Institutionalising Merit, Independence, Aspiration And Diversity: The Transformation Of The British System

“The judicial appointments system can and will appoint only the very best candidates. It cannot afford to do less. Our society is not perfect: we face threats from those who would claim that it is incorrigibly divided, or inherently discriminatory. The composition of the judiciary sends an important signal. When it comes to reassuring communities there can be few stronger messages than the knowledge that our judges are the best people for the job, drawn from throughout our diverse nation and...

Bombay HC Reserves Order On Sadhvi Pragya’s Appeal Against Bail Rejection

The Bombay High Court on Monday reserved its order while hearing an appeal filed by Pragya Singh Thakur, main accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.Thakur’s appeal is against the rejection of her bail application by the Special NIA Court last year.A bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi had reserved their order last week in Colonel Prasad Purohit’s appeal...

Sexual Harassment At Workplaces: Internal Complaints Committee Must Give Definite Conclusion: Delhi HC [Read Judgment]

The Delhi High Court has recently held that the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) constituted under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, must give a definite conclusion regarding the guilt of the person involved in the incident.Justice Valmiki Mehta was hearing a petition filed by Ashok Kumar Singh against the report of...

Exclusive: ‘Confinement Of MLAs Constitutes Breach Of Privilege, And Contempt Of The Assembly’, Says P.D.T.Achary

P.D.T. Achary was the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, from 2005 to 2010 and is an eminent expert on Parliamentary procedures and practices. He helped the Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha, Somnath Chatterjee, steer the Lok Sabha through some difficult times.His book, Law & Practice Relating to Office of Profit, published by Bharat Law House Private Limited, in 2006, is a substantial contribution to the subject.His other books include Law of Elections, Speaker Rules, and Resurgent India:...

George Gadbois, Scholar Of The Indian Judiciary Passes Away

George H. Gadbois Jr., the preeminent scholar of India’s judiciary and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Kentucky, passed away last night at his home in Lexington, Kentucky. He was 80.Born near Boston, George left home at 17 to serve the U.S. army in Taiwan. As a returning GI, he studied political science at Duke where he focused on Asia, India in particular....

Additional Judges Appointed In Allahabad and Karnataka HCs [Read Notifications]

President of India has appointed Shri Ashok Kumar, Vivek Chaudhary and Saumitra Dayal Singh as Additional Judges of Allahabad High Court for a period of two years with effect from the date they assume charges of their respective officesShri N. K. Sudhindrarao, and Dr. H. B. Prabhakara Sastry are appointed as Additional Judges of the Karnataka High Court for a period of two years with effect...

Gujarat HC Allows Pregnant Rape Victim To Stay With Accused’s Family [Read Order]

She told the court that she wants to continue with the pregnancy and to live with him.In a dramatic turn of events, the Gujarat High Court has directed the police to take a pregnant ‘rape victim’ to the family of the ‘rape accused’ after she told the court that she wants to continue with the pregnancy and to live with him.The court was considering a writ application which stated that...

Kids Being Used As Tools Of Vengeance By Vindictive Parents: Delhi HC [Read Judgment]

Innocent children are used as tools of vengeance by vindictive litigants, the Delhi High Court has observed while disposing of a matrimonial appeal.The court observed that the number of divorce cases across all sections of the society is on the increase, resulting in rise of bitter child custody battles. ”A perusal of Article 39 (e) & (f) of the Constitution of India would guide that of...

Rape Case Can’t Be Quashed On The Ground That Accused Married Victim: Karnataka HC [Read Order]

The Karnataka High Court has recently held that it has no power under Section 482 of CrPC for quashing of criminal proceedings for serious offence like rape, on the ground of settlement between an offender and a victim.Justice John Michael Cunha was hearing a joint petition filed by the accused and victim seeking quashing of proceedings pending before the Special Court under Section 366A and...

Minutes Of Bar Council Meetings Can’t Be Put In Public Domain: Delhi HC [Read Judgment]

The Delhi High Court has held that the minutes of full house meetings of the Bar Council cannot be disclosed and put in public domain or on the council’s website.Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, while allowing an appeal filed by Delhi Bar Council against an order of the Central Information Commission (CIC), held that the CIC clearly fell in error in issuing the direction of putting all...

Triple Talaq Is Only The Tip Of The Ice-Berg Of Discriminatory Family Laws

The recent Allahabad High Court’s observation that has (yet again) declared that triple talaq has no constitutional validity has failed to make a lasting impact on public for two reasons. Firstly, that the Shamim Ara case of 2002 had already established that, and secondly, that once again the High Court passed the buck to the Supreme Court where Shayara Bano’s case remains pending still. Amidst this institutional passing-the-parcel between the Courts to the government, government to the Law...

The Supreme Court Needs To Reconsider Its Judgment In The Sahara-Birla Case

The first principle of natural justice consists of the rule against bias based on three maxims: First, ‘no man shall be a judge in his own cause’; second, ‘justice should not only be done but manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done’; and third, ‘judges, like Caesar’s wife, should be above suspicion’.The Supreme Court of India can truly take pride in taking judicial review of administrative actions to great heights. But do judges themselves follow the law they declare? The answer appears to...