LEGAL NEWS 11.03.2010

PIL against subsidy for foodgrain-based distilleries dismissed
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pil-against-subsidy-for-foodgrainbased-distilleries-dismissed/589343/
Express News Service
Posted: Thursday , Mar 11, 2010 at 0012 hrs Mumbai:
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging government subsidy to distilleries that manufacture foodgrain-based alcohol.
Hearing the PIL filed by social activist Chetan Kamble, the division bench of Justices F I Rebello and J H Bhatia also lifted an earlier stay on disbursal of subsidy to distilleries.
The court observed that it cannot interfere in a policy decision of the government.
Kamble had challenged the government’s scheme giving subsidy to distilleries using food grains for production of liquor (ethyl alcohol).
The government had earlier stated that there was no threat to food security by using jowar as raw material for production of alcohol.
An affidavit filed by Prakash Gaud, joint secretary, home department, had said Jowar is not a primary cereal consumed in the state, and therefore its use for liquor production will not affect “food security”.
Gaud stated that in the recent years, “there was a surge of 80 per cent in the demand of industrial alcohol over the average consumption of 20-22 crore litres per annum.”
“During the last two years, the requirement of alcohol both for potable as well as industrial sector had gone up substantially,” his affidavit states.
The government’s scheme to incentivise production of liquor from foodgrains had drawn a lot of criticism from opposition parties in the state. Advocate Uday Warunjikar, appearing for petitioner, had argued that diversion of foodgrains for alcohol production would create scarcity and worsen inflation.







Nithyananda scandal: PIL to direct TV channels
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Nithyananda+scandal:+PIL+to+direct+TV+channels&artid=FkEx3PXbazE=&SectionID=Qz/kHVp9tEs=&MainSectionID=Qz/kHVp9tEs=&SectionName=UOaHCPTTmuP3XGzZRCAUTQ==&SEO=Swami%20Nithyananda
Express News Service
First Published : 10 Mar 2010 04:54:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 10 Mar 2010 06:35:20 AM IST

BANGALORE: A public interest litigation was filed in the High Court on Tuesday seeking directions to private television channels not to air the obscene images of Swami Nithyananda in a compromising position with an actress.
KN Subbareddy, former MLA, filed the PIL seeking direction to the regulatory authority of cable news channels and the censor board for taking suitable action against channels for violation of censorship norms.
The petitioner argued that on March 3, a few private television channels aired the clippings of Swami Nithyananda who was allegedly caught on camera in a compromising position with a Tamil actress. The clippings were telecast by two Kannada television channels day in and day out. This episode shocked the people who had great faith in ‘sanyasa dharma’, the petitioner pointed out.
It is unfortunate that the channels telecast the clippings which would affect children and youth, he said.
“Many children and youth who watched the clippings are getting entrapped into believing wrong things,” the petitioner contended.





Citing Board exams, PIL seeks postponement of Maya’s rally
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Citing-Board-exams--PIL-seeks-postponement-of-Maya-s-rally/589481/
Express News Service
Posted: Thursday , Mar 11, 2010 at 0306 hrs Lucknow:
A day after a local lawyer filed a petition seeking a ban on the proposed BSP rally on March 15, another PIL seeking a change in the date of the rally was filed at the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday.
The PIL stated that March 15 being a Monday is a working day and hundreds of students will appear for various Board examinations. Petitioner Sangam Lal Pandey has sought the court’s intervention in asking the BSP to hold the rally on a non-working day. The CBSE, ICSE and UP Board examinations are currently underway in the state. “We have no objection to the BSP holding a rally, but being the party in power they should ensure that inconvenience should not be caused to people in general and students in particular,” he said. Traffic diversions and other security measures will sure affect the students and hence, the BSP should be asked to change the date, he added.
The BSP is gearing up to hold a massive rally, expected to be attended by over 25 lakh people, on the birthday of its founder Kanshiram.





