In a fresh twist to the appointment of the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta, the Supreme Court has stayed the oath-taking ceremony of the new ombudsman, Justice (retd.) Virendra Singh, which was to take place on Sunday morning, officials said. The move comes after the apex court on Saturday heard a petition of Sacchidanand Gupta on the matter.
Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal late on Saturday (19 December) filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court against the release of the juvenile convict in Nirbhaya gang rape case. The apex court has decided to hear the petition on Monday (21 December). Maliwal along with a legal team approached the court late night and filed the petition.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday appeared in the Patiala House Court in the National Herald Case.
As per a Press Release issued by the Press Information Bureau, Shri R. K. Mathur, who is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of 1977 batch (Tripura cadre), has been appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission, New Delhi.
The Delhi High Court on Friday (18 December) posted for December 23 a plea filed by a physically challenged commuter against the city government’s decision on only allowing even and odd number cars to ply in Delhi on alternative dates. A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath refrained from passing any order on the plea, saying it would hear the case on December 23, when other similar pleas would come up for hearing. [Also see: Not easy to implement odd and even numbered vehicles rule in Delhi.]
Gujarat High Court judge, Justice J.B. Pardiwala, against whom Rajya Sabha MPs have submitted a motion on impeachment for his “unconstitutional” remarks on reservation, has removed his allegedly objectionable remarks. [See also: Rajya Sabha MPs move motion to impeach Gujarat HC judge Justice Pardiwala.]
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi may seek bail in a trial court here in New Delhi on Saturday (19 December) in the National Herald case if the need arises, party sources said on Friday. The two leaders were also keen that party leaders and supporters from other states did not throng the capital on Saturday, the sources added.
Rajya Sabha MPs on Friday (18 December) moved a motion to impeach a Gujarat High Court judge Justice J.B. Pardiwala who made remarks against reservation while hearing a case concerning Hardik Patel, who is leading a stir for reservation for Patidars.
One of the accused persons in December 16, 2012 gang rape case happened to be a juvenile, i.e., of age less than 18 years. Due to this reason, under the provisions of the existing laws, he could not have been sentenced to death or to imprisonment. Under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, he was directed to be kept in a special home or an observation home for a maximum permissible period of three years. Now that the said three years’ period is getting over, he is likely to be released from the observation home on Sunday (December 20, 2015). A petition was filed before the Delhi High Court to extend the stay of the said juvenile accused in observation home and to not to release him. Parents of the deceased victim of the said gang rape also pleaded for not releasing the said juvenile accused. However, Delhi High Court did not agree with such plea and has refused to extend the stay of the said juvenile accused in observation home [see: December 16 gang rape juvenile accused will have to be released, says Delhi HC]. It is submitted that the High Court has rightly done so since the legal provisions do not permit it.
Supreme Court judge Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri on Friday (18 December) called upon the political parties to shed their egos and come together for the nation’s development.
The Delhi High Court on Friday said the December 16, 2012, Delhi gang-rape “juvenile” convict’s stay can’t be extended in an observation home. A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath said the convict, who was found to be a juvenile at the time of the crime, cannot be kept at the observation home beyond December 20, the date he was set to be released.
In a recent case decided by the Supreme Court on 16 December 2015, it has been directed that all efforts should be made to conclude the departmental inquiry proceedings against the delinquent employee within six months as an outer limit, and in exceptional cases, due to certain unavoidable causes arising in the proceedings, such inquiry proceedings should be completed in a maximum period which should not be more than a year.
Former Delhi High Court judge, Justice Reva Khetrapal took oath as the new Lokayukta of Delhi on Thursday. Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung administered the oath at a function where Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet ministers, judges of Delhi High Court and Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta among others were also present.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday (17 December) declined a plea seeking a CBI probe into foreign funds received by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), allegedly in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Principal Bench, New Delhi, has asked the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) to decide by January 5, 2016, on Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi’s deputation to the Delhi government.
The Lok Sabha on Thursday (17 December) passed by a voice vote the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2015, which aims to make the country more investor-friendly. The bill, which seeks to amend the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 3 by Law and Justice Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda.
The Smart Cities project of the Central Government is facing problems even before it could begin. The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Thursday (17 December) set aside a central government decision to accord smart city status on Dharamsala in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh.
On 14 December 2015, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches in the office and residential premises of Rajendra Kumar, Principal Secretary to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with a corruption case. The CBI has repeatedly clarified that no searches were conducted in the office of the Chief Minister, and that searches were conducted only in the premises of his principal secretary. Many experts have raised legal issues about this raid, such as: (1) the CBI being a central investigating agency, it does not have power to conduct searches in the offices of a State and that it is against federal principles; (2) since the allegations of corruption related to purchase of computers, the investigation could have been conducted by scrutinizing the files in the departments of education and finance, and that there was no need to conduct searches in the present office of Rajendra Kumar; etc.
1. OROP: A Myth?
Has one rank, one pension (OROP) been really introduced as claimed by the Chairman of the 7th CPC on TV channels? The answer is no. The formulation recommended by the 7th CPC is not OROP but it gives due weightage to the past increments. To that extent, it is welcome. It departs from the past practice of the CPCs where due weightage was never given to the past increments and bunching used to be done (for serving officers) to determine the revised pay. In the case of pre-CPC pensioners, there was absolutely no credit given to the past increments and all such retirees were fixed at the bottom of the revised pay. This practice unjustifiably equated those with a longer tenure in the last rank who had earned a higher number of increments with those who had earned less or none. The formulation recommended by the 7th CPC is in line with judicial verdicts. It brings about parity between the current retirees and the past pensioners who had earned the same number of increments in the last pay scale at the time of retirement. But it will not truly mean OROP as it will still not bring equity by way of parity. Pensioners will still not get the same pension in the same rank which will be decided by the last pay drawn in case of the current retirees.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (16 December) appointed Justice Virendra Singh – former judge of the Allahabad High Court – as the Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh and expressed its disapproval of the way constitutional authorities mandated to appoint the ombudsman failed to discharge their responsibilities.
