Upset since appointment of Rohinton Nariman as the solicitor general of India last July from outside the hierarchy, Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran has turned down the government's offer to renew his contract.
The apex court was hearing a plea by a former woman judicial officer who resigned following an inquiry into her allegations of sexual harassment against a Madhya Pradesh high court judge.
Licence of NGO run by Indira Jaising--'Lawyers' Collective'--was suspended by the government for 6 months.
A nine-judge Supreme Court bench has reserved its order on petitions related to discrimination against women at religious places, including the Sabarimala temple, and the scope of religious freedom.
The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for November 12 to address the statutory age of consent for adolescents, emphasizing the need for a continuous and comprehensive examination of the issue. The Centre defends the current age of consent, while an amicus curiae suggests lowering it.
Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt wants BJP chief Amit Shah to be made a respondent for allegedly foisting wrong criminal cases against him, former additional solicitor general Indira Jaising tells Prasanna Zore/Rediff.com
A huge uproar has been created after an article appeared in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh journal Organiser, which states that Hindus in Kerala lack "a collective consciousness of Godliness", and rationalists in the state "often attack everything dear to Hinduism" with their "street activism".
'To suggest that activists -- and that too 'five star activists' -- are driving the courts, is to betray an ignorance of the functioning of the legal system of the most gross kind,' says Senior Advocate and former Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising.
Delhi HC said, with reference to the Greenpeace activist, that difference of opinion does not mean being anti-national.
The Goa bench of the Bombay high court on Thursday directed a sessions court, which recently acquitted journalist Tarun Tejpal in a 2013 rape case, to redact all references in its judgment which disclose the victim's identity, before uploading it on the court's website.
The former IPS officer had also sought impleadment of Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah, the then MoS Home in the state government and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionary S Gurumurthy as parties in his petition, which was also rejected.
'Given the current fear that the government is going to appoint judges who were in line with its ideology, there should be full disclosure in Parliament about the details of every judge appointee,' Indira Jaising -- the first woman to be appointed additional solicitor general of India -- tells Geetanjali Krishna.
'The sense of fear generated by indiscriminate and unwarranted filing of FIRs prevents people from exercising their fundamental rights; people go silent or give up the fight as the legal process is itself the punishment.'
Not granting a stay or quashing the Centre's notification clipping AAP administration's powers, the Delhi high court on Friday directed the Lt Governor to "deliberate" on the city government's proposals on appointment of senior bureaucrats to key posts.
The government on Friday told the Supreme Court that it is difficult to block international porn sites in the country and sought more time to consult various ministries to find a solution.
Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Department of Telecommunication seeking its response as to how to block websites with pornographic content in the country, particularly those featuring child pornography.
Justice Lodha's attribution of guilt to the owners of teams, rather than to individuals, has laid out the law of command and responsibility, responsibility by virtue of ownership of shareholding, team membership and holding out to be the face of the team, says Indira Jaising.
'It will be difficult to challenge Hindutva anymore as the police will have the power to charge you as anti-national.'
'It is obvious that this is both illegal and unconstitutional.'
A former law intern, who has made sexual harassment allegations against Justice Swatanter Kumar, on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking inquiry against the retired judge.
According to the govt, Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai cannot be allowed to travel to London as she would indulge in anti-national activities.
"What kind of prayer is this," the bench said.
Excerpts of an affidavit by a law intern, who has accused former Supreme Court judge A K Ganguly of sexual harassment, have been made public in an unusual step by Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising, sparking off fresh demands for his resignation as chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission.
A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde at the outset said that it will only deal with the issues referred to it by a five-judge bench on November 14 in the Sabarimala case, and asked the lawyers to convene a meeting on January 17 to decide on 're-framing' or adding additional issues to be deliberated upon by it.
An Indian connection to the war crimes tribunal has emerged, further complicating matters, says RS Chauhan
'Section 153A is not meant to protect fragile sentiments of the majority Hindu community who choose to get offended by slogans celebrating the success of the Pakistani cricket team.'
It has been alleged by the AAP government that it is unable to function as most of its decisions are either annulled or changed by Centre at the behest of Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on the ground that Delhi is not a complete state.
'I rejoice in the fact that Justice Iyer has left a legacy, after all, legacies no not reside in brick and mortar, but in living humans and there are many of us who have followed in his footsteps and continue to do so.' Former additional solicitor general Indira Jaising salutes the legendary Justice V R Krishna Iyer who passed into the ages last week, the judge who restored her faith in the Supreme Court of India.
A former law intern, who accused ex-Supreme Court judge A K Ganguly of sexual harassment, has hit back at him for denying the charges and hinted that she may file a police complaint.
As pressure mounted on him to quit as the chief of West Bengal Human Rights Commission over a sexual assault allegation, former Supreme Court judge Ashok Kumar Ganguly on Tuesday said he was "undecided" on his future course of action.
'All judges are conscious of the historical legacy they leave behind. Chief Justice Thakur understands the important question of Constitutional law involved and the change in public mood,' lawyer Anand Grover tells Sunil Sethi.
'The government is using the Intelligence Bureau to go after NGOs.' 'It is not only the NDA, the UPA also didn't like NGOs.' 'NGOs predominantly work with the poor. So, when you cancel an NGO, the affected are the poor, the Dalits, the tribals, the street children and the marginalised.'
Opposition leaders believe this entire plan has been put in place to ensure that Mamata Banerjee is kept out of office in West Bengal.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the reinstatement of a former Madhya Pradesh woman judicial officer, who resigned in 2014 following an inquiry into her allegations of sexual harassment against a high court judge, saying her resignation cannot be construed to be voluntary.
Rao, 82, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), is currently undergoing treatment in the Mumbai-based Nanavati Hospital where he had been admitted by the Maharashtra government following the high court's intervention.
Amidst reports of Congress' confabulations with the Rashtriya Janata Dal for a secular alliance in Bihar in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday took a dig at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the Congress preferring Lalu Prasad over him and said such an 'opportunistic' alliance was not a cause of worry for it.
While courts are there to tackle crime and a few non-government organisations support victims of crime, NCW, a body empowered to take suo moto interest in a case, is in between, says Aparna Kalra
'No private citizen can be prevented from holding or propagating in India or abroad, a view contrary to that of the government of the day. The government, it seems is misreading the mandate in the Lok Sabha as being a mandate to crush dissent. In times when ruling parties have brute majorities in Parliament, the true test of safeguarding democracy is its ability to allow dissenting voices to be heard,' says Indira Jaising, the former additional solicitor general.
'Will the age of majority be decided on a case-by-case basis by judges?' 'Does a 24-year-old woman still need "care, protection and guidance" and only from parents?' 'Is a Facebook post enough to declare a person a dangerous radical?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
The two were arrested for alleged embezzlement of funds for a museum in Ahmedabad.
