TS Thakur
New Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur told it like it is, in a speech at a function hosted by the Bar Council of India (BCI).
The fastest working out of 13 Supreme Court judges were justices AR Dave, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur, JS Khehar and Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur, while justice Dipak Misra was the slowest according to a basic arithmetic study commissioned by CJI Thakur, reported the Times of India.
CJI Thakur asked the Supreme Court registry to determine how each of 13 judges on the roster had performed in terms of disposal of cases, from July 2015 to December 2015, by simply subtracting the total number of cases the judge disposed of from the number of cases in which the judge issued notice.
The registry also documented the total number of cases before each of the 13 judges.
Other slow judges in the roster, after Dipak Misra, according to the study, were justices PC Ghose, V Sen, Kurian Joseph, F M I Kalifulla, M Y Eqbal, V G Gowda and J Chelameswar. All of these judges, and Misra, added to pendency instead of reducing it.
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 Supreme Court on Monday was unimpressed with the functioning of the national carrier Air India, which is running into losses while other private airlines are prospering, demanding to know the reason why, reported The Economic Times.
A bench of Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, Justice AK Sikri and Justice R Banumathi asked: “While private airlines are prospering, Air India is going into red. Who should be held responsible for Air India mess? There are so many stories going around.”
They were hearing a public interest litigation asking the carrier to commence flights connecting Delhi and Shimla. The Himachal Pradesh high court had on 7 December 2015 asked the carrier to commence that flight route on a trial basis, which was put on hold by the Supreme Court.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, representing Air India, told the court that the flight connecting the two cities was not economical as there were 12 to 15 one-way passengers only, and that Shimla airport did not have refuelling facilities to which the court reportedly reprimanded the government with: “You have already constructed an airport, probably spending Rs 100 crores, now you can’t say that there is no refuelling facilities.”
The court issued notice to the civil aviation ministry, the Airports Authority of India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, and the Himachal Pradesh government as well as the petitioner Paras Daulta.
The matter will come up for hearing next on 16 February.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur and Supreme Court Justice AK Sikri are carpooling, reported The Indian Express:
The two also finalised their travel itinerary for the next 15 days when the odd-even scheme would be in effect in the capital.
The two decided to lead by example and carpool, despite being exempt from the policy as they hold constitutional posts. Justice Thakur has an odd-numbered car, while Justice Sikri’s vehicle is even. The two live close to each other.On Monday - the first working day in the top court after winter break - Justice Sikri picked up the CJI on his way to court.
Every Chief Justice of India (CJI), soon after taking over, would first try to get a grip over the bench composition, which was determined according to the requirements of his predecessor.
A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur on Monday observed in a matter mentioned by advocate JC Seth no one can be forced to do yoga and that the question of violation of fundamental right would arise only if somebody is prevented from doing it reported The Indian Express. The advocate sought an early hearing of his petition in which he wants the Supreme Court to direct government to introduce yoga as a compulsory subject in schools throughout the country.
Seth informed the bench that all state governments, their education boards, CBSE and ICSE have been made parties in the matter which will be heard next on 12 January 2016.
The Chief Justice reportedly remarked “Who is preventing you (petitioner) from doing yoga? You can claim violation of your fundamental right only if somebody prevents you from doing it…you cannot force people to do yoga.” and proceeded to ask Seth “Do you do yoga every day? Does somebody stop you? How can people be forced to do it?” who responded that he would satisfy the court at the next hearing.
The Supreme Court’s five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice JS Khehar is set to pronounce its consequential judgment in the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) case in the morning today (16 December) at Court No 3 at 10:30 AM
It's been less than a week that Justice TS Thakur took oath as the Chief Justice of India and it doesn't seem as though he’ll have a straight road ahead of him: he’s taking up the chief’s mantle in the midst of a polarised intolerance debate, a tussle between parliamentary and judicial supremacy tussle and almost stagnant judicial appointments.
Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur declined to entertain a public interest litigation demanding bringing of a uniform civil code in the country on Monday telling the petitioner that the power to do so remains with parliament and not the judiciary, reported The Times of India.
The petitioner Ashwini Upadhayay was represented by four senior advocates including Gopal Subramanium and Mohan Parasaran who relied on Directive Principles in the Constitution as well as case laws where the Supreme Court has insisted on introduction of the Uniform Civil Code.
The bench of TS Thakur and Justices AK Sikri and R Banumathi were unmoved by petitioner and said that heavy costs would be imposed on him if he continued with the petition. The bench said: “Sarla Mudgal case is the best that you can refer to in support of the PIL Article 44 is a constitutional goal. Are courts equipped and empowered to enforce constitutional goals? It reflects the hopes of Constitution makers. But hopes will remain in the realm of hope unless Parliament decides to convert them into enforceable rights.”
“The Supreme Court has consistently declined to go into it. The moot question is can Supreme Court convert a Directive Principle into fundamental right? It is for Parliament to take a call on it. What cannot be done directly, cannot be done indirectly through the courts.”
The bench however provided hope to Muslim women and observed that if and when a Muslim woman comes to the court and challenges triple talaq, it would be examined by the court and also said that no woman from a Muslim community has questioned the practice of triple talaq till now.
The petition was withdrawn by the petitioner’s advocate.
The Supreme Court refused a district-level judge relief in his petition demanding reservation for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes in the higher judiciary on Monday, reported The Hindustan Times.
The petitioner judge, Kanta Prasad was seeking promotion to the Uttarakhand high court on the basis of his caste. Prasad works as a registrar with the HC’s vigilance department and had claimed in his petition that the collegium should have considered him since there is no representation from his community in the higher judiciary.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur rejected his plea and asked “Where is the rule, which says there has to be a quota for SC/ST in the HC? You cannot claim it as a right.” The bench also clarified that elevation to the HC is on the basis of seniority. “Only because you belong to a particular caste doesn’t mean you should become an HC judge. Has anyone junior to you from the services got promoted? If not, there is no reason for your grievance,” the bench reportedly said.
The bench also suggested Prasad’s lawyer to send his representation to the Supreme Court bench that recently held a detailed hearing on how to improve the appointment system in order to make it more transparent.
Justice Tirath Singh Thakur was on Thursday sworn in as the 43rd Chief Justice of India.
The Essar group told a bench headed by justice TS Thakur of Supreme Court that there is “nothing illegal or improper” in politicians and bureaucrats making job requests to them and that certain favours to government servants are “common courtesies extended by corporate houses” in a counter affidavit filed last week in a Public Interest Litigation by Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) reported The Indian Express.
A whistleblower in the company had leaked the company’s internal communications leading to the PIL
The company defended itself by claiming that meeting of MPs and civil servants with its official was allowed in a democracy and the job seekers given on requests by politicians and bureaucrats had prescribed qualifications and were otherwise also eligible for appointments.
The petition demands CBI enquiry and framing of guidelines to regulate relationships of big corporate groups with individuals in positions of power and influence.
In the midst of the melee in Court 4 on 5 November before the constitution bench hearing the proposals on reforming the collegium, counsel arguing for and against the brief adjournment, missed a crucial fact: the present collegium headed by the outgoing CJI, Justice HL Dattu, is unlikely to meet to recommend the names of new Judges, in view of Dattu’s recommendation to the government to elevate the senior-most of his colleagues, Justice TS Thakur, as the CJI, after his retirement on 2 December.