High Court of Kerala stays CLAT 2015 Second allotment for 2 weeks [Read the order]

High Court of Kerala has ordered that the 2nd allotment to be made on the basis of common law Admission Test (CLAT), 2015 shall be kept in abeyance for 2 weeks. The order was issued pending the petition filed by Anand G. Nair, who sought publication of the merit list of CLAT, 2015 showing the ranks and the marks obtained by each candidate before making further allotments to the...

Intermediaries are liable for posting of unsolicited comments: Grand Chamber, ECHR [Read Jt]

In a major setback to the global demand for free speech, the Grand Chamber of the European Court (ECHR) has confirmed in Delfi AS v. Estonia (no.64569/09) news portal’s liability for comments made on its website. The case reached the doors of 17 judges of ECHR with 2 dissenting from the majority opinion after extensive litigation in the country itself. Notably, all litigation was...

Breaking ; Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 promulgated

President of India has promulgated Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 (6 of 2015) . Last week the Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, had given its approval for the proposal to promulgate the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015.The amendments to the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (“The NI Act”) are focused on clarifying...

US Court relief to Sikh who was denied Army Training because of his beard and turban [Read the Judgment]

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson had ordered the U.S. Army to stop barring Iknoor Singh, a Sikh from participating in the reserve officer training program, who was denied the opportunity because of his beard and turban. The Army had earlier objected to his enrollment as his religious practices do not conform to Army uniform and grooming standards.Iknoor had also sought a...

Bombay HC asks NGO to submit Draft Guidelines for Registration of Rape cases

Association for aiding Justice, an NGO has approached the Bombay HC with a prayer seeking “statutory guidelines for the Police authority for entertaining complaint lodged for rape on the allegation of false promise of marriage” and “guidelines for conducting preliminary enquiry complaint of rape lodged on the allegation of false promise of marriage.”The petition states, “Rape in...

Lawyer cannot claim fees for legal fight with a client ; US Supreme Court [Read the Judgment]

In an important decision, US Supreme Court has turned down the compensation claim of lawyers for the time they spent fighting against their own client over legal fees in bankruptcy court. In the 6-3 majority judgment, Justice Clarence Thomas, ruled that "bankruptcy law does not authorize the award of fees for defending a fee application, and that is the end of the matter”. “Congress did...

NJAC; Stage set for a Constitutional showdown [Read the Wriiten Submissions of AG]

The stage is set for a ‘constitutional showdown’ between the executive and the judiciary with the Centre on Monday informing the Supreme Court in no uncertain terms that the collegium system of appointment of judges could not be revived even if the Supreme Court were to strike down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act.The Centre’s submission came in the wake of the...

Delhi HC issues notice to UPSC and Centre on Transgenders not Being an Option in Civil Services Exam Forms

Hearing a public interest litigation filed in relation to the non-inclusion of transgender as an option for filling up the Civil Services Exam forms, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court today questioned Centre and Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) as to why they are not following the Supreme Court judgment. The Supreme Court by its judgment in  National Legal Services Authority...

High Court of HP issues directions to State Govt to improve the facilities for disabled students [Read JT]

Himachal Pradesh High Court issued directions to the State government regarding care and treatment of Students with disabilities. The court on its own motion had taken up this issue, after taking cognizance of a letter highlighting the difficulties faced by three blind and deaf students in the educational institutions either run by the State of Himachal Pradesh or by H.P. Council of...

SC cancels AIPMT entrance test - Orders to conduct re-test within 4 weeks [Read the Judgment]

Supreme Court cancelled All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) 2015 and orders CBSE to conduct fresh test within four weeks. Strongly opposing the move to conduct re-examination, Ranjt Kumar Solicitor General appearing for CBSE, said that "6.3 lakh students cannot be made to take the exam afresh when only 44 students have been found involved in taking benefits through unfair means”. The...

Delhi HC issues Landmark Guidelines to protect Right to Privacy in Family Matters [Read the Judgment]

Hearing an appeal under the Family Courts Act, the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court has said that “lawyers are expected to act with professional responsibility in cases that involve disclosure of private and personal information. The Division Bench of Justice Murlidhar and Justice I.S. Mehta gave multiple directions in the judgment including, “Where a party in a case seeks to rely...

Justice Katju wants COJA to investigate allegations against CJI Dattu, Shanti Bhushan declines [Updated]

Justice Katju had recently wrote a letter  to Senior Advocate Shanti Bhushan requesting his “Committee on Judicial Accountability” (COJA) to conduct an investigation against CJI H L Dattu on account of corruption charges. Earlier, Justice Katju had sent Bhushan a dossier containing documentary proof of the large scale corruption by him. This dossier of about 100 pages included...