Kiren Rijiju's exit from the coveted law ministry came in the midst of his frequent criticism of the judiciary, particularly on the system of appointment of judges to high courts and the Supreme Court.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the transfer of Justice Banerjee to the Meghalaya high court. This decision snowballed into a controversy with voices for and against the shifting of the senior judge.
Justice Bose is the Chief Justice of Jharkhand high court whereas Justice Bopanna is the Gauhati high court Chief Justice.
'Presumption of innocence must guide all formal actions, but transparency must not be mistaken for pre-judgment.' 'The cruel irony, however, is that Justice Varma is a fine judge who enjoys a reputation for writing well-reasoned judgments.'
Keen to scrap the collegium system, government on Monday introduced a Constitution Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha to establish a six-member body for appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the high courts.
"We have prepared a broad platform where we have assessed the top 50 judges of the country who would be considered for appointment to the Supreme Court of India. We have data on judgments and the quality of judgments. The idea is to make the process of appointment in the Supreme Court more transparent," the CJI said.
Justices Rajesh Bindal and Aravind Kumar were administered oath during a swearing-in ceremony held in the Supreme Court premises.
Mendiratta was appointed as judge based on his seniority as a judicial officer, sources in the government said.
Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, whose elevation to the Supreme Court was halted, has been asked by the apex court collegium to go on leave. Sources said the decision was taken against Dinakaran, who has not been performing any judicial work since last December, as several representations were received that the judicial work of the high court has been hit. Sources said the collegium has also cleared the name of the acting chief justice of the Delhi HC.
The Madras High Court on Friday directed the Tamil Nadu government to file a report on whether the land being claimed by some persons in Kaverirajapuram were covered in the Thiruvallur district collector's report to the Supreme Court Collegium, which was looking into allegations of land-grabbing in the area by Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran.
No institution in a constitutional democracy, including the collegium, is perfect and the solution is to work within the existing system, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said on Friday.
The government on Thursday said it has suggested to the Supreme Court that the search-cum-evaluation committee for the appointment of judges in the apex court and chief justices of high courts should consist of a representative nominated by the Centre.
'As a result of delays, the desired reliefs are not coming for taxpayers.'
Justice Pushpa Ganediwala recently acquitted a man accused of groping a 12-year-old girl's breast because he did not make skin-to-skin contact and days earlier, ruled that holding the hands of a five-year-old girl and unzipping the trousers do not amount to "sexual assault" under the POCSO Act.
The Supreme Court will hear on Monday a batch of petitions challenging the 121st constitutional amendment by which collegium system for appointment of judges in higher judiciary was scrapped and a new mechanism under National Judicial Appointment Commission was proposed to be put in place.
'When two organs of our Constitution, which are supposed to be the strongest pillars of Indian democracy, start mistrusting each other, then what is left of the country? What is left of democracy?'
The government issued a public notice inviting suggestions from the common man on ways to improve the collegium system to appoint judges to the Supreme Court and the high courts.
Defending the collegium's decision to appoint advocate Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri appointment as a judge of the Madras high court, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has said one should not be "cold calling" individuals merely for views they may have held as lawyers.
It made the observation while deciding to keep the Gujarat high court advocate association's plea pending which has sought a direction to the Centre to implement the Supreme Court collegium's recommendations on the transfer of Bombay high court judge Justice Akil Kureshi.
The bench expressed displeasure over the delay by the Centre in clearing recommendations for transfer of high court judges, saying "it is a very, very serious issue".
Justice Chandrachud will serve as the CJI for two years till November 10, 2024.
Allahabad High Court judge Justice Shekhar Yadav, who was embroiled in controversy for his speech at a VHP event in December, has opted out of a seminar on the Ram temple movement in the Kumbh Mela area on January 22. Yadav was scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the seminar, which is being held to mark the first anniversary of the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram Lalla in the Ayodhya temple.
With the elevation of these four new judges, the strength has risen from 24 to 28.
Senior judges have developed a cushy arrangement among themselves: you back the appointment of so-and-so advocate's junior, and I will back so-and-so judge's nephew, says Subir Roy
The appointments to the Supreme Court and the high courts cannot be speeded up unless both the Judiciary and the Executive agree to a new mechanism which affords both near-parity in decision-making, argues Virendra Kapoor.
It is for the first time in the history of the apex court that nine judges took oath of office at one go.
The government's decision of not approving Joseph's name has evoked sharp reactions.
A day after informing Parliament that the Prime Minister's Office under Manmohan Singh had pushed for extension to a judge facing corruption charges, the government on Wednesday demanded that the former prime minister should make a "categorical" statement on the controversial matter.
Vice President Dhankar's and Law Minister Rijuju's recent interventions have the danger of destabilising the Constitutional equilibrium, cautions N Sathiya Moorthy.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud's first 100 days in office saw the Supreme Court take a giant leap towards reforms, especially making courts more technology-friendly, and ensuring relatively fast judicial appointments including those of eight judges to the apex court.
The Supreme Court Bar Association has written to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana expressing anguish at the non-consideration of names of its members for elevation as judges in various high courts.
The Supreme Court is all set to regain its full strength of 34 judges with the apex court collegium headed by CJI N V Ramana recommending names of the Chief Justice of Gauhati high court Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Gujarat high court judge Justice Jamshed B Pardiwala for elevation to the apex court, sources said.
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.
The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Wednesday the verdict on bringing transparency in the collegium system of appointing judges in higher judiciary.
I would say, unhappiness of the Government of the fact that NJAC does not pass the muster, Justice Kaul observed.
Justice Sonia Giridhar Gokani, senior-most judge of the Gujarat high court, was appointed its chief justice.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said the collegium system, which became re-operational with Friday's Supreme Court verdict, is not found in the Constitution.
The lawyers' body has moved the top court challenging the Bombay high court's February 9 order dismissing its plea on the ground that it was not a fit case to invoke the writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution.
Notwithstanding reservations of judiciary, Parliament on Thursday took cleared two bills providing for a new mechanism for appointment of judges to higher judiciary by scrapping the collegium system that had come under attack from political parties and others.
The Supreme Court on Monday regained its full strength of 34 judges as chief justice of Gauhati high court Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Gujarat high court judge Justice Jamshed B Pardiwala took oath as apex court judges.
