Page 6 - Indian Judiciary

SC dismisses PIL challenging restoration of Rahul Gandhi LS membership

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL challenging the restoration of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha membership and imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioner. A bench headed by Justice BR Gavai said the petition is abuse of the process of law as no fundamental right of the petitioner has been violated. The top court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Ashok Pandey challenging restoration of Gandhi's membership. The Lok Sabha Secretariat had restored Gandhi's membership after the Supreme Court on August 4 stayed his conviction in case related to a remark on the 'Modi' surname. The Congress leader, who was disqualified from the lower house in March 2023, was reinstated as Wayanad MP. BJP leader Purnesh Modi had filed a criminal defamation case against Gandhi in 2019 over his "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark made during an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.

SC, IIT Madras sign MoU to facilitate digital transformation of judiciary

The Supreme Court and IIT Madras have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate digital transformation of Indian judiciary and improve access to justice. A press release issued by the public relations office of the apex court said the MoU was signed following the visit of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud to Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in July this year. It said the top court and IIT Madras will be collaborating on using artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies for "transcription tools, summarization of page transcript, translation tool, exclusive streaming platform for court trials, process automation and large languages models for the legal domain". "The MoU is aimed to facilitate the digital transformation of the Indian judiciary, aligning it with the vision for a more efficient and technologically advanced legal ecosystem to improve access to justice," the release said. It said the apex court, under the leadership of CJI ...

Courts expected to be sensitive in cases involving crime against women: SC

Courts are expected to be sensitive in cases involving crime against women, the Supreme Court has said while dismissing appeals filed by a man and his mother against their conviction for cruelly treating his wife, who died due to poisoning. The apex court said it is expected that courts would not allow criminals to escape on account of procedural technicalities, perfunctory investigation or insignificant lacunas in the evidence, otherwise the victims would be totally discouraged by the crime going unpunished. "The courts are expected to be sensitive in cases involving crime against women," a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Prashant Kumar Mishra said in its verdict delivered on Friday. The judgement came on the appeals filed by the two convicts challenging a March 2014 order of the Uttarakhand High Court. The high court had upheld the order of a trial court, which had convicted the husband and mother-in-law of the deceased in the case lodged in 2007. While the husband, Balvir .

Institutional collaboration precursor to solution finding: CJI Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Saturday said institutional collaboration is the precursor to solution finding while adjudicating judicial questions and it also plays a significant role in increasing access to justice. Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Bar Council of India's (BCI) two-day 'International Lawyers Conference 2023' here, he said it is utopian to think that there will be a day when "we find perfect solutions with no challenges to the justice delivery". "However, it is definitively not utopian to aspire for a world where nations, institutions and most importantly individuals are open to engage with and learn from one another without feeling threatened or belittled," the Chief Justice of India (CJI) said. He said that while the Constitution provides for separation of power among the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, it also creates a space for institutions to learn from each other and deliver justice. "Institutional collaboration is a precurso

PM Modi inaugurates International Lawyers' Conference in New Delhi

The International Lawyer's Conference 2023 is being organised by the Bar Council of India on the theme 'Emerging Challenges in Justice Delivery System' on September 23 and 24

Govt making sincere attempts to draft laws in simple manner: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that his government is making sincere attempts to draft laws in a simple manner and in Indian languages to the maximum extent. Inaugurating the International Lawyers' Conference here, he said the language used to write laws and in the judicial process plays a big role in ensuring justice. "We in the Indian government are thinking that law should be produced in two ways. One draft will be in the language you are used to," he said to the audience drawn from the legal field. "The second draft will be in a language which the country's common man can understand. He should consider the law his own." Modi said there had been a practice of drafting laws in a complex manner. Lauding the legal fraternity, he said the judiciary and the Bar have long been protectors of India's justice system and noted that they played a pivotal in India's independence. The likes of Mahatma Gandhi, B R Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were ...

