The Bench and the Bar

The Indian Express reported that the draft of the Law Commission report on the death penalty has recommended abolition of the death penalty immediately in all except terrorism cases, while hoping for a “swift and irreversible” “movement towards absolute abolition” of the death penalty.

The Supreme Court wants to know what happens to seized contraband across India, following allegations by former justice Ajit Kumar Sinha that only five to 10 per cent of it was destroyed, reported The Telegraph.

A Supreme Court bench of justices TS Thakur and NV Ramana were hearing the government’s appeal against the Punjab and Haryana high court’s acquittal of a drug peddler.

Sinha, who was appointed as the friend of the court, said that although authorities seized drugs such as Ganja, Hashish, Heroine, Ecstacy and other substances, worth hundreds of crores of rupees every day, only five to 10 per cent of it was destroyed. He also gave the instance of Calcutta where there was no record of how seized contraband was dealt with.

The judges asked solicitor general Ranjit Kumar to place before the court the steps being taken in Delhi to dispose of such contraband, within a week. They asked Kumar if any “drug disposal committee” had been set up in Delhi which was under the control of the central government, for law and order.

The Supreme Court today dismissed a petition seeking cancellation of bail of film star Salman Khan who was convicted and sentenced in a hit and run case.

The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu declined the plea by one of the alleged victims associated with the case and belonging to Mumbai Police.

The petitioner had challenged the Bombay high court order granting bail to Salman.

Salman was granted bail by the Bombay high court on the very day he was convicted and sentenced by the sessions court.

On May 6, Khan was found guilty in the September 28, 2002 hit and run case and sentenced to five years’ jail for various charges, including ‘culpable homicide not amounting to murder’.

One person was killed and four injured when the actor’s car ran over them while they were sleeping on a pavement.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the new Bar Council of India’s (BCI) Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules 2015 that it had passed in January 2015.

The Supreme Court’s social justice bench comprising justices Madan B Lokur and UU Lalit heard seven cases between 2 and 4.15 p.m on Friday, August 28 but has failed to dispose of a single petition since it was set up in 2014.

Yusuf Mohsin Nulwala, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai blast case, on Friday moved the Supreme Court with his writ petition (WP (CRL) 150/2015) seeking a reduction in his jail term of five to three years. His plea was that he was wrongly sentenced to five years imprisonment for possessing a prohibited automatic AK-56 assault rifle while he was shown in possession of a non-prohibited semi-automatic AK-56.

The Ministry of Law and Justice Press Information Bureau (PIB) has issued a press release that this morning’s Indian Express story had incorrectly reported that the Law Commission had recommended in its draft report that the death penalty should be abolished for anything other than terrorism offences.

Saikrishna & Associates managing partner Saikrishna Rajagopal won an order from the Delhi high court, modifying its earlier trademark injunction against German auto maker Audi from using the “TT” trademark, which was also used by Delhi-based garment maker TT Textiles.

Arguments in the Kerala liquor case Kerala Bar Hotels Association vs State of Kerala came to an end yesterday (August 27) at 12:30 pm after the bench comprising justices Vikramajit Sen and Shiva Kirti Singh heard as many as five counsel and reserved their judgment, while asking them to give the court written submissions, if any, during next week.

A court here on Thursday held four December 16, 2012 gang rape convicts guilty in a robbery case that took place on the same night.

Additional Sessions Judge Reetesh Singh convicted them in the robbery case and posted the matter for September 2 for arguments on quantum of sentence.

The four gang rape convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Mukesh and Pawan Gupta -- are being tried for allegedly beating up and robbing carpenter Ram Adhar, before raping and assaulting a 23-year-old physiotherapist in a moving bus here December 16, 2012.

They have been sentenced to death in the rape case by a trial court, which was confirmed by the Delhi high court. The matter is now pending in the Supreme Court.

Today (27 August) on the second day of the hearing in the Supreme Court, the bench comprising justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant asked counsel representing the Gujarat Government and the respondent, Islamic Relief Committee Gujarat (IRCG), to come up with answers for two questions, during the next hearing on September 23.

District and Sessions Judge, Bilaspur, Mahadev Katulkar was allegedly threatened to deliver a verdict in favour of a man in a divorce case, prompting the police to step-up his security...

“As per the complaint, the judge received an SMS from an unknown number threatening him to deliver verdict in favour the man involved in a divorce case,” Inspector General of Police, Bilaspur Range, Pawan Deo said.

reported PTI.

A wide variance exists between how a case progresses through various high courts (HCs), according to a study by Bengaluru-based non-governmental organization (NGO) Daksh aimed at understanding how delays take place in the judicial system and how they affect the delivery of justice.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Gauhati High Court order directing a CBI probe against Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki for alleged corruption in awarding state contracts to his family members.

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu also issued notice to the Arunachal government and the private party on whose PIL the high court had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation probe.

The court’s order came as senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for Tuki, sought to question the high court’s August 20 order.

It has been alleged that Tuki awarded contracts without inviting tenders when he was the minister for works.