CJI refuses to accept Whatsapp message as PIL; agrees to hear content as petition

In a first of its kind development, a noted Indian lawyer and motivational speaker Ashok Arora, now settled in USA sent a 10-minute video message through Whatsapp to Chief Justice of India T S Thakur on “how to ensure over all development of the country and its citizens” and urged him to accept it as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL).Indian judiciary is yet to admit Whatsapp messages or...

Bombay HC invokes ‘collective conscience of society’ to confirm death penalty to duo who kidnapped and murdered an eight year old boy [Read Judgment]

When a person who is educated and aware of the ramifications of such crime commits such a crime in a broad day light with a meticulous planning and executes the same, in our view, it could aggravate the circumstance rather than mitigate the same, the Bench said.The Bombay High Court has confirmed Death Penalty awarded to duo who were convicted for kidnapping and murdering an eight year old...

SC directs Bihar Govt to reinstate police constable who was terminated 15 years after his appointment for being ineligible for compassionate appointment [Read Judgment]

Supreme Court has directed the Bihar Government to reinstate a police constable who was terminated by the Government fifteen years after his appointment on compassionate grounds.In 1991, Md. Zamil Ahmed was given compassionate appointment as a Police Constable considering the fact that his brother was killed while on official duty and also recording undertaking by Zamil that he would look...

Chief Justice Thakur rejects the ‘Security Clause’ in the new MoP for Appointment of Judges

“Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur is understood to have rejected the Centre’s proposal in the Memorandum of Procedure on appointment of judges, reserving its right to reject candidate recommended for appointment as judge on grounds of ‘national security’, reports Deccan ChronicleEarlier it is reported that the draft Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), prepared by the Government, in...

Citing BPOs, Centre urges SC to modify diesel cab ban order

The Centre today told the Supreme Court that it would also like the Delhi government file a petition seeking more time to implement its April 30 order to remove from the roads 30,000 taxis which are running on diesel of petrol and not on CNG as mandated by the court.Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar representing the Centre told a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur that the sudden ban...

Speakers regret the decline of wit in the Supreme Court at the release of a book on Makers of the Supreme Court

At a well-attended function at Indian Law Institute on 3rd May, Justice Dipak Misra released the book, “Makers of the Supreme Court”, authored by Keshav Dayal, and published by Universal Law Publishing Company, an imprint of LexisNexis.Speaking on the occasion, Justice Dipak Misra said a man can live without water for seven days, without air for one or two minutes, but if he is not...

Stop the Colonial Practice of Long Vacations for Courts ; CJAR

The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms has issued a statement suggesting various steps to be taken to improve the efficiency of the Court. The statement issued by its convenor Prashant Bhushan suggested that the Courts to increase the judicial time to litigants, especially to those who have been languishing in jails without recourse to a speedy trial.Here is the Full text of...

Mixed reactions on Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph's Transfer

Whether Justice K M Joseph’s transfer to Andhra Pradesh High court from Uttarakhand High court, two weeks after his judgment highly critical of the Central Government, is a coincidence or is there more to it ? Speculations are on, with Indira Jaising, Senior Advocate alleging that it is politically motivated, on one side and Justice Markandey Katju saying that it is not, on the other.When...

Justice Mohan Shantanagoudar will be the next Chief Justice of Kerala High Court

Karnataka High Court Judge Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar will be the next Chief Justice of Kerala High Court. At present he is number three in seniority in Karnataka High Court. He will join as Judge in High Court of Kerala soon. He will be the acting Chief Justice when Kerala Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan joins the Supreme Court. Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee will...

Govt. shall not issue any ownership certificate to Elephant Owners; SC to State of Kerala [Read Order]

Persons who are in possession of elephants shall not transfer the elephants outside the State nor shall they part with the elephants by way of transfer in any manner, The Court held.Supreme Court of India Today has directed that the Government of Kerala shall not issue any ownership certificate to any of the persons in possession of elephants. The Bench, comprising of Justice Dipak Misra...

SC refuses to stay large size pictorial warnings on Tobacco products

The Supreme Court today refused to stay the Union Health Ministry directive on increasing the size of pictorial warnings on packets of tobacco products which meant that all companies will have to implement it forthwith.With effect from April 1, the ministry had increased the size of warnings on tobacco and cigarette packs to 85 percent from 40 percent and made it mandatory for all...

Centre’s U-turn on Uttarakhand; now tells SC “seriously considering” Floor Test

The Centre today took a big U-turn in the Supreme Court in the Uttarakhand President’s rule case saying it was “seriously considering” holding of floor test immediately as suggested repeatedly by the bench to end the constitutional impasse in the state.It is to be noted that Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had earlier flatly rejected the proposal when it was put forth by the bench headed...