State to provide Compensation in case of Delays in solving the Cases: Madras HC

Taking a cue from a case wherein a petitioner’s 15 year old daughter’s murder case was not solved  by the police authorities till then, the Madras High Court said that the state was liable to pay compensation in cases which remain unsolved by police for years. The honourable court also ordered the payment of Rs three lakh to the  petitioner in this case. Justice S Nagamuthu of the...

US Supreme Court upholds Hotel's Right to Protect the Privacy of its Guests [Read the Judgment]

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a Los Angeles ordinance that required hotel operators to record and keep specific information about their guests on the premises for a 90-day period which were to be made available to any officer of the Los Angeles Police Department for inspection without warrant, failing which the hotel operator’s failure to make the records available was to...

Delhi HC admits petition challenging arbitrary and non-transparent criteria adopted by it in the matter of promotion to posts of district and sessions judges

The Delhi High Court has admitted a petition filed by a judicial officer challenging the non-transparent criteria adopted by the Delhi High Court for promotion to posts of district and sessions judges. The judicial officer was aggrieved by the Delhi High Court by-passing her and granting promotions to her juniors to the post of District & Sessions Judge.Additional district and sessions...

Co-accused acquittal is not a ground to acquit the principal accused; SC [Read the Judgment]

While dismissing the appeal, the honourable Supreme Court held in a ruling that, “Just because the co-accused was acquitted of the charges, the benefit of the same cannot be also extended to the appellant.” The matter was presided over by division bench of Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre and Justice R K Agrawal. In the instant decision of Jagtar Singh v State of Haryana, the apex court...

A backward class Hindu, who embraces Islam, can continue to claim Backward Class status for reservation; Madras HC

The Madras High Court has held in a recent judgment that a backward class (BC) Hindu, who embraces Islam, would continue to claim Backward Class status notwithstanding the conversion.Ayesha, born in a Hindu family, embraced Islam on November 28, 2005, and in August 2014 she obtained community certificate stating that she belonged to Muslim Labbai community. As per a July 19, 1994...

Exclusive; No executive interference can be allowed in the matter of judges’ appointment ; Nariman [Read the Written Submissions]

Fali S. Nariman, distinguished jurist, senior advocate and lead lawyer of those opposing the constitution of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) which will replace the collegium system of appointing superior court judges, on Thursday scathingly accused the government of merely copying a Congress bill on the NJAC instead of using its own brains. "This government copied...

Subrata Roy to stay in jail as Supreme Court gives Sahara 18 months to pay back its depositors

The Supreme Court today delivered its judgment in the contempt petition filed by SEBI against Sahara. The Court throughits judgment allowed Sahara to sell certain properties in UP and ordered the proceeds to go to SEBI-Sahara Refund Account after adjusting transaction cost and taxes.The Court however declined to unfreeze the accounts of the Group, saying that the Sahara Group can use the...

NJAC hearing postponed to July 7

The controversy over Justice Cyriac Joseph regarding his alleged below-par performance dominated proceedings in the NJAC case in the Supreme Court today with the Union Government challenging the data on the number of judgments delivered by the former judge during his tenure."My impression was correct. The information is incorrect. The information provided by the registrars of different...

Neutral law needed to protect victims of domestic violence: Madras HC

The Madras High Court today delineated the need for a "neutral and unprejudicial" law to protect genuine victims of domestic violence, irrespective of the gender, noting that existing law contains a flaw that lends itself to easy misuse by women."The notable flaw in this law is that it lends itself to such easy misuse that women will find it hard to resist the temptation to teach lesson to...

No transgender category in UPSC Forms until Supreme Court Clarifies,submits UPSC in Delhi HC

UPSC submitted in Delhi High Court, that it cannot include transgender as a third gender for applying for civil services exam as the category was not yet clearly defined by the Supreme Court. It was replying to the Delhi High Court's query on hearing a PIL, as to why transgender have not been included as a third gender option in application forms for Civil Services Preliminary...

SCBA President Dave launches no-holds barred attack on the Collegium system; says "what happened in the past 22 years under the collegium difficult to digest"

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president and senior counsel Dushyant Dave tore into the collegium system saying "what had happened in the past 22 years under the collegium was difficult to digest" and there was "so much of frustration and disappointment".“My Lords should wear a burqa and roam in the court corridors to hear the way lawyers talk about the judges of this court. You will...

SCBA, BJP ruled States support NJAC

BJP-ruled states today supported the creation of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) by submitting before the Apex Court that the independence of judiciary does not necessarily require that judges be appointed by the collegium system.Senior advocate T R Andhyarujina, appearing for the state of Maharashtra, told a five-judge bench of the SC headed by Justice J S Khehar that...