out at those moving the Supreme Court challenging the Centre's decision to block a BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying this is how they "waste" precious time of the top court. Responding on Twitter to news reports that veteran journalist N Ram, activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan and others have moved the Supreme Court challenging the Centre's decision to block the documentary "India: The Modi Question" on social media, Rijiju said that "this is how they waste the precious time of Hon'ble Supreme Court where thousands of common citizens are waiting and seeking dates for justice". A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Monday took note of the submissions of lawyer M L Sharma and senior advocate C U Singh, appearing for N Ram and Bhushan, seeking urgent listing of their separate PILs on the issue. On January 21, the Centre issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the ...

You are bound to follow collegium decision: former SC judge to Rijiju

This comes after Kiren Rijiju criticized the SC's collegium system of seeking RAW and IB inputs on the appointment of judges in the High Courts