SC data will be available on National Judicial Data Grid: CJI Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Thursday announced that the Supreme Court will soon be linked to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), a repository of data relating to pendency of cases and disposal rate of courts right from the taluka level to the national level. At present the portal shows data only up to the high court level. As the CJI started the day's proceedings in the apex court, he said data of the top court will be uploaded on the NJDG on real time basis. "A small announcement. It is a historic day. It is a unique and informative platform which is developed by the NIC and in house team of Supreme Court. Now at the click of a button you can see real time information on pendency and disposal of cases, year-wise, total pendency of registered and unregistered cases, number of cases decided quorum- wise," the CJI said. The CJI stated that uploading of data on the NJDG will ensure transparency and accountability in the judicial domain. The NJDG is a database of orde

Cabinet approves eCourts project phase-III with cost of Rs 7,210 crore

The eCourts project has been under implementation since 2007 for ICT enablement of the Indian Judiciary. The Phase II of the project has concluded in 2023

Show-cause notice issued to Gehlot on 'corruption' against judiciary remark

A division bench of the Rajasthan High Court on Saturday issued a show-cause notice to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on a PIL seeking suo moto criminal contempt proceedings against him. The PIL was filed by local advocate Shivcharan Gupta on Thursday following the chief minister's remark suggesting "corruption" in the judiciary. A division bench headed by Justice M M Shrivastava and Justice Ashutosh Kumar heard the matter on Saturday and issued the notice to Gehlot, directing him to respond within three weeks. While talking to reporters in Jaipur on Wednesday, Gehlot said, "Corruption is rampant in the judiciary today. I have heard that some lawyers themselves take the judgement in writing and the same judgement is pronounced." However, after facing criticism, the chief minister later clarified that what he had said was not his personal opinion and that he has always respected and believed in the judiciary. In protest against the chief minister's comment, thousands of advocates ...

New tender process for Dharavi redevelopment transparent: Maha govt to HC

The new tender issued in 2022 for the Dharavi slum redevelopment project in Mumbai was transparent and no undue favour was shown to the highest bidder Adani Group, the Maharashtra government has submitted to the Bombay High Court. The government earlier this month submitted its affidavit in response to a petition filed by the UAE-based company Seclink Technologies Corporation, challenging the government's decision awarding the project to Adani Properties Private Ltd. "The petitioner has made unfounded and reckless allegations such as actions of respondents being politically motivated without any basis or material as indeed none exists. For making such reckless allegations alone, the writ petition deserves to be dismissed with costs," the affidavit said. A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor will hear the plea on Thursday. The affidavit filed by the deputy secretary of the state housing department said the petitioner company has made "false and ...

Madras Bar Association passes resolution against renaming of IPC, CrPC, IEA

While introducing the bills, Home Minister Amit Shah said the soul of these three new laws will be to protect all the rights given by the Constitution to the citizens

HC rejects PIL to connect coaching centres with schools, colleges

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday rejected a public interest litigation to connect coaching centres with schools and colleges, terming it as "misconceived". A bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said a court cannot direct the government to frame a policy in this regard. This court cannot direct the state government to frame a policy to connect coaching centres with schools and colleges and to partner with them. This court does not find reason to grant the relief prayed in PIL; rather it is a misconceived PIL.The PIL is accordingly dismissed, said the bench, also comprising Justice Sanjeev Narula. The court also observed "coaching is optional and it is not mandatory for each and every student to attend a coaching centre". Delhi government standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi said connecting coaching centres with schools and colleges, as prayed by the petitioner, would create a new exploitative regime. Opposing the petition which also sought publishing of data and

SC seeks AG's help to fix time limit for govt regarding collegium proposals

The Supreme Court has sought the assistance of Attorney General R Venkataramani in deciding a plea seeking a direction that a time limit be fixed for the Centre to notify the appointment of judges recommended by the apex court collegium. The plea came up for hearing on Friday before a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. "A copy of the petition be served on the office of the Attorney General for India. We request the Attorney General to assist the court," the bench said and posted the matter for hearing on September 8. The apex court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Harsh Vibhore Singhal. "The instant writ petition does not in any way challenge the Supreme Court Collegium (SCC) system for the appointment of judges. Rather, it seeks to further cohere and strengthen the SCC for greater judicial independence," it said. It has sought a direction to plug the 'zone of twilight' of there being no time for notifying the collegium's

Greatest challenge is to eliminate barriers to accessing justice: CJI

Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud Tuesday said the greatest challenge before the Indian judiciary is to eliminate barriers to accessing justice and make sure that the judiciary is inclusive and accessible to the last person in the line. Soon after being lauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on the Independence Day for the apex court's move to translate operative parts of judgements in regional languages, the CJI said till now, 9,423 judgements of the top court have been translated in regional languages. Speaking at the Independence Day celebrations organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) at the apex court lawns, the CJI also talked about efforts of the apex court to make all its 35,000 judgements available to citizens in regional languages. He also said that there is a need to overhaul the infrastructure on a priority basis to make courts accessible and inclusive. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, who was also present at th

