Exclusive: The London Court of International Arbitration’s (LCIA) first independent subsidiary LCIA India has commenced business with its first two arbitration cases received within six months of the publication of the LCIA arbitration and mediation rules in April this year.

The Supreme Court has directed the Delhi High Court to reach its final verdict quickly in the important matter concerning the levy of service tax on immovable property rentals by declining to stay the high court’s order in a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the Union Government.

The government has allocated Rs 1,470 crore ($323m) to “modernise judicial infrastructure” and “improve judicial infrastructure”, according to a law ministry press release.

The law ministry has instructed attorney general GE Vahanvati to represent prime minister Manmohan Singh who will give an affidavit before the Supreme Court for his alleged inaction in the alleged 2G spectrum allocation scam case. Solicitor general Gopal Subramanium will continue representing the government in the case after having come into the media spotlight after denying reports of his meeting with counsel for former telecoms minister A Raja.

A Supreme Court (SC) bench yesterday questioned the silence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while he sanctioned the prosecution go-ahead against tainted minister A Raja and for not initiating action in time following former law minister Subramanium Swamy’s complaint, as solicitor general Gopal Subramanium defended the PM.

The Kerala bar council has suspended a lawyer for “professional misconduct” after “indulging in business activities apart from being an advocate”.

The Ayodhya verdict by the Allahabad High Court on 30 September was yesterday challenged in the Supreme Court.

The Government is planning to set-up a super-regulator to wield control over all quasi-judicial authorities functioning in India.

The Supreme Court yesterday adjourned the hearing in Vodafone’s appeal against the 8 September Bombay High Court order to 15 November, following a Rs 11,218 crore tax liability notice served by the income tax department on the telecom giant on Friday.

The Mega Lok Adalat organised by the Delhi Legal Services Authority and the Delhi High Court yesterday has set a new record by disposing of one lakh cases, including 1,042 MACT (Motor Accident Claims Tribunal) claims, 90,000 traffic challans and 15,000 disputes related to recovery, injunctions, rent, cheque bouncing the Times of India reported.

A Supreme Court of India judgment, while defining “Common Law Marriage”, cited as a source Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia anyone can edit. The same judgment on live-in relationships was also slammed by additional solicitor general Indira Jaisingh for using gender biased terms “one night stand” and “keep”.

The Supreme Court has restored a criminal case of cheating filed by an Indian lender consortium against US telecom company Motorola and its directors after the Bombay High Court quashed charges in 2003 that involved a failed satellite communication project of 1987, reported the Financial Express.

The Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA) has enlisted 200 judges to work this Sunday and resolve over 30,000 civil and criminal compoundable cases in a “Mega Lok Adalat” in a bid to reduce the increasing backlog of cases.

One of the key parties to the Ayodhya title dispute Nirmohi Akhara has said it would challenge the Allahabad High Court’s verdict in the Supreme Court following similar decision by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) last week, thereby ruling out most chances of an out-of-court settlement at this stage.

The legal dispute between online data service providers Just Dial and Infomedia 18 has reached the Bombay High Court with Just Dial seeking the court’s direction to initiate criminal action against Infomedia’s directors.

Vodafone has filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court challenging an apparent decision by the tax office to treat the company as the agent of the seller in the 2007 Hutchison acquisition, despite the Supreme Court still having to reach a decision on Vodafone’s appeal against the earlier ruling.

A total of 11 High Court judges have now been transferred as part of Chief Justice SH Kapadia announcement in September to transfer 20 High Court judges for reasons of “public interest”.

Chennai advocates demonstrated outside the Madras High Court yesterday, demanding a raising of the advocates’ welfare fund amount from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, reported the PTI , adding that the advocates also demanded for Tamil to be made an accepted court language in High Court proceedings. Earlier...

Higher judges would now be made accountable to the public for alleged acts of misconduct and corruption as the long-awaited Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill 2010 wins Cabinet approval as an Oversight Committee is being set up.

Exclusive: The Bar Council of India (BCI) has abandoned its high-rent offices at short notice after less than four months in the premises, which has caused logistical difficulties and shut down the Airtel-operated bar exam telephone helplines for nearly a week now.