Page 5 - Indian Judiciary

Married woman asked to do household work for family not cruelty, says HC

If a married woman is asked to do household work for the family, the same cannot be equated to the work of a maid servant and would not amount to cruelty, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court said while quashing a case lodged by a woman against her estranged husband and his parents for domestic violence and cruelty. A division bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Rajesh Patil, on October 21, quashed the First Information Report lodged against the man and his parents. The woman, in her complaint, had alleged she was was treated properly for a month after marriage, but thereafter, they began treating her like a maid servant. She also claimed her husband and his parents, a month after the marriage, started demanding Rs 4 lakh to buy a four-wheeler. In her complaint, the woman said she was then subjected to mental and physical harassment by her husband over this demand. The HC, in its order, noted the woman had merely stated she was harassed but had not specified any such ac

DY Chandrachud appointed 50th Chief Justice of India, to take oath on Nov 9

Lauded as a feminist judge for his reasoning, Justice Chandrachud spoke to young law graduates recently and told them to incorporate a feminist way of thinking while dealing with the law

CJI-designate Chandrachud part of landmark verdicts: A few highlights

He is no stranger to the hallowed corridors of the Supreme Court over which his illustrious father presided for about seven years and four months, the longest in the institution's history. Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, however, had no qualms about overturning the judgements of father Y V Chandrachud on hot- button issues like adultery and the right to privacy. The senior-most Supreme Court judge will now take over as the 50th Chief Justice of India on November 9, stepping into the shoes of his redoubtable father Y V Chandrachud, who was the CJI between 1978 and 1985, the first instance of a father-son duo occupying the most sanctified seat in the over seven-decade history of the highest court of India. The formidable DY Chandrachud, has been part of several constitution benches and penned landmark verdicts at the top court, including those in the vexed Ayodhya land title dispute. Justice Chandrachud will take the charge from incumbent CJI Uday Umesh Lalit, who recommended him as his .

Still have hope in judiciary, says student who fought against hijab ban

Even as the Karnataka government has vowed to continue the hijab ban in educational institutions till the Supreme Court gives a final verdict, Aliya Assadi, one of the girl students who started the fight for hijab at the government PU college in Udupi, says there is still hope for a fair judgement on the issue. Assadi took to Twitter to express her view on the split verdict given on the hijab issue by the Supreme Court, saying the judgement has upheld the rights of victim girls. "Hon'ble Justice Dhulia's statement has further strengthened our hope in fair judgement and continued constitutional value at least in miniscule. Thousands of hijabis students are waiting to resume their education," she tweeted. Assadi was one of the petitioners who moved the High Court seeking to protect the right of Muslim girls to wear hijabs in educational institutions. Another student Hiba Sheik, in her tweet, said: "Our plea was straightforward & simple. All we asked was our personal choice & ...

DY Chandrachud to succeed UU Lalit as the next Chief Justice of India

Chandrachud was the additional solicitor general of India in 1998 and was sworn-in as the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court in 2013

Centre recommends elevation of two judges as CJs of Karnataka and J-K HC

The Centre has notified the elevation of two judges as chief justices of the Karnataka High Court, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, and also notified the transfer of Chief Justice of J&K High Court to the Rajasthan High Court.

SC collegium meeting of Sept 30 on elevation of judges discharged

'The unfinished work in the meeting called for September 30 is closed without there being any further deliberation and it stands discharged'

153 high court judges appointed this year; more appointments likely: Report

A total of 153 judges have been appointed to the various high courts in this calendar year so far, with sources on Thursday hinting at more appointments to the higher judiciary in the coming days. Six additional judges were appointed to the Bombay High Court on Thursday. It is learnt that the government is also set to take a call on the elevation of Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta to the top court shortly. If he is appointed to the apex court, its working strength will go up to 30. The sanctioned strength of the top court is 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). The government is also set to initiate the process of appointing the next CJI, most likely this week or early next week. As part of the procedure, the Union law minister writes to the CJI to name his or her successor. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit retires as the CJI on November 8. Justice D Y Chandrachud is the senior-most judge after the CJI. As per practice, the CJI names the senior-most judge as hi

Can reducing 'state-litigation' solve half of the judiciary's problems?

Yes, the government is the biggest litigant in the country, but this is not the whole truth

What is a constitution bench?

