CJAR Condemns Centre’s Move To Reject Recommended Names To Allahabad HC; Calls It ‘Unconstitutional’

The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) has issued a scathing indictment on the continuing standoff between the government and the judiciary on judicial appointments, raising pertinent questions on institutional integrity and independence.Condemning the Centre’s move of returning names of 13 recommended judges for the Allahabad High Court, the CJAR has called upon the...

Supreme Court Weekly Round-Up

Seeking Votes In The Name Of Religion Corrupt PracticeDelivering a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court on Monday held that seeking votes in the name of religion, caste or community amounted to corrupt practice and election of a candidate who indulged in it can be set aside. A seven judge constitution bench of the court headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur passed the ruling by a 4:3 majority....

Persons Holding Premises Gratuitously Won’t Acquire Any Legal Right On The Property: SC [Read Judgment]

Even long possession in that capacity would be of no legal consequences, the bench held.The Supreme Court, in Behram Tejani vs. Azeem Jagani, has reiterated that a person holding the premises gratuitously or in the capacity as a caretaker or a servant would not acquire any right or interest on the property and even long possession in that capacity would be of no legal consequences.The...

Appear Before Court Or Face The Music: SC Proposes To Restrain Use Of 2G Spectrum Licence In Aircel-Maxis Case [Read Order]

Process of law should not be permitted to be frustrated by non-service of summons on the accused, the bench said.In order to enforce the presence of the accused in Aircel-Maxis deal case, the Supreme Court has proposed to restrain earning of any revenue by using the 2G spectrum licences, which were originally granted to Aircel Telecommunications. A three-judge bench of the apex court also...

No Illegality In HC, On Its Administrative Side, Transferring A Case: SC [Read Judgment]

The Supreme Court in Ajay Singh vs. State of Chhattisgarh, while holding that the result of adjudication cannot be announced without the judgment available on record, also discussed the legality of the high court, on its administrative side, transferring a case from one district court to another.The bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra, in this case, upheld the full court decision to transfer...

Justice Dipak Misra Appointed As NALSA Executive Chairman [Read Notification]

Justice Dipak Misra of the Supreme Court has been appointed as the Executive Chairman of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), with effect from Wednesday (4th January, 2017).This is in view of Justice JS Kehar, former Executive Chairman, becoming Chief Justice of India, who shall assume the office of Patron-in-Chief of the NALSA.Justice Dipak Misra started his career as judge when he...

Breaking: HC Can’t Restrain Police From Arresting Accused, While Declining To Quash Case: SC [Read Judgment]

Such directions “amounts” to an order under Section 438 CrPC, albeit without satisfaction of the conditions of the said provision, which is legally unacceptable, the Court said.The Supreme Court in State of Telangana vs. Habib Abdullah Jeelani & Ors. has held that a high court, while refusing to exercise inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to interfere...

Result Of Case Can’t Be Announced Without Judgment Available On Record: SC [Read Judgment]

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the result of adjudication cannot be announced without the judgment available on record.A two-judge bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Amitava Roy held that the non-availability of judgment can never be a judgment because there is no declaration by way of pronouncement in the open court that the accused has been convicted or acquitted.The...

SC Drops Contempt Proceedings Against Katju After Accepting His Apology [Read Order]

A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi of the Supreme Court today dropped the contempt proceedings against former Supreme Court judge Justice Markandeya Katju pertaining to certain blogs he had written against the bench in sensational Soumya case after accepting his unconditional apology.At the outset Rajeev Dhavan, senior lawyer representing Katju drew the attention of bench of Justice Gogoi...

Breaking: Aadhaar To Be Made Must For EPS, MGNREGA Schemes; Notifications Issued [Read Notifications]

The Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Ministry of Rural Development have made ‘Aadhaar’ mandatory for members and pensioners of the Employees’ Pension Scheme and for those registered under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) Scheme.In a notification issued on Wednesday, the ministry stated: “Members and pensioners of the Employees’ Pension...

SC To CBI: Complete Air India Aircraft Purchase Probe By June

Acting on a PIL filed by Centre for Public Interest Litigation, the Supreme Court has set a deadline of June, 2017 for CBI to complete its probe by June into allegations of serious irregularities in purchase or hiring of 111 aircraft for Air India that had cost around Rs 70,000 crore during the tenure of Praful Patel as the civil aviation minister in 2005-06.A bench headed by Chief Justice J...

Bhushan Files Fresh Documents In Sahara/Birla Case

Prashant Bhushan has filed an application in the Supreme Court on behalf of NGO ‘Common Cause’ to file additional documents in the Sahara/Birla payoff case.He also filed 10 additional documents, along with the application.It is submitted in the application that the circumstances make out a more than adequate case for directing a credible and independent investigation as per the law...