The Bench and the Bar

The Supreme Court threatened to stay the appointment of retired judges to tribunals across India blaming lack of action in bringing uniformity in their appointment process and service conditions, reported the Times of India.

Picking out Armed Forces Tribunal, National Commission for Dispute Redressal and National Green Tribunal as examples, a bench of justices GS Singhvi and C Nagappan said:

The disparity in service conditions results in compromising the dignity of the judges. Everyone tried to get a post which has five-year term. That compromises the dignity. Let this be stopped till Parliament considers the proposal for uniform tenure.

The Puducherry Bar Association president, secretary and two other Puducherry advocates locked litigants inside a courtroom hall during court proceedings demanding the transfer of a local judge. The lawyers proceeded to barge into the chamber of a family court judge and abused him, and are now facing contempt proceedings in the Madras High Court, reported the Times of India.

“Their conduct tends to lower the dignity of the court in the eyes of the general public and prima facie amounts to committing criminal contempt of court,” the bench said, adding, “therefore, taking suo motu cognizance, we direct the registry to issue statutory notice to the four persons.”

Six presidential candidates, including one female advocate, filed their candidature for the 16 December Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) executive committee 2013-14 elections before nominations closed yesterday.

The Allahabad high court yesterday constituted a committee to deal with “unfair treatment of women counsels” and “complaints of eve teasing and molestation” of women working in the court

CJI Sathasivam has released an excerpt of the judicial inquiry report into the #InternJudge sex harassment allegations against retired Justice AK Ganguly, which acknowledged a “prima facie” case.

With the courts closed as much of Delhi voted today, the Delhi high court is reconsidering former DBA president Rajiv Khosla’s plea against election rule amendments barring him from the 13 December DHCBA polls.

SC pushes acid sale ban by 4 months
A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice RM Lodha has extended the deadline to ban the sale of acids commonly used in horrific attacks, primarily against women, after the apex court’s previous 16 July deadline passed last weekend. The apex court also asked for progress on the compensation scheme [NDTV] Offenders remain undeterred, reported the TOI

Acid attack victim gets job at SC
The SC has absorbed an acid attack survivor as a junior court attendant on the initiative of Justice Kurien Joseph, who was haring her matter. Mukherjee was a dancer in a dance bar till she was attacked by a man in 2004 [PTI]

The US NRI widower who won a Rs 6 crore medical negligence in October, yesterday won in a special CBI court that convicted two ex-Supreme Court registry officials of corruption.

The Times of India today revealed further details of the sexual harassment allegations made by a former intern (“SJ”) of ex-Supreme Court Justice AK Ganguly.

The revelation that former Supreme Court Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly is the judge alleged to be at the heart of the apex court’s sexual harassment inquiry, has split commentators along political and institutional lines.

The three-judge probe into allegations of sex harassment against a former apex court judge, has submitted its report to the Chief Justice of India (CJI), identifying Justice AK Ganguly as the alleged perpetrator.