Supreme Court

History was made in Court No.6 yesterday (Wednesday, 16 September) with justices J Chelameswar and Abhay Manohar Sapre hearing in camera, Ravi, who is in judicial custody at the police station in Khekhra, Bhagpat district, Uttar Pradesh, in connection with a crime registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act since May 28, 2015.

The Supreme Court bench comprising justices Ranjan Gogoi and NV Ramana is likely to hear the UOI’s appeal against Gujarat High Court’s verdict in the case of UOI vs Jan Balaz from today (September 16).

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 All India Judges Association’s (AIJA) petition in the Supreme Court for a separate pay commission for lower court judge is up for response by the central government, reported Mint.

A bench of chief justice HL Dattu and justices Shiva Kirti Singh and Amitava Roy issued notice to the centre, in the case, yesterday.

AIJA’s petition states that there is no provision for increasing the pay scale of lower court judges in the seventh pay commission, thus neglecting 18,000 Indian judges.

The AIJA has prayed for directions to set up an independent pay commission - the All India Judicial Commission - to review the service conditions of the lower judiciary, which includes pay scale, pension and retirement age.

The Indian judiciary has been grappling with the question of whether to permit foreign lawyers to practice in India for more than two decades. After yesterday’s hearing in the Supreme Court, it doesn’t look like any end is in sight.

High drama was witnessed in Court No 3 on Monday, September 14 when Justices V Gopala Gowda and Adarsh Kumar Goel assembled to hear Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association vs Manohar Lal Sharma and Ors, which came up at 2.15 pm.

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.

The social justice bench of the Supreme Court comprising justices Madan B Lokur and Uday Umesh Lalit heard six cases on Friday, September 11, and made significant interventions in at least two.

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.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has extended the deadline for advocates to register for its certificate of practice until 31 December 2015, following a stay of the advocates’ registration requirement by the Supreme Court.

A Supreme Court bench comprising of justices MY Eqbal and C Nagappan on Wednesday (9 September) turned its ire in court No 10 on four states for not filing their counter affidavits in the case of Parivartan Kendra vs Union of India dealing with the PIL seeking rehabilitation scheme for acid attack survivors.

A Supreme Court bench of justices Gopala Gowda and Amitava Roy declined a transfer petition from Ahmedabad city civil court to Delhi in the Rs 250 crore defamation case launched by Essar against Caravan magazine and others, as first reported by Legally India in August.

Mint reported:

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, representing the magazine, argued on Tuesday that none of the actions leading to the alleged defamation had occurred in Ahmedabad, and the appropriate and convenient forum was Delhi. He called Essar’s petition a Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) suit aimed at harassing the magazine. He said that it was in the interest of justice to transfer the case to Delhi, so that Caravan could produce its witnesses and defend its case.

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…

Senior advocate Indira Jaising’s challenge to the Supreme Court senior advocate designation process will now have attorney general (AG) Mukul Rohatgi as amicus curiae.