The Bench and the Bar

Exclusive: Over the summer holidays the cases pending at the Supreme Court has shot up by around 3,000 cases, with 2,000 pending cases added in the month of July alone when just over 500 cases were disposed of – a record since the start of Legally India’s Pendency Project in May 2011. It’s not looking good.

Court Witness: To experience firsthand what exactly happens when all hell breaks loose, visit the Supreme Court of India on a miscellaneous day.

Advocates must renew their licence to practice every five years after paying Rs 600 as renewal fees, according to a resolution passed by the Bar Council of India (BCI) on 1 June.

DSK Legal won in the Delhi high court for power trading solutions provider PTC India in its petition challenging an arbitral award in favor of infrastructure conglomerate Jaypee group’s power company Jaiprakash Power Ventures (JPVL) which was represented by senior advocate Shanti Bhushan, on 15 May 2012.

The Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) has requested advocates-on-record (AORs) to blacklist senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Wednesday, after the politician’s involvement in a “disquieting … incident”.

Luthra & Luthra’s Delhi office won in the Supreme Court today for Indian B2C portal Ebay and its managing director Avnish Bajaj, in the case of eBay v State and Avnish Bajaj v State.

The Supreme Court has removed the section on elementary principles of bookkeeping from its syllabus for this year’s advocates-on-record (AoR) examination which will be conducted from 4 to 7 June 2012.

Senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra, Bihar State Bar Council’s representative to the Bar Council of India (BCI), unanimously won this year’s election for BCI chairman on 15 April and took charge with effect from today.

The Delhi High Court has ex parte ordered three media houses against publishing a digital video allegedly depicting “sexual acts” of senior advocate and Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, which the politician alleges is fake and an attempt by his former driver at extortion.

The result of the Delhi Judicial Service (preliminary) exam 2011 was rescinded for 6974 candidates who did not qualify for the main exam after a Delhi high court division bench ruled against the Delhi high court registrar general in a writ petition by aggrieved examinees.

Exclusive: The Bar Council of India (BCI) is set to get a new chairman, as current chair Ashok Parija has said that he would not run for a second term in the 16 April elections, as Parija said that the BCI closed 100 colleges since former chairman Gopal Subramanium’s tenure and that it would publish its meeting minutes again.

The Supreme Court struck down the challenge of private schools to the Right to Education Act (RTE) 2010, upholding its constitutional validity through a majority of chief justice SH Kapadia and Justice Swatanter Kumar.

Justice Markandey Katju, chairman of the Press Council of India (PCI), said that the PCI would challenge in the Supreme Court the Allahabad High Court’s order directing the government to prevent the media reporting troop movements.

Katju also added that that the Indian Express, which had come under fire and faced government denials for its story on army movements near Delhi, could not be faulted for its report.

Senior counsel Shanti Bhushan submitted to Chief Justice (CJI) Kapadia’s constitutional bench yesterday, that even incorrect statements do not justify restrictions on the media, and even half-truths and misinformation should not warrant punishment for contempt regardless of concern for the reputation of courts.

In today’s edition of Mint: A litigious culture does not handicap economic growth, fresh research shows, debunking the widely held view that a high litigation rate creates an environment hostile for business and slows decision-making.

The pendency of cases at the Supreme Court of India is within a whisker of 60,000 – a new record - after rising by more than 700 cases in March 2012.