The Supreme Court’s constitution bench hearing on the sharing of river water through the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, took an interesting turn this afternoon with Punjab’s counsel, senior advocate, Ram Jethmalani, making a strong pitch for the return of the Presidential reference on the issue unanswered.

Staking claim over the treasures lost ages ago, a public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed before the Supreme Court of India seeking a writ of mandamus to the ‘High Commissioner of United Kingdom' for returning the world famous Koh-i-Noor diamond and several other treasures belonging to various Indian rulers, books etc., which currently lie in the United Kingdom.

There are many cases in the Supreme Court, which are under continuous monitoring of the court, meaning that the court, rather than dispose them of after issuing certain orders, monitors them once in a while, so as to ensure compliance with its orders by the authorities concerned. The petition, filed by senior counsel Ram Jethmalani in 2009, (writ petition [civil] 176 of 2009) is one such, which has seen several ups and downs.

Bollywood star Salman Khan has told the Supreme Court that he was not driving his Toyota Land Cruiser when it killed a man in Mumbai in 2002 but police were trying to implicate him in the case.

Claiming that his driver Ashok Singh was at the wheels, Salman said in an affidavit filed on 17 March that the prosecution had failed to produce a single witness or a photograph showing that he was driving it.

The affidavit became public knowledge only on Wednesday.

The statement followed a notice issued by the apex court issued on 19 February on a Maharashtra government’s petition challenging the Bombay high court verdict acquitting the film star in the case.

The high court had on 10 December, 2015 acquitted Salman, saying that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against the actor on all counts.

Salman was found guilty by a sessions court on 6 May last year and convicted for, among others, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and sentenced to five years in jail for the accident which killed one man and injured four others. All victims were sleeping on the pavement.

Salman also denied he was drunk at the time of the accident, saying he was keeping away from alcoholic beverages in preparation for the shooting of the film “Garv”.

Telling the apex court that the accident took place as the left front tyre burst resulting in the vehicle spinning out of control, Salman said driver Ashok Singh was driving towards his home at 40-50 km an hour from JW Marriott to Hill Road.

At the time of the accident, Salman said some repair work was going on near the junction, as a result of which there were stones and rubble lying on the road.

“When the vehicle approached the junction of St. Andrew’s Road and Hill Road, the left front tyre of the said vehicle burst, due to which the said vehicle swerved sharply to the left.

“Ashok Singh tried to apply the brakes and tried to control the vehicle but by then (it) climbed the stairs and came onto the platform outside the American Express Laundry, hit the shutter and stopped,” he said.

The Supreme Court today granted bail to Delhi University professor GN Saibaba, accused of being associated with a front organisation of a banned Maoist outfit.

As reported on Legally India in February, Saibaba requires constant and expensive medical attention, which the Mahrashtra government was unlikely to have been able to provide in Nagpur jail.

The apex court bench, headed by Justice JS Khehar, granted bail to Saibaba noting that all the material witnesses in the case have already been examined and there was no basis for keeping him confined.

The court was not moved as counsel for Maharashtra expressed the apprehension that Saibaba would propagate his views if he is set free.

The court said that does not hold as he would be doing so even if he was released later.

Granting bail to Saibaba, the court said his release would be subject to the conditions by the trial court as he would make himself available as and when he was required.

Even as the two rival national political parties played April Fool of their actual political rivalries on 1 April by appealing together in the Supreme Court, a common judgment passed against them by the Delhi high court, The Wire has exposed a little-known fact, which promises to excel the incredible phenomenon of these two rival parties coming together on a common platform to fight a common enemy.

The BJP and the Congress today both found defending themselves as appellants in a case before the Supreme Court, which is likely to hear it in detail after the summer vacation.

Senior counsel Dushyant Dave is now officially Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president again, after his short-lived resignation in mid-February was held by the executive committee to have been void.

The Supreme Court collegium is learnt to have stood by its decision to transfer Delhi HC judge Rajiv Shakdher after the law ministry sent back his case for reconsideration, said several persons aware of the outcome. The law ministry had asked for a review after lawyers protested against Shakdher’s transfer.

reported the The Economic Times.

As first reported by Legally India on 24 February, several senior counsel had written to the Supreme Court collegium to reverse its order, in light of the respect he enjoyed at the bar.

The ET wrote in its report that five senior counsel had protested in writing about the transfer because “they objected to his being transferred along with [Madras high court Justice CS] Karnan, whose case was regarded in a different light”.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed market regulator SEBI to go ahead with the sale of _Sahara _properties whose unencumbered title deeds are in its possession. The step is being taken to recover investors’ money that Sahara groups’ two companies had collected from public through Optionally Fully Convertible Debentures.

The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur said that the market regulator would appoint an agency to decide the mechanism for the sale of Sahara properties.

The court said that properties would not be sold at a price that is less than 90 percent of the prevailing circle rates.

The SEBI will appoint an agency to work out the mechanism for the sale of properties which are stated to be worth Rs 40,000 crore.

The entire process would be undertaken under the supervision of former Supreme Court judge Justice BN Agarwala and Sahara would be kept informed about the steps being taken for the sale of its properties.

Meanwhile, Sahara head honcho Subrata Roy remains in jail on contempt, now for more than two years.

The Supreme Court bench comprising of justices Ranjan Gogoi, Arun Mishra, and Prafulla C Pant today told Raj Kumar Mehta, the counsel for Lalit Kumar Mishra, the former Additional Judge of the Orissa high court, who challenged his non-appointment as the permanent judge of the high court that there are no records of the proceedings of the Supreme Court collegium.