After more than two months the Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa has agreed on its committee make-ups including the positions of chairman and Bar Council of India (BCI) delegate, as youngest member Karan Bhosale is proposing to radically increase computerisation through a new IT committee, roll-out wireless internet to the Bombay High Court and hike the welfare fund pay-outs.

Delhi Bar Council’s incumbent chairman and eminent criminal lawyer K K Sareen (pictured) passed away on Saturday in Delhi at the age of 64 after suffering from a year-long heart ailment.

All government respondents have now formally filed their representations through senior counsels in the Chennai writ petition case against foreign law firms when the matter was listed for hearing on 9 June after the end of one month of Madras High Court vacations on 7 June.

The former Indian chairman and six other directors, managers and staff of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) have been sentenced to two years imprisonment for causing death by negligence in the world’s biggest industrial gas leak disaster in Bhopal in 1984 that had killed up to tens of thousands.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has sought time to respond to a public interest litigation (PIL) in Delhi High Court, which alleges that the Registrar of Companies (ROC) discriminates against lawyers by only allowing chartered accounts, company secretaries or cost accountants to certify electronic submissions to the corporate registrar.

Twenty-seven-year-old Mumbai advocate and ex-Amarchand Mangaldas, Udwadia Udeshi and Wadia Ghandy lawyer Karan Bhosale has been elected into the Maharashtra & Goa Bar Council alongside 24 other advocates, while sole law firm candidate Hitesh Jain lost the election by 19 places.

The Government has decided to set up special fast track courts for the quick disposal of road accident insurance claim in order to provide compensation within 30 to 45 days in the light of alarming increase in the victims of motor accidents.

Chief Justice of India (CJI)-designate Sarosh Homi Kapadia will work during the Supreme Court’s two-month summer vacation to streamline the court’s functioning and deal with staff and court problems.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), which has been marred by controversies and an early dissolution in January, finally elected a committee and president as Ram Jethmalani rose to victory today by defeating his rival Raju Ramachandran by 367 votes.

The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in its battle against Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL).

The bench decided two-to-one that the private memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the brothers was not binding on the companies, the shareholders or the Government, according to preliminary media reports, and that RIL and RNRL will have to renegotiate the prices of the gas supply agreement that has been subject of the dispute.

Mumbai terror attack gunman Mohammad Ajmal Kasab has been sentenced to death by hanging today, although appeals could be on the cards and India has not executed anyone since 2004.

The first hearing in the Chennai writ petition against 31 foreign law firms has run into the Madras High Court holidays and will not be heard for at least another month, although several other interested parties have now also pledged to file affidavits in support of the petition.

Supreme Court judge Sarosh Homi Kapadia will take over as Chief Justice of India (CJI) from outgoing CJI K G Balakrishnan on 12 May 2010, while the Supreme Court will have its first female judge in almost four years, the government of India announced today.

The Chennai public interest litigation (PIL) against 31 foreign law firms that was scheduled for Government respondents’ filing of replies on 8 April remains unheard to date owing to judicial delays.

Solicitor general of India and ex-officio Bar Council of India (BCI) member Gopal Subramanium was unanimously elected to serve as the BCI chairman for two years, following Suraj Narain Prasad Sinha in the position.

Maharashtra & Goa (M&G) Bar Council veteran Manubhai Paragji Vashi has called for new elections in a letter, as the M&G Advocate General has begun investigating claims of illegality in the Bar Council elections after 4,000 votes were invalidated.

Delhi Bar Council members Vijay Sondhi and Rakesh Tiku have filed a writ petition to order the Bar Council of India (BCI) to settle a dispute challenging the election of R S Rana as member delegate to the BCI.

The preliminary count for the Maharashtra & Goa Bar Council election has completed with five clear front-runner candidates, although one in ten ballot papers have been invalidated amid a last-minute Supreme Court order.

K K Sareen has been elected chairman and Jaiveer Nagar vice-chairman of the Delhi Bar Council while Rajinder Singh Rana has been declared member delegate for the Bar Council of India (BCI).

Elections to the executive posts of the Delhi Bar Council will be held on Monday at 4.15 pm in the High Court office of the Bar Council of Delhi, after having been pulled earlier this month due to “illegality and irregularity” charges against the election committee members.