Breaking; Commission appointed under Commissions of Inquiry Act is not a Court for the purposes of Contempt of Courts Act; Truth is a defence in Contempt proceedings: Constitution Bench [Read the Judgment]

A Constitution Bench of the apex Court, comprising of CJI Lodha, Justice Anil R. Dave, Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya, Justice Dipak Misra and Justice S.K. Singh, while deciding on two contempt petitions, held that merely because a Commission of Inquiry is headed by a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court, it cannot qualify as an extended arm of the Court.Considering the 2006 amendment, it also...

Appellate Court cannot grant bail without giving an opportunity to the Public Prosecutor to show cause in writing as to why the appellant be not released on bail . SC issues Guidelines on Suspension of Sentence during pendency of Criminal Appeal [Read the Judgment]

A Two Judge Bench of the Supreme Court in Atul Tripathi Vs. State of UP [Crl. Appeal 1516/2014] on Tuesday issued the following Guidelines regarding the suspension of Sentence during the pendency of Criminal Appeal.a. The appellate court, if inclined to consider the release of a convict sentenced to punishment for death or imprisonment for life or for a period of ten years or more, shall...

Jurists divided over the truth of Katju’s revelations

Justice Katju’s statement has been successful in re-igniting the debate that has long been overdue, suppressed by the stakeholders against the cause. Several jurists have, in fact, backed his revelations regarding the conduct of three former Chief Justices of India, CJIs Justice Lahoti, Justice Sabharwal and Justice K.G. Balakrishnan in granting extension and confirming a corrupt...

Judgment in Shanti Bhushan and Another Vs Union of India (2007) echoes Justice Katju’s allegations [Read the Judgment]

Former Supreme Court Judge and present Chairman of Press Council of India, Mr. Markandey Katju stirred a storm yesterday, when he posted shocking revelations on Facebook, regarding the conduct of three former Chief Justices of India, CJIs Justice Lahoti, Justice Sabharwal and Justice K.G. Balakrishnan in granting extension and confirming a corrupt judge. The post has frenzied a debate...

No Respite for Sahara Honcho: Apex Court Rejects Subrato Roy's Bail Plea

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant bail to the Chief of Sahara Group, Shri Subroto Roy Sahara, and held that it will facilitate negotiations for Sahara to sell properties in India and abroad. Mr. Roy had prayed for release for a period of 40 days in order to finalize the sale of three overseas hotels owned by the Sahara Group. The Court nonetheless, allowed Mr. Roy to negotiate...

Justice Katju posted Six Questions to Justice lahoti; Justice Lahoti denies allegations;

In continuation of his revelations regarding the appointment of a Madras High Court Judge, Justice Katju today posted Six questions to Justice Lahoti in his blog.The questions are as follows;1. Is it , or is it not, correct that I first wrote him a letter from Chennai, stating that there were serious allegations of corruption about an Additional Judge of Madras High Court, and therefore he...

Collegium clears names of Advocate U.U.Lalit and three Chief Justices for elevation as SC judges

The Prime Minister’s Office has reportedly cleared the path for appointment of senior advocate Uday Umesh Lalit and three High Court Chief Justices as judges of the Supreme Court, as recommended by the Collegium headed by CJI R.M. Lodha. The names have now been sent to President Pranab Mukherjee to obtain his assent and for issuance of warrants of appointment of the four as judges of...

CBI Officer Appointment row: SC says PIL nothing to do with Officer’s Merit, restricted to procedure for appointment

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice of India, R.M. Lodha today made it clear that a PIL against senior IPS officer Archana Ramasundaram against her joining CBI as an Additional Director won’t lead to questioning of her merit as an officer. The Bench asserted that its adjudication is restricted to procedure adopted by the Centre on her appointment.The petition was filed by Vineet...

Law intern harassment case: SC issues notice to ex- SC Judge on petition to transfer defamation suit

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice R.M. Lodha, has reportedly issued a notice to former Supreme Court judge and current Chairman of the National Green Tribunal Swatanter Kumar, from an intern who had sought transfer of his defamation suit against her from Delhi High Court.The Bench asked senior advocate K.K. Venugopal to file a response within four weeks. No interim order was...

Justice Katju accuses three former CJIs Justice Lahoti, Justice Sabharwal and Justice K G Balakrishnan for protecting a corrupt Judge, on his facebook post

The facebook posts of Justice Katju these days have become expose of hidden judicial misdeeds and behind the scene operations in judges appointments. The facebook post he uploaded two hours ago, contains shocking revelations about the conduct of three former Chief Justices of India, CJIs  Justice  Lahoti, Justice Sabharwal and Justice K G Balakrishnan in granting extension and confirming...

Home Ministry recommends rejection of Nithari killer’s mercy plea and 4 others

Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh has reportedly rejected five mercy petitions, including that of Surender Koli, the convict in the Nithari killings case. He signed these five files recommending to the President that the mercy petitions of Renukabai and Seema (Maharashtra), Koli (Uttar Pradesh), Rajendra Pralhadrao Wasnik (Maharashtra), Jagdish (Madhya Pradesh) and Holiram Bordoloi...

Supreme Court Weekly Round-Up

A Supreme Court Constitutional bench comprising of Chief Justice R.M. Lodha, Justice J.S. Khehar, Justice J. Chelameswar, Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice R.F. Nariman observed that the Government has strived to create a parallel justice delivery mechanism in tribunals. However, the difficulty lies in finding the right judicial person for tribunals dealing with specific areas of laws. The...