The Bench and the Bar

It was 3 pm in court 4 yesterday (20 July) and the arguments on either side on the plea to stay the disqualification of the Congress rebels in Uttarakhand seemed endless.

Bar Council of India (BCI) associate managing trustee Rajinder Singh Rana, former BCI vice chairman Raju Dhanpal Raj and ex-BCI-member Milan Kumar Dey have been sentenced to five years imprisonment and a fine for taking a Rs 6 lakh bribe to approve Global Law College in Ghaziabad.

The Supreme Court’s five-judge Constitution bench judgment of 13 July, quashing president’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh, was a massive judgment in every way, and not just because it set off a series of dramatic events loaded with suspense.

"In view of the long history and tradition associated with the existing name of the High Court at Calcutta”, a full court of judges objected to the name change that the government made recently and that would also affect the Bombay and Madras high courts (see letter).

In most years, the annual Joint Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Ministers gets barely a passing mention in media outlets and is forgotten soon after. This year it was different.

The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that the chargesheet in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal will be filed this year and the matter is being investigated by an SIT

In order to tackle black money, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has recommended a total ban on cash transactions above Rs 300,000 and an act be framed to declare such transactions as illegal and punishable under law, an official statement said here on Thursday.

Five judges of the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench will examine the feasibility of setting up a National Court of Appeal with four regional benches in North, South, East and West - with the apex court taking up matters involving the interpretation of the constitution and issues of national importance.

The Supreme Court today expressed doubt over validity of the ordinance providing that states could hold their own entrance examination for admission to undergraduate medical courses for the current academic year bypassing the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) but refused to interfere with its operation.

Rajesh, the 26-year-old non-lawyer son of 55-year-old Madras high court advocate, Manimaran, attacked his father yesterday after sneaking into his chambers located on the high court premises, allegedly because he was “unhappy that his father showed no interest in finding a match for his daughter, Anusha, by his first wife”, reported the Times of India, noting:

The Delhi high court today asked Chief Arvind Kejriwal to explain the meaning of the word “thulla”, which he used during a television debate on policemen.

Eight out of 12 bar councils do not have a single female member, making for an average female representation of 2.8 per cent amongst the bar councils for which data was available, revealed our research.

The hearing of the petition seeking right to worship to women at Sabarimala, Kerala, in the Supreme Court has often led to inquisitive questions from the bench about Hinduism, spirituality, and tradition.

The Gujarat High Court today granted bail to Patidar reservation spearhead Hardik Patel in the last case against him, preparing the ground for his release after nearly 10 months in jail.

In a relief to Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy, the Supreme Court today extended his parole till 3 August, 2016.

>Currently CMS partners hand out work to associates directly. The new system will require partners to use a dedicated resource manager employed by consultancy firm Mason & Cook to distribute all pieces of work.