The Bench and the Bar

Tense moments were witnessed when Justice Ranjan Gogoi, sitting with Pinaki Chandra Ghose, was dictating order in the Supreme Court’s room 7 at 3:30pm earlier today, in the contempt petition against the Union of India, and the Delhi and Tamil Nadu Governments in the political advertisements case.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said students aspiring for admission to under-graduate medical courses will have to appear in the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET).

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on a PIL seeking holding of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for All India Pre-Medical Entrance Test (AIPMT) for admission to undergraduate courses across the country.

As the apex court bench headed by Justice Anil R Dave reserved the order, it said it would not present a fait accompli for states that had contended that NEET could not be thrust on them as they have their own statutory regime for holding entrance examination for admission to medical colleges.

At the outset of the reading, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) told the court that it will hold NEET in two phases -- first on 1 May and then on 24 July this year.

The result will be declared on 17 August, followed by counselling and admissions.

The court is hearing a PIL filed by NGO Sankalp Charitable Trust, which has contended that as authorities were not conducting the NEET for the students across the country aspiring to join medical colleges, the private medical colleges were holding their own exams to admit the students.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the possibility of Sahara chief Subrata Roy’s release from jail - having been incarcerated for more than two years now - would depend on the outcome of the first round of auction of Sahara’s assets by market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The writ petition of the former Judge of the Supreme Court and former chairman of the Press Council of India, Markandey Katju, challenging the unanimous resolutions passed by both the  Houses of Parliament disapproving of his remarks on Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in March last year, was heard by the Supreme Court’s three Judge bench this forenoon, with the Amicus Curiae, Fali Nariman making a snide remark about the petitioner considering himself a super citizen, by adding ‘former Judge of the Supreme Court’ etc, to his name. 

In a revelation which may shock many, the Solicitor General, Ranjit Kumar told the Supreme Court’s three-Judge bench hearing the black money investigation case this afternoon at Court No 2, that nothing survived in this case, and the court could dispose it of.

The Delhi government on Tuesday told the Delhi high court that it will consider exempting lawyers from the odd-even traffic restrictions if the scheme was enforced again in the national capital.

The afternoon hearing at Court No 4 of the Supreme Court on the entry of women to Sabarimala temple got interesting with senior counsel for the temple board, KK Venugopal, comparing the discrimination at Sabarimala with similar classification on the basis of gender in other areas of activity.