Aravindan Balakrishnan, a 75-year-old Indian-origin man who ran a secretive extremist Maoist cult in London, was on Friday sentenced to 23 years in jail by a UK court for a string of sexual assaults.
The Supreme Court will hear on October 26 a petition alleging that Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal has links with the underworld. An appeal filed by M Furquan, a Delhi-based journalist, has alleged that funds for Jet Airways was given by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. He has also sought a CBI inquiry into the matter.
Facing criticism on the controversy surrounding former minister A Raja allegedly attempting to influence a Madras high court judge, former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan on Wednesday insisted that the minister's name was not mentioned by Justice H L Gokhale in his report.
The Supreme Court on Friday issued contempt notice to noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan for allegedly casting aspersions on some of the judges, including a senior most apex court judge and previous Chief Justices of India in an interview to a news magazine.
Rejecting allegations against him, K G Balakrishnan, the former chief justice of India on Wednesday said that there was no mention of any Union minister in the report sent by the chief justice of the Madras high court on the Justice Reghupathi episode.
Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan has ordered a probe into the complaint filed by one Shameer from Mattanchery, Kochi against PV Sreenijan, the son-in-law of Justice KG Balakrishnan, the former Chief Justice of India, for allegedly amassing property at worth Rs 7 crore in the last four years.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to brief it on whether it has conducted any inquiry on allegation against former chief justice of India and National Human Right Commission chief K G Balakrishnan of amassing assets disproportionate to his income. A bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia directed the government to respond within a month on action taken by it or intended to be taken on allegations that the former CJI amassed properties worth Rs 40 crore.
National Human Rights Commission Chairman K G Balakrishnan on Friday termed as "absolutely incorrect" the allegations made against him by a former Kerala high court judge who has demanded his resignation. Balakrishnan told reporters that the allegations are "absolutely incorrect" and these are being made and spread by "people with vested interests".
There were mixed reactions from parties to Markandey Katju's charge that three ex-chief justices of India had compromised in giving extension and elevation to an additional judge of Madras high court at UPA government's instance, with some including All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam demanding a probe while others questioned the timing of his disclosure.
After four years, the Supreme Court had a woman judge with Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra, Chief Justice of the Jharkhand high court, being sworn in on Friday.
Karnataka high court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran's elevation to the Supreme Court has been kept in abeyance in view of the impeachment proceedings against him in the Rajya Sabha over land grabbing allegations, Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan said on Friday.
The Supreme Court collegium has decided to drop its recommendation for elevating Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, facing charges of land grabbing, to the apex court, bringing to end months of controversy over the move. The collegium led by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and including Justice S H Kapadia, Tarun Chatterjee, Altamas Kabir and R V Raveendran, met on Thursday evening and decided to take back the recommendation for his elevation.
Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, currently chairman of Press Council of India, on Monday stirred a controversy by alleging that three ex-Chief Justices of India had compromised in giving extension to an additional judge of Madras high court at the instance of the United Progressive Alliance government in the wake of pressure from one of its allies, apparently Dravida Munnetra Kazahagham.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a public interest litigation seeking judicial inquiry against former chief justice of India Y K Sabharwal.
The decision was taken after a meeting of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India Justice K G Balakrishnan.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the President to take a decision on a complaint filed before her against the National Human Rights Commission Chairman and former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan regarding his alleged misconduct during his tenure as a judge in the apex court.The apex court refused to direct the Centre to recommend a Presidential reference for the removal of Balakrishnan as the chairman of the NHRC.
The Kerala government on Thursday ordered a vigilance probe into the charges of amassing disproportionate wealth by P V Sreenijan, son-in-law of former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan. According to official sources, the order was issued by Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, based on the recommendation to conduct such a probe against Sreenijan by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan.
An advocate, who has moved the Supreme Court for a probe into the assets of close relatives of K G Balakrishnan, was on Friday allowed by the Supreme Court to submit additional documents related to the property acquired by them after he had become the Chief Justice of India.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked Attorney General G E Vahanvati to apprise it about the status of a complaint filed in May last year against former chief justice of India and chairman of the National Human Rights Commission K G Balakrishnan, seeking a probe by the CBI into his assets. "What is the status of the complaint forwarded to the ministry of home affairs," a bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia sought to know.
