The first results of the Delhi Bar Council elections are in, with two candidates already safely past the post out of 129 candidates competing for 25 places.

Only 11 out of 186 articled clerks have passed the October solicitors examination set by the Bombay Incorporated Law Society, which is a significantly lower percentage than in previous years.

The Delhi Turf Twenty20 law firm cricket cup saw defending champion Luthra & Luthra and favourites Trilegal and Dua Associates get knocked out in the quarter finals, with Bhasin & Co, Desai & Diwanji, Titus & Co and Saikrishna qualifying for the semis.

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Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi’s former joint chief financial officer (CFO) and chief operating officer (COO) Bithika Anand has joined legal market services provider Rainmaker as founding director of a new business venture.

The Government will set up specialised high-value commercial courts in the large metros, Law Minister Veerappa Moily said today.

Khaitan & Co has advised motorbike maker Harley Davidson on its entry into India after a US firm’s referral of the iconic client.

The higher echelons of the judiciary voluntarily agreed to disclose their assets after a full court room meeting of Supreme Court judges yesterday. The move will allow the public to view the movable and immovable property of judges and dependants on the official website of the Supreme Court.

Bar Council of India chairman Suraj Narain Prasad Sinha has responded to Legally India readers’ comments to our interview with him of two weeks ago. He argues that top law students are depriving the bar and bench of talent by joining law firms and pleads that all lawyers should aim high in their careers.

Today’s Budget has introduced measures to give greater certainty to advance tax rulings to avoid litigation, which has been cautiously welcomed by Indian tax lawyers as appealing particularly to foreign investors.

The Competition Commission of India has begun its first cartel investigation since it was granted full powers, following Luthra & Luthra’s petition on behalf of the multiplex cinemas over their long-running dispute with Bollywood film producers and distributors.

The Lawyers Collective has emerged victorious in its bid to decriminalise homosexuality by overturning the so-called Section 377 law in the Delhi High Court this morning.

Law and Justice Minister Veerappa Moily wants India to “become the resource reservoir of the global legal fraternity” after upgrading the quality of its legal education system.

Former Solicitor General Goolam Vahanvati was appointed Attorney-General of India on Monday (8 June), giving AZB & Partners the second close family connection in that post.

The Bar Council of India has cemented its strong opposition to the entry of foreign law firms after its first official meeting with new Minister of Law and Justice Veerappa Moily, reported news wire Bloomberg today.

AZB & Partners yesterday (9 June) moved to a new office in Noida from New Delhi, in a bid to provide additional space for existing and future staff.

The firm had been looking for a new office for two years and last year it found its new property in Noida’s commercial district, which is around 15km away from its former office in the heart of New Delhi.

The new Minister of Law and Justice Veerappa Moily made his first statements about legal sector liberalisation last Friday (5 June), suggesting that he could continue the pro-liberalisation course followed by his predecessor HR Bhardwaj.

Top Indian lawyers are stumped by Veerappa Moily’s appointment as Minister of Law and Justice, which was announced late last night defying all observers’ expectations.

Moily (pictured) is a seasoned Congress politician and practicing lawyer in Bangalore but unlike the candidates expected to be shoo-ins for the job, he is an unknown quantity.

One top Mumbai lawyer said: “I have no idea what this will do to things.”

“It is a real surprise,” added another Delhi partner. “Now it’s very hard to tell what will happen. I know reforms will be on the agenda but I don’t know how quickly. I think there will have to be renewed lobbying.”

Incumbent Law Minister H R Bhardwaj has been dropped from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s new Cabinet in a surprise round of appointments today that could derail the process of India’s judicial and legal reform. With continuity being a prized quality in Indian political progress, it is still unclear who will get the law and justice portfolio and whether the existing course of reform will be held.

One Delhi lawyer, who preferred not to be named, said: “If he had come in, we would probably be looking at a December opening. But now that he is not and some non-descript person is slated to come in, I think it is open for speculation.”

Lawyers are adopting a wait-and-see approach to India’s newly-established Competition Commission, which was given its executive powers today.

Question marks remain over how the new body will exercise its powers and whether it will be able to do so free from government interference.

Brussels competition partner Jonas Koponen of international firm Linklaters said: “It will be interesting to see what position and approach the Indian Commission will take. One can only hope that it is purely competition-based interests they will look after.”