Abhishek Manu Singhvi
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi accused the SCBA of “crass commercialisation and periodic auctioning and re-auctioning”, on its decision to rename the Supreme Court’s “Dr LM Singhvi library” to “Dr Awadh Behari Rohatgi library” after senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, instead of Singhvi, ended up donating the money required for the library’s renovation this year. Bar & Bench reported that in addition to this accusation, Singhvi also alleged that the SCBA had possibly “squandered” the Rs 20 lakh he had donated for the library in 2009.
According to the B&B report, Singhvi said:
“In 2008 and 2009 they took Rs. 20 lacs from me. I gave it with happiness for the service of the Bar. I had also asked them to keep the money locked in corpus, so that it is not squandered for dinners and lunches. It was not done. Till 2014, nothing happened.”
The SCBA had in May asked for Rs 20 lakh from Singhi to renovate the library, but after he had allegedly qualified the donation with four conditions the association had decided to strip the library, named after his late father, of its title. Rohatgi has now donated Rs 25 lakh toward the library’s renovation and the library will be renamed after his late father.
SCBA president PH Parekh told B&B:
“[Singhvi’s] daily income is more than Rs. 20 lacs. If it was a lawyer who did not have money, we would not have asked for a single penny. It is when he set out those four conditions that we decided that enough was enough. […] It is not a question of payment but about the conditions he imposed. He said that he will pay Rs. 20 lacs but he will dictate the terms. We felt very hurt by that and did not like it. By imposing a condition that an inaugural ceremony should be held, he was trying to show his money power. So, the point is that we did not like the way in which he troubled us for a couple of months before agreeing to pay and then imposing those conditions.”
Delhi law min tarnished personal record: Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti has, to his name, observations by a former CBI special judge in August for tampering with evidence during a trial. The judge observed in her order: “The conduct of accused Pawan Kumar and his advocate (Bharti) is not only highly objectionable, unethical but also amounts to tampering with evidence.” [TOI]
Bharat Ratna sought for Krishna Iyer: Former SC judge Krishna Iyer, who is hailed as one of India’s leading jurists and who celebrated his 99th birthday recently, must be conferred with a Bharat Ratna, the Bar Council of India has urged to the President of India, supported by Fali S Nariman, PP Rao, Soli Sorabjee, Ashok Desai, KK Venugopal, RKP Shankardass, Dispankar Gupta, KN Bhat, Surendra G Desai, Mukul Rohatgi and Lalit Bhasin [Deccan Chronicle]
Murugesan chairing KHRC protested: Former Delhi HC chief justice D Murugesan has expressed reluctance to chair the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission, after protests by Kannada organisations over his selection ostensibly due to his inability to communicate in the local language. The state government is trying to convince Murugesan to take the post which lies vacant since July 2012 [The Hindu]
Sibal’s fresh stab on JAB: Union law minister Kapil Sibal has given a fresh push to the Judicial Accountability Bill, with a new provision covering even former judges heading various tribunals and other statutory bodies who do not face the possibility of legal action other than a presidential reference [TOI]
Manu Singhvi telecom diaries: The Economic Times profiles senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s tryst with shaping the course of India’s telecom sector, including setting up of telecom regulator TRAI, through his advisory roles for the biggest telecom players since 1993. “His fees sometimes border on extortion, but the results of his cases are seldom undesired," a junior lawyer told the ET about the senior who became the highest tax-paying Indian advocate last year with earnings crossing Rs 70 crore
Datar laments woeful corp fraud justice: Senior advocate Arvind P Datar who argued for the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in its 5-year long battle with Sahara, laments the flimsy conviction rate and sluggish trials that corporate frauds face in India, as compared to other jurisdictions [Money Life]
Manu Singhvi disclosures: Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi has dsiclosed an undeclared income of Rs 11 crore and deposited Rs 3.26 crore in tax on it, however the income tax department claims that his actual undisclosed income is Rs 22.86 crore taking his tax liability to Rs 7 crore, for the year 2010-11. IT department investigators suspect undisclosed income from other years as well [Express]
Sha(r)king it off: Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir says lawyers should foster a more socially responsible image by doing more legal aid work, to avoid being depicted as sharks in cartoons on them [Firstpost]
Burying paid news: The Standing Committee on Information Technology submitted a report to the Lok Sabha on 6 May, on the practice of paid news, and recommended amendments to make the Press Council of India’s decisions binding and paid news an offence. Most media outlets buried the news. [WSJ Blogs]
Malaysia lawyer FIFO ban lifted: Malaysia has lifted its prohibition on foreign lawyers fly-in-fly-out. The Malaysian Bar Council agreed to amend the Legal Profession Amendment Act 2012 on 10 June to lift the ban. The amendment will be implemented by January 2014 [International Lawsociety]
Judge knows best: “The attempt to restore the predominant voice of the political class in judicial appointments and transfers will amount to subverting the basic structure of the Constitution and will be a recipe for disaster,” argues Supreme Court advocate Anil Divan in the Hindu.
