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.

The Bar Council of Delhi has cancelled its office bearer elections following allegations of “illegalities and irregularities” raised by 13 Delhi Bar Council members, including recently elected Luthra & Luthra partner Vijay Sondhi.

Exclusive: A Karnataka public interest litigation (PIL) is trying to prevent mining companies Arcelor Mittal and Posco from allegedly profiting unfairly from state concessions, which the PIL alleges would result in a loss of $50bn to the state or the equivalent of Rs 2.4 lakhs per family.

Ramesh Gupta has been confirmed as the latest member of the Delhi Bar Council as the counting of votes enters the last stage, having now eliminated 95 candidates. Nine out of the 30 remaining candidates, including Luthra & Luthra partner Vijay Sondhi, are still at risk of losing.

The Delhi High Court has already referred three cases to its brand-new arbitration centre for adjudication, which was started up only two weeks ago.

Delhi High Court has become the first court in India aiming to go paper-less today with the adoption of a pilot e-court project for all dealings in the court of Justice S Ravindra Bhat.

The London Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) set up its India chapter in Delhi yesterday, following the Delhi High Court setting up an arbitration cell last week and the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) move to Delhi.

It hopes to promote alternative dispute resolution (ADR) under the chairmanship of Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) president Lalit Bhasin.