Meghalaya HC seeks security for Judges post their retirement; asks Centre to file affidavit on 4th January, 2016 [Read Judgment]

We direct the Union of India to file affidavit after doing categorization of security cover on permanent basis for the members of the Full Bench (the Chief Justice and two Judges) so that as and when there is a request for security, it can be provided without procedural delay as per such category by the Central Government or the State, as the case may be, at the place of residence of the...

While granting divorce in favour of Husband, Permanent alimony can be granted to a wife who did not join him in spite of direction of restitution of conjugal rights: Orissa HC [Read Judgment]

We are not inclined to accept the contention raised by the learned counsel for the respondent husband that if a wife does not join the company of her husband in spite of the direction of restitution of conjugal rights, at the time of passing decree of divorce in favour of the husband, no permanent alimony can be granted to the wife, the bench said.Orissa High Court Ranjana Rani Panda vs....

Pay-hike for Parliamentarians for no work?

It refers to media-reports indicating about proposal for an hefty hike in pay/perks/allowances etc of our Parliamentarians at a time when Indian Parliament has achieved notoriety for large-scale disruptions holding important legislative work to a ransom even to the extent that much-needed amendment to Juvenile Act could not be timely legislated and dreaded ‘juvenile’ rapist-cum-murderer...

CBI court cannot order CBI Investigation: Delhi High Court [Read Judgment]

The powers of a Special Judge cannot be exaggerated so largely so as to include the power to direct the CBI to conduct an investigation for which only a High Court or the Supreme Court are empowered, the High Court said.Delhi High Court in CBI vs. R.K. Yadav has made it clear that Special Judge of the CBI courts is not empowered to direct the CBI to register an FIR and investigate into...

Delhi HC seek responses from Centre and the Sahitya Akademi on Award Wapsi

Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Centre and Sahitya Akademi on a plea against the return of Sahitya Akademi awards by writers.The Public Interest Litigation was filed by Haji Mohammad Majid Qureshi, seeking directions to the Government to frame guidelines that if Sahitya Akademi awardees return their awards, they should also return the prize money with interest and...

Court cannot allow the tool of PIL to be misused for intra office rivalries : Delhi High Court [Read Judgment]

The Delhi High Court, considering a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a retired official of the DRDO, seeking directions to the Ministry of Defence, Government of India and the Defence  Research  &  Development Organisation (DRDO) to prosecute the respondent no.4 Dr. Arvind Kumar Saxena working as Director in Defence Materials & Stores Research & Development...

Stipulating Dress Code for Advocates cannot be termed as either Arbitrary or Unreasonable: Kerala HC [Read Judgment]

“The dress worn by the Advocate clearly induces the seriousness of purpose and a sense of decorum which are highly necessary and conducive for the dispensation of justice”- Justice A.M. ShaffiqueThe High Court of Kerala has dismissed a writ petition challenging the present dress code of advocates prescribed by the Bar Council of India under Section 49 of the Advocates Act holding that...

Former Defence Secretary R K Mathur appointed as New Chief Information Commissioner

Former defence secretary R K Mathur has been appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) with the government deciding not to choose the head from among the serving information commissioners. The above appointment has been made for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office or till he attains the age of sixty-five years, whichever is earlier.He will be...

Judges must accept healthy criticism of the Judgments but the Judges should not be criticized: Himachal Pradesh HC [Read Judgment]

The proceedings in the courts of law must be reported by the correspondents with legal background and accredited to the Courts to avoid misquoting of court proceedings, the Bench said.The High Court of Himachal Pradesh has closed contempt proceedings against a journalist after accepting his unconditional apology for misreporting the court orders, with a warning that in future he should be...

Executions on a downward trend in the U.S; Death Penalty hits record low in 2015

The number of death sentences awarded by Courts and the executions carried out in the US both dropped to historic lows in 2015, according to an annual report on capital punishment published on Wednesday.Nationally, the number of new death sentences awarded has dropped from a peak of 315 in 1996 to a projected low of 49 in 2015, a 33 percent decline from what was already a 40-year low in 2014....

What Bombay HC said about Media and Public perception in Salman Khan Case? [Read Judgment]

The court shall not be swayed away by any popular belief that a particular person considering his avocation, profession or standing, must have committed such an offence and must be held guilty, the court said while acquitting the Bollywood Actor Salman Khan.Following are some observations made by Justice A.R. Joshi, in the judgment allowing the appeal preferred by Bollywood Actor Salman Khan....

Justice Gautam Patel, Justice Prabha Sridevan, and Prof Shamnad Basheer in MIP’s List of 50 World’s most influential Personalities in IPR

The reputed international journal ‘Managing Intellectual Property’ (“MIP”), has published its 13th list of 50 most influential people in IPR for 2014-15. The list includes some celebrated names such as Jack Ma, Founder and Chairperson, Alibaba, Justice Clarence Thomas, US Supreme Court, John Berard, CEO, Vox Populi, Franics Gurry, Director General WIPO, Michelle Lee,...