MP Judge Harassment allegations: Woman Judge approaches SC against panel setup to probe her complaint

The female Additional District Judge from Gwalior, who had levelled allegations against a Madhya Pradesh High Court Judge for sexual harassment, has now approached the Supreme Court, questioning the judicial panel which will probe into her complaint. The female Judge demanded setting up a committee comprising two Chief Justices and one Judge of High Courts.She had also pleaded that...

Supreme Court seeks ‘field data’ on PIL to ban loudspeakers at places of worship

The Supreme Court in a public interest litigation filed by journalist and social activist Vineet Narain has asked the petitioner to furnish “field data” supporting the claims made in the petition. The PIL is seeking a ban on loudspeakers at every place of worship of all religions, claiming the loudspeakers not only cause noise pollution but also communal riots.The bench comprising...

PIL to ensure maximum voting: SC issues notice to Centre, EC

The Bench of Justice Dattu and Justice Bobde issued notice to Central Government and Election Commission of India seeking a response from them on a public interest litigation seeking regarding maximum voting.The petition seeks a direction from the Supreme Court to the Centre and ECI to frame guidelines to ensure that more citizens cast their votes in the polls.Satya Prakash, the petitioner...

Coal Allocation between 1993 and 2009 illegal, arbitrary, non-transparent and were devoid of any procedure; Supreme Court [Read the Judgment]

In a landmark Judgment the Supreme Court today declared the Coal allocation between 1993 and 2009 illegal, arbitrary, non-transparent and were devoid of any procedure. A three Judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Lodha declared that the  entire  allocation  of  coal  block  as  per recommendations made by  the  Screening  Committee  from  14.07.1993  in  36 meetings and ...

Challenge against 121st Amendment and National Judicial Commission Bill 2014 is premature; SC dismisses all the PILs challenging the Bills

A Three Judges Bench of the Supreme Court consisting of Justice Anil Dave, Justice Chelameswar and Justice Sikri dismissed a batch of PILs challenging the 121st Constitutional amendment and National Judicial Commission Bill 2014 which provides for a new mechanism for appointment of Judges in higher Judiciary and for scrapping the collegium system prevalent for the past two decades. The Court...

Justice Katju Targets the next Probable Chief Justice of India by Seniority and ask the Government when Justice Lodha retires, Government should not go by seniority but choose the fittest person as CJI

Justice Markandey Katju demanded that the Chief Justice of India shall not be appointed by Seniority but on merits only. In his latest blog post he made the following observation;The present Chief Justice of India, Justice Lodha, is retiring on 27th September , 2014, and the question now is who should be appointed his successor ?For quite some time the convention has been to appoint the...

Apex Court demands response for absence of Leader of Opposition in Parliament; comes down on Centre for keeping Lokpal Act in ‘cold storage’

The apex Court of the country has reportedly come down heavily on the Modi Government for keeping the Lokpal Act in an indeterminate state for a considerable amount of time. Questioning the Government over its view on the selection panel comprising the Prime Minister, Speaker of Lok Sabha and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, it said that such an important law cannot be kept in cold...

PIL questions validity of ‘jail term for life’, Notice issued by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition asking that definition of life sentence till death be declared unconstitutional as it is violative of the Constitution. The bench headed by Justice Dattu on Friday issued notice to the Centre and sought a reply.The petition has been filed by Sukh Sagar Mishra, who is undergoing a life sentence after being convicted in a murder case.The...

Uttarakhand Governor refuses to quit office; Challenges Authority of Home Secretary in Supreme Court

The apex Court is set to take up the first ever challenge to the Government’s decision to prod gubernatorial authorities to either resign or to remove them at will. The petition is coming up before a three-Judge Bench. Notice has reportedly been issued to the Centre, by a Bench comprising of Chief Justice R.M. Lodha, Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rohinton Nariman.The Petition has...

Challenge to 121st Constitutional amendment scrapping Collegium system: Apex Court agrees to hear 4 PILs on August 25th

An apex Court Bench headed by CJI R.M. Lodha agreed to hear on Monday, a batch of four petitions challenging the 121st Constitutional amendment, which provides for a new mechanism for appointment of Judges in higher Judiciary and will lead to scrapping of the collegium system prevalent for the past two decades.Seeking the quashing of the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014...

Potency Test a necessity for Progress in Nithyananda Case: Supreme Court Warns

Right on the heels of self styled godman Asaram Bapu’s rejection of bail plea in a rape case, the Supreme Court expressed concern and displeasure yesterday at another such godman Swami Nithyananda’s unwillingness to subject himself to a medical potency test in a rape allegation.The case, initiated in 2010 in Karnataka has made no real progress till date due to non co-operation of the...

High Court stays the Execution of Kolhapur Sisters till Sept.9

The Bombay High Court has asked the State and Central Government to explain the delay in execution of Seema Gavit and Renuka Shinde, aged 39 and 45 respectively, who were sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in 2006. The court on Wednesday, asked the governments to file their affidavits within 2 weeks. The Court also stayed the execution till September 9Two sisters from Kolhapur were...