No Court Can Extend Statutory Period To Prefer Election Petition: SC [Read Judgment]

No court, whether the high court under Article 226 or this court under Article 32, 136 or 142 of the Constitution can extend the period in election matters, the bench said.The Supreme Court, in Reji Thomas vs. State of Kerala, has observed that once the mechanism provided under the Statute provides for a time schedule for preferring an election petition, in the absence of a provision in...

Aadhaar[Day-35]AG Again Defends The Introduction Of Aadhaar Bill As Money Bill

On Day 35 of the Aadhaar final hearing, Advocate Zoheb Hossain continued his arguments on behalf of the state of Maharashtra and the UIDAI- “the right to privacy is a personal right and none of the petitioners have alleged encroachment on their privacy...how can a claim of infringement of the right to privacy be heard as PIL?”“The restrictions sought to be imposed on the right to...

SCBA Executive Council Decides To Call General Body Meeting ‘To Remove President’ & To Present ‘Resolution Condemning The Non-elevation Of Justice K M Joseph’ 

The rift within the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) seems to be widening over the years. It has almost become a tradition in the last few years that the relationship among the elected representatives of SC Bar Association is not cordial. And the situation doesn’t seem to be bettering. The latest controversy is regarding the decision for “removal of the President” of SCBA by a...

Lawyers’ Cease-Work: SC ‘Summons’ Calcutta HC Bar Assn President, Secy [Read Order]

Taking note of cease-work by lawyers of the Calcutta High Court, the Supreme Court has ‘summoned’ the president and secretary of the Bar Association of Calcutta High Court, who gave the call for strike.A bench of Justice AK Goel and Justice Indu Malhotra asked Uttam Majumdar and Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay, president and secretary of the Bar Association, to remain present in person on 9th...

Three Acres Of Land & Enrolment Of 300 Students Not Mandatory To Get NOC For CBSE Affiliation: SC Upholds Kerala HC Judgment [Read Judgment]

In a setback to the Kerala government, the Supreme Court has upheld the Kerala High Court judgment that struck down two norms prescribed by the Government of Kerala for the grant of an NOC to new schools for affiliation to the CBSE and for existing schools for renewal of affiliation viz. requirement of minimum 3 acres of land and minimum enrolment of 300 students.The ChallengeThe following...

Breaking: SC Collegium Defers Decision On Justice KM Joseph's Elevation

The Supreme Court collegium on Wednesday deferred its decision on the re-recommendation for Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court, Justice K.M. Joseph's elevation to the Supreme Court.Here is the full text of the minutes of the collegium meeting:The Collegium met to consider the following Agenda:“To reconsider the case of Mr. Justice K.M. Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand High Court...

Justice Is Good But Finality Is Better, Says Fali S Nariman At Launch Of Arun Shourie’s Book Anita Gets Bail

Justice is good but, at present, finality is better...a small country like Hungary has 85 judges in its apex court, while we have 25 judges at the moment, with a sanctioned strength of 31...as on April 1, there are 99 lakh civil cases and 2 crore Criminal cases pending...,”“Someone has humorously stated that the provision for one appeal is a reasonable precaution, the provision for...

SC Larger Bench To Decide Basis And Principle To Decide the Place Of ‘Seat’ of Arbitration [Read Judgment]

The Supreme Court, in Union of India vs. Hardy Exploration and Production, has referred the question as to when the arbitration agreement specifies the “venue” for holding the arbitration sittings by the arbitrators but does not specify the “seat”, then on what basis and by which principle, the parties have to decide the place of “seat” which has a material bearing for determining...

SC Takes Suo Motu Cognizance Of Murder Of Himachal Officer During Court-Monitored Encroachment Drive [Read Order]

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reportedly took suo motu cognizance of the murder of an assistant town planning officer during a court-ordered anti-encroachment drive in Himachal Pradesh’s Kasauli.The Bench comprising Justice M.B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta rapped the State Government for not providing adequate security to the officer, Ms. Shail Bala Sharma. Noting that she had gone there...

Operators Directed To Accept Documents Other Than Aadhaar For Mobile SIMs: Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan

In a major relief for consumers, the Government has directed operators to accept alternate documents such as driving license, passport, and voter ID card for providing new mobile phone SIMs, Telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan told TOI."The ministry has issued instructions to all telecom companies, asking them not to deny a SIM card to any individual who does not have an Aadhaar number. We...

CJI Is The Master Of The Roster; Does It Give Him The Authority To Do What He Likes? Can He Exercise The Power Arbitrarily? Asks Former CJI RM Lodha

The launch of journalist-politician Arun Shorie’s new book ‘Anita gets Bail’ at the India International Centre, New Delhi on Tuesday witnessed former Chief Justice of India R. M. Lodha mince no words as he discussed the present state of judicial affairs- “in the present state of affairs, the independence of the judiciary is under challenge...In the last few months, the Supreme Court...

Loya Case Judgment Is Utterly Wrong And Jurisprudentially Incorrect On So Many Counts: Justice AP Shah [Read The Full Text Of Speech]

Justice AP Shah, Former Delhi High Court Chief Justice and former Chairman of Law Commission of India,  has opined that the Judgment of the Supreme Court in the Judge Loya Case  is utterly wrong and jurisprudentially incorrect on so many counts.Justice Shah, who was speaking during the launch of Arun Shourie’s book ‘Anita Gets Bail’, also said that judiciary is going through 'an...