Conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies at the age of 79

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away on Saturday at the age of 79. As per the US Marshalls Service, he died in his sleep early on Saturday while in West Texas for hunting trip.“He was an extraordinary individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement for the court. “His passing is a great loss to the court...

Justice Rajiv Shakdher, Loss for Delhi, Gain for Madras? [Updated]

Transfer of Justice Rajiv Shakdher of Delhi High Court has invited strong reactions from the members of the legal community. Many senior lawyers and former Judges feel that the decision of the Supreme Court collegium in transferring Justice Rajiv Shakdher to Madras High Court is unjustified. Justice Shakdher is well known for his integrity, boldness and hard work. He joined Bench of Delhi...

CJI recommends mass Transfer of High Court Judges

Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur reportedly has ordered mass transfer of High Court Judges across the country. This drastic step seems to have been taken during a meeting of collegium held on January 11th.Deccan Chronicle reports that Justices R. Sudhakar and C.S. Karnan of the Madras High Court are being transferred to  Jammu and Kashmir and Calcutta High Courts respectively. The judges...

A Judicial officer cannot be penalized for passing erroneous orders: Kerala HC [Read Judgment]

The Kerala High Court has ruled in P. Sujanapal v State of Kerala & others [W.A No:1524 of 2014] that except in exceptional circumstances, a judicial officer is protected from legal action of whatever nature for wrong orders rendered by him.A private complaint was filed against the writ petitioner alleging offences punishable under Ss.466, 469, 471 and 500 IPC before the Chief...

Delhi HC issues notice on Airtel’s challenge to TRAI’s Interconnect Regulations [Read Petition]

A Division Bench of Delhi High Court on Friday sought the TRAI’s response on Bharti Airtel’s petition challenging the Telecommunication Interconnect Usage Charges (Eleventh Amendment) Regulations, 2015. The Bench, comprising Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath has sought TRAI’s response by March 1.The Regulations fix termination charges for landline to wireless as zero paise...

Whether Drivers having LMV licence is required to obtain prior endorsement to drive transport vehicles? SC refers the Question to Larger Bench

A two Judge Bench of Supreme Court on thursday has referred the matters to be decided by a larger bench to resolve the issue whether drivers having licence to drive light motor vehicles is required to obtain a prior endorsement to drive the transport vehicle even when the transport vehicle is of class of light motor vehicle.The Court formulated the following questions for the consideration...

Supreme Court comes to grips with the plea for lifting the bar on Entry of Women to Sabarimala Temple

Yesterday was the fourth day of the hearing of Indian Young Lawyers Association vs State of Kerala [writ petition [c] 373 of 2006], after the petition pending since 2006 found itself revived by Justice Dipak Misra-led bench. The other judges on the bench are Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and NV Ramana.As the item was 303, it did not exactly start at 2 pm. But the temple trust’s counsel,...

Abduction of Indians by ISIS in Iraq: SC asks MEA to appoint Nodal Officer to Co-ordinate rescue [Read Petition]

The Supreme Court today asked the Ministry of External Affairs to consider appointing a nodal officer for better co-ordination with Baghdad and international agencies for securing release of 39 Indians taken hostage by ISIS one-and-a-half-years ago from a construction site in Iraq’s Mosul.A PIL filed by a lawyer Gaurav Kumar Bansal sought a direction to the MEA to intervene and expedite...

Office of MLA cannot be termed as “Occupation” under Art. 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India; SC [Read Judgment]

A two Judge Bench of Supreme Court today observed that the term ‘occupation’ under Article 19(1)(g) does not include the office of a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA). The Bench comprising of Justices J.Chelameswar and Abhay Manohar Sapre made the above observation while disposing a writ petition filed by Six DMDK MLAs challenging a resolution passed by Tamil Nadu Legislative...

Privilege Committee cannot violate Principles of Natural Justice, SC quashes TN Assembly Resolution suspending DMDK MLAs for Breach of Privilege [Read Judgment]

A two Judge Bench of Supreme Court Today quashed a resolution passed by Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly suspending DMDK MLAs for breach of privilege. The Bench comprising of Justices J.Chelameswar and Abhay Manohar Sapre has held that while taking action against the MLAs, the requirements of Article 14 were not complied with.FactsBy a resolution of the assembly dated 19.02.2015, nineteen...

Swaraj Abhiyan’s drought case in the SC exposes lapses on the part of Central and state Governments [Read Petition and Affidavit of UOI]

During the hearing today of the Swaraj Abhiyan’s petition seeking Supreme Court’s intervention to ensure drought relief in 12 states, the petitioner has alleged that Haryana Government has tried to mislead the court by giving two select months and calendar year deviation figures concealing the fact that seasonal rainfall during the South West Monsoon (June-Sept) 2015 was only 62 per...

SC refuses to quash proceedings against Rahul, Sonia in Herald Case; grants exemption from personal appearance [Read Order]

The Supreme Court today declined to quash criminal proceedings against Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi and five other party leaders in the National Herald case and asked them to raise all their objections and contentions in the trial court before framing of charges.A bench of Justices J S Khehar and C Nagappan said trial proceedings should continue. The judges...