D Murugesan

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]

The Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) yesterday observed a strike against Delhi HC chief justice D Murugesan’s proposal to enhance the HC’s pecuniary jurisdiction from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore. DHCBA members manned courtroom entry points and urged lawyers not to appear in their cases.

Litigants appeared before the courts without their lawyers, to take adjournments for their cases. [IANS]

All judges decided to support Murugesan’s proposal after a full court meeting, and issued a statement that “the full court further deprecated the tone and tenor of the notice [of DHCBA] and the intemperate language used. It resolved that the false assertions made were unfortunate and unbecoming of the president of the DHCBA who also happens to be a law officer of union of India".

12,000 lawyers affiliated to the DHCBA apprehend the loss of work to lower courts if the proposal is implemented. [IANS]

The DHCBA had on 22 November addressed a two page notice to the HC’s judges criticising the 21 November proposal of Murugesan, and had said that there was no way the proposal could have passed if the DHCBA was consulted before making it, reported Legally India.