Bar, Bench & Litigation

"The Supreme Court on Monday criticised the bar association of the Gurgaon district courts for passing a resolution calling upon lawyers to not defend the accused in the murder of a sevenyear-old student at Ryan International School. A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, warned local lawyers against preventing the advocates of the accused from appearing in court and defending them," reported the Economic Times.

A judge of the Punjab & Haryana high court stayed the result of the Haryana Judicial Services (HJS) Exam after allegations of cheating against the topper of the exam. Immediately after his order the case was taken away from him, for unexplained reasons, at the request of the recruitment committee of the high court, reported Live Law.

Justice Dipak Misra took oath today as the 45th Chief Justice of India (CJI), succeeding CJI JS Khehar. Misra's suitability for India's highest judicial office was questioned before CJI Khehar and in the media, since last year when his name surfaced in allegations of misrepresentation from 1979.

Supreme Court advocate on record (AOR) _ Nandini Gore_ has complained about the state of the ladies restroom in the Jharkhand high court, in a letter to the HC's chief justice DN Patel, which was followed by a public interest litigation by the HCs bar association citing Gore's letter, reported The Telegraph.

The Delhi high court has asked the lower court judge who had granted bail to Unitech's promoters in April to retire early effective yesterday.

The government has moved for an early hearing in the Bar Council of India (BCI) AK Balaji appeal in the Supreme Court, reported Bar & Bench.

Legal services are not exempt from payment of Goods and Services Tax (GST) applicable on them, under the GST's reverse charge mechanism, the government clarified on Saturday, 15 July.

Bar council rules directing lawyers to explain the quantum and manner of charging fee for a particular case, would safeguard the interest of poor litigants from remote hilly areas, ruled the Uttarakhand high court, the Times of India reported.

The Calcutta high court, which is currently short of of 38 judges and is facing the retirement of 10 more by February, warned the government that "appropriate action" will be taken against it if the judicial vacancies were not filled on priority, reported News18.

The Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) will get a lesson from the Supreme Court in the use of the new Integrated Case Management and Information System (ICMIS) intended to allow full e-filing at the apex court, in a series of demonstrations organised from this Monday (10 July).

The Bar Council of India (BCI) denied a right to information (RTI) request for the meeting minutes and reasons for its unexpected decision to yet again increase the bar exam fees by another 40 per cent.

Janhavi Gadkar, the Reliance Industries in-house lawyer who had allegedly killed two passengers of another car while ramming into it while drunk in 2015, has been permitted to visit Europe for tourism, relaxing her bail condition, reported Sadaf Modak in The Indian Express.

Law Commission member and senior advocate Abhay Bhardwaj, who practices in Gujarat, has invited Gujarat’s district bar associations to submit suggestions by July 2, related to the proposed amendment to the Advocates Act 1961, reported DNA India.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has notified the 12th qualifying exam for Indian nationals holding foreign law degrees to be held from 26 June to 1 July, 10 months after the 11th edition of this exam was held.

Nearly every lawyer (particularly in Delhi) has their story to tell about how after a bit of drink driving or minor traffic violations, they managed to escape a fine by waving their advocates license at a traffic cop.