SC to hear PIL on parties building brands with public money
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SC-to-hear-PIL-on-parties-building-brands-with-public-money/articleshow/5668745.cms
TNN, Mar 11, 2010, 02.21am IST
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed March 22 for hearing a PIL against all major political parties accusing them of misusing public money and government machinery for issuing advertisements praising its leaders. Almost a sequel to an earlier PIL challenging the statue fetish of UP government, the petition filed by advocate Manoj Agnihotri was severe on the Congress party for adopting a flag almost similar to the national flag and launching programmes at the state and central level in the name of Nehru and Gandhi family members, purportedly to establish the Congress "brand". When the petition was mentioned for early hearing by senior advocate Anil Divan before a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan and Justices R M Lodha and B S Chauhan, it refused to expedite hearing and posted it for preliminary scrutiny on March 22. The PIL listed as many as 100 educational institutions, six major ports and airports, 66 awards, 45 sports tournaments, 39 hospitals, 74 roads and buildings named after leaders of the Nehru-Gandhi family. It alleged that all national parties -- Congress, SP, BSP, BJP, CPI and CPM -- had violated Election Commission guidelines and misused government funds for propagating the ideology of their parties. The PIL sought immediate stop of this wastage of public money and freezing of symbols of these political parties and expeditious hearing by EC of its complaints.






Traffic Ramaswamy files PIL against use of new Tamil Nadu Assembly complex
http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2010/03/11/traffic-ramaswamy-files-pil-against-use-new-tamil-nadu-assembly-complex

Thu, 2010-03-11 13:01 — editor
From Gopal Ethiraj, Chennai
Chennai, 11 March (Asiantribune.com):
Social activist ‘Traffic’ Ramasamy has filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Madras High Court saying that the new Assembly complex under construction and waiting to be inaugurated on March 13, should not be used without getting a completion certificate as per law.
The petition is expected to come up before the first bench comprising Chief Justice H L Gokhale and Justice V Dhanapalan today.
The upcoming complex at the Omandurar Estate cannot claim exemption under any law and that without obtaining the completion certificate it should not be occupied.
If any such certificate has already been issued, the authorities concerned must be asked to furnish the full details of the certificate, along with other documents including any notice to shift the budget session from the Fort St George to the new complex Ramaswamy contended.
Ramasamy claims that before occupying the new building, statutory clearance under the provisions of the Multistoreyed Buildings Act 1984, should be obtained. He said the life and limbs of citizens, staff members, MLAs and ministers would be at risk if mandatory requirements are not complied with.
The petitioner also said that it will not be fair to encourage the government to occupy the unfinished assembly complex without following the guidelines as per the Town and Country Planning Act 1979 and the Master Plan 2 of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA). He referred to an accident at the construction site recently in which about 12 construction workers were injured.
He also said that no traffic impact study in and around the complex has been conducted, and the hasty manner of inauguration of the complex would impede vehicular flow on the road.
While about 3,000 hawkers are awaiting alternative accommodation in multi-storied hawking zones in the city, the government need not have spent about Rs 500 crore on the Assembly project, Ramasamy said.
- Asian Tribune -






Act against betting sites within three months: High court
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_act-against-betting-sites-within-three-months-high-court_1357831
Mayura Janwalkar
Thursday, March 11, 2010 0:13 IST
Mumbai: Running betting websites may not be a safe bet anymore. The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to take necessary action against such sites within three months.
The court’s direction came in the light of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Abbas Shaikh who had taken exception to a website — www.betfair.com — that allegedly conducted betting activities related to the Indian Premier League. This year, the IPL begins on March 12.
Shaikh’s lawyer pointed out to the court that the joint secretary of the Maharashtra home department had written a letter to the director of CERT to block the website immediately in June 2009. However, the website was still not blocked.
The court asked Advait Sethna, counsel for the union government, as to why no action had been taken against the website. Sethna explained that the petitioner had not lodged any complaint with the CERT against the website.
Shaikh also sought a ban on several other betting websites and stated that since the IPL is around the corner, betting activities will be rampant. His lawyer also said that large-scale hawala transactions will take place if the sites are not blocked before the IPL starts.
The court however remarked that the IPL will take place every year and those who want to bet will do it. The judges have however asked the director of CERT to take action within three months and also directed Shaikh to file a complaint directly with CERT in order to block any website.






