Supreme Court Criminal Law Digest: April 2023

Accused not entitled to default bail when first extension (passed in absence of accused) wasn't challenged & second extension was passed in his presence. Qamar Ghani Usmani v. State of Gujarat, 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 297 Alleged lack of jurisdiction of court no ground to transfer case: Supreme Court dismisses PFI student wing leader's plea. Ka Rauf Sherif v....

Senior Advocate Designation : Supreme Court Says Role Played By Lawyers In Cases To Be Assessed Than Counting Mere Appearances

On Friday, while delivering its judgment in pleas seeking modifications in the guidelines regulating the conferment of designation of Senior Advocates as laid down in its 2017 judgment (Indira Jaising v. Supreme Court of India), the Supreme Court enhanced the weightage given to miscellaneous category including pro bono work, reported and unreported judgments and domain expertise by 10...

[BAIL] Questions & Answers By Justice V. Ramkumar- Post Sentence Bail [Part-I]

Q.1 The accused is charge sheeted by the police for an offence punishable under Section 326 IPC. He is on bail during the trial of the case. The Magistrate, after trial, convicts the accused and sentences him to rigorous imprisonment for 3 years. The convict satisfies the Magistrate that he intends to file an appeal and applies for bail under Section 389 (3) Cr.P.C. Is the...

IBC | NCLT Has To Admit Sec 7 Petition If Debt Is Due; Decision In 'Vidarbha Industries' Based On Its Facts : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that if the existence of a financial debt and its default on the part of Corporate Debtor has been proved, then the National Company Law Tribunal (“NCLT”) is left with no option apart from admitting the petition under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”). The only ground on which a petition under Section 7 of IBC can be rejected is...

Senior Advocate Designation : Supreme Court Reduces Points Assigned For Publication; Expands Its Scope To Include Teaching Assignments and Guest Lectures

On Friday, while delivering its judgment in pleas seeking modifications in the guidelines regulating the conferment of designation of Senior Advocates as laid down in its 2017 judgment (Indira Jaising v. Supreme Court of India), the Supreme Court said that it would reduce the weightage given to publication in the existing guidelines. Noting that the allocation of 15 points for publication in...

'Serious Lapses In POSH Act Enforcement' : Supreme Court Issues Directions To Strengthen Law Protecting Women From Sexual Harassment At Workplace

The Supreme Court has expressed disquiet at what it called the "serious lapses" in the implementation of the the Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 [POSH Act], even a decade after its enactment.In this regard, the Court took note of a recent report in a national daily which stated that out of the 30 national sports federations in...

Delhi Government Approaches Supreme Court Again Against Centre; Says Transfer Of Secretary Not Approved Despite SC Verdict In Its Favour

The Delhi Government has again approached the Supreme Court complaining that the Union Government is not approving its decision to transfer a Secretary, despite a Constitution Bench upholding the powers of the Delhi Government to control services (except those related to public order, police and land) a day ago.Senior Advocate Dr.Abhishek Manu Singhvi assisted by Advocate Shadan...

No Strict Age Bar Of 45 Years For Senior Designation, But Only Exceptional Advocates Be Designated Below This Age : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court, on Friday, clarified that it is not in favour of restricting conferment of designation of Senior Advocate only to Advocates who are above 45 years of age. Candidates below the said age should be considered if they display that extra bit of ability to be designated.“While we would not like to restrict applications only to advocates who are above 45 years of age,...

Supreme Court Bids Farewell To Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

Judge of the Supreme Court Justice Dinesh Maheswari speaking at the farewell function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on the occasion of his retirement said “A judge doesn’t stand for the plaintiff or the defendant or the complainant or the accused. Just look at the cause and nothing else. Nothing else matters for a judge.” Justice Dinesh Maheshwari served as a...

Supreme Court Grants Protection From Arrest To Bihar IPS Officer Accused of Getting Conman to Impersonate HC Chief Justice

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice in a plea by an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer named Aditya Kumar who allegedly persuaded a suspected conman to pose as the chief justice of Patna High Court in order to dupe the director general of police to drop a corruption case against him. A bench of Justices Krishna Murari and PV Sanjay Kumar was hearing an appeal preferred by way...

Enrollment Fee : How Can State Bar Councils Charge More Than Rs.600 Prescribed As Per Advocates Act? Supreme Court Asks

In a plea challenging the high enrollment fee charged by state bar councils for new lawyers, the Supreme Court on Friday asked how could the State Bar Councils charge more than the fee prescribed by Section 24(1)(e) of the Advocates Act 1961, which prescribe that the enrolment fee payable to the State Bar Council is Rs 600 and the Bar Council of India is Rs 150.Expressing concerns at...

Courts Can Grant Default Bail Independent Of & Not Relying Upon 'Ritu Chhabria' Judgment: Supreme Court Clarifies

The Supreme Court on Friday clarified that its interim order which directed that any application filed before any court seeking default bail on the basis of Ritu Chhabaria v. Union of India And Ors. should be deferred, shall not preclude any trial courts or High Courts from considering applications for grant of default bail independent of and without relying on the judgement in Ritu Chhabaria....