tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57322183490965023842024-03-15T00:24:39.866-07:00Judicial Activities in IndiaJituhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566503151948405963noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732218349096502384.post-19333162000283920222009-08-23T21:40:00.000-07:002009-08-23T21:51:33.079-07:00<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link style="font-family: arial;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5Cjitendra%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:smarttagtype style="font-family: arial;" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City" downloadurl="http://www.5iamas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype style="font-family: arial;" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype style="font-family: arial;" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotshowrevisions/> <w:donotprintrevisions/> <w:donotshowmarkup/> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:usefelayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:SimSun; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-alt:宋体; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;} @font-face {font-family:"\@SimSun"; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">
<br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >Steps towards Judicial Reforms</span><span style="font-size:180%;">
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<br /><span style="font-size:130%;">PM's speech at the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has called upon the judiciary and executive to work together to make the Indian judicial system an arrear free. He was speaking at the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices in <st1:city><st1:place>New Delhi</st1:place></st1:city></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> today. Dr. Singh said that the elimination of vast number of pending cases in the Indian Courts is the biggest challenge before the judiciary. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s speech on the occasion:
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<br />“I am very happy to be with you at this very important joint conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices. This is an extremely valuable institutional forum for fruitful interaction between two vital wheels of the chariot of good governance - the Executive and the Judiciary. The enormous and often non quantifiable benefits of such meaningful dialogue in such exchanges cannot be overemphasized. Institutional interactions like this create a deeper understanding of each others’ perspective, enhance trust and impart the necessary direction and momentum for processes of good governance.
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<br />The Indian legal and judicial system, in one sense, reflects a certain contradiction. <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style="font-size:100%;">, the world’s largest democracy and home to the second largest pool of lawyers, has legislatures elected by the world’s largest electorate. It has the world’s longest and most comprehensive Constitution, a fiercely free press and institutional bulwarks of freedom like the Election Commission of India and the Comptroller and Auditor General of <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style="font-size:100%;">. Its judiciary is dynamic and completely independent and we take pride in this. Despite its unelected character, the people’s faith has been reposed in the judicial organ in a very large measure. The legal system is manned by legal luminaries second to none in the world. Amazingly innovative legal doctrines and precepts have been the gift of the Indian legal system to the world. The “basic structure doctrine” and “public interest litigation” are but two examples. Judicial review has breached unprecedented frontiers. Yet, amidst such strengths, brilliance and dynamism, <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> has to suffer the scourge of the world’s largest backlog of cases and timelines which generate surprise globally and concern at home. The expeditious elimination of this scourge is the biggest challenge for such conferences and should constitute the highest priority for all of us.
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<br />The mammoth number of pending cases cannot be allowed to disillusion or dishearten us. It has to spur us to even higher peaks of achievement and bring out the best from every stakeholder, acting in coordination to progressively overcome this great challenge. In this war, a holistic and multipronged approach is vital. There is no space for piecemeal, patchy or sectoral responses. However, grand mega plans must be tempered and accompanied by common sense, nitty gritty solutions. Adapting Thomas Hardy’s admonition - if we take care of the small things, the big things will take care of themselves - we have to combine and harmonise both the big and the small. In this war on arrears, the entire legal system and each rung of it has to function as a seamless web and an indivisible whole. Naturally, the apex court has to discharge a vital role. It has to be a catalyst, an organiser, a mentor, an umpire, a participant , and, above all, a role model, all at the same time. I can assure this august gathering with all the emphasis at my command that my Government will not be found wanting at any level in this joint effort. We promise to match each step of the judiciary with two of our own. We will not hesitate to walk the extra mile at every opportunity.
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<br />The procedural, substantive, or attitudinal reforms which must be continuously and collectively applied to achieve results are diverse in nature. Meritorious individuals should be appointed timely to judicial posts, which have been enhanced at the High Court level by 150 in the last few years. The existing vacancies in High Courts are quite high in number and need to be filled up urgently. I would urge the Chief Justices of High Courts to initiate proposals for quickly filling up these posts. Vacancies at the subordinate level roughly comprise, I have been told, 20% to 25% of subordinate judicial posts. I am told that almost 3000 posts of judges in the country are vacant because of delay in recruitment. All these vacant posts at the subordinate levels need to be filled up without any further loss of time. The State Judicial Academies need to be strengthened for building capacities of judicial officers. Comprehensive computerisation and ultimate linking of all courts in the country into one mega judicial information grid needs to be tailored and adapted to enable screening of all pending cases. Such screening would facilitate disposal of many old cases as moot or infructuous. Despite the recent increases in judicial strength, there is scope for significant future increase in court strength to improve <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style="font-size:100%;">’s low judge per million population ratio. This is subject, of course, to expeditious filling of existing vacancies. The mechanisms and processes for providing legal aid to the marginalised sections of the society need to be improved.
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<br />Consensual Dispute Resolution – whether by way of arbitration or diverse forms of mediation – is an effective bypass to litigation, with significant preventive and curative virtues. The Civil Procedure Code now offers an empowering menu of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) choices. I am happy to note that court annexed mediation centres are now being created at different levels. But they remain still a drop in the ocean. The plea bargaining provided for by the law since 2005 has not been fully utilised till now. There is a need to give it wider publicity to reduce the pendency of cases and the number of under-trials in the country.
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<br />The Honorable President of India in her address to the Joint Session of Parliament in June 2009 has directed that a roadmap for judicial reforms be outlined in the next six months and implemented in a time-bound manner. I am happy that the Ministry of Law and Justice is working on such a road map. Shri Moily has also informed me that consultations on the reform initiatives have started with the various stakeholders. A National Consultation with jurists and stakeholders will be held in <st1:city><st1:place>New Delhi</st1:place></st1:city></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> very shortly. This will throw up the broad contours and set the stage for reform. But a lot of work will still have to be done for crafting a detailed blueprint and ensuring its implementation thereafter.
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<br />At the last Conference, I had mentioned that we had introduced the Gram Nyayalays Bill in Parliament. Though the legislation has since been enacted in January this year, it is yet to be enforced. I would urge that the state governments initiate immediate action to operationalize the Gram Nyayalayas Act in their States. Once the Act is fully implemented, we will have more than 5000 courts at the intermediate panchayat level. These will bring justice to the doorstep of the common people, who currently feel that getting justice in <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> is not only time-consuming and costly but sometimes also an intractable proposition. The Central Government has committed assistance to States for setting up the Gram Nyayalays. While there could be differing views on the adequacy of the assistance being provided, this should not hold us from speedily bringing the Act into force.
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<br />I am very happy to inform you that the Government of India, on the advice of the Chief Justice of India, has agreed to establish 71 additional CBI Courts in different states. Fast Track Courts should conduct their business differently and faster than normal courts; only then we shall be able to tackle the pendency in cases.
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<br />A matter of concern, indeed, worry, is the large number of under-trials in our jails. Many such under-trials have been in jail for periods longer than they would have served had they been sentenced. This is indeed very disturbing. There have been pronouncements of the High Courts and the Supreme Court on this issue but still the number of under-trials in jails continues to be very large. I sincerely hope this Conference will devote some time to this issue.
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<br />Let me conclude by suggesting to this august gathering that we take a vow to ensure that the enormous global respect for the Indian judiciary for its path-breaking doctrines and consistent independence be soon matched by similar accolades for an arrear free judicial institution. Like Gandhiji’s common man, the focus of the judicial system should to be to wipe every tear of every waiting litigant. I hope your deliberations will be centred on the single most important stakeholder in this system- the consumer of justice. Unless we meet his or her legitimate demands and expectations in letter and spirit, we cannot rest in peace.
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<br />I congratulate the Chief Justice of India and my colleague, Shri Moily ji for having taken the initiative to organize this very important conference. Great importance is attached to your deliberations. Let me end by wishing you a very successful conference and all the very best in your endeavours.” Full text can be accessed at- <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=51878">Press Information Bureau</a>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">PM calls upon judiciary and executive to make Indian Judicial System an arrear free</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has called upon the judiciary and executive to work together to make the Indian judicial system an arrear free. He was speaking at the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices in <st1:city><st1:place>New Delhi</st1:place></st1:city></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> today. Dr. Singh said that the elimination of vast number of pending cases in the Indian Courts is the biggest challenge before the judiciary.
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<br />He called upon the apex court to be a catalyst and a role model in playing a vital role in overcoming the challenge of the huge pendency. Dr. Singh said that comprehensive computerisation and ultimate linking of all courts in the country into one mega judicial information grid needed to be tailored and adapted to enable screening of all pending cases and such screening should facilitate disposal of many old cases. Calling for improvements in the mechanism and processes for providing legal aid to the marginalised sections of the society, the Prime Minister referred to the disturbing fact of large number of undertrials being lodged in the jails and urged the Conference to consider this matter.
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<br />Referring to the vacancies in the High Courts and Subordinate judiciary, the Prime Minister called upon the Chief Justices to initiate proposals for filling up the vacant posts in High Courts and mentioned that the 3000 odd posts of judges in the country that are vacant because of delay in recruitment process need to be filled without further loss of time. Referring to the direction of the President in her address to the Joint session of Parliament in June, 2009 the Prime Minister informed that Ministry of Law and Justice was working on such a roadmap and would bring out the broad contours setting the stage for reforms. He however reminded that considerable work is involved before a detailed blueprint could be crafted and its implementation ensured.