Insurance cover likely for railway accident victims [Hindustan Times, New Delhi]
http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=170683&type=newswires
March 10, 2010
Mar. 11--MUMBAI -- The railways may soon draft an insurance policy covering the hospitalisation costs of railway accident victims.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked a private reinsurance firm to come up with guidelines for the insurance scheme and asked the railways authorities to consider it.
Along with those who meet with accidents on railway premises, the policy also proposes to cover those who meet with accidents while crossing tracks and travelling on the roof the train.
These guidelines are likely to be adapted by the railways and then put up for bidding by the insurance firms. "We cannot comment on the issue as it is subjudice and matter lies with the court," said Western Railway PRO, Nitin David.
After a proposal from an amicus curie (friend of court), the private reinsurance firm was asked to draft a detailed scheme for covering medical treatment in hospitals for railway accident victims. The firm has to submit the draft scheme in 15 days.
So far, the railways only had an insurance policy that compensated families of victims who died in railway accidents. The scheme proposes to cover accident victims up to Rs 1 lakh for providing medical treatment in hospital.
This move comes six years after Samir Zaveri (39), who lost both his legs in a railway accident in 2004, filed a public interest litigation seeking insurance cover for railway accident victims. The step is a significant one considering that the high court had asked the railways to ensure passenger safety after the PIL. As the railways had not implemented all the HC directives on the PIL, Zaveri had filed a contempt petition in November 2009, which the court was hearing on Wednesday. The petition seeks jail term for chief commissioner of railway, general manager of western railway and the officers of the railway board for not implementing court's order.
Advocate Jamshed Mistry, who is the amicus curie, informed the court on Wednesday that a private firm was willing to formulate the draft scheme free of cost.
Copyright (c) 2010, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
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Houses for rehabilation being sold, government tells high court
http://mumbaibrunch.blogspot.com/2010/03/houses-for-rehabilation-being-sold.html
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Mumbai: Confirming the allegations made in a public interest litigation (PIL), the director of Sanjay Gandhi National Park on Wednesday told the Bombay high court that over 800 flats allotted to those evicted from the park, have been illegally sold or leased out.
Janhit Manch, a local NGO, had initiated a PIL based on newspaper reports alleging that the rehabilitated slum dwellers were selling off their new houses in Chandivali.
Dr Pandurang Munde, director of the park, in an affidavit before the court said that out of the 8,711 tenements that have been allotted so far, forest officers inspected a little over 3,000 of which only 2,227 were occupied by genuine allottees.
The affidavit said that 329 flats had been leased out, 34 were sold, 531 were locked while 48 tenements had been put for commercial use.
Posted by Alok at 1:37 AM





Temporary breather for Lalu as SC reserves judgement
newshttp://www.domain-b.com/economy/Govt/20100311_lalu_prasad_yadav.html
11 March 2010

The Supreme Court has reserved its judgment in a petition filed before it by fodder scam accused Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife and co-accused, Rabri Devi, and the Central Bureau of Investigation asking it to overturn a decision of the Patna High Court to admit an appeal by the Government of Bihar against the acquittal of Lalu and wife Rabri Devi by a CBI court in a disproportionate assets case related to the Rs1,000 crore fodder scam.
Lately, Lalu Prasad has been engaged in substantial histrionics over the Women's Reservation Bill and even threatened to bring a no-confidence motion against the ruling UPA coalition, of which he too is a part. This led to some apprehension in the mind of his counsel, Ram Jethmalani, about the government's stand in this case. He was reassured, however, when CBI counsel A Mariarputham, reiterated his argument that the Centre alone had the authority to decide whether CBI should file an appeal or not.
Bihar government counsel L Nageshwar Rao pleaded that a proper construction of the provision would make it clear that both Centre and state governments had authority to file an appeal. He also pointed out that in this case it was the state which was the victim having been defrauded of over Rs1,000 crore in the fodder scam and it would be difficult to argue that a victim was not entitled to file an appeal in the absence of any challenge to the acquittal of the accused.
The Patna High Court ruled on 20 September 2007 that the Bihar government's appeal against trial court's acquittal was maintainable. Upon this both, Lalu Prasad, then railway minister in the first UPA formation and CBI, as the prosecuting agency, had appealed to the SC asking it to overturn the order as in all CBI investigated cases it was only the Centre which had the authority to decide if an appeal would be filed or not.
Lalu's argument was that the Bihar government's appeal was barred under Section 378(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code. The CBI supported Lalu's argument.
The current appeal is being heard by a SC bench comprising of chief justice KG Balakrishnan and justices RM Lodha and BS Chauhan.