Barriers to accessing justice biggest challenge before judiciary: CJI

Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday said the greatest challenge before the Indian judiciary is to eliminate the barriers to accessing justice and make sure that judiciary is inclusive and accessible to the last person in the line. He also said that there is a need to overhaul the infrastructure on a priority basis to make courts accessible and inclusive. Speaking at the Independence Day celebrations organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) at the apex court lawns, the CJI said the aim is to create a judicial system which is more accessible and cost-effective for the people and that full potential of technology has to be tapped to overcome the procedural barriers to justice. While referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the Red Fort, Justice Chandrachud said the PM mentioned about the apex court's efforts to translate judgements in Indian languages. The CJI said up to now, 9,423 judgements of the top court have been translated in region

SC judge recuses himself from Umar Khalid's plea on bail in UAPA case

Supreme Court judge Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra on Wednesday recused himself from hearing a plea filed by former JNU student Umar Khalid seeking bail in a UAPA case related to alleged conspiracy behind the riots here in February 2020. Khalid's petition challenging the October 18 last year order of the Delhi High Court, which had rejected his bail plea in the matter, came up for hearing before a bench of Justices A S Bopanna and Prashant Kumar Mishra. "This will come before some other bench. There is some difficulty for my brother (Justice Mishra) to take up this matter," Justice Bopanna said at the outset, without assigning any reason for Justice Mishra's recusal. Advocate Rajat Nair, appearing for the Delhi Police, told the bench that they have filed a counter affidavit but there is an objection shown by the apex court registry on it. "There are certain portion of statements which we have extracted, that portion is in vernacular," he said, adding, "That statement itself is in ..

Courts must not be hypersensitive in exercising contempt jurisdiction: SC

Courts must not be hypersensitive or swung by emotions while exercising contempt jurisdiction, the Supreme Court has said. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sanjay Karol made the observation while setting aside a Calcutta High Court order that had revoked a doctor's license for contempt of court. "The Court has time and again asserted that the contempt jurisdiction enjoyed by the Courts is only for the purpose of upholding the majority of the judicial system that exists. "While exercising this power, the Courts must not be hypersensitive or swung by emotions but must act judiciously," the SC said. The bench said the doctor's license cannot be suspended as penalty in contempt proceedings. "A medical practitioner guilty of contempt of court may also be so for professional misconduct but the same would depend on the gravity/nature of the contemptuous conduct of the person in question. "They are, however, offences separate and distinct from each other. The former is regulated by the

Chennai publisher held for alleged comments on judiciary over Manipur issue

Chennai-based publisher and blogger Badri Seshadri was arrested on Saturday for his alleged comments on judiciary while discussing Manipur violence in an interview to a Youtube channel. The arrest was made early this morning by the Perambalur district police following a complaint from a lawyer Kaviarasu, a resident of Kunnam, who claimed that he was disturbed by Seshadri's views on the judiciary, during an interview to a Youtube channel on July 22. The police booked cases under IPC sections 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 153 A (1) (a) (promote enmity between groups through words), 505 (1) (b) (causing fear and alarm in public) against him. Condemning the arrest, BJP state chief K Annamalai accused the ruling DMK of resorting to arrests as it was unable to handle opinions expressed by the common man.

Delhi court sends Supertech chairman Arora to judicial custody till Jul 24

A Delhi court on Monday sent R K Arora, the chairman and promoter of real estate major Supertech Group, to judicial custody till July 24 in a money laundering case. Special Judge Devender Kumar Jangala sent Arora to jail after he was produced before the court by the Enforcement Directorate on the expiry of his 12-day custody. The agency told the judge that it did not require his further custody. Arora was arrested on June 27 under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after three rounds of questioning. ED's Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta, along with advocate Mohd Faizan Khan, told the court that the money-laundering case against the Supertech group, its directors and promoters stems from a clutch of FIRs registered by police in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The ED has been probing the matter related to 26 FIRs registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh police against Supertech Ltd. and its group ...

SC gets an update: Wifi, virtual meetings, LED screens in courtrooms

This system enables unhindered remote participation, increasing the accessibility and connectivity of courtrooms manifold