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<br />The Prime Minister drew the attention of the Chief Ministers and Chief Justices to the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 and urged them to take immediate action to operationalise the Act in their States. He mentioned that the Act needed to be speedily brought into force even though there could differing views on the adequacy of assistance that has been committed by the Central Government for being given to the States.
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<br />Earlier, in his inaugural address the Minister for Law and Justice, Shri Veerappa Moily drew the attention to the need to operationalise the Gram Nyayalayas Act within first 6 months. He also referred to the huge pendency in the courts and the need to take firm independent and impartial decisions that would control the inflow of litigations into the courts. The Minister referred to proposals for setting up of fast track commercial divisions in the High Courts following the rapid increase in commerce and trade in the country, following liberalisation and globalisation. He also said that efforts are being made by the Government towards applying Information and Communication Technology in the judiciary. He mentioned that Government has already sanctioned Rs. 442 crore for this purpose and that 3000 sites in all court complexes are being developed for providing them with computer hardware and application software. He sought the cooperation of the States and High Courts for quick and successful implementation of the project which will ultimately be owned by judiciary for better delivery of service and transparency to stakeholders.
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<br />In his address, the Chief Justice of India, Shri K.G. Balakrishnan, referred to the Gram Nyayalayas Act and the need to consider the practical aspects of making the act a success. The Chief Justice also draws attention to the huge pendency in the courts and the need to urgently expand judicial system by ensuring expeditious filling up of vacancies including that in the subordinate courts. The Chief Justice, appreciated the Government’s response to the judiciary’s demand for more CBI Courts and family courts.
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<br />In the working sessions, the Chief Ministers expressed their agreements with the suggestions of the Prime Minister and gave their commitments to work in complete harmony with their respective High Courts. The Chief Ministers also gave suggestions that they think would help facilitate the implementation of the Gram Nyayalaya Act better. Almost all the High Courts were appreciative of the State Government’s support in resolving matters of mutual concern. </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Full text can be accessed at- <a href="http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=51885"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Press Information Bureau</span></a>.
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<br /><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mr Moily's Speech at the Conference of CM and Chief Justices of the High Courts</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The Union Law and Justice Minister, Shri Veerappa Moily has said that the Indian Judiciary is held in very high esteem not only in this country and the other developing countries but also in the developed countries of the world. He said this while addressing the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts in <st1:city><st1:place>New Delhi</st1:place></st1:city></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> today.
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<br />Shri Moily said that in her address to the Parliament the Hon’ble President had highlighted the urgency to usher in judicial reforms. He said that Preliminary discussions have been held with key figures in justice implementation and we have called for a National Consultation on the issue of Judicial Reforms which will be held shortly. He added that that administrative reforms are a concomitant part of judicial reforms, and that transparency, good governance, fairness in decision making and impartiality of administration are all fundamental to the rule of law. Following is the text of the Union Law and Justice Minister on the occasion : -
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<br />“Another important aspect is that of making justice more easily accessible to the people particularly in the rural areas. The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 which enables setting up of Nyayalayas in the Intermediate Panchayat levels is a revolutionary way of bringing justice closer to people. The concept of Gram Nyayalayas is quite unique in contrast to the Gram Panchayat contemplated in the Panchayat Act. This will have a 1st Class Magistrate and deals with offences and relief under IPC, Central Acts, and relief under the State Acts (to be notified by the State Governments) as contemplated in the 1st Schedule of Part I, II and III of the Act and also civil disputes, property disputes and other disputes. These Courts contemplate summary proceedings and a time bound disposal within six months of the institution of the case. Once in operation, justice will be brought to the doorsteps of the common man.
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<br />I, therefore, urge that we put our act together to operationalise the Gram Nayalayas in the quickest time and that we start our first phase within six months.
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<br />I would like to inform that information and communication technology has been introduced in the Supreme Court, in 21 High Courts as well as around 15,000 District and Subordinate Courts in the Country. The Central Government has already sanctioned Rs. 442 crores in the first phase of its judicial reforms consequent to which computerization to the extent of laptops, laser printers, internet connectivity in the Court complexes and home offices of 13,250 judicial offices in the country has already been achieved. Training of Judges and Court staff in the use of information and communication technology is afoot. We are also thinking of developing 3000 sites in all the court complexes where hardware would be procured and application software would be developed and standardized.
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<br />I would request your cooperation in successfully implementing the project of computerization of the courts which is ultimately to be owned by the judiciary for better delivery of services and transparency to the stakeholders. My Ministry also implements a scheme for development of infrastructure for the judiciary where assistance is provided for construction of court buildings and residential accommodation for the judicial officers.
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<br />The Fast Track Courts were established on the recommendation of the Eleventh Finance Commission have made a significant impact in disposal of long pending sessions cases and cases of under-trial prisoners. The scheme which was initially up to 31.3.2005 has been continued upto 31.3.2010 and central assistance continues to be provided for this extended period. The matter of continuation of the Fast Track Courts beyond 31.3.2010 needs to be considered and may be deliberated here. In order to improve the credibility of the system there is a need to make the optimum use of the available infrastructure and resources including human resources. Capacity building of our judicial officers will help the judiciary in their performance and will also bring in a sense of higher commitment.
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<br />As per Memorandum of Procedure for the appointment of judges, Chief Justices of High Courts are expected to initiate proposals 6 months in advance for filling up vacancies. This must be done so that the vacancies are filled up in time. Care should be taken to recommend candidates which have proven competence and un-impeachable integrity. The huge pendency in the courts is a matter of great concern to all of us. More than 2.5 crore cases are reportedly pending in the lower courts of the country and if we add numbers pending in the High Courts and the Supreme Court, the number may as well exceed 3.5 crore. Apart from the pendency and delays, what has been worrying most of us, is the number of under-trials in jails. Some of these under-trials have been in jails for a much longer period than they would have served if the sentence had been pronounced. At this Conference, we should devote some time to these issues also and come up with some workable solutions which can be implemented in a time bound manner.
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<br />We intend to evolve a national litigation policy by which the Government is able to fight cases with discretion and care. The Government is in agreement with Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India that an attitude of taking firm, independent and impartial decisions if adopted by the Government would itself lead to a substantial reduction of arrears and would definitely control the inflow of litigation into the Courts of Justice. The major litigants/departments are advised to work out an integral mechanism to reduce litigation and resolve within the Government. This needs to be done at the State level also. There are also litigations between PSUs of the State Governments and PSUs of Union of India and also between State and Union of India and also vice versa too. This can also be dealt by a mechanism as it is done in case of PSUs of Union of India.
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<br />I welcome the concept of ‘… National Minimum Court Performance Standards…’ which are being visualized by the Judiciary. We in the Government must also have Judicial Infrastructure Supplement Standards so that the performance standards as visualized by the judiciary are effectively achieved. It may be noted that in a fairly ambitious programme the judiciary today visualizes that its disposal level must be hiked upto 95-100% of total case load in 5 years. Keeping this fact in view, our senior Law Officers, the Attorney General and the Solicitor General, are looking at a blueprint by which this target is achieved within 3 years. I may add that in order to achieve such progressively high targets, it would be necessary for the Central Government and the State Governments to address issues of allocation of expenditure, swift budgetary estimates, single window clearances and rationalization of methods of accounts and audit.
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<br />We are also of the opinion that alternative dispute resolution methods must be adopted as a means of exploring conciliation, mediation as well as arbitration in a fair and transparent as well as effective manner. I am also happy to note that pursuant to the legislative intent behind Section 89-A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, every High Court has a Conciliation and Mediation Centre. However, we are conscious that mediation and conciliation are not ordinary techniques of dispute resolution but require new skills and forms of knowledge in order to achieve synergy between the conflicting parties.
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<br />At present, we are also reviewing the various Law Commission Reports and tabulating their final recommendations. These recommendations will be implemented by the Government by resorting to introduction of necessary amendment acts before the Parliament.
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<br />With the rapid increase in commerce and trade, following privatization, liberalization and globalization, commercial disputes involving high stakes are likely to increase. Unless there is a new and effective mechanism for resolving them speedily and efficiently, progress will be retarded. Foreign investors in <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> must be assured that the Indian Courts are as fast as the courts in the most developed countries of the world and that there are no longer any long delays in the judicial process.
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<br />The Law Commission of India in its 188th Report on <b>“Proposals for Constitution of Hi-Tech Fast-Track Commercial Division in High Courts”</b> has recommended for constitution of Commercial Divisions in each High Courts so that they may handle ‘commercial cases’ of high threshold value on fast track basis. We should see how to bring this in force early. Law Commission 79th report drew attention to the unhealthy practice of the long delay in pronouncements of judgments and emphasised the need for reducing the lag between conclusion of arguments and pronouncement of judgments should not exceed one month except in some special matters. This recommendation must be taken seriously by all the members of the judicial fraternity.
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<br />Section 35 of the Civil Procedure Code deals with the award of costs and section 35A deals with the award of compensatory costs in respect of false or vexatious claims or defences. The Courts should make use of these sections more vigorously to prevent the abuse of legal process by vested interests. We are also conscious that in today’s world where the entire globe is a village, mobility of weapons and money are also problems which have to be faced by our laws and we must, therefore, enact provisions for these crimes which have developed on account of changes in the social fabric as well as the monetary systems in the world.