HC directs CBI to probe mining lease allotments
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hc-directs-cbi-to-probe-mining-lease-allotments/589476/0
Express News Service
Posted: Thursday , Mar 11, 2010 at 0259 hrs Lucknow:
The Allahabad High Court has ordered a CBI inquiry into the allotment of mining leases to private contractors by the state government.
Finding prima facie irregularities in granting of mining leases and illegal mining of minor minerals in Uttar Pradesh, the High Court on Tuesday asked the superintendent of police, CBI,
Lucknow, to submit a preliminary report in the matter by April 4, a day before the next hearing.
The order was passed in response to a petition filed by Sameer Dwividi, a resident of Banda, who alleged that his application for a mining lease had been unfairly rejected.
A Division Bench comprising Justices P C Verma and Bala Krishna Narayana said it was not satisfied by the explanation given by the chief secretary in his affidavit.
“We, therefore, direct the SP, CBI, Lucknow, to hold an inquiry so that facts are brought before us regarding grant of licence by the state government,” said the Bench.
The chief secretary’s affidavit had denied any illegality in the grant of lease and had said that all allotments were made according to the rules.
Akhilesh Kalra, counsel for the petitioner, had alleged that the state government, the minister concerned and his men were involved in granting mining leases for minor minerals on a “pick and choose” basis.
The government and the minister were also promoting illegal mining of minor minerals like sand, boulders, morang and silica, the complainant had alleged.
“Rs 1,200 per truckload is taken illegally from miners by goons of the minister representing the department on behalf of the state government,” said Kalra, adding that he had mentioned these facts in the petition.
The writ petition alleged irregularities in granting of mining leases and illegal mining in Banda, Fatehpur, Hameerpur, Allahabad, Chandauli and other parts of the state.






Law minister wants more woman judges in HC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Law-minister-wants-more-woman-judges-in-HC/articleshow/5669810.cms
Debashis Konar, TNN, Mar 11, 2010, 04.07am IST
KOLKATA: Having successfully piloted the women's bill in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Union law minister Veerappa Moili now wants more woman judges. The minister has requested Calcutta high court's Chief Justice, Mohit S Shah, to recommend names of more women to fill the 23 vacancies on the Bench. As of now, Calcutta high court has only two woman judges — Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Nadira Pathyria. The minister has also requested the chief justice to recommend names of more Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs and minorities. Though the Constitutionally-sanctioned strength of Calcutta high court's bench is 58, the court has only 35 judges at present after the transfer of Justice Barin Ghosh and Justice Amitabha Lala to other high courts. Unhappy over the large number of pending cases in high courts, Moily wrote to Chief Justice Shah a fortnight ago seeking to fill up vacancies immediately. Moily wrote, "According to norms, the approved ratio for selection of judges between the bar and the judicial service is 2:1. For every two judges selected from the bar, a member of the state judicial service has to be elevated to the high court." Thus, Calcutta HC should have 39 judges elevated from the bar and 19 promoted from the state judicial service. The Union law minister even called for filling judicial vacancies through ad hoc appointments to ensure speedy justice. "There should be appointment of judges in all levels of judiciary on a temporary basis from retired judges and bar members," he wrote. Moily, said an official, wants retired high court judges appointed to tribunals, many of which have a large number of pending cases. In his letter, Moily recalled discussions at last August's conference of chief justices and chief ministers in Delhi. That meet was followed by another in October, when the Chief Justice of India called for a 25% notional increase of judges. Moily has suggested that the selection process to fill a judicial vacancy start well before a sitting judge is scheduled to retire. Pointing out that three judges of Calcutta HC are scheduled to retire over the next six months, the minister requested the Chief Justice to act in advance to fill impending vacancies. Moily wrote, "Both the Centre and the Chief Justice of India are aiming to reduce mounting court cases. It is not desirable to keep posts of judges vacant for a long time. Unless the existing vacancies of judges are filled up, a case for increasing the strength of judges would not hold."






IGI’s runway can be used at night: HC
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/igis-runway-can-be-used-at-night-hc/589376/0
Utkarsh Anand
Posted: Thursday , Mar 11, 2010 at 0032 hrs New Delhi:
Nine months after restraining the authorities from operating Runway 29 of IGI Airport at night, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday gave them temporary relief. The court permitted use of the runway till the repair of Runway 28 is completed. The restraint order had come after residents of areas near the airport filed petitions that night operations on Runway 29 created constant noise.
But, on Wednesday, a Division Bench of acting Chief Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Mukta Gupta held that the authorities could best judge the situation and permitted them to modify the circular by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in May 2009.
After three PILs filed by residents of Vasant Kunj and Bijwasan village and a private hospital alleged severe noise pollution due to night operations on Runway 29, DGCA had submitted an affidavit in court saying Runway 29 would not be used from 10 pm to 6 am. The submission had come after the court issued a strict directive to stop flight operations at night due to inconvenience caused to the residents staying nearby.
The authorities had recently moved a plea to allow them to use Runway 29, as Runway 28 required excessive repairs — “rehabilitation”, in technical terms — and needed to be closed down during the process. According to the counsel, the repairs would take almost five months.
On Wednesday, the counsel for Vasant Kunj residents countered the plea and said Runway 29 should not be allowed to operate during night and that DGCA, airport operators DIAL and other authorities could manage air traffic by carrying out repairs on Runway 28 in parts.
The counsel also said the authorities were seeking five months’ time unreasonably.
But appearing for the airport authorities, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi opposed the contention and said the work required excessive repairs and could not be done in parts. “Moreover, we would not like to prolong the repairs and keep one of our runways suspended for long because that is bound to create problems for us,” Singhvi contended.
Justice Lokur said neither the court nor the residents’ counsel could challenge experts’ opinion on the kind of work required on the runway, and the time within which it could be completed. “Leave it to the judgment of experts — in our view, this is a matter best left to their expertise,” the court said. “Wherever necessary, the respondents can use Runway 29 during night.” The Bench, however, asked the authorities to take noise-mitigating measures “seriously”.








