Delhi high court

Two very important cases related to the power to appoint teachers and rules on when special leave petitions (SLPs) should be entertained, are scheduled to be heard by two Supreme Court’s constitution benches today under CJI TS Thakur’s new constitution bench schedules.

A Division Bench of the Delhi high court comprising the chief justice G Rohini, and Justice Jayant Nath today set aside the order of the Single Judge of the High Court directing the Supreme Court registry to comply with the Central Information Commission’s directive to maintain records regarding the judgments pending, after being reserved by the benches.

Delhi Public Prosecutors will likely not give up their 24 December to 1 January vacation on the “last minute” order of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal reported The Indian Express.

Prosecutors in Delhi have protested the directive in a letter to the director of prosecution.

The director of prosecution of Delhi, Pankaj Sanghi had issued the order on 15 December which states: “The honourable chief minister has desired that a training programme/workshop on the functioning and working of all the Prosecuting Officers is likely to be held between 24.12.2015 to 3.1.2016 during the winter vacation of the court.”

The order also warns that action will be taken against defaulters.

However as per the orders of the Delhi high court, 26 to 31 December is the winter vacation for criminal courts while 24 and 25 December are gazetted holidays.

The Delhi Prosecutor’s Welfare Association (DPWA) through their president Gaurav Singh have requested Sanghi to ask the chief minister to change the dates of training program.

In their letter, DPWA quotes the order of the Delhi administrator issued in 1978, which states that the prosecution department in Delhi “will observe holidays as notified by the Honorable High Court,” it was reported.

Delhi Public Prosecutors will likely not give up their 24 December to 1 January vacation on the “last minute” order of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal reported [http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/winter-leave-cancelled-due-to-cms-desire-prosecutors-send-protest-letter/]. Prosecutors in Delhi have protested the directive in a letter to the director of prosecution.

The director of prosecution of Delhi, Pankaj Sanghi had issued the order on 15 December which states, “The honourable chief minister has desired that a training programme/workshop on the functioning and working of all the Prosecuting Officers is likely to be held between 24.12.2015 to 3.1.2016 during the winter vacation of the court.” The order also warns that action will be taken against defaulters.

However as per the orders of the Delhi high court, 26 to 31 December is the winter vacation for criminal courts while 24 and 25 December are gazetted holidays.

The Delhi Prosecutor’s Welfare Association (DPWA) through their president Gaurav Singh have requested Sanghi to ask the chief minister to change the dates of training program.

In their letter, DPWA quotes the order of the Delhi administrator issued in 1978, which states that the prosecution department in Delhi “will observe holidays as notified by the Honorable High Court,” it was reported.

Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley filed a civil defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and five other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders in the Delhi high court today reported The Indian Express.

Jaitley has accused AAP leaders of issuing false and defamatory statements against him and his family members. Kejriwal, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpayee commented on the alleged irregularities in administration of Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) which used to be presided by Jaitley till 2013. Jaitley waas quoted as saying, “I have no family member who has even one paise interest in any form of business. Why should my family be part of a sports management business?”

BJP leader Kirti Azad had also alleged that Jaitley attempted to shield the alleged DDCA irregularities on Sunday in a press conference. He has posed 52 questions for Jaitley related to his role in the DDCA and his family’s alleged involvement in Hockey India.

Advocate Seema Sapra, who has long-alleged that General Electric and its agents are trying to poison her in retaliation for whistleblowing over alleged corruption at the multinational’s India offices, has been sentenced to prison for a month by the Delhi high court for contempt.

The dispute resolution team of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) acted for YuTeleventures and its three directors, Rahul Sharma, Sumeet Kumar and Vikas Jain before a division bench of Delhi high court where they appealed against the order of a single judge of the Delhi high court issuing bailable warrants against them in a contempt of court case.

The Delhi high court on Wednesday asked the state government to respond on a PIL seeking repainting of zebra crossings and removal of unauthorisedly parked vehicles from roads to prevent traffic disruptions.

A division bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath asked the Delhi government to file its reply by 19 January on a plea filed by lawyer Ashish Sharma.

The public interest litigation also raised the issue of urination on roadsides and defacement of walls by posters. It also sought fixing of broken road dividers for the safety of citizens.

The plea sought directions to authorities to immediately paint, repair and mark stop lines, lane dividers, zebra crossings across Delhi to aid pedestrians as well as vehicles plying on the roads.

“The petitioner seeks enforcement and security of his right to live, right to breathe and enjoyment of fundamental rights. The citizens and government agencies are both insensitive towards their duties. Everywhere is mess. Zebra lines are missing and cars are parked on footpath,” said the PIL,

Former Delhi high court judge Justice Reva Khetrapal took oath as the new Lokayukta of Delhi on Thursday.

Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung administered the oath at a function where Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also.

Khetarpal will serve a five-year term.

The post has remained vacant since November 2013, when retired Justice Manmohan Sarin relinquished office.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was criticised over the delay in the appointment of Lokayukta by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

In the Additional District and Sessions Judge, ‘X’ v. Supreme Court of India Through Secretary General And Anr., which came up before the bench comprising justices JS Khehar and Rohinton Nariman on 16 December, the petitioner’s counsel, Indira Jaising raised the relevance of the in-house committee report in establishing the misconduct of a judge.