A day after his allegations that three former Chief Justices of India made 'improper compromises' to keep on an improper judge stirred a national storm, Justice Markandey Katju posed six questions to one of the Chief Justices, Justice R C Lahoti.
Malhotra will be the first woman judge to be appointed to the top post directly from the bar.
The Congress, on Monday, sought to disapprove the opposition move to impeach Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran saying it is not proper to air opinion on a matter which is under consideration of the apex court.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Friday termed Justice Ajay Rastogi, who will be demitting office on June 17, a "great ally" who possessed judicial compassion and sensitivity for every cause.
Stoking a fresh controversy, Press Council of India chairperson Justice Markandey Katju on Monday alleged that the then Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan had pushed for the elevation of a Madras high court judge with "bad reputation" to the Supreme Court.
Along with her, Uttarakhand high court Chief Justice K M Joseph has also been cleared for elevation to the apex court.
Apart from Joseph, Justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court in the order of seniority notified by the Centre.
The new judges of the top court include Justice B V Nagarathna, who will be in line to be the first woman Chief Justice of India (CJI) in September 2027, Justice Bela M Trivedi, Justice Hima Kohli, Justice C T Ravikumar, Justice M M Sundresh, and senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha.
Justice Chelameswar led three senior judges to an unprecedented press conference, mounting a virtual revolt against CJI Dipak Misra.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday invoked the constitutional 'Lakshman Rekha' guiding different institutions, including the executive and the judiciary, and wondered that if judges become part of administrative appointments, who would carry out judicial work.
Replying to questions in the Upper House of Parliament, the law minister said the Centre has limited powers over appointments of judges.
Chief Justice of India-designate Justice U U Lalit on Friday highlighted three areas on which he intends to work during his 74-day tenure as the head of the judiciary and said he would strive hard to ensure that at least one Constitution bench is functioning in the Supreme Court throughout the year.
He could have blazed a trail that few Indian judges had. It was a missed opportunity of a lifetime, notes Ramesh Menon.
The names have been returned to Centre.
A Constitutional Amendment Bill paving way for the creation of a Judicial Appointments Commission to replace the present collegium system to appoint judges to higher courts was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday amid high drama with the Bharatiya Janata Party walking out.
Away from the courtroom and legal circles, Nariman was a familiar figure for residents of Hauz Khas who would see him walk regularly, even in the cold winter months of December and January.
The NJAC Act, which sought to overturn the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and high court judges, was struck down by the top court in 2015.
The Centre had cleared Justice Indu Malhotra's file, it sent Justice Joseph's file back to the Collegium and asked it to reconsider its recommendation.
With the two appointments, the strength of the top court will rise to 28 with three vacancies.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled out making "wholesale changes" in the collegium system of appointment of judges for higher judciary.
Gowri in her address after sworn in as additional judge asserted that she would dispense justice in realising the dreams of the makers of the Constitution.
Chief Justice of India Justice Chandrachud administered the oath of office to the new judges in a swearing-in ceremony at the apex court's auditorium.
The Centre has decided to put Justice Joseph's name in serial number 3 in the notification.
'There is no doubt that he commands respect. He's on the ball.'
CJI Thakur, who is demitting office on Tuesday as the Chief Justice of India, has been regularly questioning the government over the appointment of judges for higher judiciary
Amid furore created by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members in Parliament for the second day running, the government on Tuesday admitted that a Supreme Court collegium during the United Progressive Alliance rule had recommended extension of a judge in Tamil Nadu who was under corruption cloud.
In a letter to his colleagues at the Bench, the members of the Bar, the Registry and the staff, he appreciated the kindness and warmth with which he and his spouse were greeted during his 11-odd months of tenure.
A bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan in their separate but concurring verdicts noted that being the senior-most judge, the CJI is empowered to exercise 'leadership" on the court and in this role, he is expected to be the "spokesperson and representative" of the judiciary in its dealings with the executive, the government and the community.
'The Supreme Court should take it up with the government and send a message that high court judges are not pawns in the transfer games.'
Creating a record, the CJI headed apex court collegium meetings led to appointment of 11 Supreme Court judges with nine of them, including three women, appointed in one go.
Justice S Muralidhar on Thursday apprised judges and lawyers of the Delhi high court about the sequence of communication on his transfer to Punjab and Haryana high court, saying that he was informed about it on February 17 and had no problem with it.
At a time when there is no mechanism in place to appoint or elevate judges to the higher judiciary, 8 high court judges have retired in a month, raising the vacancies from 384 in August to 392 this month.
The Supreme Court on Monday reconsidered a plea for urgent hearing of a petition challenging the appointment of lawyer Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri as an additional judge of the Madras high court, and advanced the date of hearing to February 7 from February 10.
He will take oath on November 9, a day after incumbent CJI Justice Uday Umesh Lalit demits office on attaining the age of 65.
"This is my last judicial act as a judge of the Delhi high court," Justice S Muralidhar, who has been transferred to the Punjab and Haryana high court, said after delivering a judgment in a matter relating to commercial activities being carried out from residential areas.
"The government has cleared seven names out of the 106 judges and one out of the nine for chief justices, so far. I expect that the government will clear the rest of the names very soon. These appointments will take care of pendency to some extent. I seek the cooperation and support of the Government to enable access to justice and to strengthen democracy," CJI N V Ramana said.
Given the possibilities that next year's assembly elections could throw up, Stalin told the state assembly that an interim report had to be submitted by January 2026. The outcomes may well find its way into the DMK's poll manifesto, thus seeking to keep the electoral focus still on the BJP-ruled Centre and Prime Minister Modi, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Kejriwal claimed that during his meetings with judges he has "overheard them telling each other that they should not talk on phones because they could be tapped". The Chief Minister said when he told them the phones of judges cannot be tapped, "they retorted by saying that all phones could be tapped".
Government on Monday brought into force a controversial law to appoint members to the higher judiciary, two days before a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court hears a clutch of petitions challenging the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act.
The bench referred to the rising vacancies of judges in the high courts and the increasing number of pending cases.