Interim bail to Adani MD: HC lawyer seeks to quash order
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/interim-bail-to-adani-md-hc-lawyer-seeks-to-quash-order/589514/
Posted: Thursday , Mar 11, 2010 at 0430 hrs
A public Interest Litigation (PIL), seeking to quash and set aside the interim bail granted to Adani group MD Rajesh Adani, was filed in the Gujarat High Court on Wednesday.
Justice R M Doshit had recently granted interim bail to Adani in connection with a four-year-old case of custom duty evasion. The CBI had arrested him.
The PIL was filed by High Court advocate Girish Das. He has prayed for an inquiry by an appropriate authority against Justice Doshit for her conduct “as the Habeas Corpus petitions are the business of division bench and not a single judge.” He has also urged that registrar G K Upadhyay should be dismissed as he had forwarded Adani’s petition to Justice Doshit, who was not in charge of judicial business, without the permission of the Chief Justice.
Adani was arrested in Goa on February 27. The same day, one of his relatives moved a writ of Habeas Corpus before the High Court, and Justice Doshit granted him interim bail till March 2 under urgent circumstances.
When the petition came before Justice A S Dave, he reprimanded the Registrar and ordered that no petition would be placed before any court without the permission of the Chief Justice.
Refusing to hear the petition, he said he would hear it only if it came through the proper procedure.
The PIL requests for an inquiry by the Joint Director CBI (western region) against Rajesh Adani “for examining correctness, legality and validity of an agreement with the Dubai Port World of the UAE, and possibility of endangering internal security of Gujarat and the country”.






Got a call seeking to influence me, says HC judge
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/got-a-call-seeking-to-influence-me-says-hc-judge/589304/
Express News Service
Posted: Thursday , Mar 11, 2010 at 2347 hrs Mumbai:
A judge announced in the Bombay High Court today that he had received a call from a former client seeking to influence the case he was hearing.
Justice P B Majmudar, part of a division bench with Justice RV More, was hearing a dispute between the Ruia Group and Goyal Gas Limited (GGL) over the control of Bombay Oxygen Company Ltd. The call, seeking an order in favour of GGL, had come from Ahmedabad, he said.
He said he is still thinking whether or not he will pass an order and will inform those concerned on Thursday.
“Such things disturb us. Nobody understands the plight of a judge,” Justice Majmudar said. “Somebody must have told them that the order is likely to be passed today. Their machinery is more powerful than the CBI,” Justice Majmudar said.
The advocates for the two parties however urged the bench to go ahead and pass an order to send the right message.
“My conscience does not permit me to,” Justice Majmudar said.
He said “this tendency to treat court proceedings like any other revenue matter” should be curbed.
“Judges are kept away from mainstream society. We suffer because of that but we are happy to be suffering than being pressurised in this manner,” Justice Majmudar said.
Advocate Kamlesh Kharade, who represents GGL, said, “Nobody knows who has done it. But both parties will submit applications saying they have full faith in the court.”






