Former attorney general of India Goolam Essaji Vahanvati, the first Muslim to become the top law officer of the country, died in Mumbai on Tuesday following a heart attack aged 65.
Senior advocate Goolam E Vahanvati was appointed as the new Attorney General on Monday, the country's top law officer.
Determined not to be arm-twisted into delaying the execution, he decided to hold a late night hearing at his residence. In the pitch blackness of the night, the original verdict was upheld. The next morning, on 9 October 1992, General Vaidya's assassins were hanged until death.
'People don't know about the immense pressures that come with this position -- every decision a judge takes affects real people and their lives.' 'This is not a job that one can take lightly.' A
The country's two top law officers Attorney General Goolam Essaji Vahanvati and Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran have tendered their resignations following the change in the government at the Centre.
India's solicitor general, Goolam Vahanvati, will travel to Australia to establish the facts surrounding the incidents of racial abuse.
Vahanvati's clear stand in court on Tuesday that he has not seen the draft copy of the CBI status report on the coal scam investigation means that there is some design behind his stand? The next stage of the drama will unfold CBI to file its version before the apex court on May 6. Sheela Bhatt reports.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum allocation has concluded that Attorney General G E Vahanvati was aware of the procedure approved by the Department of Telecommunication on first-come-first served criteria in file notings.
Attorney General G E Vahanvati on Wednesday apologised before the Supreme Court for losing his cool during arguments in the coal blocks allocation scam case on Tuesday.
Central Bureau of Investigation Director Ranjit Sinha on Monday compounded the woes of Attorney General G E Vahanvati by claiming in his affidavit to the Supreme Court that the top law officer not only "glanced" through the draft status report but also suggested changes in them.
Additional Solicitor General Harin Rawal, in a tersely-written letter to his boss and Attorney General G E Vahanvati, accusing him of messy handling of the CBI in the coal scam investigation, and sparking speculation that the latter may recuse himself from the case. Sheela Bhatt reports.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja, the main accused in 2G spectrum scam, has told the Joint Parliamentary Committee that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in the loop over policy decisions and has accused Attorney General G E Vahanvati of telling a "series of untruths" against him.
India's Solicitor General Goolam Vahanvati and South African high court Judge Steven hear allegations of racism in Zimbabwe cricket between September 29 and October 1.
With his appointment as AG, the many constitutional law matters that are pending before the Supreme Court will receive specialised attention.
But it's nice to see the CBI telling the truth overtly and exposing the government that it serves covertly, says Sheela Bhatt.
The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain the Centre's request to defer till next year its July 23 order limiting the government's discretionary quota for Haj pilgrims.
The government on Wednesday clarified its stand on homosexuality before the Supreme Court, saying it is in favour of decriminalisation of gay sex and the Delhi high court verdict is acceptable to it.
Attorney General G E Vahanvati has complained to the Delhi police over a hoax call he received from a woman imitating Congress President Sonia Gandhi regarding some high profile cases in the Supreme Court following which a police probe has begun.
Attorney General G E Vahanvati on Friday recommended that impeachment motion to remove Justice Soumitra Sen as the judge of the Calcutta High Court must go on in the Lok Sabha despite his resignation.
The government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that once a bureaucrat is given a vigilance nod for appointment as secretary, no further clearance is required for empanelment for appointment as the central vigilance commissioner. "Once a person is appointed as secretary on clearance by the CVC, he can be considered for empanelment and no further inquiry is required," Attorney General G E Vahanvati submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia.
Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati and Law Secretary D R Meena have been called by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee to give evidence in its probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam.The committee, which has also called Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, Principal Secretary in Prime Minister's Office T K A Nair and Central Bureau of Investigation Director A P Singh, have asked all of them to depose before it on April 15-16.
The BCCI has written to Attorney-General Goolam E Vahanvati and former Chief Justice A S Anand to get clarity on the controversial "whereabouts" clause in WADA'S Anti-Doping Code that has been opposed by top cricketers. Eleven cricketers, including captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, have opposed the clause and have already missed the July 31 deadline to sign the Code.
The Centre on Thursday admitted before the Supreme Court that something went wrong with the coal blocks allocation and that it could have been done in a more refined manner.
"If the court feels that the creamy layer be excluded and says so, the Centre will obey," Solicitor General G E Vahanvati said before a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan.
"Before elections, the demand for One Rank One Pension was an adhikaar, now it is 'agitation' and 'protest'? Obviously, we feel let down, we feel angry," Colonel Dilbag Dabas (retired) tells Insiyah Vahanvaty.
'We waited patiently for 17 months, which is enough time for any government to implement a policy. If they can't do it in 17 months, they are either incompetent or they simply don't want to do it.'
We're not asking for anything new; we're only demanding what has already been promised to us,' Colonel Sanjay Arya (retd) -- one of the many ex-servicemen who protested at Jantar Mantar against the government's delay in implementing One Rank, One Pension -- tells Insiyah Vahanvaty.
"The pension they give us is not sufficient. I get Rs 5,500 per month. I have no family since I didn't marry, but even then I'm struggling to make ends meet," Naik Uday Singh Rawat (retired) tells Insiyah Vahanvaty.
Insiyah Vahanvaty continues our special series on the ex-servicemen agitating for One Rank One Pension at Delhi's Jantar Mantar.
Giving his opinion for the second time in two weeks on the same subject, G E Vahanvati has made it clear that an MP stands disqualified the day he or she is convicted by a court and the notification announcing vacancy in seat should be done immediately.
A Bench comprising Justice S B Sinha and Justice S H Kapadia told Solicitor General G E Vahanvati that the court was given the impression that the FTCs, set up to dispose of long-pending criminal cases, would continue for another five years.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi was on Thursday appointed as the new Attorney General and will have a tenure of three years. The law ministry issued a formal notification appointing him as the top law officer of the National Democratic Alliance government.
The prime minister wasn't comfortable with the series of events in the coal block allotment scam probe, including the uncontested detailed letter sent by Additional Solicitor General Harin P Raval (who quit on Tuesday) to Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati recalling every instance much to the embarrassment of the government, reports Rakesh Bhatnagar
The government on Tuesday sought to downplay the political storm created by Additional Solicitor General Harin Rawal's letter accusing Attorney General G E Vahanvati of trying to interfere in the Central Bureau of Investigation's probe report on coal scam.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir sought response from the Centre and the three intelligence wings for bringing the agencies under the oversight of Parliament and the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on Thursday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a day after the Supreme Court pulled up the government on the probe into the coal allocation scam.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to convey to the Supreme Court on Monday that changes were proposed both by Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Attorney General G M Vahanvati in its status report on investigations into the controversial allocation of coal blocks.
Law Minister Ashwani Kumar's fate hung in balance as the Supreme Court takes on record on Tuesday CBI Director's affidavit and the agency's status report on the coal blocks allocation scam that was shared with the minister and senior officials of PMO and Coal ministry.