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<br />Judicial Impact Assessment requires both the State Government and the Central Government to make proper assessment of the requirement of impact of new laws of litigants/courts and to fully build the capacity in the Court while new legislations are made. A mechanism needs to be put in place both at the National and State level to make an appraisal while passing any new legislation. Justice Rao Committee had gone into this area and has made valuable recommendations which the Government is committed to implement without delay. This will address the problem of resource allocation to the judiciary.
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<br />During the Eleventh Five Year Plan an allocation of Rs. 1470 crores has been provided to the administration of the justice as against Rs. 700 crores during the Tenth Five Year Plan. Even this allocation would have to be stepped up substantially with our commitment to introduce more courts specially the Gram Nyayalayas for which the Central Government is committed to spend Rs. 1400 crores. The delivery of qualitative justice to our citizens is a promise for which all of us – as the executive, the legislature and the judiciary – are equally responsible. We must also realize that effective justice delivery mechanisms are substantial alleviants for social tensions and, in fact, go a long way in bringing about equanimity, restoring faith in the rule of law, and above all, in the very essentials of a democratic way of life.
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<br />We should be committed that the quality of justice must never be compromised and the essential elements of fairness, equality and impartiality must always be ensured. We are also aware that all citizens expect justice like a consumer product. Both the executive and the judiciary have to maintain and satisfy the tests of confidence, reliability and dependability.
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<br />We are glad to note that Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India has acknowledged repeatedly that judicial responsibility; accountability and independence are in every sense inseparable with the notions of fairness and rule of law. The appropriate steps are under way to respond to these needs of the hour and we will soon present a Vision Statement to the Hon’ble Prime Minister for the purpose of outlining the way forward for the Judiciary.” </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Full text can be accessed at- <a href="http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=51882"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Press Information Bureau</span></a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> Jituhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566503151948405963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732218349096502384.post-45962958367312617442009-07-28T04:32:00.000-07:002009-07-31T01:54:19.823-07:00<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link style="font-family: arial;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5Cjitendra%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="Street"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="address"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="date" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalampft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City" downloadurl="http://www.5iamas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:usefelayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Wingdings; panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:2; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 268435456 0 0 -2147483648 0;} @font-face {font-family:SimSun; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-alt:宋体; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;} @font-face {font-family:"\@SimSun"; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} span.spelle {mso-style-name:spelle;} span.grame {mso-style-name:grame;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} /* List Definitions */ @list l0 {mso-list-id:1938520634; mso-list-type:hybrid; mso-list-template-ids:-865194022 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;} @list l0:level1 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:.5in; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Symbol;} ol {margin-bottom:0in;} ul {margin-bottom:0in;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:street><st1:address><b><span style="color:blue;">
<br /></span></b></st1:address></st1:street></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><st1:street><st1:address><b>Cyber Regulation Appellate Tribunal Court</b></st1:address></st1:street></span><b><span style="color:blue;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> inaugurated</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The new Office and the Court Room of the Cyber Regulation Appellate Tribunal inaugurated on July 27, 2009 in New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Chief Justice of India said while administrating the regulations Tribunal will face a challenge to strike a balance between the interests of the Government and end users of internet. Highlighting the need for Tribunal, Shri A. Raja said that it will help prevent all possible cyber contraventions. Mr. Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for C&IT said Tribunal is destined to a path breaking work to check cyber fraud, cyber crime and even cyber terrorism. Speaking on the role of Department of Information Technology (DIT), Secretary Mr. R. Chandrashekhar said that DIT will facilitate and support the functioning of the Tribunal. He said in view of intermixing of legal and technical issues a multimember Tribunal has been constituted to look into the cyber contraventions. The tribunal has been established under Section 48 of the Information Technology Act. The Information Technology Act 2000 came into force on <st1:date month="10" day="17" year="2000">17th October, 2000</st1:date>. <i>The definition of the Information Technology Act provides as under:
<br /></i>
<br /></span></p><ul><li><span style="font-size:85%;">“Computer” means any electronic, magnetic, optical or other high speed data processing device or system which performs logical, arithmetic, and memory functions by manipulations of electronic, magnetic or optical impulses, and includes all input, output, processing, storage, computer software, or communication facilities which are connected or related to the computer in a computer system or computer network; </span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Section 3 of the Act provides with regard to Digital signature and the Authentication of electronic records.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Section 4 provides the legal recognition of electronic governance in short known as E. governance. For adjudicating of the dispute under the Information Technology Act, Section 46 was enacted which has given the power for adjudication of the crimes. The power has been give to the Secretary, Information Technology and he has power to adjudge the quantum of compensation under Sections 46 and 47 of the Act.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Section 46 provides for appointment of an adjudicating officer not below the rank of a Director to the Government of India. Every adjudicating officer shall have the powers of a civil court, which are conferred on the Cyber Appellate Tribunal under Section 48. The Act provides for penalty for damage to computer, computer system etc: penalty for failure to furnish information return; residuary penalty and publishing information which is obscene in electronic form etc.</span></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Source: <a href="http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=51070"><b>Press Information Bureau </b></a>
<br /><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="color:blue;">
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="color:blue;">Registration of Indian girls with NRI grooms compulsory<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(35, 31, 32);">The National Law Commission has recommended that the registration of Indian girls with NRI grooms will be made compulsory to tackle the problem of abuse of Indian brides by NRI husbands. </span>Main recommendations with regard to marriage of Indian brides with NRI husbands are given in Annexure-I. The number of such complaints received in the Ministry is given in Annexure-II. Action on guilty persons can be taken only based on court orders in each case. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:black;">This information was given by the Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, <span class="spelle">Shri</span> <span class="spelle">Vayalar</span> Ravi in a written reply in the <span class="spelle">Rajya</span> <span class="spelle">Sabha</span> on </span><st1:date month="7" day="23" year="2009"><span style="color:black;">July 23, 2009</span></st1:date><span style="color:black;">.</span><b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"> </span></b><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><u><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><u><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Annexure-I<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Main recommendations with regard to marriage of Indian brides with NRI husbands: <o:p></o:p></span></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;font-family:arial;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:85%;">Registration of marriages must be made compulsory;</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:85%;">Dissolution of marriage on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage <span class="grame">be</span> introduced in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act, 1954;</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:85%;">Where one of the spouses is an <span class="spelle">NRl</span>, parallel additions must be made in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 to provide for provisions for maintenance and alimony of spouses, child custody and child support and as also settlement of matrimonial property; </span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:85%;">In the matter of succession, transfer of property, repartition of NRI funds etc., the respective State governments must simplify and streamline procedures;</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:85%;">The Commission has already recommended in its 218<sup>th</sup> Report as to the need to accede to the Hague Convention on the civil aspects of International Child Abduction; </span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:85%;">Inter-country Child Adoption Procedures must be simplified and a single uniform legislation must be provided for in the matter of adoption of Indian children by <span class="spelle">NRIs</span>. <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region> has also ratified the Convention of <st1:date month="5" day="29" year="1993">29 May, 1993</st1:date> on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption. Thus a simplified law should be enacted on the subject in the light of this Convention.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><u><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Annexure-II</span></u></b> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><u>Total number of Complaints received in MOIA <span class="grame">State wise</span> up to June, 200</u></b><u>9
<br /></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="margin-left: 0.7in; border-collapse: collapse;font-family:arial;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr style=""> <td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Sr.No</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: solid solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Name of the state <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: solid solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Number of cases<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place>Punjab</st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">86<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place>Delhi</st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span> </p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">56<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Haryana</span><o:p></o:p></span> </p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">20<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">4<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Uttar Pradesh<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">18<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">5<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Andhra Pradesh<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">31<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">6<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place>West Bengal</st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">13<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">7<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place><span class="spelle">Maharashtra</span></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">15<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">8<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place>Gujarat</st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">16<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">9<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tamil <span class="spelle">Nadu</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">21<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">10<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Kerala</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">12<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">11<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">J&K<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">7<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">12<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place>Bihar</st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">4<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">13<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Rajasthan<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">6<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">14<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Karnataka<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">15<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Madya</span> Pradesh<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">16<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place>Assam</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">17<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Orissa</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">18<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Chhattishgarh</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">19<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle"><span style="color:black;">Uttarakhand</span></span><span style="color:black;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">20<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle"><span style="color:black;">Himachal</span></span><span style="color:black;"> Pradesh </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 42.15pt;" width="56" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 96.05pt;" width="128" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:black;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 99pt;" width="132" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>Total = 319</b><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Source: <a href="http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=50859"><b>Press Information Bureau
<br /></b></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=50859"><b>
<br /></b></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="color:blue;">Setting up of CBI courts across the country<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Central Government has decided to set up 71 additional Special Courts exclusively for trial of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases in various States. A statement showing location-wise and state-wise details of these Courts is as under:
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="margin-left: 0.95in; border-collapse: collapse;font-family:arial;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr style=""> <td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>State</b><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: solid solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>Location</b><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: solid solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>No. Addl. Courts proposed</b><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Andhra Pradesh<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place>Hyderabad</st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span class="spelle">Visakhapatnam</span></st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place>Assam</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Guwahati<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place>Bihar</st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span class="spelle">Patna</span></st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Chhattisgarh</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span class="spelle">Raipur</span></st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place>Delhi</st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place>Delhi</st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">15<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place>Gujarat</st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Ahmedabad</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place><span class="spelle">Goa</span></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place><span class="spelle">Goa</span></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Himachal</span> Pradesh<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Shimla</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Haryana</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Ambala</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Jharkhand</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span class="spelle">Ranchi</span></st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Dhanbad</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">4<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Jammu & Kashmir<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place>Jammu</st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Karnataka<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place>Bangalore</st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Dharwad</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Kerala</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Ernakulam</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Madhya Pradesh<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place>Bhopal</st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span class="spelle">Jabalpur</span></st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place><span class="spelle">Maharashtra</span></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Mumbai<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Pune</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span class="spelle">Nagpur</span></st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span class="spelle">Amravati</span></st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Orissa</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span class="spelle">Bhubaneswar</span></st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">4<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Rajasthan<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Jaipur</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Tamilnadu</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Chennai<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">3<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Uttar Pradesh<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span class="spelle">Lucknow</span></st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">4<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span class="spelle">Ghaziabad</span></st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">2<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><st1:place>West Bengal</st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="spelle">Kolkata</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">6<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.5in;" width="144" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Total<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 93.2pt;" width="124" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 135pt;" width="180" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">71<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> Governments have been requested to expedite establishment of these Special Courts. No firm time frame can be indicated as different State Governments are involved. Recurring expenditure of Rs.30 <span class="grame">lacs per</span> annum and non-recurring expenditure of Rs.15 <span class="spelle">lacs</span> on setting up of each <st1:street><st1:address>Special Court</st1:address></st1:street> is estimated. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, <span class="grame">Shri</span> <span class="spelle">Prithviraj</span> <span class="spelle">Chavan</span> in a written reply to a question in <span class="spelle">Lok</span> <span class="spelle">Sabha</span> on <st1:date year="2009" day="22" month="7">July 22, 2009</st1:date>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Source: <a href="http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=50812"><b>Press Information Bureau
<br /></b></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="color:blue;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="color:blue;">
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="color:blue;">Not paperwork, treating patient is a doctor’s first duty: SC<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">In a blessing to injured accident victims who are often kept waiting for treatment for fear of legal complications, the Supreme Court has ruled that the primary job of a doctor is to attend to the patient and not to take down his name, cause of accident, etc. A Bench comprising Justices S B Sinha and Cyriac Joseph made the observation which could also save doctors of a lot of headache and harassment in the court during their examination as witness in a case.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">“It is not the requirement of law that doctors, even before admitting the injured or during their treatment, must note down every bit of details of the incident or names of the witnesses in the registers maintained by them,” said Justice Sinha, writing the judgment for the Bench.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The ruling came in a criminal case where the doctor’s testimony was rejected on the ground that he had not noted down the relevant details of the crime and the name of the injured and the witnesses who brought him to the hospital.