Karnataka HC Judge asks CJ Dinakaran not to discharge administrative functionshttp://www.indlawnews.com/newsdisplay.aspx?65df9661-1823-4da7-9417-84a2d099aa3e
3/11/2010
Justice D V Sylendra Kumar, who has been a bitter critic of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran for his alleged involvement in a land scam, has said Justice Dinakaran should not discharge administrative functions. In a letter dated March 8 to the Chief Justice, which was posted on his website, Justice Kumar said as impeachment proceedings against him (Justice Dinakaran) over allegations of land grabbing were pending, he should not take up administrative matters. The Chief Justice, who is accused of grabbing government land in his native Kaverirajapuram village in Tamil Nadu, had not been sitting on the bench since December 17, following the surfacing of the allegation against him. He had, however, denied involvement in any land scam. ‘Justice Dinakaran should definitely desist from exercising even administrative function as Chief Justice. His action of attending to administrative work is a very disturbing development,’ he said. Justice Kumar also urged Justice Dinakaran in the open letter that if the latter honoured issues of etiquette, propriety and morality, he should also do not draw full salary and enjoy facilities extended to a regular Chief Justice.UNI






Nariman Pt-Cuffe Parade buildings get HC relief
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Nariman-Pt-Cuffe-Parade-buildings-get-HC-relief/articleshow/5669460.cms
Nauzer K Bharucha, TNN, Mar 11, 2010, 01.18am IST
MUMBAI: Building societies in the Nariman Point-Cuffe Parade area contesting the BMC's steep new property tax rates have got a breather from the Bombay high court. In an interim order, a division bench of the court said that the notices slapped by the BMC could not be termed as "notice of demand" but were to be treated only as show-cause notices. A notice of demand has an element of finality which cannot be challenged (except in court) while a show-cause notice gives a chance to the society to contest it before the BMC. The BMC's counsel said that the aggrieved parties would have ample opportunity to put up their case before the BMC finalised and quantified the tax to be assessed. "We make it clear that the corporation will not take any coercive step in the matter of recovery of tax pursuant to the impugned notices till they take a decision in the matter without further orders from the court. The petitioners are directed to appear before the authority (BMC) on March 15, 2010, in response to the impugned notices," said the court's interim order. Two prominent building societies—Mafatlal Centre at Nariman Point and Maker Tower A&B at Cuffe Parade—approached the court in late 2009 after the BMC increased their property tax manifold from April 2008 onwards. Both the caseswere clubbed together. In the case of Mafatlal Centre, the BMC sought to increase its demand for property tax by eight times. While in 2007-08, its property tax was Rs 2.21 crore, the BMC's assessor and collector proposed to hike it to Rs 15.58 crore for the following years. The Mafatlal Centre society challenged this in the court on the grounds that the notice was served without giving the society a hearing. Since last year, the BMC has slapped notices on building societies here by increasing their taxes by as much as five to 10 times. The BMC's assessment and collection department hiked what is commonly known as the rateable value in buildings where offices have been given out on leave and licence. The rateable value is fixed on the basis of the rent a particular office space is expected to fetch the owner. Mumbai still follows the rateable value-based system introduced in 1888 by the BMC Act in which the property tax is calculated on the basis of the rent a property is likely to earn. Going by the book, commercial properties are charged at an absurd 112.5% of the rent they are likely to earn. But the BMC has discretionary powers to reduce this by as much as 50% to 70%.





Lawyers strike against corruption in judiciary
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Lawyers-strike-against-corruption-in-judiciary/articleshow/5669441.cms
TNN, Mar 11, 2010, 01.09am IST
NEW DELHI: Lawyers of all district courts have decided to strike work on Thursday to protest against rising corruption in the judiciary. The co-ordination committee of all the bar associations is also protesting against the "overlooking of public interest by the high court in divesting the district courts of India from original jurisdiction in the garb of opening commercial divisions in the Delhi High Court". Secretary of New Delhi Bar Association, Neeraj, said, "All lawyers of five district courts will abstain from work on Thursday. It's a token strike and we will decide the next course of action after that." At a meeting of the bar associations, it was decided that lawyers will approach the government to bring appropriate legislation in respect of corruption and transfer of jurisdiction for providing fair and speedy justice. "We will meet the law minister on Thursday in this regard," said Sanjeev Nasiar, secretary general, co-ordination committee. Lawyers will submit a memorandum to the law minister, the CM and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.







