The Bench and the Bar

Fixed fee bids submitted by law firms to win work to document clients’ non-convertible debentures (NCDs) are now only Rs 2-3 lakh per NCD, instead Rs 4-5 lakh that law firms would have charged at the beginning of this year, reported the Economic Times citing a “mid-sized law firm” promoter, as in-house departments were increasingly able to handle part of such deals in-house and competition amongst law firms increased.

Another law firm partner told the ET that it billed around Rs 3 crore on NCDs annually.

A Bangalore employee of Infosys has been arrested under section 377 of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly having sex with another man, which was recorded by his arranged-marriage-wife of six months on a hidden camera, reported the Bangalore Mirror.

The Supreme Court reinstated the colonial-era section 377 provision earlier this year after the Delhi high court had struck down the law, which bans “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” and has been used by police to harass the gay community.

“At Supreme Court for three years under a kind senior but he's still paying me peanuts and not giving me any great work. At a loss…”

The Kerala bar council is discussing plans to ban all lawyers from talking to the media about their own cases under the anti-advertising rule 36 of the Bar Council of India (BCI) Rules, which could be implemented after a meeting soon, reported the Deccan Chronicle.

The rule states that advocates must not solicit or advertise, and “not promote himself by circulars, advertisements, touts, personal communications, interviews other than through personal relations, furnishing or inspiring newspaper comments or producing his photographs to be published in connection with cases in which he has been engaged or concerned”.

Proceedings in the Kerala high court are currently ongoing to ban open court reporting by media, while former Chief Justice of India (CJI) and current Kearala governor P Sathasivam said last week that if journalists always read judgments first, there shouldn’t be any reason to ban court reporting.

A Bangalore-based businessman was arrested and jailed by police for 21 days in April under section 66A of the IT Act for “spreading canards” about another on online forums, reported The Hindu (via Pranesh Prakash).

The businessman has filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and demanded a police inquiry that his arrest was in direct contravention of the Supreme Court guidelines that detentions under Section 66A for sending offensive messages over the internet require permission from a high-ranking police officer (inspector general in cities, or, in districts, deputy commissioners or superintendents).

All 15,000 subordinate courts will have their judgments digitised, with new judgments to be uploaded by 6pm on the day that it is handed down, law ministry sources told the Times of India.