Legally Wired

Food bill secured: The Food Security Bill - opposed in part over the alleged cost of providing food to 82 crore Indians - was yesterday passed in the Lok Sabha by voice vote [Zee News/India Today]

Eminent BCI members? Bar councils stood a “good chance” of being nominated under the ‘eminent persons category’ in the Judicial Appointments Commission reported the [TOI], as the Bar Council of India (BCI) asked about the meaning of eminent persons [Hindu]

Facebook red-faced, settles for $20m in California privacy law suit over showcasing faces of friends who liked ‘sponsored stoy’ ads [Reuters]

PCSOA rape redefined: Delhi high court attracts social activists’ ire by ruling that consensual sex with minors is not rape under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act [TOI/BS]

NLSIU rape quick trial: Judgement reserved in the case of the rape of an NLSIU Bangalore student in October, after one of the quickest trials in Karnataka history. Pronouncement is expected on 4 September [NIE]

Crestlaw new office: Bangalore-based Crestlaw Partners moved to a bigger office space off Victoria road from its current premises in Palmgrove Road, to host its team of 30 professionals [B&B]

TN NLS: The Rs 100 crore Tamil Nadu National Law School Srirangam was yesterday inaugurated and has only five students from Tamil Nadu in its first batch of 71 CLAT-admitted students [News Today/TNNLS Website]

Black gold: 16 files containing details of illegitimate allocations in the Coal scam that mysteriously went missing in the Coal ministry until yesterday, have resurfaced, just as mysteriously [TOI]

SC protects whistleblowers under the Prevention of Corruption Act, ruling that leakers’ identities must never be revealed to the accused [TOI]

The Judicial Appointments Bill is one step closer to wiping out the judicial collegium system, as the Union Cabinet yesterday cleared the proposal [Zee News]

Admin Tribunals Act amendment cements eligibility of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) chairmanship to current or ex-higher judiciary members. Amendment also creates power to transfer of cases between tribunals, aimed at speedy disposal [Zee News]

46 death row convicts await gallows at the only Karnataka prison that literally has a gallows facility. 12 were commuted to a life term including a female serial killer dubbed Cyanide Mallika by the press [TOI]

File RTI online: Gov launches online portal for filing Right to Information (RTI) requests with 82 ministries at www.rtionline.gov.in [Firstpost]

Delhi gang-rape closings: The closing arguments in the so-called Delhi gang-rape trial will be heard today. WSJ summarises case so far.

Wikileaker sentenced: US soldier Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years prison by military tribunal for leaking top secret government documents to Wikileaks [The Guardian] The whistleblowing site later released a statement hailing the “minimum sentence” a “tactical victory” while adding that his defence team would appeal to for “due process violations during the trial” [Wikileaks]

DU, NUS alum scores BPSC: Lawyer Ritika Singh returns from corporate job in Singapore scores 16th in BPSC exam, returns to Bihar as tax officer [TOI]

Editor’s guild slams common journalist exam as ‘recipe for total state control’ [Sans serif]

Bar unrest: Madras high court bar experiences heartburn and resentment at the selection of two out of eight newly appointed judges from neighbouring state Kerala, while western UP lawyers are gearing up to Gherao the Taj Mahal to mark their discontent over government inaction for a permanent western UP bench of the Allahabad HC [NIE/Zee News]

Press test: Information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari has proposed a common examination for journalists to qualify them for a reporter’s license. It is not clear yet what the exam would entail. In the Press Freedoms Index 2013 prepared by Reporters Without Borders India ranked at 140 – the lowest since 2002 “because of increasing impunity for violence against journalists and because internet censorship continues to grow” [WSJ]

Kohli rejects Nike nurture: Karnataka HC Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh rules that Virat Kohli’s endorsement (and “nurturing”) contract with Nike would continue, despite the sports apparel maker complaining of Kohli’s commercial infidelity [Hindu] “Shades of Percept D'Mark vs Zaheer Khan?” tweeted @prjaipuriar

Karnataka benched perm: Karnataka high court’s circuit benches at Dharwad and Gulbarg will both be upgraded to permanent ones within the next 10 days. Under the president’s order the chief justice of the HC will nominate judges from his HC to sit at Dharwad for cases arising in Bagalkot, Bellary, Belgaum, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Uttara Kannada-Karwar and Koppal districts. Judges sitting at the Gulbarga bench will look after cases arising in Bidar, Bijapur, Gulbarga and Raichur districts of the state. [BS]

Guj Pendency: The Gujarat high court is dealing with close to one lakh cases pending with eleven judges below the sanctioned strength of 42, reports the [DNA]

Groklaw post-snoop shut: Technology law website Groklaw shuts down because can’t guarantee sources’ anonymity after NSA internet monitoring revelations [BBC]