Judges accountability Bill before Cabinet today
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Judges-accountability-Bill-before-Cabinet-today/589406
Express news service
Posted: Thursday , Mar 11, 2010 at 0105 hrs New Delhi:
The Union Cabinet on Thursday will take up for approval the draft Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, aimed at addressing complaints of corruption, irregularities or misbehaviour against sitting judges of high courts and Surpreme Court, including the Chief Justice of India.
The Bill proposes to set up a National Judicial Oversight Committee, likely to be headed by Vice-President Hamid Ansari with distinguished jurists as members that will receive the complaints against the sitting judges. Law Minister Veerappa Moily has earlier stated that he is keen to bring the Bill in the ongoing Budget session.
The government proposes to have two scrutiny committees — one for the Supreme Court and the other for high courts. In the case of the CJI, the Oversight Committee will examine the complaint and take the final call on whether it should be referred to the proposed investigation committee under the proposed law.
To make the working of the Oversight Committee transparent and effective, the proposed law aims to bestow upon it all the powers as are enjoyed by a civil court. These would empower the committee to summon witnesses or any other person and examine them on oath, record evidence, accept affidavits, etc.
The draft Bill also provides for punishment, including a prison term and/or a fine, if somebody files a complaint against a member of the higher judiciary for ulterior motives.







Judge Blog dares SC collegium: 'Your insensitivity shameful'
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/judge-blog-dares-sc-collegium-your-insensitivity-shameful/589430/0
Maneesh Chhibber
Posted: Thursday , Mar 11, 2010 at 0122 hrs New Delhi:
Continuing his battle against the judiciary’s shroud of secrecy, Karnataka High Court Judge D V Shylendra Kumar has slammed the collegium.
It’s a matter of concern and “even shame for the members of the judiciary that the collegium of the Supreme Court is blissfully remaining insensitive to public opinion/reaction, but, is only playing GOD by not responding” to the flak it’s drawn from the public, he writes in his blog.
Earlier, when Kumar took on Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan on declaration of assets, holding that the CJI didn’t have the authority to speak for the entire judiciary, the CJI said: “He wants publicity and such a thing is not good for a judge. Judges should not be publicity-crazy.”
In his latest posting, the judge, who has also criticised Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, says: “Laymen on the street, or elite and enlightened in their palaces, have all been critical of the manner of functioning of the collegiums in general and the collegium of the Supreme Court in particular! The collegium of the Supreme Court refusing to divulge information has not been taken kindly by the members of the public and this conduct and attitude is looked down with suspicion and as a possible cover up resorted to on the part of the members of the collegium.”
Kumar has also made public his “open letter” to Dinakaran on March 8 in which he asked the controversial CJ to refrain from discharging administrative functions given the impeachment proceedings against him over allegations of landgrab.
Kumar also raised the issues of etiquette, propriety and morality, and demanded that Dinakaran should not draw full salary and enjoy facilities extended to a regular Chief Justice.
“It is acceptable if he is a normal Chief Justice performing judicial function. But in your case you are not only not performing on the judicial side, but also facing an impeachment move,” he has told the CJ.
He has said that people have rejected the CJI’s argument that the collegium’s decisions can’t be made public as this would affect the efficacy of the judicial system.
“While it may be true that to protect the image and the reputation of the institution, the cause of a few judges can be sacrificed, it is the other way now as practised by the collegium... it appears that the information is not being divulged or revealed, only to protect the concerned judges and even possibly to protect themselves, but at the cost of the image and reputation of the institution, as in the eyes of the public by not revealing the information, it is the image and reputation of the institution that is suffering and definitely not the image and reputation of the concerned judges,” he writes. “It is high time that the collegium...starts acting in the interest of the institution and not in the interest of individual judges nor to protect their image and reputation and try to hide or cover up the bad image or the bad reputation of errant judges!”
Justice Kumar started blogging since August, mostly disagreeing with Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan. He took to active blogging only after Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge K Kannan, who was the first sitting HC Judge to blog, decided to stop blogging.






