States recommend 100 names for HC vacancies as Law Ministry deliberates whether old or new Memorandum of Procedure be followed

The Collegiums of about 10 States have reportedly recommended more than 100 candidates to the Law Ministry, for appointment to their respective High Court benches. These candidates add to nearly 80 lawyers and lower Court Judges being scrutinized for the posts. The Law Ministry however, is deliberating whether to use the old Memorandum of Procedure, or wait for the approval of the new...

SC releases fresh panel lists of Amicus Curiae [Read the List]

Supreme Court of India has released fresh Panel lists of Amicus Curiae for a period of two years, with effect from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2018. The fresh Panels comprise of 8 Senior Advocates in List X, 126 Advocates-on-Record in List Y and 171 Non-Advocates-on-Record in List Z.The Circular directs allocation of cases to the Advocates listed in all three lists to be made in...

Uttarakhand HC orders floor test for Harish Rawat Government on March 31st amidst Presidential rule [Read Order]

The High Court of Uttarakhand Today ordered a floor test for the Harish Rawat government, allowing the participation of rebel MLA’s as well. The floor test will be held on 31st of March, at 11 a.m. The High Court also maintained that the results of the floor test should not be declared in the Assembly, but should be presented before it in a sealed envelope. Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu...

SC Collegium sticks to Justice Rajiv Shakdher’s transfer to Madras HC in spite of Law Ministry’s Objection

Supreme Court Collegium, reportedly, has stood by its decision in the matter of transfer of Delhi High Court Judge Justice Rajiv Shakdher to Madras High Court. Economic Times reports that the Law ministry had sent back the proposal to Collegium and asked for a review of its decision on the backdrop of protest from senior members of the Bar.Transfer of Justice Rajiv Shakdher of Delhi High...

Decide stand on porn ban, making public viewing of it an offence in 2 weeks: SC to Centre

The Supreme Court today gave the centre two weeks time to inform its official stand on blocking of all pornographic sites, immediate blocking of child pornographic sites as per its order of February 26 and also if it wished to prohibit watching of such obscene sites or materials in any form in public places.A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra gave the centre further time after...

Muslim women discriminated by personal law? SC asks Centre to submit high level panel’s report

The Supreme Court today initiated steps for detailed hearing of batch of petitions, one of them taken suo motu by it on the contentious issue and recurring complaints of gender discrimination suffered by muslim women arising out of several rules in its personal laws like triple talaq and polygamy.Significantly, a bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice U U Lalit has asked the Centre...

Writ petition not ordinarily maintainable against order of DRT under S. 17 of SARFAESI Act: Karnataka HC (FB) [Read Order]

Karnataka High Court in M/S Deepak Apparels Pvt Ltd vs City Union Bank Ltd has held that writ petition is not ordinarily maintainable against the order of the Debt Recovery Tribunal, passed in exercise of the jurisdiction under S.17 of the SARFAESI Act. Full Bench answering a reference held that it can be entertained only if the court is convinced that it falls within the exceptional...

Gujarat HC moots production of undertrial in Courts through video conferencing-issues directions [Read Order]

Gujarat High Court has directed the State to consider production of undertrial in concerned courts through video conferencing. Justice Sonia Gokani made this observation in a bail application preferred by one undertrial Ketan Patel.Allowing the fifth bail application (four was rejected earlier) preferred by the accused in High Court, the court observed “when video conferencing facility is...

Supreme Court Weekly Round-Up

Filing Petition in SC during pendency of proceedings before HC is an abuse of process of lawIn a recent judgment, the Supreme Court of India reprimanded a petitioner for filing a Writ Petition under Article 32 of the Constitution, during pendency of a Writ before the High Court for the same relief, and imposed costs of Rs. 1 lakh on the petitioner, terming it as an abuse of process of...

Indian Penal Code (Punjab amendment) Bill, 2016 invites ire of editorial writers and neutral observers, who oppose it using the slippery slope argument

The Indian Penal Code (Punjab amendment) Bill, 2016 enacted by the Punjab assembly on 22 March inserts a new provision, Section 295AA to provide for life imprisonment for the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib. The Bill has also amended Section 295, enhancing the punishment for the offence of injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class, from imprisonment...

All India Muslim Personal Law Board intervenes in Triple Talaq case before the Supreme Court [Read Petition]

On 28 March, the Supreme Court bench comprising the Chief Justice of India, Justice TS Thakur and Justice UU Lalit, will hear as item 8 the case of suo motu writ petition, In Re; Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality. Along with this, the bench will also hear Shayara Bano vs Union of India and others. Bano is represented by well-known advocate, Balaji Srinivasan, pro-bono. LiveLaw covered the...

Eating Beef is not an Offence as there is no Law touching eating habits of any religion; Madras HC [Read Order]

High Court has dismissed a PIL for removing shops run by Muslims and others around Palani Temple Madras High Court in K.Gopinath vs The Commissioner Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments and another has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) praying to issue a Writ of Mandamus, directing the Authorities to remove the shops around the Palani Temple Hills Girivala pathai run by...