Bar, Bench & Litigation
New target acquired? SILF, bar council serve notice on Big 4 consulting firms for illegal practice of law
Economic Times and ET Now reported that the Delhi bar council, after a written complaint by the Society of Indian Law Firms (Silf), has served written notice on the Big Four accountancy firms, PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY, for allegedly “engaging in the unauthorised practice” of law: Following the ind...
NJAC: Arvind Datar argues that parliament's power over NJAC 'abhorrent'
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked for the central government’s response to contentions that certain provisions of NJAC Act of 2014 dealing with selection of high court judges violated the federal structure and were substantive than procedural in nature. Asking Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar to add...
Who won after cold war between Dushyant Dave & the bench was (temporarily) averted at SCBA meeting yesterday? [UPDATE: VIDEO]
5 lawyers, 10+ hacks file SC criminal defamation & journo rights challenge wider than Swamy’s [READ ORDER]
SC hands CBI the Vyapam probe for 'fair and impartial investigation' [UPDATE-1]
The Supreme Court today told the CBI to probe the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh including the over 40 deaths linked to it. The BJP welcomed the ruling even as the Congress and the CPI-M sought Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s resignation. An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice HL. Dattu h...
NJAC: Full transparency not realistic, SC agrees with Fali; RamJet calls for openness
The Supreme Court today expressed its misgiving on opening the entire process of appointments to the higher judiciary to public scrutiny, saying that words like “transparency” and “criteria” sound good but have their pitfalls. Noting that transparency could be there to a “certain degree”, the court ...
Rajiv Nayar, Khaitan win for Uber in Delhi HC over rejection of taxi licence
The Delhi high court on Wednesday set aside the state government’s order rejecting an application of the US-based Uber taxi service for a licence to ply in the national capital, with Uber represented by senior counsel Rajiv Nayar and long-time litigation adviser Khaitan & Co. Justice Manmohan a...
'Beginning of restoration of our dignity' claims Dave as CJI to hear SCBA complaints [via Livelaw]
LiveLaw reported that Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Dushyant Dave said at the general body meeting today, in which he had threatened to vote on a boycott of official functions at the Supreme Court attended by judges, that the bench had apparently listened to his demands, including f...
Fail All India Bar Exam for 3 years and lose your practising licence: Madras HC
If advocates have not passed the Bar Council of India (BCI) All India Bar Exam (AIBE) within three years of enrolment, their advocates licence “has to be necessarily revoked”, held a Madras high court bench of chief justice SK Kaul and Justice TS Sivagnanam, reported The Hindu . The bench added that...
Dave under fire: RamJet won’t be party to confrontation with SC; PP Rao urges respect; Aggarwala dares Dave to strike [UPDATE-1]
Update: Several senior Supreme Court advocates have criticised Dave’s proposal of following “Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of Non-Cooperation” for Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) members to boycott official functions that include Supreme Court judges.
Keep evil politicians out of judicial appointments, says RamJet on NJAC, as CJI tenure raised by Divan
The Supreme Court was on Tuesday told that the entire country was suffering on account of bad politics by bad politicians, who should thus have no voice in the higher judicial appointments. “We are suffering from bad politics and we are suffering from bad politicians. Whole political class is under ...
Sibal admits: Literally impossible for Sahara to pay Rs 36,000 cr in 18 months
The Sahara Group on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it was not possible for it to repay, in 18 months, Rs.36,000 crore of investors’ money that it had collected in 2007-08 in 18 months as was ordered by the court on June 17. “There is no business house in the country or in the world which can de...
Only 1 Dalit, 2 Muslims in 15 years: Jaising files PIL against opaque & nepotistic senior counsel appointment process
Senior advocate Indira Jaising has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court today to challenge the “non transparent and arbitrary method of designating senior counsel by the Supreme Court”.
5 charts reveal judges were once paid Rs 3 lakh per month; today they earn a third (as MPs’ salaries doubled) [download data]
SC moves with times: Absent fathers not needed for mothers' guardianship of illegitimate child
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that there was no need for the father’s consent in giving guardianship of a child to an unwed mother as it held that the views of “uninvolved father” are not essential if the child is solely raised by the mother. “The views of an uninvolved father are not essential,...
SC rejects RTI appeal to obtain judges' medical expenses
The Supreme Court dismissed a Right to Information (RTI) appeal that had asked for judges’ medical expenses, citing judges’ right to privacy, reported the Indian Express . The court was hearing advocate Prashant Bhushan for RTI activist Subhash C Aggarwal. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (C...
Dushyant Dave calls on SCBA to shun all extra-curricular parties with judges
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has decided to boycott all official functions with Supreme Court judges, including references, judges’ farewell functions and the Law Day and Independence Day celebrations, reported Live Law . The SCBA would continue this boycott until 2 December 2015, or unt...
HC stays Stephen's chem prof's arrest for allegedly molesting student
The Delhi high court today put on hold until 17 August the arrest of St Stephen’s chemistry teacher accused of molesting a doctoral student. Justice Indermeet Kaur asked Delhi Police not to arrest Satish Kumar, an assistant professor in the chemistry department, after he filed an anticipatory bail p...
HP judge alleges sexual harassment by another, chief starts inquiry
PTI reported that a Himachal Pradesh judge has alleged that she was sexually harassed by another judge during a national-level conference on drug abuse in Manali. The high court’s chief justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir has ordered an inquiry: As per the complaint of the woman judge, she was asked to come t...