The Supreme Court Sets aside the Judgement of the Kerela High Court for rationalising, humanising and simplifying the procedure in Criminal Courts.

A three judge bench of the Supreme Court reversesd and order of the High Court of Kerala in Crl. M.C. No. 1977 of 2007 for issuing directions to trial courts, in cases under Sec 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881. For us, the order of the Kerela High Court is yet another instance, where in their anxiety to do justice, the courts have gone overboard. Call it judicial law making, or simply a judgment per incuriam. The judgement of the Supreme Court Can be read here

On 17th November, 2008, while granting leave in this matter, a bench of two learned judges referred the instant case to a larger Bench, posing the following question for determination:

"...One of the questions which arises for consideration in this special leave petition is as to whether the High court in exercise of its jurisdiction under Sections 482 and 483 of the Code of the Criminal Procedure and/or under Article 227 of the Constitution of India could issue guidelines directing all courts taking cognizance of offences under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act inter alia to invoke the discretion under Section 205 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and only with a further direction that summons under Section 205 shall be issued at the first instance..."

Briefly stated, the genesis of the dispute is that on a complaint filed under Section 138 of the N.I. Act and On being summoned by the Magistrate, the accused preferred a petition before the High Court of Kerela under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (for short "the Code"), inter alia, praying for dispensing with her personal appearance before the Magistrate. 

SC admits appeals by Pepsico and BIS in 'Aquafina' 'Purity Guranteed' labelling case

SC has admitted the cross appeals filed by Pepsico and BIS over the former's packaged water brand 'Aquafina'. In Nov, 2008, Delhi HC had asked Pepsico to remove the picture of snow capped mountain from the bottle's label, and use words like 'pure', 'refreshing' etc. as per BIS guidelines.The judgement can be read here


Bureau of Indian Standards moved an LPA aginst of the impugned judgment and order dated 08.05.2006 delivered by the Learned Single Judge,in Writ Petition  no 20909 of 2005 whereby it was held that the use of the words PURE , CRISP , REFRESHING , PURIFIED AND PURITY GUARANTEED and the pictorial depiction of snow-capped mountain and the sun on the label of  Pepsico India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. for packaged drinking water, was not misleading, and was not prohibited by any law.


The basic premise of the LPA was whether the pictorial device SNOW-CAPPED MOUNTAIN and the expression PURITY GUARANTEED as used in the label creates confusion in the mind of general public regarding the origin nature, composition and properties of the product and suggest that the origin of the water being in the mountains. 

BANDA RAPE CASE

SC agrees to look into plea for judicial probe in Banda rape case.

A three judge bench of the SC will hear a plea on Friday, seeking judicial probe into rape of a poor minor girl by a ruling MLA, and her subsequent harassment and incarceration on theft charges. The girl was recently released from jail on the intervention of the Allahabad HC. She was  arrested on charges of theft by police and sent to jail. However, the CB-CID in its report said that theft charges against her were not true after which she was released from the jail.

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JUSTICE KATJU REMINDS LAWYERS THEIR PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

For all lawyers, who have had the opportunity to appear before Justice Katju, a re-enforcement and reminder of professional ethics of  to mediate disputes, in an order passed by him in S.L.P. (Civil) No. 2896 of 2010.

                                                          

“...I saw that the facts of Dada Abdulla's case made it a very strong indeed, and that the law was bound to be on his side. But I also saw that the litigation, if it were persisted in, would ruin the Plaintiff and the Defendant, who were relatives and both belonged to the same city. No one knew how long the case might go on. Should it be allowed to continue to be fought out in court, it might go on indefinitely and to no advantage of either party. Both, therefore, desired an immediate termination of the case, if possible.

I approached Tyeb Sheth and requested and advised him to go to arbitration. I recommended him to see his counsel. I suggested to him that if an arbitrator commanding the confidence of both parties could be appointed, the case would be quickly finished. The lawyers' fees were so rapidly mounting up that they were enough to devour all the resources of the clients, big merchants as they were.

SC to proceed with contempt proceedings against Prashant Bhushan

SC has decided to go ahead with contempt proceedings against lawyer Prashant Bhushan, as he has refused to apologise for some remarks on the current CJI. The lawyer has contended that his remarks were misconstrued as imputation of financial corruption.

Half Of The Last 16 Chief Justices Were Corrupt’

The decision to declare assets is a big victory. Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan tells Shoma Caudhary, what else is rotting in our judiciary

It’s great judges have agreed to declare assets. But will it really help? Politicians do it too.
This decision is very welcome, even if it’s only happened under public pressure. It is proof of the power of public opinion. And even though declaring assets is a relatively minor aspect of judicial accountability, it will help. If a judge misdeclares his assets, there’s a chance someone might know he has particular properties he hasn’t declared, and may point it out. One could then examine if these can be explained within their legal income.

The debate around judicial accountability has got really hot. Are there watershed events that triggered this? 
Not in my own perception, but I think for the public there were two watershed events – the Chief Justice Sabharwal case (where there was an allegation that Chief Justice YS Sabharwal’s orders to demolish commercial outlets in Delhi directly benefited his sons, who were partners with some mall developers) and the Ghaziabad Provident Fund scam. Both these cases got wide media attention. A 2006 Transparency International report said the judiciary in India is the second most corrupt institution after the police.