<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The Bench dismissed the appeal filed by one Gurunath Donkappa Keri challenging his conviction and sentence by a Karnataka trial court, which was later upheld by the High Court. Citing discrepancies in the doctor’s testimony relating to recording of the name of person who had brought the injured to hospital, the accused had sought acquittal.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>Source: The Times of </b><st1:country-region><st1:place><b>India</b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="color:blue;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="color:blue;">
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="color:blue;">SC rules for bail over jail<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The Supreme Court has stitched a link between a person’s right to life and his reputation and stepped in decisively to protect a person from the ignominy he suffers on being arrested even for lesser offences just because trial courts take time to decide his bail plea. It said the courts could continue to decide regular bail pleas after perusing the case diaries and other evidences, but it would be well within their jurisdiction and discretional powers to grant interim bail to the accused to protect their reputation from being dented by arrest by the police. “We reiterate that a court hearing a regular bail application has got inherent power to grant interim bail pending final decision of the bail application. In our opinion, this is in view of Article 21 of the Constitution which protects the life and liberty of every person,” said a Vacation Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Deepak Verma in 2009. The reputation of a person is his valuable asset and is a facet of his right under Article 21 of the Constitution, the bench said. As per the prevailing practice relating to grant of bail, when a person applies for regular bail then the court concerned lists the application after a few days so that it can look into the case diary which has to be obtained from the police authorities and in the meantime the applicant has to go to jail.
<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The consequential loss of reputation of the person seeking bail bothered the bench a lot. It said: “Even if the applicant is released on bail thereafter, his reputation may be tarnished irreparably in the society.” “Hence, we are of the opinion that in the power to grant bail, there is inherent power in the court concerned to grant interim bail to a person pending disposal of the bail application. Of course, it is the discretion of the court concerned to grant interim bail or not, but the power is certainly there,” the bench said. This order came from the bench in a case where one Sukhwant Singh had appealed against the <st1:place>Punjab</st1:place> and Haryana High court order refusing to grant him anticipatory bail. While disposing his appeal, the bench asked the petitioner to approach the concerned court and make a fresh plea.
<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>Source: The Times of </b><st1:country-region><st1:place><b>India
<br /></b></st1:place></st1:country-region></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="color:blue;">
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="color:blue;">Disabled can be denied promotion on grounds of security, efficiency: SC<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">In a significant Judgment, the Supreme Court has ruled that the government or an employer can deny promotion to a disabled person if they are of the opinion that it can compromise efficiency, security or safety. A Bench comprising Justices R V Raveendran and P Sathasivam gave this ruling despite being fully aware of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, which mandated that "no promotion shall be denied to a person merely on the ground of his disability". Allowing an appeal of the Union government, the Bench said the 1995 Act would have no significance where the employer stipulated minimum standards for promotion keeping in view safety, security and efficiency.
<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">"If the employee is unable to meet the higher minimum standards on account of any disability or failure to possess the minimum standards, then the Act would not be attracted, nor can it be pressed into service for seeking promotion," said Justice Raveendran writing the judgment for the Bench. Clarifying that it was not against the legislative intention behind the 1995 Act, the SC said: "Where the disability is likely to affect the maintenance of safety and security norms, or efficiency, then the stipulation of standards for maintaining such safety, security and efficiency will not be considered as denying a person with disability, promotion merely on the ground of his disability." </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The Bench said it was aware of the intention of the Act that was to give a helping hand to persons with disability so that they could lead a self-reliant life with dignity and freedom.
<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">"But, the intention of the Act is not to jeopardize the safety and security of public, co-employees, or the employee himself or the safety and security of the equipments or assets of the employer nor to accept reduced standards of safety and efficiency merely because the employee suffers from a disability," the Bench said.
<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>Source: The Times of </b><st1:country-region><st1:place><b>India</b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b> (July 2009)
<br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="color:blue;">
<br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span style="color:blue;">Long Study Leaves: SC bats for the boss<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Want to avail long leave for further studies or other work during employment? Just apply and pray that your employer agrees. This is what the Supreme Court has said while vesting an employer with absolute discretion whether or not to grant an employee leave for a long period. Taking this view in favour of employers, a Bench comprising Justices S H Kapadia and Aftab Alam in a recent order said even if an organisation had a policy in place allowing employees to apply for long leave, the final decision would have to rest with the employer. "These are matters which fall in the category of `administrative exigencies' and this court cannot sit in appeal thereon," the Bench said setting aside a Punjab and Haryana High Court order asking the state to grant a Medical Officer, Dr Sanjay Kumar Bansal, leave for 5 years.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Bansal had applied for 5 years' special leave for self-employment. When it was refused, he moved the HC alleging discrimination on the ground that other similarly placed doctors had been granted such leave in the past. </span></p> <p face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p face="arial" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">"Special leave is not a matter of right vested in the employee. It depends on administrative exigencies," said the Bench accepting the administration's stand that shortage of doctors was one of the reasons for not granting special leave to Dr Bansal. Even in the case of a perceived discrimination, that is the special leave being granted to one and not to the other employee, the Bench felt that it should be left to the employer's discretion as to who should be given long leave and who should not.
