Bar, Bench & Litigation

AAP's Ashutosh rides to Somnath Bharti's aid: Asks why AG, SG, ASG were all present in court?

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday criticised the central government for giving priority to the domestic violence case against its leader Somnath Bharti, saying it looks like the government does not want him to be released on bail. “The attorney general, solicitor general and additional solicitor g...

SC slaps Rs 5 lakh penalty on 2 PSUs for withdrawing case after filing 890 pages of petition

The Supreme Court has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on the Kerala State Electricity Board and NTPC for urging it to allow withdrawal of their appeal, saying they cannot treat the court according to their own convenience. A bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice NV Ramana on Thursday took excepti...

SC: No issue with AG acting for private parties

The Supreme Court dismissed the public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to curtail attorneys general’s ability to act for private parties . Headline: No issue for AG to act for private parties, says SC “As long as there is no conflict of interest, there is no issue. We may address him as learned At...

SC declines bail plea for Somnath Bharti; Gopal Subramanium gets CJI to open his 'heart' despite Rohatgi

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Lipika Mitra, the estranged wife of former Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti whether she was inclined to join mediation efforts as offered by her husband to resolve all issues between them. An apex court bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy issu...

Hear hear: Law ministry wants more & better data from SC about pending cases & functioning

The Modi government’s law ministry wants the Supreme Court to disclose greater details about itself, including court-wise pendency of civil as well as criminal cases, number of adjournments in each particular case and sanctioned and working strength of judges to increase transparency in the legal sy...

BCI looking at disqualifying 7 Tamil Nadu bar council members

The notice has reportedly being sent by the Bar Council of India (BCI) to the seven sitting Tamil Nadu and Puducherry state bar council members for opposing the BCI’s earlier purported disqualification of 15 local advocates for alleged violence . BCI sources in New Delhi told TOI on Wednesday that t...

New writ asks SC: Please tell Gov’t to stop Attorneys General (ie Rohatgi) from appearing for private parties?

Office report
Office report

Should it be directed to the Government of India not to give permission to the Attorney General for India to appear for private parties against the state and its instrumentalities? This is the question which a Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy would be faced with, when a PIL seeking such a direction would be called for hearing before them.

Madras HC broadcasts live video of case vs 2 advocates in high-security lockdown

Unprecedented scenes; caused by fear of the bar.

Death penalty for five 7/11 Mumbai train blast convicts

A Mumbai special court today awarded death penalty to five and life sentence to seven others, all convicted in the 7/11 serial blasts in Mumbai suburban trains which killed 189 people.

Men's Rights Groups ask Law Comm for legal curbs to Domestic Violence Act abuse by women

Male rights groups working for “gender-neutral” family laws on Saturday demanded implementation of the Law Commission of India recommendations to make shared parenting mandatory. They said the central government should take steps to pass the bill to prevent thousands of fathers from committing suici...

Somnath Bharti arrested; Deepak Khosla asks Kejriwal to stop police calling Bharti names

The protracted war of attrition between Delhi’s ex-law minister Somnath Bharti and police ended on Monday evening when Bharti surrendered to police in a domestic violence case filed by his wife Lipika Mitra. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator from Malviya Nagar constituency in south Delhi reached ...

Delhi drudges on with Jan Lokayukta Bill

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said his government has almost prepared the Jan Lokayukta Bill’s draft and planned to present it in the next session of the state assembly. “Jan Lokayukta Bill (is) almost ready. We should be able to present it in next session of assembly,” Kejriwal twe...

SC rejects Essar, Ruias plea not to be tried by special CBI 2G scam court [READ JUDGMENT]

In a huge setback to corporate honcho Anshuman S Ruia and Ravi S Ruia and their company Essar Teleholding, the Supreme Court today upheld their trial by the Special CBI court trying 2G scam cases, rejecting their plea that they should instead be tried by a magisterial court.

SC declines to interfere with 'very very sensitive' matter of religious animal sacrifice

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with the religious practice of sacrificing animals to please gods and goddesses across the country on the plea that it amounted to cruelty to animals under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Declining to entertain the PIL by Varaaki, a Chennai-...

TMT opens in Bhubaneshwar

TMT Law Practice opened an office in Bhubaneshwar, its second in the eastern region after its recently opened Kolkata office . The firm will start operating in Bhubaneshwar from 1 October. Delhi-based TMT managing partner Abhishek Malhotra will head the Bhubaneshwar office, which has two associates ...

ASG approaches Madras HC to dissolve bar council

Madras-based Additional solicitor general (ASG) G Rajagopalan today approached the Madras high court to order the Bar Council of India (BCI), to dissolve the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry bar council, which had not effectively disciplined its members, reported The Hindu , following the BCI having suspen...

Most institutional arbitration in India is not up to scratch: AP Shah

India, lacking the requisite culture for developing a strong arbitration system, has over 95 percent of arbitration turning out to be “ad hoc”, it was revealed in a conference here. This is despite a situation where 80 percent of Indians consider arbitration as the preferred system for dispute resol...

BCI suspends 15 Madras lawyers for violence, pins blame on rubbish law schools & 'abnormal increase in number of lawyers'

BCI slaps lawyers
BCI slaps lawyers
The Bar Council of India (BCI) has suspended 15 lawyers who were allegedly involved in violence in the Madras high court, reported The Hindu and others.

E-commerce faces FDI challenge in Delhi HC from brick-n-mortars: New regulations required?

The government may have to hasten its efforts to define the termonline marketplace and also explicitly mention what constitutes retail and wholesale trading on such platforms after the Delhi high court issued a notice seeking its reply to a petition filed by a body of offline (or brick-and-mortar) r...

Bhushan, Jaising battle Gujarat in SC for ex-cop, riots whistleblower Sanjiv Bhatt

The Gujarat government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that sacked state cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, accused of hacking the email of its former law officer, could not ask which agency would undertake an investigation and how it would do so.