CLAT - 2015 ; Meet Five IDIA Scholars who made history

The Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA) to legal education initiative continued its success this year as well, with five of their scholars making it to the leading law schools in India.Supporting IDIA’s efforts, the NLS administration has waived the tuition fees for two of our scholars who made it to NLS this year (Yamuna Menon and Anil Bhadu).Acknowledging their efforts,...

Bar Bribery case: Vigilance files Refer Report saying evidence insufficient to prosecute Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani

The investigating team of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) which is probing the ‘bar bribery case’ has submitted a refer report before the Vigilance special court today saying the materials collected during the investigation is insufficient to substantiate the allegation that  Finance Minister K M Mani had sought a bribe for ensuring decision by the Government favouring...

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Kanimozhi advocate for abolition of death penalty

Former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has advocated for abolition of capital punishment in a response sent to the Law Commission consultation paper on the subject.Dr. Kalam said that he had been in pain deciding such cases. Capital punishment was one of the most difficult tasks for him as President, he said. A law commission source told DNA, Dr Kalam in his letter said "we all are...

SC asks former CBI officer to assist CVC probe against Ranjit Sinha

The Supreme Court of India on Monday decided to choose ex- CBI Special Director ML Sharma assist the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in its probe against Ranjit Sinha, who during his tenure as the agency chief, was accused of ruining the probe in the coal block allocation scam.The suggestion to include Sharma on the board, subject to his consent, for inquiry against Sinha by the CVC came...

Planned and Strategic arrest on Friday night violates the Constitution: CIC [Read Order]

The Central Information Commissioner recently held that strategically arresting people on Friday night to deprive them a court hearing till Monday is a violation of the Constitution. In connection with Tihar Jail authorities keeping inmates beyond their term, the Commission has said that there was no system in the prison to take complaints of excessive detention and...

Delhi High Court hears a Petition challenging the Rule that mandates a Person to mention his Surname for incorporating a Private Firm

An individual named Nishant, a businessman, has approached the Delhi High Court challenging a Rule notified last year by the Ministry for Corporate Affairs. The Rule mandated that a person must mention his surname for the purpose of incorporating a private firm. The petitioner’s lawyer GaurangKanth argued that asking for surname reveals the caste of an applicant and such a provision...

Patent over Cancer Drug Dasatinib to stay with Bristol Myers Squibs; Delhi High Court

In a matter of huge relief for medicine manufacturer Bristol Myers Squibs, the Delhi High Court has upheld its patent over Dasatinib, a cancer drug. The Court accordingly rejected the petition of BDR Pharmaceuticals, an Indian company that had opposed the patent on the grounds that the same amounted to ever-greening.Evergreening is a concept under the law as per which patent holders try and...

Delhi Judicial Services Exam; Prashant Bhushan writes to Chief Justice Rohini demanding re-evaluation

Lawyer and activist, Prashant Bhushan has written a letter to Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice G. Rohini, bringing to her notice, the apparent irrationality in the result of the Main Exam of the Delhi Judicial Service, (DJS) 2014.In the letter, Mr. Bhushan claims to have been approached by several students/ candidates, who have been declared unsuccessful in the result, declared on...

11 lawyers held guilty of criminal contempt, sentenced to 3 months in jail by Allahabad High Court [Read the Judgment]

A Division bench of the Allahabad High Court, comprising Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Justice Dinesh Gupta has held 11 advocates guilty of criminal contempt and sentenced them to 3 months in jail. The lawyers have been held guilty of unruly behavior inside the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) in Sonbhadra in 2013.The Court has also levied a fine of Rs 2,000, failure to pay...

Bombay HC directs Govt. to implement Measures for Preventing Children from carrying Heavy School Bags

The Government of Maharashtra had formed a Committee as a response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by Smt.Swati Patil against the problems related to excessive weight of school bags and its ill effects on children’s health. Today, the said Committee submitted its Report to a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justices VM Kanade and BP Colabawala.According to the...

St. Stephens Sexual Harassment Case: Audio Tapes suggest that Principal Valson Thampu tried to bury the Case

A new development has turned the direction of the recent sexual harassment case at St. Stephens College, Delhi. The 22 year old student victim handed over a few audio clips to the police, which reveal that Principal Valson Thampu discouraged the victim to pursue the complaint against college's Asst. Prof. Satish Kumar for sexually harassing her.The audio clips suggest that the Principal...

Competition Commission of India (CCI) Amends its Combination Regulations;

As part of its ongoing and regular efforts to make M&A filing requirements simpler and readily acceptable to various stakeholders, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has revised its Combination Regulations, making them more forward looking, in keeping with some of the best practices in other jurisdictions. The CCI, at the time of publishing the draft amendments on its website in...