Durga Shakti Nagpal plea: The Supreme Court will on August 26 hear a contempt plea against the Uttar Pradesh government and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for suspending IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal who had implemented a government order for removal of unauthorised structures on public land [PTI]

No sleep banker dies: 21-year-old London Bank of America Merrill Lynch intern dies after working at least 3 all-nighters [The Independent]

Chennai Express: 22 district judges were selected in Tamil Nadu within three months of advertising the direct recruitment, and one month after 2,668 candidates appeared for the preliminary examination. Legally India had earlier reported that the Delhi district judge recruitment process took six times as long, with around three times as many candidates [Hindu]

Benchpress: Lucknow, Allahabad and Agra lawyers fight for more cases as Agra demands a permanent bench for Western Uttar Pradesh, while Allahabad opposes dilution of the HC’s jurisdiction, even as Lucknow bench lawyers now demand an extension of the Allahabad HC’s jurisdiction. The Bombay high court constituted a two-member committee to look into the proposal for its circuit bench in Pune after the Pune Bar Association went on strike on the 13 and 14 August [DNA] [IANS]

CATtiness: The Delhi HC chastised the Central Administrative Tribunal for “being lazy” and ending up writing in an order that rape was not a serious offence. The HC bench said: “This case has compelled us to pen down our anguish because if a judicial fora writes that rape is not a serious offence, it would be a very serious matter and probably may even entail going beyond passing strictures at such a view taken and against the author.” The HC however upheld CAT’s order in favour of a man who had been denied a job because of rape charges against him, citing lack of evidence against him [DNA]

Pendency hasn’t left the building: At the Gauhati HC a new building was inaugurated on Saturday. 43,131 cases have been pending for at least five years or more before various courts in Assam [TOI]

Pendency down in Delhi trial courts: Delhi trial courts have managed to reduce pendency from 30 per cent in the last one-and-a-half years, with the number of pending cases coming down from 7 lakh to 5 lakh – including all civil and criminal cases before magisterial, district and sessions courts. Cases of dishonoured cheques – a major component of the backlog – have reduced by 50 per cent [TOI]

Holidaying for permanent benches: Pune lawyers want a bench of the Bombay high court in Pune, and are boycotting courts today and tomorrow to stress this demand. The lawyers will further stop presiding before all quasi-judicial bodies until they get a written assurance of the permanent bench from the government. Way to protest! Rajasthan lawyers more conservative in their similar demands [TOI/Bar Association Udaipur]

Unparliamentary petition: The Madras high court dismissed a lawyer’s petition seeking withdrawal of public sector oil companies’ power to fix petrol and diesel prices as they are dependant on the price of crude oil in the international market. The bench dismissed the petition because it used “abusive language” against the prime minister of India [PTI]

Pungent pendency: Bombay high court’s registrar general has directed Maharashtra’s district courts to take up acid attack cases against women on a priority basis for expeditious disposal in the atrocities against women category [DNA]

30% HC Vacancy: 280 judges’ posts were vacant across 24 Indian high courts on 8 August, constituting vacancy of 31 per cent. The number would rise to 306 by the end of 2013 after the retirement of 26 more judges in the next four months [TOI]

Gallows halted: Chief Justice of India (CJI) P Sathasivam stayed the execution of a man held for beheading five of his daughters, in an order passed at 12:30am on Friday, after Supreme Court human rights lawyer Colin Gonsalves rushed to the CJI’s home with the plea that the convict had been denied fair legal opportunities to approach the apex court after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected his mercy petition last month [Telegraph India]

BCI to de-affialiate Kar Uni: After finding that the Karnataka University’s law college had only two faculty members to teach the non-law subjects of the five year integrated law course, the Bar Council of India (BCI) issued a show-cause notice to the college asking why they should not be suspended from awarding law degrees [Deccan Herald]

Security conscious Bangalore courts: The security precautions after the Delhi high court bomb blast have now percolated down to Bangalore’s lower courts from Karnataka’s high court, with the state government deciding to install CCTV cameras at the City Civil and Sessions Court and to deploy more police officials there [NIE]

Juvenile injustice: Over 160 juveniles to date have been incarcerated in adult prisons by the Delhi police, according to the Delhi State Legal Services Authority’s (DSLSA) report to the Delhi high court. A division bench of acting Chief Justice B D Ahmed and Justice Vibhu Bakhru has directed police commissioners to inquire and take action against the investigating officer responsible in each of the 162 cases where the police purposely showed juveniles as adults instead of presenting them before the Juvenile Justice Board [TOI]

Youngest ever UK barrister: Gabrielle Turnquest, age 18, is the youngest person to be admitted to the bar in the history of the 600-year-old English legal system. She now plans to work as a lawyer in the fashion industry – she will start an apparel industry management course in the autumn, while studying for the multistate bar exams [The Guardian]