You can watch the Supreme Court proceedings live now. Last week, the apex court started live-streaming proceedings of Constitution benches. But what is a Constitution bench. Our next report tells

Even Ajmal Kasab had fair trial in our judiciary: Satyendar Jain's counsel

Even the Mumbai 26/11 attacker and convict Ajmal Kasab had a fair trial; it is the fairness of our judicial system, argued senior counsel for Delhi Cabinet Minister Satyendar Jain

SC live-streams constitution bench proceedings for the 1st time in history

In a first, the Supreme Court on Tuesday began live-streaming its constitution bench proceedings. On September 27, 2018, the then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had delivered the landmark judgement on the live telecast or webcast of important proceedings in matters of constitutional importance, saying sunlight is the best disinfectant. The proceedings can be accessed at webcast.gov.in/scindia/, said an official. On Monday, a bench headed by Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said the top court will soon have its own platform to live-stream its proceedings instead of having to use the YouTube. In a unanimous decision taken at a recent full court meeting headed by the CJI, the apex court decided to live-stream proceedings of all constitution bench hearings from September 27, four years after the path-breaking announcement by Justice Misra. The apex court may live-stream proceedings through YouTube and later host them on its server, sources had said. People will be able to access th

Half of judiciary's problems due to state-sponsored litigation: NV Ramana

Former Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana on Saturday termed the government as the 'biggest litigator' and said half of the judiciary's problems will be resolved if it decides to put a halt to the state-sponsored litigations. Speaking at ISB Leadership Summit 2022, he rued that the state of judicial infrastructure in this country even after 75 years of independence was 'disturbing' and a nationwide study that he had commissioned revealed certain hard truths about the poor state of judicial infrastructure in this country. During the chief ministers and chief justices conference last April, I had the occasion to highlight my understanding of these problems. As I told in the presence of the honourable Prime Minister, one of the major concerns is that the government is the biggest litigator, he recalled. The number of inter-departmental disputes, service matters and those relating to interaction of authorities clogging the system is appalling. Half of the judiciary problem would be solve

BS Number Wise: India's justice system picks up some speed, shows data

Dedicated commercial courts can serve as an example for reducing pendency

SC Registrar declines to register over 13,000 matters with uncured defects

In a notification, the top court Registrar, Chirag Bhanu Singh observed that "a bunch of 13,147 unregistered but diarized cases have been registered prior to the year 2014"

Gyanvapi mosque: Court says Hindu suit maintainable; all you need to know

Five women, in their plea in April, said that they have the right to worship Maa Shringar Gauri on the outer wall of Gyanvapi Mosque, near the Kashi Vishwanath Temple

Assam govt to close around 300,000 petty crime cases for less judicial load

The Assam government has decided to withdraw around three lakh petty crime cases to reduce the load on the judiciary, a minister said. Addressing a press conference after a Cabinet meeting here on Sunday, Tourism Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said lakhs of petty cases are pending across the state. "We have decided to withdraw around three lakh of the 4.19 lakh petty crime cases, invoking Section 321 of the CrPC. This will reduce the backlog of cases and decongest jails," he said. The government will soon issue instructions and detailed standard operating procedures to the public prosecutor for filing appropriate petitions on the next dates of the respective cases, a Cabinet communiqu said. The Cabinet also approved the Assam State Policy for Transfer of Development Rights for streamlining the process of land acquisition for the redevelopment of inner-city zones. The government also gave its nod to the Assam State Transit Oriented Development Policy to build planned sustainable urb

Assam govt to create 100 new posts in lower judiciary, says CM Sarma

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that around 100 new positions would be created in the lower judiciary by the Assam government as a step towards faster dispensation of justice in the state. The Centre has approved Rs 9,000 crore for improvement of judicial infrastructure and Assam would receive around Rs 300 crore as its share, Sarma said while addressing the Diamond Jubilee Celebration of the Bar Council of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim here. In addition to that, the state government will provide another Rs 300 crore in this regard, the chief minister said. The state government is also contemplating various welfare schemes for those who retire from active practising, Sarma added. The chief minister also pointed out the need to expedite the justice delivery mechanism. Many people, despite being victim of circumstances, hesitate to seek legal help, as chasing justice often becomes an expensive affair, owing to the long process involved wi

Story in numbers: 3 in 4 prisoners in Indian jails await trial, shows data

Globally, India ranks sixth, after Liechtenstein (91.7 per cent), San Marino (88.9 per cent), Haiti (81.9 per cent), Gabon (80.2 per cent), and Bangladesh (80 per cent)

SC drops contempt case on Prashant Bhushan, Tarun Tejpal after 13 years

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dropped a contempt case against activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan and journalist Tarun Tejpal filed in 2009 over their remarks against the judiciary. A bench of Justices Indira Banerjee, Surya Kant and M M Sundresh closed the proceedings after senior advocate Kapil Sibal informed that an apology has been tendered. "In view of the apology tendered by the contemnors, we do not deem it necessary to proceed with the contempt. The contempt proceedings are dropped," the bench said. The top court had in November 2009 issued contempt notice to Bhushan and Tejpal for allegedly casting aspersions on some sitting and former top court judges in an interview to a news magazine. Tejpal was then editor of the magazine. In response to the 2009 contempt case, Bhushan had told the apex court that making corruption charges against the judges would not amount to contempt of court and mere utterance of corruption charge could not be contempt of court.