The Bench and the Bar

Chief Justice Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela of the Orissa High Court on Monday was sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of the Bombay high court here, following the collegium’s recommendation last month.

Governor CV Rao administered the oath of office to Chief Justice Waghela at Raj Bhavan.

Present on the occasion were Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, ministers, judges, legal and civil officials and other invitees.

Chief Justice Waghela, 61, who was transferred from Orissa to the Bombay high court, succeeds Chief Justice Mohit Shah who retired on 8 September last year. Since then, Justice (Mrs.) Vijaya K Tahilramani served as the Acting Chief Justice.

Born in Rajkot on 11 August, 1954, Chief Justice Waghela belongs to a family of artists and artisans. He studied B Com besides attending to the family business for five years.

He topped the Saurashtra University in General LLB (1974) and in Special LLB (1975), and completed LLM (Master of Law) in 1976-1977.

In 1978, he launched his own private practice at the labour and industrial court, and on 17 September, 1999, he was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Gujarat High Court.

Waghela was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka high court in March 2013 and transferred as the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court on 4 June, 2015.

The Supreme Court collegium has transferred four Delhi high court judges to other high courts.

The proceedings in Court number 3 during the hearing of item number 53 today were full of suspense.

Advocate Vrinda Grover has released a statement on behalf of a second alleged target of sexual harassment by former Teri boss RK Pachauri, noting that at least two women other than the original complainant had come forward to make statements against Pachauri, reported a number of papers.

India isn’t the only country currently wondering about “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”, to quote section 377 of the IPC Apparently, in the US a piece of semi-news has gone viral that Michigan has made oral and anal sex illegal. That’s not quite true - the Michigan legislature when amending the penal code simply didn’t remove the outdated section:

When the Supreme Court decided Lawrence v. Texas by a 6-3 margin in 2003, making oral and anal sex legal nationwide, 14 states still had anti-sodomy laws on the books.

The decision (which has a fascinating history) invalidated those laws. Still, 12 states, including Michigan, never repealed them.This isn’t necessarily unusual. Legislators love passing laws, but they’re much less likely to go back and clean up old ones. State criminal codes are overstuffed with outdated, unconstitutional, unenforceable laws of all kinds, and Michigan is no exception.

Adultery is technically a felony in Michigan. So is “seducing and debauching an unmarried woman.” The state’s penal code says unmarried people who live together can be fined or put in prison.

Read more at Vox.

The new Juvenile Justice Act 2015 came into force last month, paving the way for juveniles aged 16 to 18 to be tried under adult laws for heinous crimes.

A major challenge now will be to establish the age of juveniles, which will not be easy because no more than 56.2% of India’s births were registered in 2000, according to the Civil Registration System.

This means the ages of teenagers born in 2000 could be uncertain. For instance, juveniles presumed to be aged 16 or older, based on school certificates, might actually be 15. Economically disadvantaged children, currently aged between 15 and 18 based on official records or school certificates, are at maximum risk.

Read more at IndiaSpend.

In the ongoing hearing of the Arunachal Pradesh matter before the constitution bench at court no 3, it was the turn of the senior advocate, TR Andhyarujina, to make his submissions today on behalf of the Governor.

The colleague who alleged then-director general of The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), RK Pachauri, has strongly criticised the institute’s decision to create a new job title for Pachauri - executive vice chairman - despite her case remaining pending.

The Supreme Court has observed that revealing the name of examiners evaluating answer sheets in competitive exams under the RTI Act could lead to “dire consequences” and “create confusion and public interest,” as unsuccessful candidates may try to seek revenge.

The observations were made by a bench of Justices MY Eqbal and Arun Mishra, while partially allowing the appeal of Kerala Public Service Commission against a 2011 Kerala high court order directing it to make available all information, including the identity of the examiner.

reported India Today.

Karanjawala & Co partner Nandini Gore yesterday became the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association’s (SCAORA) first ever office-bearer who is the member of a law firm. Gore prepares to push for AOR quota in judicial appointments, and for senior AORs to be automatically designated senior advocates, among other privileges part of the association’s agenda.

The curative petition of Yusuf Mohsin Nulwala, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai blast case, will be heard by the Supreme Court tomorrow by the bench comprising the three senior-most Judges, namely, the CJI, TS Thakur, and justices Anil R Dave and JS Khehar beween 1:40 and 1:45 pm in their chambers tomorrow.

The before the Constitution bench at court number 3 at 2 pm began on a serious note with the Attorney General, Mukul Rohatgi asking the bench whether it was at all required to copy thousands of pages of official correspondence at the chief minister’s office on various trivial matters, when what the petitioners want access to, is something else. The AG also claimed that the chief minister’s office in Itanagar is not sealed, and the petitioners have not yet made any attempt to claim access to the documents which they want.

The government is considering creating a legal framework for making complaints against judges, based on the previously lapsed bill by the UPA regime.

"A mandate...To inculcate independence, impartiality and accountability among judges should be considered without delay. This could be done by reintroducing a modified Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill," a Law Ministry note says.

reported the PTI and others.

Even as the Supreme Court is yet to upload its order referring the curative petitions filed by Naz Foundation and others to the five Judge Constitution bench, a debate has already begun over the scope and composition of the bench among observers.

Advani & Co partner Kshitij Sancheti has joined Seth Dua & Associates as a corporate partner in its Mumbai office, following two new associate partners having joined the firm last year after four partners left.