Ram Jethmalani

As reported in Mint on 8 September, senior advocates charge anywhere between Rs 75,000 and Rs 16.5 lakh per hearing in the Supreme Court, and many appear in several matters per day.

The post colonial-era building with the red sandstone dome on Delhi’s Bhagwaan Dass Road is home to an elite class of lawyers, who are likely to be the most expensive in the world: they are typically paid between Rs 5 and 15 lakh per hearing.

Interviews by Legally India with more than 32 Delhi lawyers who brief seniors in the Supreme Court and Delhi high court reveal all…

The Supreme Court yesterday (20 August) declined the CBI’s plea to put forward its arguments on the period of sentence for Ansal brothers - Sushil and Gopal - following their conviction for negligence in 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy which claimed 59 lives.

Debate around the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) has often been emotive rather than dispassionate, with the discourse ranging from senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani calling it an “evil absurdity” to attorney general Mukul Rohatgi pointing to judges who habitually turned up late in court as a reason to ditch the existing collegium system to select judges.

As the oral submissions in the Union of India vs V Sriharan @ Murugan matter concluded on Wednesday (August 12) in the Supreme Court, it became obvious that the Rajasthan government chose to adopt the submissions of other State Governments who have, by and large, opposed the Union of India’s plea for restricting the state governments’ power under the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC ) to remit life sentences.

On yesterday’s penultimate day of hearing of Union of India vs V Sriharan @ Murugan, the battle lines were clearly drawn between the Central Government and the State Governments, most of whom are listed as respondents in this case.

LiveLaw reported that Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Dushyant Dave said at the general body meeting today, in which he had threatened to vote on a boycott of official functions at the Supreme Court attended by judges, that the bench had apparently listened to his demands, including for better infrastructure.

LiveLaw reported Dave saying:

We will celebrate Independence Day and Law Day functions without inviting any of the dignitaries. Today Mr. Venugopal and Mr. Kapil Sibal met me and asked whether they could mediate. I said we are not going to go to the Judges but if they could intervene it is more than welcome.

They met CJI at 10.20 am and the CJI [HL Dattu] has now constituted a Committee. This GBM is now Postponed for 6 weeks for the Committee to address our grievances. If they are not intervening, we’ll again meet and pass the Resolution. This acknowledgement is the beginning of the restoration of our dignity.

Justices Anil R Dave, JS Kehar, Dipak Misra, RF Nariman and UU Lalit will be heading the committee.

Dave had come under fire from other senior advocates such as Ram Jethmalani and PP Rao for his proposed action.

Update: Several senior Supreme Court advocates have criticised Dave’s proposal of following “Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of Non-Cooperation” for Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) members to boycott official functions that include Supreme Court judges.

Prashant Bhushan today termed the government’s decision to appoint former Central Board of Direct Taxation chief KV Chowdary as the new chief vigilance commissioner (CVC) as “shameful and unfortunate”, as senior counsel and BJP politician Ram Jethmalani penned a public break up letter to the Prime Minister earlier today.

“It’s shameful and unfortunate that the BJP and the Congress have come together to destroy the CVC (by) appointing a dubious and pliable person as its chief,” Bhushan told IANS

Bhushan said he would take up the matter: “I will challenge it in the court.”

Earlier in the day, the central government announced appointment of former Central Board of Direct Taxation chief KV Chowdary as the new CVC

TM Bhasin, chairman and managing director of the public sector Indian Bank, was appointed vigilance commissioner and senior most Information Commissioner Vijai Sharma was named the new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC).

Senior counsel Ram Jethmalani tweeted, “My breakup with the Prime Minister”, attaching a letter slamming Narendra Modi’s choice of KV Chowdary central vigilance commissioner (CVC).

Ram Jethmalani has run a half-page advertisement article in the Indian Express today, arguing in detail why he is fighting for black money stashed in foreign bank accounts to be repatriated, laying into both his own party the BJP and the former Congress government.