judicial accountability
Madras HC chief Agrawal talks candidly on local turmoil: Recently elevated Madras HC chief justice RK Agrawal, at his farewell, made reference to HC justice CS Karnan barging into his chamber hurling abuse. Agrawal said that while nobody had “ever raised their voice” to him in his 37 year career, Karnan was the one exception. “I need not tell you that the events of this Court are followed throughout the country. I worry not about the personal comments, but I do get pained when I hear that innuendos are being targeted at the High Court and it is becoming the subject of public ridicule,” he said [New Indian Express] He also said that many of his colleague’s on the HC’s bench desired transfer to another high court [TOI]
Gov blocks 1299 social URLs: Government asked social networking sites to block 1,299 web addresses or URLs to comply with court orders between January 2013 and January 2014, reported the [PTI]
Gujarat prisoners UIDed: Out of total 12,123 inmates in Gujarat prisons, all Indian nationals will get Aadhar cards according to a recent HC direction to the state government [TOI]
3 Bihar district judges dismissed: The Bihar government has dismissed three district judges whose dismissal was recommended by a full court of the Patna high court, after they were “found with some women” in a Nepal hotel’s police raid [TOI]
JAC controversial clause dropped: A controversial clause debarring judges from making verbal comments against any constitutional authority during open hearings was today dropped by the Cabinet in the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, reported the [Indian Express]
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]
A total of 11 High Court judges have now been transferred as part of Chief Justice SH Kapadia announcement in September to transfer 20 High Court judges for reasons of “public interest”.