Bar

Aadhaar faces its final SC test, as petitioners throw banyan's worth of shade

The final hearings in the challenges against the beleaguered Aadhaar scheme have begun before a five-judge Supreme Court constitution bench, with petitioners again commencing their attacks against the pseudo-compulsory ID card scheme. Attacks included charges that Aadhaar would “terrorise citizens”,...

BCI gives 4 weeks to take 13th foreign qualifier bar exam, again hides shamefully exorbitant application fee

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has yet again hidden the exorbitant application fees of at least $2,000 for the February 2018-scheduled 13th qualifying exam for Indians holding foreign law degrees, from its notification announcing the exam.

Super-late bar council elections may now finally happen: Maha bar council deletes 65k “fake” lawyers as Feb deadline for election voter list approaches

The Maharashtra & Goa bar council has rejected 65,000 persons who had been advocates enrolled on its state rolls, with 17 days to go before closing its voter list in the run-up to long-overdue state bar council (SBC) elections.

After AG, BCI claimed all clear, KKV admits all’s not well in SC after all

Just yesterday, BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra and attorney general KK Venugopal claimed ‘all was well’ in the Supreme Court of India.

Rajiv Shakdher J back to Delhi from Madras HC after controversial transfer

20 months after Justice Rajiv Shakdher had been transferred from the Delhi high court to the Madras high court despite protests from senior counsel at losing Shakdher, he is now coming back to Delhi.

Human Rights Watch vs Aadhaar: Ensure Access to essential services, investigate security lapse

US-headquartered NGO Humans Rights Watch has published an analysis of Aadhaar’s human rights implications. Human Rights Watch reported: India: Identification Project Threatens Rights | Human Rights Watch A villager goes through the process of a fingerprint scanner for the Unique Identification (UID)...

BCI chairman claims: Everything’s totally fine now at the SC

For what it’s worth, Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra told media today that he and other BCI members met with junior judges and the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra in a “congenial atmosphere, everything will be sorted out. Bar council’s role is very limited, judges have assured it there will be no problem at all”.

SCBA prez Vikas Singh speaks to CJI, who promises ‘collegiality’ in apex court

SCBA president Vikas Singh on Sunday evening has met and sided with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, chastising the four next-senior-most judges for holding an “ill-planned” press conference that said “nothing substantial”.

BCI gets stuck into SC rebellion: 7 BCI members will talk to junior SC judges • NaMo staffer refused entry to CJI house

The points raised by judges number 2-5 of the apex court on Friday were extremely important and were a threat to democracy, which should not be politicised by either party (which is presumably directed mostly at the non-BJP parties), said Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra.

Rebellion in the ranks: Seniormost SC judges turn against CJI and towards press as conjectures fly over MCI, Loya & more [READ LETTER]

The four most senior Supreme Court judges were, in an unprecedented move, “left with no other option” but to call a press conference after their private meeting with the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra earlier today apparently failed to yield desired results for them.

Collegium welcomes senior counsel Indu Malhotra, KM Joseph J to Supreme Court

Senior advocate Indu Malhotra and Uttrakhand High Court chief justice KM Joseph have been recommended as new judges of the Supreme Court.

SC to take yet another stab at fixing its earlier section 377 decision

The Supreme Court on Monday referred to a larger Bench a writ petition filed by five petitioners to quash Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalises homosexuality.

Shooting the messenger: UIDAI files FIR against reporter who exposed lax Aadhaar security

The Indian Express has reported that a Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) deputy director has filed an FIR against Tribune reporter Rachna Khaira, who had reported on the sale of administrator usernames and passwords to websites having full access to the Aadhaar database for Rs 500 last week.

Lawyer warns WhatsApp of prosecution if 'offensive' middle-finger emoticon not removed

An advocate Gurmeet Singh has sent a legal notice to instant message application WhatsApp asking it to remove the ‘middle finger’ emoticon from its list of emoticons in 15 days while WhatsApp has responded that it wouldn’t alter its emoticon list, reported Live Law.

No 2G scam: As CBI court acquits all accused, Etisalat lawyer Vijay Sondhi predicts appeal is all but certain

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal declared to the media that he had been proven right by the CBI court that acquitted all of the accused in the 2G Spectrum case yesterday after six years since the case was filed, reported The Wire.

First jailed sitting HC judge CS Karnan completes 6-month prison sentence, released today

Former Calcutta high court justice CS Karnan, the first sitting high court judge to be jailed, finished his six month prison sentence today in Kolkata’s presidency prison and was released today, reported the Express.

Defending rape ‘all about jugaad’ and ‘bribes’, explains anon lawyer in article about the hardest jobs in litigation

Snigdha Poonam in the The Hindustan Times reported on the ethical and legal dilemmas faced by lawyers defending those laccused of rape in this excellent read, which also includes this interesting passage on corruption in courts:

Kerala HC upholds school students’ suspension for reportedly consensual hug

The Kerala High Court has upheld a Thiruvananthapuram school’s decision to suspend two Class XII students — a boy and a girl — on charges of public display of affection by hugging during a school festival. The bench of Justice Shaji P Chaly quashed the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights’ order asking St Thomas Central School, a CBSE school in the state capital, to take back the two suspended students. The school management, Mar Thoma Church, had moved the court against the child rights panel. […]

Clueless Trump judicial nominee flunks basic legal knowledge, withdraws: Could a similar judicial appointments process be a good idea in India?

A video of Donald Trump’s nominee for US federal court judgeship getting grilled by a Republican senator, who is an ex-law professor, and failing to answer basic question of law has gone viral, resulting in Matthew Peterson withdrawing his name from contention . See the rather amusing video below, v...

CJI meets legal hacks, hints that may allow journos to live tweet from SC courtrooms in future

Chief Justice of India (CJI) _Dipak Misra_ on Monday hinted at possibly allowing journalists to publish news straight from courtrooms on Twitter from their mobile phones, live during case proceedings in the Supreme Court.