Supreme Court issues notice on Vineet Narain’s PIL on appointment of CBI additional director

On a Petition filed by journalist and anti-corruption activist Vineet Narain who challenged the appointment of woman IPS officer Archana Ramasundram as additional director of the CBI, saying it ignored the recommendation of the selection committee, a Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice RM Lodha, Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph issued notice to the Centre and others. According...

Stay lifted by the Supreme Court in the disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa

The Supreme Court yesterday vacated its stay on the 18- year-old disproportionate asserts case regarding Rs. 66.65 crore accumulated during her tenure as the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister between 1991 and 1996.The Supreme Court was approached by the Special Public Prosecutor, after his plea being dismissed by the Karnataka High Court against the trial court’s order which imposed a penalty of...

K P Indira takes over as administrator of Padmanabhaswamy temple

The Additional Sessions judge, Thiruvananthapuram, K P Indira, has taken over as the head of the administration of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple as directed by the Supreme Court.The Court issued an interim order on Thursday directing the temple administration and the state government that the administration of the temple be handed over to an independent panel headed by sitting District...

SARFAESI Amendment 2004 Unconstitutional: Gujarat HC

The Gujarat High Court delivered an important judgment, wherein it held unconstitutional an amendment in securitization laws and restored the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the watchdog of banks and non-banking financial institutes across the country as far as their non-performing assets (NPA) period was concerned. A division bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattachrya and Justice J B...

Supreme Court Directions in Padmanabha Swamy Temple Case [Read the Order]

Supreme Court bench comprising of Justice R.M. Lodha and Justice A.K. Patnaik issued directions against the alleged mismanagement of Kerala's famous Sree Padmanabha swamy temple. The directions are as follows;1. Mr. K.N. Satheesh, IAS, Director, Higher Secondary Education, Government of Kerala is, for the time being, appointed as the Executive Officer of the Temple until further orders.2. By...

No immediate decision on Lokpal: Centre

Centre today told the Supreme Court that it is not going to take any immediate decision on the appointment of Chairperson and Members of the Lokpal. The bench headed by Justice R.M. Lodha said there was no need for any interim order in the PIL challenging the selection procedure for the Lokpal after the government assured the court that no decision will be taken till May 5.The bench was...

Michigan ban on affirmative action upheld by US Supreme Court [Read the Judgment]

What came as a blow to the 1960s civil rights movement-era system of race-based preferences in admissions is the latest verdict by the US Supreme Court, which has upheld a voter-approved ban on racial preferences in university admissions in the US state of Michigan. The Court, in a 6-2 ruling, while upholding Michigan's ban on using race as a reason in college admissions said voters had the...

Seventh All India Bar Exam postponed to 27th July 2014

The seventh All India Bar Exam (AIBE VII) has postponed by a month to July 27th. Initially BCI had scheduled the exam to June 29th and later in its newly designed website, www.allindiabarexamination.com, BCI announced that the exam will be held on July 27th.Notification came with a proviso that the Bar Council reserves the right to extend the said examination date in case of...

Kerala HC Judge recuses himself from liquor licence case; says lawyer tried to influence.

In an unusual development, a Kerala High Court Judge, Justice C T Ravikumar on Tuesday recalled a judgment which was ready for pronouncement and recused himself from passing orders in a batch of Writ Petitions filed by Bar Hoteliers seeking renewal of the bar licences. According to the Judge, an Advocate practicing in the High Court Mr. K Thavamony had met him at the residence on Monday...

SC criticises Government, says it commits contempt over order on black money

Supreme Court Tuesday reprimanded the government for its lethargic attitude towards the compliance of July 2011 order directing center to disclose the names of Indians who have stashed away money in foreign banks located in Liechtenstein.The court was in search of a person to be appointed as chairman of the SIT after it took on record two communications sent by Justice B.P. Jeevan...

SC issues guidelines for iron ore mining in GOA, permits regulated mining based on precautionary principle

Like in the case curbing of Karnataka illegal mining, SC today issued far reaching guidelines for mining industry in Goa. The judgment is delivered by the Forest Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice A. K. Patnaik and Justices Surinder Singh Nijjar and Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla . The patterns in mining cases judgment suggest that these guidelines are going to be applied...

The Supreme Court Committee on Sexual Harassment debars an Advocate from the Supreme Court premise for six months of sexual harassment

The Supreme Court Gender Sensitisation and Internal Complaints Committee (GSICC)debarred Advocate CS Nagesh for an incident of sexual harassment. The inquiry relating to sexual harassment was conducted under Rule 10 Sub-Rule (1) of Gender Sensitisation &Sexual Harassment of Women at the Supreme Court of India (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Regulations, 2013. On 4thMarch, this...