The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan has sought the services of government's technologically advanced surveying and mapping agency to verify allegations of land grabbing against Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran whose elevation to the apex court has been put on hold.Meanwhile, the Advocates Association of Bangalore appealed to the Chief Justice of India.
Adding to the woes of former Chief Justice of India and National Human Rights Commission chairman K G Balakrishnan, the Kerala government set in motion the process of vigilance probe against his son-in-law on a complaint of amassing wealth while Balakrishnan's younger brother and government pleader in Kerala High Court K G Bhaskaran went on medical leave in the wake of similar allegations against him.
The name of Karnataka high court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, who is facing allegations of land grabbing, has been "delinked" from four others who have been cleared for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court.
In a landmark verdict against the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday held that the office of the Chief Justice of India comes within the ambit of the Right to Information law, saying judicial independence is not a judge's privilege but a responsibility cast upon him.
Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan on Monday said the Supreme Court collegium made a mistake in recommending the name of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran for appointment to the apex court and maintained that any judge found to have trespassed any land is not fit to be elevated.
"It is better to have some guidelines whether these types of PILs can be entertained," a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said.
The book, "Narendra Modi -- Harbinger of Prosperity & Apostle of World Peace", was released by justice (retd) K G Balakrishnan, former chief justice of India, to mark the completion of six years of Modi as the prime minister.
The two constitutional heads gave vent to their feelings on a common platform -- a conference of chief ministers and chief justices of High Courts at the Vigyan Bhavan -- in the presence of several legal luminaries.
Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan has said that UK law firms could be allowed to operate in India but a final decision in the matter would have to be taken by the Indian Bar Council.
He opined that procedural delays like granting sanction and difficulty in marshalling large number of witnesses were the major hurdles in achieving meaningful convictions.
The order will be passed by a five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justices NV Ramana, DY Chandrachud, Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna on a petition filed by a Supreme Court Secretary-General challenging the January 2010 judgment of the Delhi high court.
"Sufficient laws are there, they just need to be implemented properly," Balakrishnan told reporters when asked about the need for stricter laws to check illegal transplantation of organs. He was speaking on the sidelines of a conference on 'Prevention of kidney disease' at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss had recently said the Organ Transplantation Act would be amended to simplify the procedure.
Justice Kumar sent the statement to Registrar General of the High Court on Monday with a comment that it can also be made public, High Court sources said on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court on Friday restrained the Uttar Pradesh government from carrying out building and construction activities for the installation of statues and memorials of Dalit icons, including Chief Minister Mayawati, at a park in Noida adjacent to the national capital.
The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government on a plea for removing alleged unreasonable restrictions imposed by the authorities in Ayodhya on worshipping Lord Rama in the temple at the disputed site.A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices A K Ganguly and B S Chauhan also issued notices to the Faizabad district commissioner and others, on an application filed by Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy.
The Supreme Court on Friday shifted to a Delhi court seven cases registered against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray in Jharkhand and Bihar for promoting animosity among citizens by his alleged hate speeches against north Indians.
The Supreme Court on Friday shifted to a Delhi court seven cases registered against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray in Jharkhand and Bihar for promoting animosity among citizens by his alleged hate speeches against north Indians.
On April 24, the High Court had directed the EC to register a case against Jayalalithaa following a petition filed by DMK MP C Kuppuswamy alleging that AIADMK leader had suppressed facts and filed nominations from four Assembly constituencies.
In a major relief to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Supreme court on Thursday set aside the Patna High court decision against the acquittal of the RJD chief and his wife in the disproportionate assets case, filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Badal and his family members are facing trial under the Prevention of Corruption Act for acquiring assets disproportionate to their known sources of income by misusing their official status. A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Mr justice R V Raveendran, however, refused to stay the trial.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the Uttar Pradesh government's petition against Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, relating to the Barabanki land deal. The two judge bench headed by Chief Justice Justice K G Balakrishnan dismissed the petition filed by the UP government, which challenged the Allahabad High Court's order restraining it from initiating any criminal, civil or revenue proceedings against Bachchan in the case.