KG Balakrishnan

The Supreme Court bench comprising of justices Ranjan Gogoi, Arun Mishra, and Prafulla C Pant today told Raj Kumar Mehta, the counsel for Lalit Kumar Mishra, the former Additional Judge of the Orissa high court, who challenged his non-appointment as the permanent judge of the high court that there are no records of the proceedings of the Supreme Court collegium.

As the Chief Justice of India (CJI) HL Dattu retires on 2 December, the Government is apparently preparing red carpet for him at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) according to several reports, as the post of the chairperson of the NHRC has been vacant since May this year, and only former CJIs are eligible for this high office.

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairperson and retired Chief Justice of India (CJI) KG Balakrishnan yesterday said overcrowding in Indian prisons can be reduced if the number of undertrials is brought down.

“If a charge sheet is being filed and there is no indication that the accused may influence witnesses or the evidence, what is the reason for keeping him behind bars,” Balakrishnan told IANS on the sidelines of a two-day national seminar on prison reforms.

“Overcrowding of prisons may lead to the violation of various basic human rights of inmates. The prisons are for convicts and not for undertrials,” he said. He also said that steps should be taken to decrease problems in jails. “State governments should invest to build more jails and improve infrastructure,” he said.

He said prisons come under states and the high courts can make a major contribution in directions to state governments on prisoners’ complaints about lack of infrastructure facilities, food, hygiene and healthcare.

NHRC member Justice (retd.) Cyriac Joseph said prisoners were also entitled to basic human rights within the limitations of prisons. Many prison and government officials attended the seminar and informed the participants on the status of the prisons in their respective states.

SC cases, broken up: Over 300 cases of sexual harassment are pending before the Supreme Court, revealed an RTI reply to activist Vihar Dhurve. Also outstanding: “472 cases related to corruption, 588 road accident cases related to permanent disability, 45 road accident for other injuries, 418 divorce cases and 39 matters of atrocities on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are also pending.” [PTI]

KGB’s NHRC seat safe from home ministry: Home ministry won’t ask apex court to look into ex-CJI KG Balakrishnan’s conduct either as head of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) or as judge, claiming to have had no evidence of corruption and that prior conduct was not ‘proved misbehaviour’ for the purposes of making a presidential reference under NHRC rules [TOI]

Delhi district court strike today after police allegedly assaulted an advocate who is now in critical condition, tweeted @DKMahant

Force feed torture: Guantánamo Bay, The Hunger Strikes - video animation [YouTube (warning, content could be disturbing)]

Judicial rejig: Bombay HC's justice DY Chandrachud is being shifted to the Allahabad HC and may soon take over as its Chief Justice (CJ), Himachal Pradesh HC's CJ AM Khanwilkar is getting transferred to the Madhya Pradesh HC and be replaced by J&K HC’s justice Mansoor Ahmed [TOI]

Hey KGB: The Supreme Court asked petitioner ML Sharma who had addressed former CJI KG Balakrishnan as KGB in his petition for his removal from the NHRC chair: “How can you use such term? It is not the name of a company or organisation.” The SC dismissed Sharma’s petition as being redundant in light of NGO Common Cause’s petition for the same relief already pending with the apex court [ET]

A Kerala law student ran in the nude on the streets of Ernakulam, a town near Kochi, demanding the resignation of former chief justice of India KG Balakrishnan from the National Human Rights Commission chair.

The man, identified as studying in Ernakulam Government Law College, covered his face with a piece of cloth and ran naked for half a kilometre before fleeing with an accomplice on a motorcycle with a hidden number plate.

The Ernakulam police claimed they have identified the man and his accomplice, to arrest them. [New Indian Express]

After he retires as Chief Justice of India (CJI) today, Sarosh Homi Kapadia will leave a legacy that will be both defined and shrouded by his circumstances.

Senior advocate Fali Nariman has written to former justice V R Krishna Iyer supporting his call for a judicial probe into allegations of unaccounted wealth accumulated by ex-CJI (Chief Justice of India) Balakrishnan’s relatives as another such case is being brought to fore.

Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) KG Balakrishnan and his family have been accused of amassing wealth exceeding their declared sources, according to a number of media organisations.

The Supreme Court has stayed the Madras High Court suspension of the state bar council chairman R K Chandramohan while former CJI Balakrishnan denied that he suppressed allegations that a Madras High Court judge was influenced by Chandramohan and former telecoms minister A Raja.