Gaming Platforms, Collegium Decisions, Byju’s, and More

“Article 21 which enshrines the right to life and personal security must be understood as extending also to the preservation of ecological conditions essential for the sustenance of that life.”

— Supreme Court judge Justice Surya Kant while speaking at a conference on animal-human conflict in Kerala

The collegium and its tryst with transparency
Justice BV Nagarathna does not shy away from dissenting. We have seen her dissenting judgments in critical cases make headlines but this time, the sole woman judge in the Supreme Court has penned a dissenting note in her role as a collegium member.

Justice Nagarathna reportedly dissented to the collegium’s decision to elevate Justice Vipul Pancholi to the Supreme Court calling it “counterproductive”, as reported by the Hindustan Times. The judge flagged grave and serious concerns over this decision and yet the appointment was notified and given effect to. With only crumbs of information making its way to the news, there is a growing call, once again, for transparency in the collegium’s functioning.

Different top judges made different changes to the way collegium’s information is put out in public domain during their tenures. Justice (retd.) Dipak Misra, during his tenure as the Chief Justice of India, began publishing collegium resolutions on the website in what was a major step in transparency of the system.

Those that followed Misra made ornamental changes to the resolution format, with some reducing the amount of information published. None ever offered a higher degree of insight into the considerations and deliberations of the collegium.

With the kind of stand-offs the collegium has had with the Centre in the past over clearing recommendations and with Justice Nagarathna now dissenting over an elevation raising grave concerns over it, the need for the public information on how our judiciary is selected becomes that much more important. Especially so when the judge whose elevation caused a dissent and such a stir is set to become the chief justice of India for 18 months in 6 years.  

The Week That Was
Courts

• The Karnataka High Court has issued notice and sought the central government’s response on a petition challenging the new law passed by the parliament banning online real-money gaming platforms
• The Supreme Court has urged the Madras High Court to expeditiously decide on petitions that challenge the new and revamped criminal justice laws in India
• The Supreme Court sets up a special investigation team headed by a retired top court judge Justice Jasti Chelameswar to look into the array of allegations against the Vantara project founded by Mukesh Ambani’s son Anant.
• Qatar Holding moves Karnataka High Court for enforcement of a foreign arbitral award against Byju Raveednran
• Delhi high Court sets aside Central Information Commission’s order directing the concerned authorities to disclose details pertaining to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s graduation degree

Others

• The Supreme Court Bar Association passed a resolution expressing grave concern over the low representation of women in higher judiciary and urged the chief justice of India to take steps in this regard
• The Supreme Court has ordered a probe after an NCLAT judicial member alleged that he was approached by a higher judiciary member seeking favourable order for a party leading to his recusal from a case
• Justice BV Nagarathna, the sole woman judge in the Supreme Court, dissented to the collegium’s recommendation to elevate Justice Vipul Pancholi to the Supreme Court
• Bar Council of India writes to Lieutenant Governor of Delhi to withdraw notification that allows police officials to testify from the police station, several bar associations in Delhi strike against the notification

The Big Listings:

Sep 1: Supreme Court to hear a PIL challenging the govt’s move to make ethanol blended petrol mandatory
Sep 8: Karnataka High Court to hear the petition challenging the new law passed by the parliament that bans online gaming platforms
Sep 15: Supreme Court to hear the PIL petition that makes several allegations against Ambanis’ Vantara project
Sep 17: NCLT in Ahmedabad to hear petition for Vedanta’s demerge

* The dates of hearing can change and a concrete list is prepared just a day before

Legal Moves

Centre notifies:

• Elevation of Justices Alok Aradhe and Vipul Pancholi to the Supreme Court
• Appointment of 14 Advocates as judges of the Bombay High Court

Collegium recommends transfers of:

• Justice Arun Monga from Delhi to Rajasthan High Court
• Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju from Delhi to Karnataka High Court
• Justice J Nisha Banu from Madras to Kerala High Court
• Justice Subhendu Samant from Calcutta to Andhra Pradesh High Court
• Justice Sanjay Agrawal from Chhattisgarh to Allahabad High Court
• Justice Atul Sreedharan from Madhya Pradesh to Chhattisgarh High Court
• Justices Sanjay Kumar Singh, Rohit Ranjan Agarwal, and Donadi Ramesh out of Allahabad High Court
• Justices Manvendranath Roy and Sandeep Natvarlal Bhatt out of Gujarat High Court

Collegium recommends making permanent:

• Six additional judges of the Bombay High Court
• Three additional judges of the Kerala High Court

Collegium recommends appointment of:

• Justice Shree Chandrashekhar as chief justice of the Bombay High Court
• Aparna Gaur and Tanisha Khanna, former Nishith Desai lawyers, set up Trace Law Partners
• Sameer Panda joins Sagar Chandra & Associates as partner