JS Khehar

Former Calcutta high court justice CS Karnan, the first sitting high court judge to be jailed, finished his six month prison sentence today in Kolkata's presidency prison and was released today, reported the Express.

Justice Dipak Misra took oath today as the 45th Chief Justice of India (CJI), succeeding CJI JS Khehar. Misra's suitability for India's highest judicial office was questioned before CJI Khehar and in the media, since last year when his name surfaced in allegations of misrepresentation from 1979.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) is set to meet the government tomorrow to discuss the new draft rules that will enable the entry of foreign law firms into India, reported The Lawyer (full article requires free registration) adding that the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) has already met with its members as a precursor to what SILF called the “inevitable and imminent” opening up of the legal services sector.

The government has moved for an early hearing in the Bar Council of India (BCI) AK Balaji appeal in the Supreme Court, reported Bar & Bench.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) JS Khehar, as probably the first sitting CJI having been reported to do so, as far as we are aware, said at a function on Saturday (8 July) that legal market liberalisation should take place.

The Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) will get a lesson from the Supreme Court in the use of the new Integrated Case Management and Information System (ICMIS) intended to allow full e-filing at the apex court, in a series of demonstrations organised from this Monday (10 July).

And here’s one of the problems with the opaque collegium and judiciary, which rarely if ever officially confirms anything to journalists, leaving reporting on the bench to often be sourced on hints and whispers.

The suicide note of former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister, Kalikho Pul, has landed the apex court in a bit of a dilemma, with its decision to judicially hear as a writ petition the letter written by his widow, Dangwimsai Pul, backfiring today, as we had reported.

The case of the suicide note of Arunachal Pradesh ex-chief minister Kalikho Pul took a dramatic turn today, with the Supreme Court closing the matter on the judicial side after senior counsel Dushyant Dave impassioned pleas for Pul’s widow, Dangwimsai Pul.

With the last batch of Supreme Court elevations having been made only in May 2016 with four new judges (who had been recommended in December 2015), the collegium’s latest recommendations of five new Supreme Court judges were cleared by the president yesterday.

A seven apex court judge bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) JS Khehar, with justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur, PC Ghose and Kurian Joseph have today withdrawn all judicial and administrative work from Calcutta high court judge Justice CS Karnan, according to PTI.

According to the Times of India Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra told Supreme Court Justice JS Khehar last week at a party organised for the new Chief Justice of India (CJI):

Supreme Court Justice JS Khehar has been formally confirmed by the President of India as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) to succeed Justice TS Thakur and will be the first CJI from the Sikh community, according to the Indian Express.

The Hindu newspaper yesterday successfully persuaded the SC to change its mind for the second time in the same case.

A Supreme Court bench of justices JS Khehar and Dipak Misra today disposed of three writ petitions challenging President’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh, which was imposed on 26 January, as infructuous.

The Hindu newspaper yesterday successfully persuaded the Supreme Court bench comprising of justices JS Khehar and Arun Mishra to change its mind in an ongoing litigation over a breach of privilege notice issued to its editor, Mukund Padmanabhan, by the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

Justice Jasti Chelameswar, the fifth-most senior judge of the Supreme Court, and a member of the SC’s collegium, made the news today with the New Indian Express publishing his refusal to participate in a Supreme Court collegium meeting, as a protest against the collegium’s failure to comply with the principle of transparency of its proceedings.