Pakistan lawyer solidarity: A lawyer group in Pakistan opposed the removal of three Supreme Court judges of the country who had decided to change the date of the presidential election. The lawyers asked the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) to withdraw a resolution demanding a reference against the three judges [Pakistan Guardian]

Flashy HNLU: HNLU Raipur students organised a flash mob at a Raipur mall to support women’s empowerment yesterday. A flash mob “combines the appeal of a dance performance, seemingly un-choreographed, spreading across the crowd, creating a spontaneous public spectacle of unified musical expression to promote a social cause,” reported the [TOI]

Majority rule: The Bangalore Advocates Association is up in arms about Karnataka high court judge K Sreedhar Rao, whose son filed criminal cases of extortion and threat against two of its members. In addition to resolving to collectively skip court proceedings presided over by Rao on 12 August, the association has also asked the CJI to “hold an in-house inquiry” about his affairs [Hindu]

Aadhar challenged: The Delhi high court yesterday issued notice to the central government on a petition challenging the implementation of the unique identification or Aadhar cards scheme on the ground that it violates the privacy of applicants by raising serious concerns regarding critical personal and biometric information [BS]

Rape pendency stats: 23,792 cases related to rape were pending in 21 high courts as on 30 September 2012, the law minister told parliament. Between October 2009 and September 2012, 8,772 cases were disposed of by the high courts. A maximum of 8,215 cases are pending in the Allahabad High Court which disposed of 39 cases in three years between 2009 and 2012 [DNA]

Pendency laptop: CJI Sathasivam has asked chief justices of all high courts to prioritise long-pending cases and to submit monthly statistics of pendency. He also said yesterday that laptops have already been provided to 13,000 judicial officers in the country [BS]

Android friendly SCI: The Supreme Court of India has released an Android smartphone app to view a replica of the Supreme’s Court’s case display board. The display board in the SC indicates the item numbers of matters being heard across all courtrooms at any given point of time. It’s pretty basic, but seems to do what it says it does [To install on your Android device go to Settings –> Security, and check ‘Unknown Sources’. Then click this link from your phone: SCI Android app via SC e-committee]

Gujarat miffs Lokayukta appointee: The Gujarat government has cleared the appointment of former Gujarat high court justice RA Mehta as the state’s first Lokayukta in 10 years, after it lost a two-year long battle in the high court and the Supreme Court against his appointment. Mehta, however, has declined the post citing foul play by the government leading to loss of his credibility [TOI/TOI]

Dhir & Dhir promos: Dhir & Dhir Associates promoted five principal associates to associate partner and hired a new associate partner. Sachin Gupta and Jayshree Shukhla from the litigation team, Sandeep Gupta from the corporate restructuring and insolvency team, Santosh Pandey from the infrastructure practice and Girish Rawat from banking finance & capital markets were promoted, while Bibhakar Mishra was hired in the dispute resolution team [Bar & Bench]

Bombay e-court: The Bombay high court will inaugurate its first ever e-court on 15 August accepting all petitions through e-filing. This court will initially accept filing of company matters [PTI]

Lawschool caste violence: A student in the Government Law College Coimbatore was injured after the college failed to check the hoisting of flags on campus paying homage to various caste leaders by student groups. The move had divided the student community and the unease led to violence [TOI]

NGT bans sand mining: The National Green Tribunal banned the practice of sand mining from riverbeds without the environment ministry’s clearance, complying with a 2012 order of the Supreme Court and responding to the suspension of young IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal who had conducted a drive against the sand mafia in Uttar Pradesh [Mint]

CJI overtaker, arrested: A man in Coimbatore was arrested after overtaking the wrong car – the one driving the chief justice of India (CJI) P Sathasivam around town, escorted by team of cops [NIE]

Sweeping new SEBI powers: Former SEBI executive director Pratip Kar discusses how SEBI’s July 18 ordinance giving it sweeping powers has provided it with the right machinery to play catch-up with errant companies who’re always ahead in the game [BS]

Parental marriage consent, precedent: Political party leader S Ramadoss used the Karnataka HC’s 2011 judgment requiring parental consent for love marriages by girls under 21 years of age, to buttress his argument for an amendment to that effect in the Hindu Marriage Act. Ramadoss said that the HC had explained the “untold misery and hardship” of parents of teenage girls falling in love, reported the [Hindu]

Political parties v RTI: Citizen groups in various parts of India are protesting against the government’s move to amend the RTI Act to exempt political parties from its purview. The other alternative available to the government was to file for a High Court stay on the Central Information Commission’s June order that had directed six national political parties to appoint a Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) under the Act [HT]

