The Bench and the Bar

Prashant Bhushan today termed the government’s decision to appoint former Central Board of Direct Taxation chief KV Chowdary as the new chief vigilance commissioner (CVC) as “shameful and unfortunate”, as senior counsel and BJP politician Ram Jethmalani penned a public break up letter to the Prime Minister earlier today.

“It’s shameful and unfortunate that the BJP and the Congress have come together to destroy the CVC (by) appointing a dubious and pliable person as its chief,” Bhushan told IANS

Bhushan said he would take up the matter: “I will challenge it in the court.”

Earlier in the day, the central government announced appointment of former Central Board of Direct Taxation chief KV Chowdary as the new CVC

TM Bhasin, chairman and managing director of the public sector Indian Bank, was appointed vigilance commissioner and senior most Information Commissioner Vijai Sharma was named the new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC).

Senior counsel Ram Jethmalani tweeted, “My breakup with the Prime Minister”, attaching a letter slamming Narendra Modi’s choice of KV Chowdary central vigilance commissioner (CVC).

Legally India has responded to the legal notice sent by Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra on 25 May 2015 to Legally India, Kian Ganz and Prachi Shrivastava.

The Hindu reported that the Rule of Law Index 2015 by the US-based World Justice Project has placed India 59th out of 102 countries globally for its rule of law performance on a number of metrics.

On criminal justice India ranked 44th, while for civil justice it ranked 88th globally, third in South Asia and 19th among “lower middle income countries”.

India’s ratings are dogged most by “perceptions of corruption, of the effectiveness of the civil justice system, the regulatory enforcement environment and the criminal justice system, all of which reflect that less than half of the respondents showed faith in these systems’ ability to deliver justice”, according to The Hindu, which has prepared a detailed infographic of the findings.

Three graduates from NLSIU Bangalore - K S Bharath Kumar (2001 batch), Nerale Veerabhadraiah Vijay (2001) and Nerale Veerabhadraiah Bhavani (1999) - will become Karnataka district judges, alongside advocates Vijayakumar Malasiddappa Anandashetti and Ravi M R, reported Bar & Bench.

They will be sworn in on 8 June.

Ain’t it just the way? The only thing that’s come out of the Rohini district court in months is a circular issued by its Building Management Committee, headed by judges Pradeep Chadda and Yogesh Khanna.

Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra has sent an unsolicited email to Legally India’s editor Kian Ganz earlier today, after having sent a legal notice claiming defamation just over one week ago.