The Magic Of Method

My first conference with PP Rao as a briefing counsel was my first conference as a briefing counsel. I walked into his office, ready to impress, with a certitude of knowledge that can be forgiven only in the uninitiated. Post a three-hour conference, I was no longer thinking of the case but this man. He was unbelievable.Imagine this: five Judges of the Supreme Court render an elaborate judgment, fully reasoned and very specific to you. It is the final word, the end of the road. What does one do?...

God Save The Legal Education In India

Look at those bright eyed, full of enthusiasm, doned in black and white youngsters, armed with legal degrees, awarded by the Chief Justice of India himself. Clearly, they are headed for a great future both for themselves and for this country. Poof! Are they?According to the Bar Council of India, every year, around 60,000 -70,000 (approx.) students graduate from around 950 law schools in India. Where are they mostly employed, how much do they earn, how many of them continue to be in the legal...

Gujarat HC Raps Lower Court For Keeping Juvenile In Police Custody [Read Order]

The Gujarat High Court recently rapped a lower Court for sending a juvenile delinquent to jail and treating him as an adult under the law, despite having been apprised of the fact of him being a juvenile.Terming the incident as “unfortunate”, Justice G.R. Udhwani observed, “It is unfortunate that the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Talod was unmindful of the provisions of the...

Sexual Molestation In NCW: CIC Asks Member Secretary To Look Into Commission’s Anti-RTI Attitude [Read Order]

The Central Information Commission has asked Satbir Bedi, member secretary, National Commission for Women, to look into the anti-RTI working in the organisation where a contractual research assistant was allegedly sexually harassed by the NCW deputy secretary and denied information that she had sought after being thrown out of job, leading to further harassment.Information Commissioner M...

Reliance Jio Vs Other Telcos: Bombay HC Terms CCI Order Illegal, Says Every Majority Decision Is Not ‘Cartelisation’ [Read Order]

In a huge relief to telecom giants, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and Bharti Airtel Limited, the Bombay High Court quashed and set aside an order of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) which directed a probe into the ‘cartelisation’ charge leveled against them by new market player Reliance Jio.A bench of Justice Anoop Mohta and Justice Bharati Dangre quashed and set aside the...

Relief For Harish Salve As ITAT Says Deferral Of Depreciation Allowance Doesn’t Result In Concealment Of Income [Read Order]

Deferral of depreciation allowance does not result into any concealment of income or furnishing of any inaccurate particulars, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has held while setting aside the penalty imposed on eminent lawyer Harish Salve for alleged concealment of income as it said his tax payments running into crores show his intention to be “tax compliant”.A bench of HS Sidhu...

Complaint For Trespass Registered Against CBI Agents Who 'Mistakenly' Raided Sitting Judge’s House

A complaint of trespass has been filed against the Central Bureau of Investigation for raiding the house of Orissa High Court Judge, Justice C.R. Dash instead of retd. Justice I.M. Quddusi against whom the CBI had registered a case.Justice Dash had reportedly complained about the incident to Chief Justice Vineet Saran, after which the officers were summoned to the Court. An F.I.R. has...

JGLS Rape Case: HC Suspends Sentence Of Convicts; Notes Victim’s “Casual Relationships” As “Compelling Reasons” [Read Order]

The  Punjab and Haryana High Court has suspended the sentence awarded to the three law students from Jindal Global Law School who were convicted for blackmailing and gang raping a student of the same University for about two years.The Additional District and Sessions Court had, in March this year, awarded 20 years’ of imprisonment to the main accused, Hardik Sikri and his friend...

Delhi HC Frowns Upon Rampant Practice Of Litigants Blaming Their Lawyers [Read Judgment]

The Delhi High Court, on Monday, refused to permit an Appellant Company to shift the blame on its Counsel for the delay in challenging an ex-parte judgment and shared the Trial Court’s concerns on employment of such measures.“Trial court has, accordingly, held that appellant/defendant cannot conveniently shift the blame upon his counsels because now-a-days it is routine for the litigants...

Question Paper Leak: Chandigarh Police Registers FIR Against HC Registrar [Read FIR]

The Chandigarh Police, on Tuesday, registered an FIR against Dr. Balwinder Kumar Sharma, Registrar of Punjab and Haryana High Court, in connection with the question paper leak in the Haryana Civil Service (Judicial) Examination.The FIR has been registered under Sections 8 (taking gratification by corrupt or illegal means to influence public servant), 9 (taking gratification, for exercise...

Perfection And Excellence Is Lacking In Legal Profession; Mediocrity Has Set In: Delhi HC [Read Order]

The Delhi High Court, on Monday, took it upon itself to weed out mediocrity from the legal profession, while dealing with Petitioners who had claimed to have been “let down by their earlier advocate”.The Petitioners had challenged an order whereby their suit was dismissed in default. They had blamed their Advocate for wrongly noting the date and had now approached the High Court through a...

Blue Whale Menace: Madras HC Tells Centre To Ask Russia To Block Links & Take Action Against Culprits [Read Order]

Shocked at the menace of blue whale reaching the sleepy hamlet of Vilachery in Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court has delved into great depths to counter what it called the “lurking dangers in the digital world”, while directing the Centre to use its diplomatic relationship with Russia to block the URLs/links related to Blue Whale game and seek penal action against the culprits on behalf...