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">"Even on the case of discrimination, it is for the administration/management to take into account the contingencies which may arise in the course of administration. The services of an employee may be required in a given case on more emergent basis vis-a-vis other employees," the SC said. In such cases, the services rendered by an employee, his seniority, the nature of work which he was required to do, his responsibilities etc, were pertinent parameters which were required to be taken into account while taking the decision on applications seeking long leave, it said.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>Source: The Times of </b><st1:country-region><st1:place><b>India</b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b> (July 2009)<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> Jituhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566503151948405963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732218349096502384.post-16352303973593931322009-07-27T00:03:00.000-07:002009-07-27T00:04:15.426-07:00<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5Cjitendra%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="date" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalampft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:usefelayout/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Gautami; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:2097152 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; mso-font-alt:"Century Gothic"; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family:Gautami; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family:Gautami;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;">
<br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-size:130%;" >Pendency in SC crosses 50,000 mark; HCs too hit by the spiral </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">In a blow to the concept of "Speedy Justice", the Supreme Court has for the first time in a decade run up a backlog of more than 50,000 cases. The unholy mark was crossed by the end of March 2009 when the number of pending cases stood at 50,163. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">With computerization of the Supreme Court registry and use of Information Technology in docket management, pendency of cases in the 1990s was brought down from more than one lakh to a manageable 20,000. But the huge rush of litigants, despite an increased disposal rate, has proved more than a match for the judges, who hear more than 80 cases a day. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">The pendency has steadily crept northwards since 2006, when it stood at 34,649. In January 2007, it had become 39,780 with the pendency jumping up by more than 5,000 cases. Justice K G Balakrishnan took over as the Chief Justice of India at this time and tried to put in place mechanisms to arrest the trend of spiralling pendency. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Despite an increased disposal rate of cases, the apex court failed to reduce the pendency as it could not cope with the rising number of cases filed every year. The dockets swelled and the pendency by January 2008 was within striking distance of the 50,000-mark, standing at 46,926. By January 2009, pendency rose to 49,819, before finally breaching the 50,000-mark in March 2009. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">A similar trend was seen at the level of High Courts and trial courts. The 21 High Courts, working with strength of 635 Judges as against a sanctioned strength of 886, reported a pendency of 38.7 lakh cases as of </span><st1:date year="2009" day="1" month="1"><span style="font-family:Arial;">January 1, 2009</span></st1:date><span style="font-family:Arial;">, against 37.4 lakh cases on </span><st1:date year="2008" day="1" month="1"><span style="font-family:Arial;">January 1, 2008</span></st1:date><span style="font-family:Arial;">. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">Trial courts, having a Judge strength of 13,556 against a sanctioned strength of 16,685, were burdened with an additional pendency of nearly 10 lakh cases by January 2009, when the pendency figure was 2.64 crore. It stood at 2.54 crore cases in January 2008. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">The Chief Justice of India has been repeatedly requesting the state governments to increase the strength of trial court judges by an additional 10,000 to tackle the huge pendency, but most of them have brushed aside the only practical solution, citing a funds crunch. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Source: <a href="http://timesofindia.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Times of </span></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://timesofindia.com/"><st1:country-region style="font-weight: bold;"><st1:place><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >India</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></a></span>Jituhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566503151948405963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732218349096502384.post-92072506183909454122009-07-26T23:46:00.000-07:002009-07-26T23:51:39.101-07:00<span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-size:130%;" >Judiciary should not be seen as interfering in executive's work: SC<br /><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The bureaucracy's grouse about judicial interference in its domain could somewhat ease as the Supreme Court on Tuesday (2009) said the executive should be allowed to function properly and the judiciary could not be seen as interfering in its work. This observation came from a Bench comprising Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam when a grievance was made that Baba Farid University had not allotted two seats to the 50% all-India quota in dental PG course for this academic year.<br /><br />Nearly 25 years ago, the concept of all-India quota in government-run medical and dental colleges came into being through the Supreme Court's judgment in the Pradeep Jain case in 1984. It got crystallized in its subsequent judgments - Dinesh Thakur I and II -- by which 15% all-India quota in undergraduate courses and 25% quota in PG courses was reserved to be filled through a Common Entrance Test (CET). The PG quota was raised to 50% in the Saurav Chaudhary case.<br /><br />The Bench knew that the all-India quota was created through the judgments of the Supreme Court but still felt that enough monitoring had been done for a quarter of a century and now, it should be left to the executive to implement it and no one should rush to the apex court on matters relating to admissions.<br />"We have a great reservation about this. We are fixing calendars and admission schedule. Laying down broad guidelines is one thing, but monitoring admission to each and every college, we think, is not a judicial function," the Bench said.<br /><br />Finally it admitted its contribution to the breakdown of the executive link in implementation of the guidelines laid down in the judgments by entertaining numerous applications relating to admissions.<br />"We have also contributed to the breaking down by interfering with executive functions," it said.</span><br /><br />Source: <a href="http://timesofindia.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Times of India</span></a> (2009)<br /><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Private colleges playing with future of students: SC</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The Supreme Court on Wednesday ticked off education regulators for the casual manner of giving recognition to private professional colleges. The court charged the regulators with disregarding the criteria laid down for the recognition.<br /><br />The bench comprising Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam was concerned about the practice of private institutions enrolling thousands of students even before they get the mandatory recognition. The plight of these students is then invoked, it said, to wangle recognition from regulators who are not keen to apply the standards laid down in the book. The private institutions cite the students' career as grounds to legalise the admissions they had done unauthorizedly, it said. The bench then went on to call, echoing the remark made by the court in a similar case, the institutions - "masked phantoms" - which do more harm to the education system than good. It also sounded a loud warning against the current policy premium on privatization, pointing to the pitfalls involved. Privatization of education was all right, but this sort of blatant violation of statutory requirements needed for starting a professional college by private parties amounted to playing with the future of thousands of students, it said.<br /><br />The observation came during the hearing of a petition of a private institution, S V N College of Sagar in Madhya Pradesh, challenging a High Court order which had restrained it from admitting students without following the criteria. While the SC bench agreed to issue notice to the Madhya Pradesh government, it concurred with the HC's concern over the perils of unregulated privatization of education sector. "We fully share the anguish of the HC," Justices Reddy and Alam said as they refused to stay the HC order.<br /><br />They did not relent when counsel for S V N College, a self-financed institute, senior advocate R Venkataramani and advocate Jasbir Malik, argued that it had the requisite recognition of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). The bench said: “Our observation that regulatory bodies are casually granting recognition applied to the NCTE as well.”<br /><br />For the regulators, the criticism could not have come at a worse time. They have been under intense attack, and there are indications to suggest that the recommendation of the Yashpal Committee for doing away with UGC, MCI and the Dental Council of India may find favour with the government.<br /><br />The HC had referred to a 1986 judgment of the apex court emphasizing the need for proper inspection of the private institutes before grant of recognition on the grounds that ``private institutions unauthorizedly established were invariably ill-housed, ill-staffed and ill-equipped'' and deprecated the HCs which allowed such institutes to admit students.</span><br /><br />Source: <a href="http://timesofindia.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Times of India</span></a><br /><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />State can regulate admissions in private unaided colleges: SC</span></span></span><br /><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;">The SC in 2009 on Wednesday said the state has a responsibility to maintain high standards of education and is hence competent to regulate admissions even in unaided private professional colleges.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">This important order came from a vacation Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Deepak Verma, which ordered that private unaided medical and dental colleges in Madhya Pradesh would keep aside up to 50% of their seats to accommodate candidates successful in the state-conducted common entrance test.<br />The Bench said despite three constitution Benches of SC- one comprising 11 judges, another 5 judges and still another with 7 judges — dealing with the issue of regulating affairs of educational institutions- minority, aided and unaided and non-minority- there appeared to be still some grey areas that needed clarification.<br /><br />While the 11-judge Bench in the T M A. Pai case had said that greater autonomy has to be granted to unaided institutions compared to the aided ones, the 7-judge Bench in the P A Inamdar case had said it would be unfair to apply the same logic to aided and unaided colleges.<br /><br />Referring to Inamdar case judgment, the Bench said it was said if the admission process adopted by an unaided private college did not conform to the triple test- fair, transparency and reasonable fee-structure- then the state would have an occasion to interfere in it. The Justice Katju-headed Bench said the 7-judge Bench did not specify the body which would determine whether the admission process of a private unaided college was at fault.<br /><br />“It can’t be left to the unilateral decision of the state to say that a private institution has failed the triple test. This will give an unbridled power to the state to say that a private institution has failed the triple test,” it said. It said: “To strike a balance between the responsibilities of the state as against the interest of the private unaided professional colleges, the court has to use its creativity.”<br /><br />Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi stressed the need to allow Association of Private Dental and Medical Colleges to fill seats through entrance test conducted by the association. However, MP Counsel, senior advocate Ravi Shankar Prasad, argued that the state had already conducted entrance test. Striking a balance, the court said as an interim measure for this academic year, private unaided colleges would leave out 50% of their seats to be filled by candidates in merit list drawn through entrance test conducted by the government.</span><br /><br />Source: <a href="http://timesofindia.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Times of India</span></a><br /></span>Jituhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566503151948405963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732218349096502384.post-5641921484616701512009-07-21T01:21:00.000-07:002009-07-21T01:25:51.349-07:00Judicial Activities in India<div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">
<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Road-Map for judicial reforms</span></span>
<br /></div>The Government is preparing a roadmap for judicial reforms in the country which aims, inter alia, at reducing pendency in the courts, at providing quick and effective justice, introducing accountability of the judges and bringing the transparency in judicial processes for the litigants. The details of the roadmap are being worked out. Dr. M.Veerappa Moily, Minister of Law and Justice informed the Rajya Sabha.
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Source: <a href="http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=50681">Press Information Bureau</a></span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Corruption in Judiciary</span>
<br /></div>Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, Minister of Law and Justice informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply that allegations of corruption in the higher judiciary have come to the notice of the Government from time to time. As for the subordinate judiciary, the administrative control over its members vests with the concerned High Courts and the State Governments as per the provisions of Article 235 of the Constitution of India, he added .
