High Court cannot reverse a Judgment without formulating a substantial 'Question of Law' in a Second Appeal; SC [Read Judgment]

A two Judge Bench of Supreme Court held that in no circumstances the High Court can reverse the  judgment  of the trial court and  the  first  appellate  court  without  formulating  the substantial question of law and complying with  the  mandatory  requirements of Section 100 CPC.The Bench was examining the question ‘whether the High Court was justified in passing the...

Can Justice be delivered in reasonable time?

The Supreme Court has declared Right to Speedy justice as a fundamental right of citizens, but this remains a myth. Disregard of a fundamental right is happening in the courts of India, and there is no redressal available.  Nearly two thirds of those in the overcrowded prisons are under trials. A judicial system which proclaims that a person is innocent until proven guilty, incarcerates two thirds of those in prisons without any guilt having been proved. The rich and powerful are treated as...

Entry of Delhi police into the Kerala Guest House was totally illegal; Justice Katju

Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Markandeya Katju condemned the Delhi Police on it's entry in to Kerala Government Guest House allegedly for searching "beef". The Delhi police searched Kerala House on Monday evening to verify whether beef was served in the Canteen.Here is the Full text of Justice Katju's post published in his blog"There has been an uproar over the alleged serving of beef in...

Government Sets-Up a Committee to Simplify the Provisions of The Income Tax Act, 1961

The Government of India has constituted a Committee with a view to simplify the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961, with the following composition:(i) Justice R.V. Easwar, (Retd.), former Judge, Delhi High Court and former President, ITAT    -   Chairman(ii) Shri V.K. Bhasin, former Law Secretary            -           Member(iii) Shri Vinod Jain,...

President appoints 22 Additional Judges in High Courts

In a Major development after the NJAC Judgment, President of India has appointed 22 Additional Judges in various High Courts.Justices (i) Smt. Samapati Chatterjee, (ii) Shri Sahidullah Munshi, (iii) Shri Subrata Talukdar, (iv) Shri Tapabrata Chakraborty, (v) Shri Arindam Sinha, (vi) Shri Arijit Banerjee, and (vii) Shri Debangsu Basak are appointed as Additional Judges in Calcutta High Court for...

NJAC - Misadventure of Elected towards Tyranny

On 16th October, 2015, the Apex Court subdued mischievous attempt by the Executive to curtail the independence of ‘watchdog’ of this Country. Being one of the Petitioners in the matter, it gave me immense joy that Supreme Court rose up to the occasion and delivered what can be humbly termed as a ‘historic’ judgment. The 99th Amendment of the Constitution and NJAC Act were struck down by the Supreme Court as it impinged upon Independence of the Judiciary.But what followed next disturbs me as a...

Bobbie Cheema-Grubb QC: First Asian woman to become a High Court Judge in Britain

One of the most senior prosecuting barristers in the country, Bobbie Cheema-Grubb QC, has become the first Asian woman to become a High Court Judge in Britain.The mother-of-three currently works as a Senior Treasury Counsel, and she will take up her new post on 23rd November 2015, in the Queen's Bench Division, dealing with negligence, defamation, personal injury and land...

Condom is not a medicine : Madras High Court [Read Judgment]

Madras High Court, adopting the Delhi High Court judgment has held that condoms are not medicines. The Delhi High Court had held that the fixation of the ceiling price for condoms under Paragraphs 4, 6 and 14 of Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 is impermissible under law. A Division bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice S.Sivagnanam observed that no Special Leave Petition...

Evict the Street Hawkers, directs Bombay High Court [Read Judgment]

The Bombay High court has made it quite clear that, hawkers who prepare food on the streets, lanes and pavements in the city has to evict the street within two months. It has ordered the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to evict the hawkers.The order was passed by the division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Revati Mohite-Dere on petitions filed by Vile Parle Kelvani Mandal and...

New Dress Code for Staffs in MP and Kerala High Courts

The Registrar General of Madhya Pradesh High Court Shri.Ved Prakash Sharma issued a direction forbidding “colourful clothes” including jeans and T-shirts by its staff during working hours. It has hardly been a fortnight since the Registrar General of Kerala High Court issued a circular directing its women staff, attending Bench duties, who wish to cover their head, to wear black...

Campuses are not venues for students to 'show off' their material possessions; Kerala HC bans all programmes in Campuses after 9 PM

The Court upheld complete ban on all sorts programme within the campus by external/professional/paid agencies such as DJ, musical events etc. In a Writ petition filed by some students of College of Engineering, Trivandrum the Kerala High Court Single Bench, Justice V. Chitambaresh, refused to quash the punishment imposed on them by the College Council for being found guilty of indiscipline in...

An Arbitrator can be substituted on recusal/withdrawal of earlier Arbitrator unless the Rules specifically prohibits; Supreme Court

Interpreting the provision for appointment of substitute Arbitrator under Section 15(2) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, the Supreme Court in Shailesh Dhairyawan vs Mohan Balkrishna Lulla, held that Section 15(2), regulates appointment of a substitute arbitrator, and requires that such an appointment shall be made according to the rules which were applicable to the appointment of...