Woman can marry her rapist if she wishes: Chief justice of India
http://music4india.in/showthread.php?t=3530
A woman should be allowed to have a baby out of rape and/or marry the man and drop the rape charge if she so wishes, Chief Justice of India (CJI) KG Balakrishnan has said.He also urged judges, lawyers and social activists to ensure that they don’t adopt an “overtly paternalistic” approach in taking decisions for the welfare of rape victims. The CJI was speaking at a seminar on Sunday.Balakrishnan’s words are significant, considering the fact that in 2008, more than 20,000 rapes (estimates say only one in 69 cases are reported in the country) were registered and in a staggering 92% of those cases, the perpetrators were known to the victim.An uncontested report says India is one of the worst places for a woman to live in because of poor personal safety and security. A total of 57 rape cases are recorded here every day and this number is 800% more than the seven cases a day recorded in 1971.Currently, one of four crimes in India is rape. Every hour, there are 20 crimes committed against women and of all the rapes, only 20% actually see conviction for the offenders. Delhi has the disrepute of being the country’s rape capital, as one-third of rapes are reported here.The chief justice spoke of the need to give the victims shelter, counselling, medical and legal aid since convicting rapists won’t alone help them. He mooted creation of a fund to rehabilitate and provide succour to rape victims through district legal service authorities. “The Union and state governments should create the fund for compensation to rape victims,” he said. This could be disbursed through district legal service authorities.Without mentioning the Ruchika Girhotra molestation-suicide case, Balakrishnan expressed concern at “some recent cases’’ that exposed the investigative machinery and its manipulation by men in power to protect influential persons.The chief justice also spoke out against insensitivity towards the victim, especially during court proceedings. “Judges need to be proactive to restrain the aggressive cross-examination of rape victims,’’ Balakrishnan said. He highlighted changes in law that ignores the past sexual history of victims. The amended Indian Evidence Act says that a victim’s past sexual history cannot be given weightage in a rape trial.“Judges and lawyers should internalise the principle that facts relating to the sexual history of a victim should not be brought up since the trial’s purpose is to decide whether the offence took place.”






SC appeals to itself on RTI verdict
http://www.lawyersclubindia.com/news/SC-appeals-to-itself-on-RTI-verdict-/10625/
By : MOHAMMED SHAKEEL on 09 March 2010
The Supreme Court today turned to itself once again by filing an appeal against a January 12 Delhi High Court verdict that had clarified that the Right to Information (RTI) Act covered the office of the Chief Justice of India.
Citing as many as 39 reasons for its contention that the RTI law did not cover the office of the CJI, the appeal filed by the apex court’s secretary-general said that the high court had failed to deal with its submission that only information that was in ‘public domain’ could be sought under the 2005 law.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) had directed the Supreme Court on January 6, 2009 to provide information to an RTI applicant who wanted to know whether judges of the higher judiciary were disclosing their assets to the CJI or the respective HC CJs. The SC challenged the CIC order in the Delhi HC, but lost both the appeals and the review plea. Earlier, the SC had filed a petition before itself challenging another CIC order for disclosure of details relating to bypassing of seniority while elevating Judges to the apex court. On February 8 this year, a Bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and SS Nijjar issued notice to all the HCs seeking their response to the SC plea that matters pertaining to appointment of judges could not be disclosed. In the present appeal, the apex court contended that the 1997 SC Resolution and the 1999 Judicial Conference Resolution on judicial values had only talked about “voluntary declaration” of assets by Judges and as such these were not in public domain. According to the appeal, the HC “has failed to appreciate the context in which the submission about the non-binding nature of the resolution needs to be noted.”
While interpreting the right to information under the act with reference to the judiciary, the HC ought to have appreciated the right under Section 2(j) in a manner “which is in furtherance of the basic structure of the Constitution, namely independence of judiciary.”
Source : R Sedhuraman/Legal Correspondent, http://www.tribuneindia.com





Govt yet to take decision on registration of FIRs
http://www.lawyersclubindia.com/news/Govt-yet-to-take-decision-on-registration-of-FIRs-/10626/
By : ajitabh acharya on 09 March 2010
NEW DELHI, 24 FEB: The government has not taken any final decision on mandatory registration of FIRs and is awaiting the Supreme Court verdict in a case relating to the issue. “From time to time, views have been expressed regarding mandatory registration of complaints received by police as FIRs. No final view has been taken by the Central government. It awaits the judgement of the Supreme Court in the case of Lalita Kumari versus the State of UP and others,” the minister of state for home, Mr Ajay Maken, told the Rajya Sabha today.In December last year, the Union home ministry had stated that it is contemplating making registration of FIRs mandatory, particularly after the Ruchika case, in which a 14 year old student committed suicide allegedly due to harassment by the former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore. Her family had approached the Haryana Police seeking registration of an abetmentto commit suicide case against Mr Rathore but it was turned down.O the setting up of the second states reorganisation commission, Mr Maken said “asper records available, no political party or its leaders have requested for setting up of the second States Reorganisation Commission”.He, however, admitted that representations have been received from various individuals and organisations demanding setting up of the commission. “As of now, no decision has been taken in this respect,” the minister stated. “As regards border disputes between some states, the approach of the Central government has consistently been that inter-state boundary disputes can be resolved only with willing cooperation of the state governments concerned and that the Central government works only as a facilitator for amicable settlement of the dispute in a spirit of mutual accommodation and understanding,” Mr Makan said