TS Thakur

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking construction of Lord Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

The president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Dushyant Dave, has quit in disgust after his differences with SCBA secretary Gaurav Bhatia and the SCBA executive committee became unresolvable.  

The Supreme Court has rendered Madras high court judge Justice CS Karnan judicially impotent, ordering that he should not be allocated any cases and even if he did pass any orders suo motu, those should be ignored

The Supreme Court collegium has transferred four Delhi high court judges to other high courts.

Karanjawala & Co partner Nandini Gore yesterday became the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association’s (SCAORA) first ever office-bearer who is the member of a law firm. Gore prepares to push for AOR quota in judicial appointments, and for senior AORs to be automatically designated senior advocates, among other privileges part of the association’s agenda.

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.

Even as the Supreme Court is yet to upload its order referring the curative petitions filed by Naz Foundation and others to the five Judge Constitution bench, a debate has already begun over the scope and composition of the bench among observers.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur, and justices Anil R Dave and Jagdish Singh Khehar, will hear the section 377 curative petition today at 3pm in the Supreme Court.

The social justice bench comprising justices Madan B Lokur and UU Lalit, set up by the previous chief justice of India, justice HL Dattu on 12 December 2014 has now officially ceased, and the cases which were part-heard before that bench, have been distributed to other benches.

The Supreme Court’s two constitution benches in adjacent court rooms of 1 and 3 heard two governors simultaneously at 2pm today: one a former governor, and an alleged victim of political vendetta, and the other a sitting governor, who allegedly conspired with the Centre to topple a duly-elected government by recommending President’s rule.

The Bar Council of Kerala will now start constructing the MK Nambyar Academy for Continuing Legal Education, as its foundation stone was laid by Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur yesterday, reported The Hindu.

At the inauguration ceremony, CJI Thakur defended the high litigation fees charged by Supreme Court lawyers and said that these top Indian lawyers also take up many cases pro bono. Legally India and Mint revealed 42 Delhi senior advocates’ fees last year.

Thakur said that the legal profession should not only bring recognition to its practitioners but should be a rewarding one as well. He also said that continuing legal education will empower lawyers to be more effective in the conduct of their cases, and to do justice to the profession.

The leader of the opposition party in the state VS Achuthanandan said that steps should be taken to end the practice of lawyers collecting high fees from clients.

Supreme Court justice Kurian Joseph who was also present at the inauguration, said that the practice of law graduates taking professional oath en-masse should be replaced with them taking oath in the presence of a high court judge so that they “would consider the profession seriously”, reported the New Indian Express.

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

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hold an urgent hearing of a plea challenging the Delhi high court’s order allowing, on trial basis, the odd-even policy for private cars for 15 days here.

Declining to hold an early hearing of the plea, the bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur wondered if the plea by a young advocate was a publicity stunt.

Why a young advocate is having difficulty in reaching the court, the court observed. The plea was moved by petitioner advocate B Badrinath.

The odd-even policy, under which private cars with registrations ending in even numbers could ply only on even dates, and vice versa for those with odd-numbered plates, was announced by the state government from January 1-15 after the Delhi high court said the national capital had turned into a gas chamber.

The Supreme Court bench comprising the Chief Justice TS Thakur, and Justices AK Sikri and R Banumathi, is set to hear as many as five writ petitions challenging the validity of the notification issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on 7 January permitting the holding of jallikattu and other related festivals involving the performance of bulls in religious festivals, despite the Supreme Court’s 2014 judgment holding it illegal.

115 new high court judges could be soon appointed, as per plans expressed by union law minister DV Sadananda Gowda, reported the Express.

Gowda said that the 453 high court judge vacancies which are there in India at the moment, will increase to 472 by the end of June.

He added that he recently met and requested Chief Justice of India TS Thakur to fill up 115 of those posts, and also said that 87 new additional judges are also in his appointment plans.

Two very important cases related to the power to appoint teachers and rules on when special leave petitions (SLPs) should be entertained, are scheduled to be heard by two Supreme Court’s constitution benches today under CJI TS Thakur’s new constitution bench schedules.