The Bench and the Bar

Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley filed a civil defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and five other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders in the Delhi high court today reported The Indian Express.

Jaitley has accused AAP leaders of issuing false and defamatory statements against him and his family members. Kejriwal, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpayee commented on the alleged irregularities in administration of Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) which used to be presided by Jaitley till 2013. Jaitley waas quoted as saying, “I have no family member who has even one paise interest in any form of business. Why should my family be part of a sports management business?”

BJP leader Kirti Azad had also alleged that Jaitley attempted to shield the alleged DDCA irregularities on Sunday in a press conference. He has posed 52 questions for Jaitley related to his role in the DDCA and his family’s alleged involvement in Hockey India.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal said that the Supreme Court on Monday will hear her midnight plea against the release of the juvenile convicted in 16 December gang-rape case.

The DCW chief said: “They (Supreme Court) have listed the matter for today (Monday) and we are going with a lot of hope.”

Delhi Commission for Women was going on behalf of all the sexual assault victims in the country who were waiting for justice whether in courts, in police stations or forensic labs, Maliwal said.

“This fight is on behalf of everyone,” she added.

She had earlier written to the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) asking them to delay the release of the juvenile convict.

Several judges of the court participated enthusiastically in observing call for car-free day made by Punjab and Haryana high court employees welfare association reported The Tribune on 19 December 2015.

Judges were seen walking, cycling and using public transport to commute to and fro the court premises. The association had asked its members to use a bicycle, public transport or a two-wheeler to the office.

Acting Chief Justice of the court, Shiavax Jal Vazifdar walked down to the high court this morning and Justice Surya Kant, Justice RS Malik, Justice Raj Mohan Singh, Justice Hari Pal Verma, Justice Lisa Gill and Justice Anita Chaudhry also followed suit. Meanwhile, Justice PB Bajanthri and Justice Arun Palli reached the high court premises riding a bicycle.

Registrar Judicial Sunil Chaudhary and Registrar Administration Sandeep Singh also reached the court on a bicycle.

A large number of bicycles were reportedly parked in the parking lot near Gate No. 1 of the court complex. Two special buses werearranged for the employees from the areas in Sector 27 and 28 which were seen to be packed with commuters.

The police of the union territory has also planned to organise a voluntary Car-free Day in the first week of January to reduce traffic in the city and promote green lifestyle. Chandigarh police has also reportedly proposed to the administration to restrict the number of cars in the city based on the idea of odd-even rule by Delhi government.

Kerala high court judge Justice PD Rajan has punished two police constables with contempt for accidentally addressing him colloquially outside of court, ordering them to copy the police manual by hand as punishment while standing in court all day.

A session court has ordered the police to return the driving licence and car of Janhavi Gadkar, the Reliance Industries in-house lawyer and former Talwar Thakore Associates associate who allegedly killed two passengers in a taxi when driving drunk in June 2015.

Justice Vikramajit Sen of the Supreme Court, who is retiring on 30 December, has told reporters that he would pronounce the verdict in the Kerala Bar licence case on or before the last day of his tenure.

The final results of the election to the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) show that it was a very closely contested election, and for some posts, the sizable votes secured by some non-serious candidates tilted the result in favour of the successful candidate.

Advocate Seema Sapra, who has long-alleged that General Electric and its agents are trying to poison her in retaliation for whistleblowing over alleged corruption at the multinational’s India offices, has been sentenced to prison for a month by the Delhi high court for contempt.

The Supreme Court has increased transparency in the banking sector by holding that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cannot deny information sought under the right to information (RTI) law merely by citing economic interest and the central bank’s fiduciary relationship with banks.

The Delhi high court on Wednesday asked the state government to respond on a PIL seeking repainting of zebra crossings and removal of unauthorisedly parked vehicles from roads to prevent traffic disruptions.

A division bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath asked the Delhi government to file its reply by 19 January on a plea filed by lawyer Ashish Sharma.

The public interest litigation also raised the issue of urination on roadsides and defacement of walls by posters. It also sought fixing of broken road dividers for the safety of citizens.

The plea sought directions to authorities to immediately paint, repair and mark stop lines, lane dividers, zebra crossings across Delhi to aid pedestrians as well as vehicles plying on the roads.

“The petitioner seeks enforcement and security of his right to live, right to breathe and enjoyment of fundamental rights. The citizens and government agencies are both insensitive towards their duties. Everywhere is mess. Zebra lines are missing and cars are parked on footpath,” said the PIL,

The 305-page judgment that overturned the drunk driving conviction of Salman Khan has been uploaded on the Bombay high court website.

Former Delhi high court judge Justice Reva Khetrapal took oath as the new Lokayukta of Delhi on Thursday.

Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung administered the oath at a function where Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also.

Khetarpal will serve a five-year term.

The post has remained vacant since November 2013, when retired Justice Manmohan Sarin relinquished office.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was criticised over the delay in the appointment of Lokayukta by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

In the Additional District and Sessions Judge, ‘X’ v. Supreme Court of India Through Secretary General And Anr., which came up before the bench comprising justices JS Khehar and Rohinton Nariman on 16 December, the petitioner’s counsel, Indira Jaising raised the relevance of the in-house committee report in establishing the misconduct of a judge.