The Bench and the Bar
Bar, Bench & Litigation
The Delhi high court ordered the Delhi government’s “road safety” committees to hear two Delhi lawyers on the efficacy of “box junctions”, and to consider introducing these box junctions on Delhi’s roads if convinced about their effectiveness.
Bar, Bench & Litigation
Retired Supreme Court judges justices Gyan Sudha Mishra, CK Prasad and Balbir Singh Chauhan, were nominated by the apex court to head the proposed Lokpal ombudsman. Also in the running is retired Jharkhand high court chief justice and current Appellate Tribunal for Electricity chairman M Karpaga Vinayagam
Bar, Bench & Litigation
The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hold an urgent hearing of a plea challenging the Delhi high court’s order allowing, on trial basis, the odd-even policy for private cars for 15 days here.
Declining to hold an early hearing of the plea, the bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur wondered if the plea by a young advocate was a publicity stunt.
Why a young advocate is having difficulty in reaching the court, the court observed. The plea was moved by petitioner advocate B Badrinath.
The odd-even policy, under which private cars with registrations ending in even numbers could ply only on even dates, and vice versa for those with odd-numbered plates, was announced by the state government from January 1-15 after the Delhi high court said the national capital had turned into a gas chamber.
Bar, Bench & Litigation
Senior counsel and ex-BJP parliamentarian Ram Jethmalani had offered to represent Congress president Sonia Gandhi for free in the National Herald case in December.
SCOI Reports
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Anil R Dave, and comprising justices Kurian Joseph and Amitava Roy, heard Massimiliano Latorre, one of the accused in the Italian marines case, who has been permitted by the Supreme Court to be in Italy in view of his health condition, and gave him further extension of time to return to India.
Bar, Bench & Litigation
The collegium will not wait for the government’s new procedural guidelines on transparent judicial appointments, to start the process of appointment of 400 new high court judges and five new Supreme Court judges, reported the Hindustan Times.
High courts across India are facing 445 judicial vacancies at the moment, amounting to 57 per cent vacancy and facing a case pendency of 45 lakh.
No appointments were made in the higher judiciary ever since 2014 when the government notified the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). After the Supreme Court struck down the NJAC in October 2015, on 16 December it directed the government to formulate a new memorandum of process (MoP) for transparency in judicial appointments.
But the MoP is still not finalised and will likely take time due to the opinions of many stakeholders asked for, the government informed the court.
Union law minister DV Sadananda Gowda also recently announced his plan to appoint 115 high court judges to fight the rising toll of judicial vacancies expected to rise to 472 in India’s high courts by end of June.
Bar, Bench & Litigation
The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to vacate its order barring the bull taming sport Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu that is held during Pongal festivities beginning on Thursday.
An apex court bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra and Justice NV Ramana declined to lift an earlier order that put on hold a central government notification allowing Jallikattu and bull races.
Rejecting the contention of petitioner Ramakrishna, the judges said they were not inclined to vacate the Supreme Court order of Tuesday prohibiting Jallikattu on grounds of cruelty to the bulls.
Jallikattu, an ancient sport, is held in rural parts of Tamil Nadu during Pongal festival. It involves young men clinging on to the hump of bulls to win prize money.
Bar, Bench & Litigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director M C Mishra in two cases of alleged illegal purchases at the hospital, reported Business Standard.
On the CBI’s report the health ministry asked AIIMS’ vigilance officer to investigate the allegations against Mishra.
Mishra set up a panel of his own subordinates to decide if any action should be taken against him, on one charge. On the other charge, the AIIMS vigilanxce cell will probe the case and independently take action, without the ministry’s involvement.
One of the subordinates on board the panel set up by Mishra, has been named by the CBI in the other case, alongside Mishra.
Bar, Bench & Litigation
The Supreme Court will hear at 3 p.m. on Wednesday a bunch of petitions seeking vacation of the stay on the bull taming sport Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu.
Counsel Raja Ramana, appearing for the petitioners, told an apex court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra that Jallikattu was a matter of faith and believers viewed bull as a god.
He told the court that no cruelty was involved in Jallikattu, an ancient sport in which young men try to cling on to the hump of the bull for a certain amount of time in order to win prize money.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday put a bar on Jallikattu citing cruelty to animals. The event figures prominently during Pongal festivities in Tamil Nadu that start on Thursday.