HCs v RTI: The high court’s internal administrative decisions cannot be disclosed to an RTI applicant, reiterates the Madras high court [Hindu]
The Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) has requested advocates-on-record (AORs) to blacklist senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Wednesday, after the politician’s involvement in a “disquieting … incident”.
The Delhi High Court has ex parte ordered three media houses against publishing a digital video allegedly depicting “sexual acts” of senior advocate and Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, which the politician alleges is fake and an attempt by his former driver at extortion.
Congress Party spokesperson and senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi hosted a dinner for the upper echelons of the legal fraternity in Delhi on Saturday night. Found wining and dining at the seemingly non-descript but ultra-high profile occasion were judges of the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court, senior advocates and well-connected lawyers from the Delhi-Bombay Bar.
Read on to find out what happened.
Senior advocate and parliamentarian Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for the Dua Associates-led group of US firms in the Chennai writ petition against 31 foreign law firms today, asking the court to adjourn until after the Bar Council of India (BCI) would take a decisive stance this weekend.
Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi talks about his education experience at India's and the world's top educational institutions and explains how tough it is to become a senior counsel, despite having a famous father.
Either the Times of India thinks that only advocates are lawyers or that law firm lawyers are just not so very top.
While I certainly would not dare disagree with the calibre and legal genius of each of these individuals, could not at least one law firmite have made it to the list?
Here's TOI's full list of top 10 lawyers, along with our nutshell summary of the paper's often brilliant commentary on each:- Fali Nariman
The "wise man of the Bar" with a stature that "allows him to be blunt in court". - Soli J Sorabjee
Former glorious AG, fierce free speech and HR advocate, "mad 'bawa' (Parsi) jokes", successful daughter. - Harish Salve
The "legal robot" and all-round legal talent. - K. Parasaran
"Articulate" and "ethically driven" "man for all seasons". - Ram Jethmalani
Passionate about crimes with "rapier-sharp wit", proving crime does pay. - Abhishek Manu Singhvi
"Buddha of the Bar", youngest additional solicitor general ever and happy enabler of all tricolor-wavers. - Mukul Rohatgi
Voluble "king" of Delhi HC and Anil's gas dispute trusted counsel. - K.K. Venugopal
"Constitutional crorepati", Emergency counterweight and collector - but where's the grey hair? - Rohinton F Nariman
Cheerful corporate stalwart, fast riser to senior counsel, Fali's son. - Ashok Desai
Reclusive former AG, softly-spoken but packing a serious punch and control.
Possible explanations:
- court-room work is simply more glamorous than the desk-bound transactional variety,
- the ones on the list really are a league apart that law firmites have not yet been able to match, or
- the TOI did not read the Lawyers Collective judgment that "legal practice" includes desk-work.
For Times of India's full list click here - it's a very entertaining read that brings out many a wonderful personality!