corruption
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested senior Tis Hazari judge Rachna Tiwari Lakha while accepting a Rs 4 lakh bribe from an advocate in a case she was hearing, according to CBI sources as reported by PTI.
NUJS Kolkata made NLU history when it suspended, for alleged corruption, an officer of the university – the registrar Surajit Mukhopadhyay. A full inquiry report detailing how Mukhopadhyay was involved in alleged illegal award of contracts related to university infrastructure, has been released. The students of the law school led the initiative, the report duly notes.
Bar Council of India (BCI) associate managing trustee Rajinder Singh Rana and former vice chairman Raju Dhanapal Raj were tried before a special CBI court in Delhi yesterday, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 6 lakh to approve Global Law College in Ghaziabad.
Four members of civil society, represented by Supreme Court advocate KV Dhananjay, have filed a writ petition in the Karnataka high court praying that a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation be started against the Lokayukta of Karnataka, Y Bhaskar Rao and his son Ashwin Y Rao, who are being investigated for corruption charges by the Lokayukta’s internal police force.
The Times of India reported that the purchase of laptops by over 300 judges of the lower courts will be examined by Delhi chief justice G Rohini and a panel, after discrepancies were raised into how the money was spent, with allegations that some may have bought TVs or home theatre systems rather than computers.
Due to alleged impropriety in using the Rs 1.1 lakh grant by one district judge, meant for the purchase of laptops and computers, the elevation of a batch of five district judges including him has also been stalled, according to another report by the Times of India.
Pending inquiry against the accused judge by Rohini, the process for elevating all the five judges whose names had been recommended for elevation to the Delhi high court, is in limbo.
Bombay high court Justice Roshan Dalvi has been accused of corruption by producer Sanjay Punamiya in a nine-page complaint, alleging that her husband Shamim Dalvi told his lawyer in March that for Rs 25 lakh he could get his wife to pass a favourable order in the case before her
Bombay HC mandates cinemas to offer free online booking: Bombay HC asked the state government to issue a circular asking all movie theatres and multiplexes to set up their own websites for online booking of movie tickets without a convenience charge. A government resolution had already asked all theatres and multiplexes to do so, but they had outsourced it to websites like BookMyShow, which charge a convenience charge [PTI]
Lawyers soon to apply for ‘jailed interviews’ online: Delhi HC yesterday asked the city government to provide an online application facility for lawyers to get approval from jail authorities to interview their jailed clients. The court was hearing advocate Amit Sahni’s petition against the prison Director General’s 27 February order that restricted legal interviews with inmates to once in a week [PTI]
NUJS sexual harassment guidelines for interns ready: NUJS Kolkata’s draft guidelines on protection of interns from sexual harassment is reportedly ready and awaiting the nod of its executive council to finally come into force. The guidelines allow the submission of oral or written complaints by interns to the law school’s internal complaints committee, which will get 60 days to submit its report on the complaint [Indian Express]
Patna HC sacks 4th corrupt court officer: Patna HC in a full court meeting ordered compulsory retirement of a judicial officer against whom an allegation of taking a Rs 5 lakh bribe had been confirmed in an inquiry. The officer was originally to retire in 2019. This is the fourth case of stern action by the HC against its judicial officers this year. Earlier this year, Ajay Srivastava of Jehanabad was forcibly retired. Then three judicial officers were sacked for involvement in a sex scandal, and only a few days ago the SDJM of Sherghati in Gaya district, Ram Sajan was suspended for allegedly seeking sexual favours [TOI]
Delhi HC worried by shortage of public prosecutors: Delhi HC pulled up Delhi government over shortage of public prosecutors and non payment of fees to existing government lawyers, despite the large scale creation of new court buildings. The court was reportedly “surprised” that the government listed many restrictive conditions in its advertisements for public prosecutor posts, resulting in receiving very few applications [TOI]
Safety of IT women PIL: Asks for a law to regulate the safety of women working in the software and IT industries, filed by advocate KTS Sivakumar. Sivakumar asked for regulation of women employees’ working hours and “foolproof” security measures for those women who work night shifts [PTI]
The US NRI widower who won a Rs 6 crore medical negligence in October, yesterday won in a special CBI court that convicted two ex-Supreme Court registry officials of corruption.
A Supreme Court bench of Justices AK Patnaik and SJ Mukhopadhaya ruled that lawmakers can be disqualified if they have been convicted of a criminal offence.
The bench struck down as ultra vires section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), which protected MPs, MLAs and other legislators in their posts if they had appealed their criminal convictions in a higher court, reported the Indian Express.
The ruling, which will not apply retrospectively to those who have already filed their criminal appeals, was made in petitions filed by Lily Thomas and the NGO Lok Prahari, which challenged a number of RPA provisions as unconstitutional.
According to disclosures made by candidates to the Election Commission, 1,460 MPs and MLAs have criminal cases pending, of which 688 were serious, reported the Express.