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Source: <a href="http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=50680">Press Information Bureau</a></span>
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<br /></span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">SC: Institution head, cops can be punished for ragging</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial;">The supreme Court on Friday added teeth to its earlier stringent anti-ragging directions by making the head of the institution and the local police chief liable for disciplinary action if any ragging incident takes place within their jurisdiction.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial;">The fresh directives were added to its earlier guidelines, which among other punishments also provided for rustication of the errant senior if he indulged in ragging- related death of Amann Kachroo exposed the chinks in their implementation.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial;">Pronouncing the elaborate measures, most of which were suggested by the SC committee headed by the former director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) R K Raghvan, a Bench comprising Justices Arikit Pasayat and A K Ganguly directed a national level committee to suggest remedial measures in the school curriculum to limit the ragging menace by studying the impact of this physical abuse on students. Each state would follow suit with similar committees, the apex court Bench said.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial;">The 7 commands of SC <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial;">Penal consequences and departmental proceeding against institution and departmental heads who show apathy towards complaints of ragging <o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial;">Fresher’s to be divided into small groups and affiliated to teaching staff who would keep constant vigil on their welfare and protect them from seniors <o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial;">Round the clock vigil on hostel premises <o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial;">Departmental action against principal of Rajendra Prasad Govt Medical College (RPGMC), where Amann Kachroo died after ragging <o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial;">SHO/SP, within whose jurisdiction a particular college falls, shall be responsible for ensuring that no ragging takes place on the campus of concerned colleges.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial;">Amann’s father Rajendra Kachroo to assist Raghvan Committee to provide a link age between committee’s effort and the NGO anti-ragging movement.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial;">De-addiction measures in RPGMC where alcoholism is rampant.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Source: <a href="http://timesofindia.com">The Times of India</a></span>
<br />Jituhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566503151948405963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732218349096502384.post-61975317406042007542009-07-20T22:44:00.000-07:002009-07-20T22:54:50.890-07:00<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5Cjitendra%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="date" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalampft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City" downloadurl="http://www.5iamas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"></o:smarttagtype></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:usefelayout/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Wingdings; 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mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="text-align: center; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >Judicial Reforms Welcome: Chief Justice of </span></b><st1:country-region><st1:place><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >India</span></b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" ><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Chief Justice of </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >India</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > K G Balakrishnan is not unduly worried about the new UPA government's forceful expression of intent to usher in judicial reforms to provide speedy justice to the poor standing last in the queue.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >At a time when the judiciary is groaning under the load of over 3 crore pending cases at various levels and its image dented by sporadic reports of corruption among Judges, Justice Balakrishnan put up a brave face and asked "who is afraid of reforms" as it was "our constant endeavor to fast track the justice delivery process". <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Though new law minister Veerappa Moily did not macro-elaborate his plans for judicial reforms except for saying "it is long overdue", he did stress the Manmohan Singh government's earnest desire to make the wheels of justice move faster to help the poor afford litigation. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The CJI is one with him on this aspect. "The 4,000 gram nyayalays would soon start functioning easing a lot of load on the subordinate courts. These would also save the poor litigants from traveling long distances to reach district courts for justice," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >But, the intermittent reports in the media about corruption in judiciary appear to be an irritant for Justice Balakrishnan. He says the present recruitment process for subordinate judiciary needs tightening. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >He feels that an All India Judicial Services Examination, on the lines of Indian Civil Services Examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission, could provide a solution. The successful candidates could be appointed as District Judges directly and they could choose their state of posting, he said. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The CJI would not elaborate as the matter is subjudice before the SC.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">
<br /></span></span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Government t for judiciary recruitment revamps</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The foul smell of corruption is increasingly enveloping the temples of justice, popularly referred to as courts. Almost everyone is aware of the level of corruption in the lower stream of justice. But, the screamers about instances of corruption in the higher judiciary appear to have forced the government and the CJI to look afresh for an effective antidote. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The common refrain is that there is something virulently wrong with the present process of selection of judges for the higher judiciary -- the high courts and the Supreme Court. For long, the Executive had this grouse that </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >India</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > was the only country where judges appoint their peers through a secretive method called consultation among the judges forming part of the Collegium headed by the Chief Justice of India. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Recently, on February 27, a day after the last session of the 14th Lok Sabha, renowned lawyer, parliamentarian and then Speaker Somnath Chatterjee articulated the grievance most succinctly -- "I still believe that </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >India</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > is unique in three things -- a television operated by Parliament, judges appoint judges and MPs fix their own salaries." A few days earlier, he was more direct: "</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >India</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > is the only country where judges appoint themselves. It is not a good system." <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >At that time, the entire political apparatus was virtually bracing up for the Lok Sabha elections and it appeared that Somnathda's terse words were lost in the poll cacophony. But, it does not appear so. His words actually had a lasting impression on those who matter in the new UPA government. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >A thinking is gaining ground among the top echelons of the ruling coalition political leaders that the system of "Judges appointing Judges" has to undergo a change and the Executive must have a definitive say in it rather than performing the role of a mere postman -- sending to the President the names recommended by the Collegium headed by CJI for appointment as judges. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >What could be the shape of the `say' that the Executive wants to have in the appointment of judges is not precise, but it is definitely tired of playing the role of a postman. The </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >UK</span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > experience could be a guiding light. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Before the setting up of the independent Judicial Appointment Committee (JAC) in 2006, the judges were chosen by the senior member of the Executive through a process that was not only secretive but was roundly criticised as "a tap on the shoulder" method. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The new mechanism for selecting high court judges was to bring an end to the secretive process of picking judges, which the `Guardian' newspaper found responsible for producing a higher judiciary that was almost exclusively white and male (of the 108 HC judges, only 10 were women). <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >However, initial experience showed that JAC was virtually "old wine in a new bottle". The `Guardian' in January 2008 wrote a critical piece on the JAC's method of appointment. It said: "Those appointed since last September are remarkably similar to those selected under the old process. All 10 are white male barristers." <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >So, if the UPA government wants, in the wake of disturbing reports about corruption in the judiciary, to effect a systemic change in the process for appointment of judges, then it should put its proposal in open for a debate among the legal fraternity and parliamentarians. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The grievance may be well founded, for in no other country do the judges appoint themselves. But, the solution should not be worse off. To strike a balance, would it be acceptable to both the Judiciary and the Executive to have equal say in the appointment of judges?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">
<br /></span></span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Life sentence can be up to 20 yrs too: Supreme Court of India</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The statute may provide that life sentence means a minimum of 14 years in prison, but keeping in view the gravity of offence a trial court can be well within law to award a 20-year jail term to a lifer, ruled the Supreme Court on Tuesday. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >This ruling came from a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices P Sathasivam and J M Panchal, which dismissed an appeal by Ahmed Hussein Vali Mohammad Saiyed, a Latif gang member convicted of shooting down nine members of a rival gang including its leader Hansraj Trivedi in 1992 in Ahmedabad. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Upholding the imposition of the 20-year sentence on Saiyed, Justice Sathasivam, writing the judgment for the Bench, said there was a reason to award the extreme penalty and hence the designated TADA court was justified in imposing life sentence with a condition that it should not be less than 20 years. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The Bench reminded the judiciary at large about the pitfalls in adopting a lenient approach while awarding punishment in cases that involved heinous crimes and said "too sympathetic a view merely on account of lapse of time" would be counter-productive and against the interest of the society which needed to be cared for. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >"Justice demands that courts should impose punishment befitting the crime so that the courts reflect public abhorrence of the crime... The court will be failing in its duty if appropriate punishment is not awarded for a crime which has been committed not only against the individual victim but also against the society to which both the criminal and the victim belong," the Bench said. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >It said the designated court was right in observing while awarding the sentence that the main accused had brutally murdered the nine persons who were playing cards in Radhika Gymkhana and that was the reason to sentence him with the extreme penalty, which would meet the ends of justice. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Therefore, the decision to award a 20-year sentence was appropriate and there was no ground to modify it, it said.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">
