Kurian Joseph

The curative petition of Yusuf Mohsin Nulwala, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai blast case, will be heard by the Supreme Court tomorrow by the bench comprising the three senior-most Judges, namely, the CJI, TS Thakur, and justices Anil R Dave and JS Khehar beween 1:40 and 1:45 pm in their chambers tomorrow.

History was made today, with three Constitution benches sitting at the same time in the Supreme Court at 2 pm.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Anil R Dave, and comprising justices Kurian Joseph and Amitava Roy, heard Massimiliano Latorre, one of the accused in the Italian marines case, who has been permitted by the Supreme Court to be in Italy in view of his health condition, and gave him further extension of time to return to India.

Jessica Lal murder case hostile witness Prem Sagar Manocha – the ballistic expert who was charged for perjury by the Delhi high court in May 2013 – was cleared of the charge by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The facts unfold the plight of a poor landlord languishing in courts for over fourty years. The case gets sadder when we note that appellant had been successful both in the trial court and the first appellate court and the saddest part is that the high court in second appeal, went against him on a pure question of fact!”

Justices Anil R Dave, Kurian Joseph and Adarsh Kumar Goel will hear in their chambers at 1.45 pm today the review petitions filed by the CBI and the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) against the judgment delivered by them on 23 September 2015 substituting the sentences of the convicts, Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal with a fine of Rs 30 crore to be paid by each.

While Sushil Ansal got relief on the ground of old age, Gopal Ansal’s sentence was substituted on the ground of parity.

When the CBI’s counsel, Harish Salve and AVUT’s counsel, KTS Tulsi expressed the grievance that they were not heard before the bench decided to substitute the sentences of the convicts, Justice Dave had advised Salve to file a review petition, raising the same grievance.

The 23 September judgment had led to considerable outrage.

The AVUT, in its review petition filed separately, has sought the hearing of the petition in open court. If the Judges agree to do so, it will be listed separately for hearing in open court, for hearing arguments from both the sides. If the judges do not see merit in the plea for open court hearing, the review petition may be dismissed in chambers without any reasons being given.

In view of the dissatisfaction with the 23 September 2015 ruling, observers expect the bench to agree to open court hearing of the review petitions.

Legally India will update after the chamber hearing.

As Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice HL Dattu appeared to be a man in a hurry. However, despite having held the office for a near eternity compared to many other recent CJIs, what he has managed to achieve as a judge and administrator in that time is questionable.

Justice Kurian Joseph’s historical counterfactual: If only the bench that heard the First Judges case in 1981 had not ignored Samsher Singh, there would not have been Second Judges, Third Judges, and Fourth Judges cases later.

The future independence or otherwise of the judiciary will be decided today in the fourth judges case, ruling on the validity or otherwise of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).

Association Of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy president, Neelam Krishnamoorthy expressed dismay over the reasoned judgment delivered by Justices Anil R Dave, Kurian Joseph and Adarsh Kumar Goel yesterday (Wednesday, September 23) in the Uphaar criminal appeal.

The Supreme Court has said that the magnitude of the Uphaar fire tragedy may call for “higher sentence” but it could not go beyond the choices under the law while sentencing brothers and real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal who own the Uphaar cinema hall, represented by senior counsel Ram Jethmalani.

On September 15, the Supreme Court bench of justices Anil Dave and Adarsh Kumar Goel expedited a pending hearing on admission of SLP, and granted leave thus converting it into a civil appeal, even while continuing the ad-interim relief granted earlier. In the normal course, it would not have raised eyebrows. But when it became known that the subject of the SLP is about the Government’s denial of tax exemption to a film on gay sex, Meghdhanushya, (meaning a spectrum or a rainbow) it made news and rightly so. The film centers around a young boy who finds himself attracted by persons of his own sex.

The Supreme Court bench comprising justices TS Thakur and Kurian Joseph, in their order first granted permission to file the SLP in the appeal against Bombay high court order staying the Maharashtra government’s ban on sale of meat on some days of Paryurshan, an annual holy festival of Jain community. The ban was to be effective on September 10 and 17.

A Supreme Court bench comprising of justices Madan B Lokur, Kurian Joseph and AK Sikri finally gave the go-ahead today (14 September), to the inquiry team led by former CBI special director ML Sharma to probe the visitors’ diary of former CBI chief Ranjit Sinha.

As Common Cause vs Abhijat & Others came up before Justices Kurian Joseph and Arun Mishra at court No.13 on Friday (September 11) morning, Justice Arun Mishra tried to persuade Prashant Bhushan, counsel for Common Cause, not to go ahead with the contempt petition, as it would not serve any purpose. Justice Mishra said the onus is on the bar, which has to control the striking lawyers. “You have to discipline yourself”, he told Bhushan.