BCI enforces norms on university: After the Bar Council of India (BCI) reportedly found that only five full time faculty were available for 1,200 students at the Rajasthan University’s law college, instead of the UGC-devised 1:20 teacher-student ratio, it disallowed the university’s repeated pleas to begin the 2013 academic session, forcing admitted students to leave for other colleges [TOI]

Pending (yet) another look: Chief Justice of India (CJI) P Sathasivam has promised that immediately after disposal of the Mullaperiyar dam case a constitutional bench would be constituted to look into the problem of the Supreme Court’s pending cases [PTI]

Ragging cured yet? “Ragging on the campuses of premier institutions is more or less over. What awaits freshers is loads of fun and a series of interesting traditions that they have to follow with their seniors.” reports [TOI]. Last year Legally India reported how even though ragging at law schools has decreased, even its less sinister forms sometimes had negative consequences

Remove KGB: NGO Common Cause moved the SC on Friday seeking direction for removal of former CJI KG Balakrishnan as the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission [BS]

“Poor man’s advocate”, RIP: The Andhra Pradesh HC’s senior-most advocate – 83-year-old senior advocate C Padmanabha Reddy - passed away on Saturday at the residence of his son, AP HC Justice C Praveen Kumar Reddy, in Hyderabad on Saturday. He had argued the highest number of murder cases in the country and was also called the “poor man’s advocate” [Deccan Chronicle]

CCI vegetates fair markets: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) will examine agriculture markets to ensure that there is no cartelisation or unfair play in the determination of vegetable prices, since prices are soaring despite their tendency to ease during the monsoon season. In 2011, the CCI had looked into the pricing pattern in the onion markets [HT]

New DoJ secretary: The ministry of law and justice’ department of justice has a new secretary in 1979-batch IAS officer Anita Kaul, taking over from previous secretary DK Sikri who retired yesterday. The Department of Justice appoints and transfers Supreme Court and high courts judges in the country [ANI]

Juvenile homecoming: The [NYT India Ink blog] took a tour of Delhi’s juvenile justice homes to find slow bureaucratic approval for security facilities, lack of trained staff, terrible working conditions, and the general map of these spaces

Fundamental Facebooking rights: Facebook has argued that right to social media is an extension of the UN Human Rights Council-declared fundamental right to the internet, and a ban on minors’ use of social media limits freedom of speech and expression [TOI]

NLSIU Kranti: Bangalore students form a student political organisation Kranti “to resurrect the culture of protest”, reports [DNA]

Armed Forces Tribunal: Jharkhand high court Chief Justice Prakash Tatia’s name has been proposed for heading the Armed Forces Tribunal to succeed former Supreme Court justice AK Mathur who retires as the tribunal’s head next week [PTI]

Intelligent safeguards: The Intelligence Bureau (IB), the RAW, and the NTRO – India’s intelligence agencies – may now have external oversight through inspector generals who will be appointed to check the legality of their intelligence operations – according to recommendations in a letter from the National Security Advisor to the telecom ministry and union home ministry. The proposal comes soon after the CBI in the course of its investigation of the Ishrat Jahan encounter case alleged that a senior IB official was part of a conspiracy to kill Ishrat and her companions in 2004 [DNA]

Euthanasia denied: A British court of appeal rejected the plea of petitioners’ asking for euthanasia yesterday, holding the practice illegal. The petitioners had claimed that in not being able to choose their time and manner of death their rights under the European Convention of Human Rights were being violated [TOI]

Whistleblower protection: The Supreme Court has asked the Central Vigilance Commission to report on the steps it has taken for the protection of whistleblowers – after the CVC was made the nodal agency for their safety after the year 2004 murder of an IIT Kanpur student. An NGO Parivartan had alleged in its PIL that the system for whistleblowers’ protection had failed [DNA]

SJ Berwin-King Woods exchange $1bn rings: UK firm SJ Berwin’s merger with Asia-Pacific giant King & Wood Mallesons - the first ever merger between a major UK and Asia-Pacific firm - has now been finalised after first speculation in November 2012. The merged firm will operate under separate financial books and boast combined annual revenues of more than $1bn, 550 partners and 2,200 lawyers [The Lawyer]

SEBI v Sahara: “The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday made a forceful plea to the Supreme Court to punish Sahara chief Subrata Roy, along with his two firms and their directors, for not complying with its order for refunding Rs 24,000 crore to investors,” reports [DNA]

NEET review: “Delhi based NGO Sankalp, which had represented the medical student community in the apex court in favour of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Examination (NEET), has decided to file a review petition before Chief Justice of India through senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan,” reported [Indlaw]

Dewey eyes: A raft of firms including Allen & Overy (A&O), Linklaters and DLA Piper are facing legal action from Dewey & LeBoeuf’s estate over client matters they allegedly took on when recruiting former partners of the collapsed US law firm [Legal Week]