<br /></span></span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Constant threat of consumer law on doctors not good for patients: Supreme Court </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Doctors are no doubt liable under the Consumer Protection Act, but too much of threat of the law and court cases could be counter productive for patients as these could deter medical professionals from exercising their discretion, the Supreme Court has said. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Chennai-based orthopaedic surgeon Dr C P Sreekumar would not agree less. For, the apex court absolved him of the charge of medical negligence that hung over his head since 1992 and quashed a National Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum order asking him to pay a patient Rs 5.5 lakh. Looking into the legal aspects and judgments of the apex court relating to the issue, a Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and D K Jain said: "Too much suspicion about the negligence of attending doctors and frequent interference by courts would be a very dangerous proposition as it would prevent doctors from taking decisions which could result in complications and in this situation the patient would be the ultimate sufferer." <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Sreekumar had detected a hairline fracture on the leg of one </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:place><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >S Ramanujam</span></st1:place></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > and chose a conservative line of treatment by putting it in a plaster. But, the fracture aggravated needing a surgery for internal fixation. The patient, however, continued to complain of pain, took a second opinion and started accusing Sreekumar of messing up the operation. He underwent another operation under the supervision of a different doctor and then claimed Rs 12 lakh as compensation from Sreekumar by filing a petition before the State Consumer Forum. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The state forum dismissed the claim saying the patient had not been able to prove mishandling by the hospital staff or negligence or deficiency in the services rendered by Sreekumar. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >However, the National Consumer Forum on </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:date year="2006" day="15" month="11"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >November 15, 2006</span></st1:date></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >, allowed Ramanujam's appeal and asked Sreekumar to pay Rs 5.5 lakh. While Sreekumar challenged the direction to pay the huge sum in the Supreme Court, Ramanujam also moved the SC seeking enhancement of the compensation to Rs 12 lakh. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >After examining the case records and hospital documents of Ramanujam, the Bench said: "Merely because of the fact that there is some divergence of opinion as to the proper procedure to be adopted, it cannot be said with certainty that Dr Sreekumar was grossly remiss in going for hemiarthroplasty." <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Justice Bedi, writing the judgment for the Bench, said: "It would, thus, be seen that Dr Sreekumar's decision in choosing hemiarthroplasty with respect to a patient of 42 years of age was not as palpably erroneous or unacceptable as to dub it as a case of professional negligence.” It allowed Sreekumar's appeal and dismissed the claim of Ramanujam. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >‘Bride burners must be hanged’: Supreme Court of </span></b><st1:country-region style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><st1:place><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >India</span></b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" > <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >We are coming across a Large Number of Such Cases, Notes SC<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Spiraling crime against women in matrimonial homes invited sharp reaction On Monday from the Supreme Court, which said those convicted of burning their wives for bringing insufficient dowry or for any other reason deserve no leniency and should be awarded capital punishment. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Though it was a case relating to burning of woman by her husband because of her protest against his alleged illicit relationship, the Vacation Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Deepak Verma took the opportunity to vent its ire against those persons who resort to bride burning. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Angered by the plea of the convict challenging life sentence, the Bench was of the firm opinion that persons like him deserved no leniency and should be awarded death penalty. Though it threatened to issue notice to the appellant seeking his response to `why the punishment be not enhanced to death penalty', it adjourned hearing in the case when counsel Jasbir Malik pleaded that it was not a case of dowry harassment. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >However, this did not deter the Bench from observing that to put an end to the barbaric practice of bride burning, courts should take a stern view and award death sentence. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >"If people like you are hanged, then only will this barbaric practice stop. We are coming across a large number of bride burning and dowry death cases these days," it said. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >In such cases if the trial court awards life sentence to the convict, the appellate courts should issue notice to the convict for enhancement of punishment, the Bench added. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The Bench's anguish was not ill-founded. If bride burning cases hovered around 5,000 every year, dowry death cases have kept heading northwards. In 2005, as many as 6,787 dowry death cases were reported. This increased to 7,618 in 2006 and 8,093 in 2007. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) had reported a whopping 75,930 incidents of torture and cruelty against women in matrimonial homes in 2007. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Though the Supreme Court had consistently held the view that violence in matrimonial homes should be dealt with sternly, Justice Katju is known for his radical views in such cases. Just a couple of years back while hearing a corruption case relating to the fodder scam, he had observed that the corrupt should be hanged from the nearest lamp post. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The case in hand related to the death of one Rajni who in her dying declaration alleged that her husband Mahender Gulati, his elder brother Prem Kumar and the latter's wife Vimla had poured kerosene on her on December 9, 2003, and set her on fire. She had also accused Mahender of having an illicit relationship with Vimla and that the motive behind the crime was her protest against the affair. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >A Bhiwandi trial court had convicted Mahender, Prem Kumar and Vimla of murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:place><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >Punjab</span></st1:place></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > and Haryana HC had upheld the conviction and sentence.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >‘No post-retirement rehab for tainted judges’: Supreme Court of </span></b><st1:country-region style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><st1:place><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >India</span></b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" > <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Adopting a `zero tolerance' policy towards stigmatized judges, the Supreme Court in an emphatic ruling has said that the taint acquired during judgeship will be a big disqualification for the person's post-retirement appointment as head of a tribunal or a commission. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Serious about maintaining public trust in judiciary as an institution, the SC said if an additional judge of a High Court was found ineligible for an extension or being confirmed as a judge, the same person could not be appointed as the head of a statutory body like the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC). <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >"Judiciary holds a central stage in promoting and strengthening democracy, human rights and rule of law. People's faith is the very foundation of any judiciary. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere and therefore the people's faith in the judiciary cannot be afforded to be eroded," said a Bench comprising Justices S B Sinha and M K Sharma. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Dealing with `who had been a judge of the HC' qualification for post-retiral appointments as head of tribunals and commissions, the Bench said: "A judge whose tenure ended by way of non-extension as a stigma would not come within the purview of the definition of the term `has been a judge of the HC'." <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >This judgment, delivered on March 6 but made available on Thursday, came in the peculiar case concerning Justice S Kannadasan, who had to demit office as a judge of the Madras HC on November 5, 2005, after serving for two years as an additional judge as his term was neither extended nor was he confirmed as a permanent judge. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >In November 2006, the TN government appointed him as an additional advocate general. In June 2008, the HC in a full court meeting presided by then Chief Justice resolved to treat Kannadasan as a former judge of the HC and decided to recommended his name along with two others for appointment as the chairman of SCDRC. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >From the three, the TN government chose Justice Kannadasan as the chief of SCDRC. Interestingly, acting on the judicial side, the HC had on December 12 last year allowed PILs which had challenged his appointment as president of SRDRC. Justice Kannadasan had moved the SC challenging the HC's order. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >While dismissing his appeal, the Bench headed by Justice Sinha expressed its anguish that the then CJ of the Madras HC appeared to have taken lightly the decision of the Collegiums headed by the Chief Justice of India not to confirm the services of Justice Kannadasan as a judge of HC, which had required him to quit the HC on November 5, 2005. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Noticing the cogent reason for the Collegium's decision not to confirm Justice Kannadasan as a permanent judge, the Bench asked: "An additional judge who had not been made permanent, technically could be appointed as an acting or additional judge but then the question which was required to be asked was: Should a person who had not been found fit be so appointed? The answer to the aforementioned question clearly would be a big emphatic `no'." <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Justice Sinha, writing the judgment for the Bench, said "If a person has made himself disqualified to hold the post of a judge, the Chief Justice should not consider his name at all" for appointment to any statutory post like president of SCDRC. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >What followed was even more hard-hitting. "If the collegiums of the Supreme Court judges including the CJI, which is a constitutional authority in the matter of appointment of judges and re-appointment of additional judges, did not find him (Justice Kannadasan) eligible, it would be beyond anybody's comprehension as to how the Chief Justice of a high court could find him eligible/suitable for holding statutory post requiring possession of qualification of holder of a constitutional office," the Bench said. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Supreme Court of India deadline on High Security Number plates</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Supreme Court on Tuesday set a three-month deadline for the Centre and the state governments to implement high security registration plates (HSRPs), removing all ambiguity about the mandatory nature of its earlier order on the issue. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The SC had on </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:date year="2008" day="8" month="5"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >May 8, 2008</span></st1:date></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >, given governments six months to implement the HSRPs after making modifications in the scheme drafted by the Centre. However, most of the states, citing doubts about whether the SC order was mandatory or not, have not implemented it. A Bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and A K Ganguly dispelled the doubts outlined by advocate Wasim Qadri, who appeared for the Centre and the </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:city><st1:place><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >Delhi</span></st1:place></st1:city></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > government. It said the states could not sidestep an important public interest measure that was directed to be implemented by the SC.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The development means that the state governments will soon be getting after the motor vehicle owners to switch to the HSRPs in order to carry out the order. The court had, in its earlier judgment, dismissed challenges to the scheme holding it to be in public interest. The HSRP can track down stolen vehicles through satellite monitoring since it is fitted with a security chip, thus preventing the misuse of such vehicles in crimes.” Use of stolen vehicles in crimes, especially terrorism related offences, are increasing steadily and this can be controlled to a large extent by implementation of the HSRP,'' the court had said. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >When most of the states did not implement the court's year-old order, petitioner Maninderjit Singh Bitta moved an application seeking a directive to the governments to take urgent steps. Bitta said that it was a matter of concern that except for a few states none had implemented the HSRP. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >
