HL Dattu
In the midst of the melee in Court 4 on 5 November before the constitution bench hearing the proposals on reforming the collegium, counsel arguing for and against the brief adjournment, missed a crucial fact: the present collegium headed by the outgoing CJI, Justice HL Dattu, is unlikely to meet to recommend the names of new Judges, in view of Dattu’s recommendation to the government to elevate the senior-most of his colleagues, Justice TS Thakur, as the CJI, after his retirement on 2 December.
Chief Justice HL Dattu, who led the five-Judge Constitution Bench, had a surprise in store after hearing rival contentions for and against relaxing the 11 August interim order in order to exempt more schemes from its purview.
Retired Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju has castigated the Supreme Court for its judgment against fired Gujarat police service officer Sanjiv Bhatt on his blog.
The composition of the Constitution Bench on Aadhaar, which begins its hearing from 2 pm tomorrow, had led to an uncertainty as to how a five-judge bench could decide the question whether the right to privacy is a fundamental right, when a similar question was decided by a eight-judge bench.
The Supreme Court today dismissed the plea by sacked Gujarat cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt seeking an SIT probe into allegations that he had hacked into the email account of the then additional advocate general of Gujarat, Tushar Mehta, and tampered with it.
Mehta is at present the additional solicitor general mainly representing the central government in the Supreme Court.
An apex court bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra while rejecting Bhatt’s plea asked the trial court to complete the hearing as expeditiously as possible.
The verdict was pronounced by Justice Mishra.
It also rejected Bhatt’s plea for an SIT probe into the allegation that he had forced his official driver to file an affidavit that he drove him to then chief minister Narendra Modi’s official residence on Feb 27, 2002 where Modi allegedly asked his officers to let people vent their anger in the wake of Godhra train carnage.
Tomorrow, on Tuesday 13 October, the SC delivers will deliver judgment in Narendra Modi-baiter Sanjiv Bhatt’s plea to constitute a SIT to probe his allegations against Gujarat Government’s collusion with the riot-accused, and shield him from harassment.
The Supreme Court on Thursday sought response from the central and Delhi governments on a plea filed by three lawyers seeking ban on the sale and bursting of firecrackers during the festival of Dussehra and Diwali because it further aggravates the already dangerous level of air pollution.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the central and Delhi governments as to why pollution compensatory charge be not levied on the trucks and commercial vehicles entering national capital and further contributing to already alarming air pollution in the city.
The Supreme Court today asked the chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to form a three-judge bench to examine the validity of penal provisions that bans slaughtering of cattle and sale of beef in the state.
Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy put on hold the order of the Jammu bench of the high court directing the police chief in the state to enforce the Ranbir penal code provisions banning beef in the state.
The court passed the order after noting the conflicting orders passed by the Jammu and Srinagar bench of the high court.
The Jammu bench had asked the police chief to enforce the ban while the Srinagar bench had issued notice challenging the validity of the provision banning beef.
The Srinagar bench had said that if the state legislature wanted to scrap or amend these provisions, then the pendency of the matter before it will not come in the way of the assembly.
The Supreme Court dismissed the public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to curtail attorneys general’s ability to act for private parties.
Headline: No issue for AG to act for private parties, says SC
“As long as there is no conflict of interest, there is no issue. We may address him as learned Attorney General even when he is appearing for private parties but that does not mean he is considered as the law officer of the government. No, we cannot intervene in the matter and issue any orders,” said a bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy.
reported The Indian Express.
Should it be directed to the Government of India not to give permission to the Attorney General for India to appear for private parties against the state and its instrumentalities? This is the question which a Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy would be faced with, when a PIL seeking such a direction would be called for hearing before them.
The reported comments of the Chief Justice of India, Justice HL Dattu, while refusing to entertain a petition from a journalist from Chennai seeking a ban on the sacrifice of animals during religious festivals across the country, have led to considerable consternation.
In a huge setback to corporate honcho Anshuman S Ruia and Ravi S Ruia and their company Essar Teleholding, the Supreme Court today upheld their trial by the Special CBI court trying 2G scam cases, rejecting their plea that they should instead be tried by a magisterial court.