Supreme Court

SC wants life sentence for milk-tampering
The SC has asked state governments to make laws that punish with life in prison the selling and production of adulterated milk injurious to humans [TOI]

Kalam faces faulty voting machine
Former president APJ Abdul Kalam was yesterday temporarily among the large number of Delhi voters who could not exercise their right to vote locally due to malfunctioning electronic voting machines (EVM). Kalam waited, went back home without voting, then came back to vote once the fault was corrected [Outlook]

Linklaters breaks strict associate lockstep
UK magic circle law firm Linklaters has introduced a merit-based discretionary pay element to its associate lockstep for the first time, to reward associates above two years of PQE, departing from the previous system of “strict ladder according to PQE” plus year-end bonus [The Lawyer]

Tejpal should pay Rs 25 lakh for wasteful Delhi bail application
Tehelka founding editor and rape accused Tarun Tejpal should be awarded exemplary costs of Rs 25 lakh – which should then be donated to the legal aid cell – for wasting the Delhi HC’s time with his anticipatory bail application, argues senior advocate and former additional solicitor general of India KN Bhat. Bhat says that Rs 25 lakh is equivalent to the amount of funds the court ended up wasting on the two days it entertained the application [Asian Age]

Sexual violence in India higher than US or under-reported?
Global statistics state that a woman is sexually abused in India every twenty minutes and that one in every six women experiences sexual violence in the US is an example of under-reporting, say experts [TOI]

SC pushes acid sale ban by 4 months
A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice RM Lodha has extended the deadline to ban the sale of acids commonly used in horrific attacks, primarily against women, after the apex court’s previous 16 July deadline passed last weekend. The apex court also asked for progress on the compensation scheme [NDTV] Offenders remain undeterred, reported the TOI

Acid attack victim gets job at SC
The SC has absorbed an acid attack survivor as a junior court attendant on the initiative of Justice Kurien Joseph, who was haring her matter. Mukherjee was a dancer in a dance bar till she was attacked by a man in 2004 [PTI]

The US NRI widower who won a Rs 6 crore medical negligence in October, yesterday won in a special CBI court that convicted two ex-Supreme Court registry officials of corruption.

The Times of India today revealed further details of the sexual harassment allegations made by a former intern (“SJ”) of ex-Supreme Court Justice AK Ganguly.

The revelation that former Supreme Court Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly is the judge alleged to be at the heart of the apex court’s sexual harassment inquiry, has split commentators along political and institutional lines.

The three-judge probe into allegations of sex harassment against a former apex court judge, has submitted its report to the Chief Justice of India (CJI), identifying Justice AK Ganguly as the alleged perpetrator.

The Supreme Court has constituted a workplace sexual harassment panel that is compliant with the so-called Vishaka guidelines, including a majority of female members and two members of civil society nominated by the Chief Justice of India (CJI).

A friend of the intern (“SJ”) who deposed before three Supreme Court judges on Monday about allegations of sexual harassment against a former Supreme Court judge, told Legally India that several recent news reports about the confidential inquiry were factually inaccurate.

The Women’s Rights Initiative of the Lawyers Collective NGO has filed a petition as amicus curiae (friend of the court), requesting the Supreme Court bring its internal sexual harassment guidelines into compliance with the rules laid down in its own Vishaka judgment, to regulate court internships, invite a notice requesting other victims to come forward confidentially, and more.

SC examines death row pardon in extreme brutality: The Supreme Court will hear a PIL on whether the President can commute death penalties in cases of extreme brutality. The petitioner Pinki Virani’s plea referred to five death sentences of convicted rapists of children, which former President Pratibha Patil had commuted [NDTV]

Technical porn block feasible, asks apex court to the Department of Telecommunications. Justice BS Chauhan, heading the bench, queried whether websites with pornographic content (particularly child pornography) could be blocked technically [PTI]

AP-split PIL rejected: Supreme Court justices HL Dattu and Madan B Lokur reject PIL on Telangana Andhra Pradesh bifurcation [PTI]

Madras HC judgeships: As Madras HC’s 15 judge recommendations await the SC’s approval, the next list of recommendations is already in the offing to fill the court’s 25 per cent vacant roster [TOI]

Delayed judge transfers: Himachal HC chief justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar was today transferred to Madhya Pradesh HC as chief justice, four months after the SC’s recommendation. Sources said that the delay in his transfer was because of a representation made by a senior Madhya Pradesh High Court judge to the President [Deccan Chronicle]

CCI vs CAT: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) will not take the Competition Appellate Tribunal’s ban on its practice of imposing high penalties, sitting down. The CCI plans a Supreme Court challenge [ET]

CCI can rule on petrol? The CCI, which is currently looking into suspected unfair trade practices by state-run oil marketing firms while setting petrol prices, will rule on its own jurisdiction to examine the issue this month [PTI]

Lacking SHRCs: Tripura and 10 other states and Union territories are yet to set up a human rights watchdog - a State Human Rights Commission (SHRC). Except Assam no other north eastern state has a full-fledged SHRC. However, Manipur and Meghalaya are in the process of constituting such a body. The NHRC is presently looking into 60,000 human rights violations [TOI]

Since the allegation early this month that a “recently-retired” Supreme Court judge sexually harassed at least one intern (“SJ”), print, online and TV media news have been reporting the story’s twists and turns avidly.

The Supreme Court registry has checked the records of interns assigned to judges, on the directions of the Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam, allowing the court to identify the alleged former judge accused of sexual harassment, according to The Calcutta Telegraph yesterday.

The paper reported that “convention demanded that an intern work with a particular judge for only a month, the accused judge seemed to have insisted that the women interns work with him for six months”.

“According to the sources,” added the paper, “the feeling among the higher judiciary is that the judge should be named, if only to end the speculation about the other judges who retired recently. So far, the accused judge has not been named.”

The allegations against the unnamed judge first surfaced on 6 November in a blog post by a former student (“SJ”) who said she had interned with him. She expanded upon her experience in an interview with Legally India on Monday (11 November), with the CJI constituting a three-judge inquiry the following day.

SJ is expected to appear before the inquiry on Monday. [Click here for more coverage of this story]