<br /></span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >TRAI gets Supreme Court of </span></b><st1:country-region style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><st1:place><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >India</span></b></st1:place></st1:country-region><b><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> nod to fix TV tariffs</span> <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >It Will Also Examine Capping Of Subscription Charges to Broadcasters<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the green signal to TRAI to work out a fresh tariff regime that would determine how much a consumer paid for watching TV channels.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""> </span>And it would work this out without being caged by the stinging observations of TDSAT, which had directed TRAI to study the matter afresh and issue a comprehensive order covering all aspects including the issue of subscription base. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >While TRAI counsel Harish Salve agreed to look into the matter without being bound by TDSAT directive for reworking the amount to be levied from consumers, it was senior advocate Fali S Nariman who argued that TRAI should also look into the grievance of broacasters. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Nariman said while TRAI had capped the tariff to be levied from consumers for watching TV channels, the broadcasters were made to cough up astronomical amounts to cable operators (MSOs) to carry the channels to the homes. He said the amount has gone up from Rs 6 crore in 2004 to Rs 33 crore at present.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""> </span>A Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishna and Justice P Sathasivam and J M Panchal brushed aside the objection of senior advocate C S Vaidyananthan, appearing for MSOs, that the issue of capping the carrier charges was not the subject matter in the appeal.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >It said: “TRAI shall also consider the feasibility of putting cap on subscription charges to the broadcasters and any other allied aspects in this regard.” “The TRAI may also consider the matter de novo as regards all other relevant aspects and give a report to this court by </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><st1:date year="2009" day="1" month="8"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;" >August 1, 2009</span></st1:date></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >,” the bench said <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >TRAI had filled the appeal in the SC alleging that TDSAT’s decision to strike down its traffic regulations has put the people at the mercy of broadcasters who generally club a good channel with a number of not so good channels and offer them as a bouquet with a ‘take all or none’ condition.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Source: <a href="http://timesofindia.com">The Times of India</a></span>
<br /></p><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""></span><o:p></o:p></span> Jituhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566503151948405963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732218349096502384.post-34603690760741402492009-07-20T04:16:00.000-07:002009-07-20T22:51:09.219-07:00Judgment of Supreme Court of India<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Witness protection a must to make justice a reality: SC</span><br /></div>The Supreme Court has sounded the alarm on the growing trend of witnesses turning hostile in criminal cases involving the rich and influential, stressing that justice would remain a far cry unless a witness protection mechanism was put in place.<br /><br />"In cases involving influential people, the common experience is that witnesses do not come forward because of fear and pressure... (it) depicts a tremendous need for witness protection in our country if criminal justice administration has to be a reality," the apex court said.<br /><br />The blunt acknowledgement of reality came in a recent judgment relating to an 11-year-old incident in Government Girls College at Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh, where an influential politician's son crushed a girl under the wheels of his jeep for daring to confront him over his rowdy behavior.<br /><br />The arrogant youth's ego was hurt when the girl demanded an explanation for his unruly behavior and refused to give way. Angered by this, the accused drove the jeep over her and crushed her skull right inside the college. Many friends of the victim witnessed the brutal killing. Not just that. Some of them even tried to catch hold of the assailant and his flunkies.<br /><br />All of them, however, turned hostile when it came to telling the truth before the trial court.<br /><br />Upholding the conviction of Samarvijay Singh, who was behind the wheels of the jeep on December 3, 1998, when the incident occurred, a bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat (since retired) and A K Ganguly termed this case a "classic case of deficiency in the criminal justice system to protect witnesses from being threatened by accused".<br /><br />The bench said it appeared from the record that friends of the victim, her fellow classmates, were eyewitnesses to the incident yet they turned hostile before the trial court, backing out from the statements they had made before the police at the time of investigation.<br /><br />"The statement made before the police during investigation is no evidence. Unfortunately, in cases involving influential people, the common experience is that witnesses do not come forward because of fear and pressure," the bench said.<br /><br />Convinced that this case involved exertion of a lot of pressure on witnesses, the bench noticed that one of the victim's friend broke down during cross-examination and blurted out partial facts and requested the trial court not to call her again.<br /><br />"The plight of the girls who were under pressure depicts the tremendous need for witness protection in our country, if criminal justice administration has to be a reality," the bench said.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Source:</span> <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Witness-protection-a-must-to-make-justice-a-reality-SC/articleshow/4642172.cms">The Times of India</a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Girls above 18 entitled to live with or marry anyone: SC</span><br /></div>What it had observed two days ago, the Supreme Court on Thursday put it in writing — Girls above 18 years of age can live or marry with anyone of their choice. Unhappy parents could at best severe their ties with her and dare not harass or torture her taking law into their hands, it warned.<br /><br />This order was passed by a vacation Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Deepak Verma while protecting one Fiaz Ahmed Ahanger of Jammu and Kashmir from harassment at the hands of the police on the basis of a complaint lodged by the parents of his wife, a Hindu girl.<br /><br />The girl, with an infant in her lap, stood before the Bench, braved questions and was unflappable in her resolve to live with her husband. But, there was a urgent plea from her to save her husband from harassment at the hands of the police and threats from her parents and brothers who did not agree to the inter-religious marriage.<br /><br />Convinced that she had attained majority, the Bench put it down in writing: "India is a free country where girls after attaining the age of 18 years have the freedom to live with or marry anyone they like. Parents, if not happy, could at the worst severe their ties with her but cannot threaten, coerce or torture her."<br /><br />The girl converted to Islam and acquired a Muslim name Mehvesh Anjum to marry Fiaz, a teacher in Ramban district in J&K in December 2007. On coming to know about their daughter's marriage, her parents forcibly brought her back and got her married off to a Hindu. But she escaped and got reunited with Fiaz.<br /><br />Seething with anger, the parents and the second husband lodged a case of kidnapping against Fiaz. The police harassed the couple, who moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to seek stay of the police investigation. The HC passed an order in May 2008 refusing to stay the police probe following which the couple appealed to the Supreme Court.<br /><br />The SC offered police protection to the couple and stayed their arrest. "We direct nobody will threaten, harass or commit any violence or unlawful act against the petitioner (Fiaz), the girl or the petitioners' family members," the Bench said, though it refused to stay the police probe into the case.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Source:</span> <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4561615.cms">The Times of India</a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">Injuries not necessary for confirmation of rape: SC<br /></div>An accused can be convicted for rape even if there are no injuries on the private parts of the victim as the same does not amount to consensual sex, the Supreme Court has ruled.<br /><br />"Corroborative evidence is not an imperative component of judicial credence in every case of rape nor the absence of injuries on the private parts of the victim can be construed as evidence of consent," a bench of Justices V S Sirpurkar and R M Lodha said.<br /><br />The bench passed the ruling while rejecting the argument of convict Rajender alias Raju who claimed that absence of any injuries on the victims' private parts indicated that she consented to the sex and that the charge of rape was not corroborated by any other evidence except the testimony of the victim.<br /><br />The apex court said that in rape cases the sole testimony of the witness without any corroboration can be relied on as rarely would a self-respecting Indian woman accuse a man of raping her.<br /><br />"In the context of Indian culture, a woman victim of sexual aggression would rather suffer silently than to falsely implicate somebody. Any statement of rape is an extremely humiliating experience for a woman and until she is a victim of sex crime, she would not blame anyone but the real culprit.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Source:</span> <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4763672.cms">The Times of India</a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">Do not lie to the court, SC tells lawyers<br /></div>"Do not lie to the court" — this advice from the Supreme Court to a junior advocate invited suppressed smirks from a small crowd of lawyers and litigants present before a vacation Bench on Wednesday. For, everyone is aware of the public perception about the legal profession.<br /><br />What followed from a Bench comprising Justice B Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam made a lot of sense as it was an expression of deep anguish over the manner in which lawyers resort to falsehood and suppression of facts causing immense harm to the trust judges once reposed in them.<br /><br />To deliver speedy justice, much in need given spiraling litigation and huge pendency of cases, judges have to rely on statements made by lawyers about their cases, the Bench said, adding that if judges had to read each and every word in case files, then disposal would take years.<br /><br />"What will happen if the judges become wary of lawyers' statements made across the Bar.? In the apex court, we trust the advocates for they and the judges are equal partners in administration of justice. How can we carry on with the job if we start distrusting the lawyers," the Bench said.<br /><br />It made no attempt to hide its deep hurt to find a writ petition filed by a young advocate suppressing the fact that his client's earlier special leave petition against eviction was dismissed by a three-judge Bench of the apex court and his petition seeking review of the dismissal order was pending.<br /><br />Admonishing the advocate for wasting the court's time, as the judges had to spend considerable time in discovering the hidden facts, Justice Reddy said this type of cases block genuine cases, which get delayed.<br /><br />Admonition complete, the judges displayed their concern towards the young advocate and invited him to their chamber to guide him on how to conduct himself as a lawyer.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Source:</span> <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Do-not-lie-to-the-court-SC-tells-lawyers/articleshow/4641220.cms">The Times of India</a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">SC refers UPSC quota row to Constitution bench<br /></div>New Delhi, May 14: The Supreme Court on Thursday referred to a Constitution Bench the question whether candidates belonging to reserved categories selected for union civil services on merit should be appointed for reserved posts or under the general quota.<br /><br />A three-judge bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices P Sathasivam and J M Panchal said it was referring the matter to a Constitution Bench as certain complicated questions of Constitutional law were involved.<br /><br />The apex court made the reference while disposing off a batch of petitions filed by the union government and several candidates challenging rule 16(2) of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).<br /><br />Under the existing rule, reserved candidates, if selected on their merit, are to be allocated posts in the general category. But this rule is applicable only in appointments made in the posts held under the state governments as there is no such legislation for central government posts.<br /><br />Under the rule, UPSC had allotted 64 reserved candidates belonging to OBC and SC candidate, who were selected on their merit without reservation benefits, posts under the reserved category for appointments to "preferential posts."<br /><br />The move was challenged by certain aggrieved candidates belonging to reserved categories who contended that allotment of posts to the meritorious reserved candidates within the reserved category was violative of the reservation policy.<br /><br />The Madras High Court struck down the rule as illegal and unconstitutional following which the Centre and several aggrieved candidates filed the special leave petition in the apex court.<br /><br />The UPSC has made it clear that the results declared by it were provisional and would be subject to the outcome of the appeal pending before the apex court.<br /><br />The High Court had held as 'null and void' Rule 16 (2) of the Examination Rules of the Government of India for Civil Services Examination saying that it ran counter to the benefit of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBC candidates and was not affirmative, progressive and pragmatic in achieving social justice.<br /><br />In all, 457 candidates were selected for the final list for the years 2006 and 2007. Of this, 31 OBC and one SC candidate made it through the merit list (unreserved) but at the same time availed their postings under the reserved category.<br /><br />This action by the UPSC, based on Rule 16 (2), deprived equal number of candidates from the said communities of availing the postings, the High Court had held.<br /><br />"It amounts to reducing the number of posts reserved for the SC/ST/OBC and adding the same number of posts to the unreserved category, thus making a mockery of the entire rule of reservation," the High Court had said.<br /><br />Instead of helping achieving social justice, the rule was acting against the SC/ST/OBC candidates, the High Court had observed.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Source:</span> <a href="http://http//www.zeenews.com/news531808.html">Zee News</a>Jituhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11566503151948405963noreply@blogger.com3