The Karnataka High Court on Friday got five new judges, a development which has brought down the number of vacancies to 27. The five judicial officers named by President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday to be promoted as additional judges were Ashok G Nijagannanavar, HP Sandesh, K Natarajan, PG Mutalik Patil and AS Bellunke, who will be appointed as the new additional judges, according to a government notification.

Thursday’s announcement comes just three days after the Supreme Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation to fill up the vacant position of judges at the Karnataka HC. The PIL, filed by Bengaluru-based advocate GR Mohan, stated that the vacancies were against Article 21 which guarantees access to justice.

In February, lawyers practising at the High Court had gone on a week-long hunger strike over the delay in appointment of judges. The strike was organised by Members of the Advocates Association Bengaluru and the Karnataka Bar Council. At that time, there were only 24 judges at the High Court against the sanctioned strength of 62.

Speaking to media then, senior lawyer DLN Rao had said, “Karnataka has the highest number of vacancies of judges. Judges are being overworked and cases are taking longer to dispense because of this. We have requested the Chief Minister and the Chief Justice of Karnataka several times over the last few years but no appointments have been made.”

He added, “This is the worst thing that could happen to a litigant. What is the purpose of justice if the case is not decided in your lifetime? There are so many undertrials languishing in prisons, thousands of bail applications and property dispute cases just piling up. This will lead to a breakdown of the law. Hence, we are left with no option but to protest.”

Karnataka HC lawyers go on week-long hunger strike over judicial vacancies

Karnataka HC over the past years has been in the news for having one of the worst ratios of working and the sanctioned number of judges. Even on October 1, the last comparative data available on the Union Law Ministry, Karnataka had one of the worst ratios.

According to those figures, Karnataka HC was worst functioning with 46% sanctioned strength of judges, the Allahabad HC which had the highest vacancies (71) had 55% of its sanctioned strength of judges. According to the same data, combining all vacancies in the HCs and the Supreme Court, 40% of the judges’ posts remain vacant.

TNM

State Election Commission sources, however, told media it is highly unlikely that the poll would be countermanded.

The BJP in Karnataka, which was stumped on Thursday by the withdrawal of its candidate in the Ramanagara Assembly bye-poll just two days ahead of the election, has now sought the polling to be postponed in the seat. To this effect, its leader Chi Na Ramu, the party’s National General Secretary of SC Morcha, wrote to the Election Commission of India. The party also sought action against its candidate L Chandrashekar, son of Congress MLC CM Lingappa.

However, a top state Election Commission officer told media it is highly unlikely that the poll would be countermanded.

“We have not received any instructions from ECI. I don’t think there is a chance of elections being countermanded. The withdrawal from polls by a candidate after the notified date of withdrawal (October 20) is unofficial. His (Chandrashekar’s) name and symbols will be in the EVMs. His party had supported till the last day of withdrawal of candidature and that is why his name is already in the ballot,” the officer told media.

Other than Ramanagara, bye-polls will be held at Assembly segment of Jamakhandi and three Lok Sabha segments – Shimoga, Ballari and Mandya on Saturday as a precursor of sorts to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The results will be declared on November 6. The Congress-JD(S) have decided to put up a united front against the BJP after forming a post-poll alliance in May.

On Thursday, in a major embarrassment for the opposition party in the state, Chandrashekar retired from the elections in an unprecedented move and announced that he is rejoining the Congress. “I take back my nomination and I support Congress-JDS candidate Anita Kumaraswamy,” Chandrashekar stated in a letter. He said the “disinterest” shown by BJP’s state president BS Yeddyurappa for campaigning in the constituency forced him to quit.

The bye-poll in this seat was necessitated as Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy won both the seats of Ramanagara and Channapatna in the May state polls, but chose to vacate this seat. Chandrashekar was the BJP’s choice against JD(S)’s Anitha Kumaraswamy, the wife of the CM. The Congress has decided to lend support to the JD(S) as part of the continuing alliance since the Assembly elections.

Incidentally, CM HD Kumaraswamy has won for the fourth straight time from Ramanagara since 2004. According to poll analysts, with the Congress and JD(S) joining hands, it was realistically impossible for the BJP to manage a victory despite the rivalry between the grassroot workers of the JD(S) and Congress.

TNM

The leader of the protests against the acquittal of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, on blasphemy charges urged his followers on Friday to go on strike as negotiations with the Pakistan government to end the demonstrations failed.

Cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi of the radical Islamist Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party — which supports strong blasphemy laws and had earlier threatened the judges with dire consequences if Asia Bibi was acquitted — said talks with the government had failed, Efe news reported.

It said the government and the country’s main intelligence agency had threatened to open fire on them. “All the lovers of the Prophet and Ahle Sunnat public should gear up to embrace martyrdom for the honour of the Prophet,” Rizvi said on Twitter.

The Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday set off violent protests and sit-ins by hardliners. The government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan decided on Thursday to engage in talks with the TLP, a day after urging the radicals not to go against the state.

Army spokesperson Asif Ghafoor, in an interview with state broadcaster PTV, urged the protesters not to defy the law.

“It is a legal matter and it will be better if the law is allowed to run its course on the matter,” Ghafoor said.

Pakistan on Friday faced another day of protests with several roads cut-off throughout the country, most educational institutions closed, and mobile services suspended.

Thousands of TLP members continued to protest on the streets.

Asia Bibi, a mother of five, was accused by two women of insulting Prophet Muhammad in 2009 and a court sentenced her to death in 2010, with the verdict being upheld four years later by the Lahore High Court.

The anti-blasphemy law was introduced in British colonial times to avoid religious clashes, but in the 1980s several reforms promoted by the dictator Zia-ul-Haq led to the abuse of the law.

Since then, there have been around 1,000 accusations of blasphemy, a crime that in Pakistan can lead to capital punishment, although nobody has ever been executed for it.

IANS

The Supreme Court Friday dismissed a plea filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation against a high court order that had quashed charges against all people accused in the high-profile Bofors scandal. The court reasoned that the CBI’s appeal could not be entertained since it had been filed after a delay of more than 13 years.

The Bofors scandal, which revolved around the purchase of guns for the Indian Army, has been an albatross around the Congress party’s neck with allegations being made that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi received a payoff on the deal to purchase the Bofors guns.

Gandhi, however, was exonerated of wrong doing by the Delhi High Court in 2011. As was Ottavio Quattrocchi, a friend of Rajiv Gandhi and who is accused of being the middleman in the Bofors deal.

In 2005, the Delhi High Court quashed charges against all other people who were accused in the Bofors case. This included the Hinduja brothers, who were also accused of being middlemen in the deal.

The CBI had appealed this 2005 Delhi High Court verdict in the Supreme Court. The plea against the high court verdict was filed in February this year after an extraordinarily long delay of 13 years.

It must be noted there is another appeal against the high court verdict that the Supreme Court is already hearing.

BJP leader and advocate Ajay Agrawal had filed an appeal against the Delhi High Court judgment in 2005 itself. The Supreme Court agreed to hear Agrawal’s plea and the case is currently pending in the court.

Today, the Supreme Court told the CBI that it could make itself heard during the hearings on Agrawal’s plea.

The scandal around the Rs 1,437-crore Bofors deal erupted after a Swedish newspaper reported that Bofors AB, a Swedish arms manufacturer, had paid bribes to ensure that the company received a contract to supply the Indian Army with howitzers.

The Swedish newspaper’s story was picked up by Indian media that carried out investigations of their own. The scandal ultimately led to the door of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with claims being made that he himself had received a bribe.

Hundreds of police officials are on a rampage here damaging police vehicles and attacking officers following the death of a woman police constable early on Friday.

More than 300 trainee officials, including a large number of women, at the Patna Police Lines ransacked officers quarters after their fellow member lost her life “due to sheer negligence and inhuman authoritarian stance of her seniors”, the protesters said.

They complained that they were exploited in the name of duty for hours without even being provided basic facilities. “We do duty without food, water and toilet facility. It is impossible to get leave for genuine reasons,” they said.

The dead official has been suffering from dengue, and had applied for leave. However, despite repeated requests she was not granted permission, a police official said.

Tension gripped the police lines in the heart of the city after the ramapaging mob damaged a temple structure nearby and general public turned on them.

The protesting officials have attacked City Superintendent of Police, his Rural counterpart, Officers-in-charge at half a dozen police stations besides others.

The mob even chased away seniors who approached them to pacify the situation. They pelted stones and even thrashed some of the senior officers, police said.

IANS

CBI officer A.K. Bassi, who was investigating an alleged bribery case against the investigating agency’s Special Director Rakesh Asthana, on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court challenging his transfer to Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice K.M. Joseph said “we will see” as the counsel for Bassi sought an early hearing on the plea.

Seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the allegation of bribery against Asthana, Bassi told the court that he was an investigating officer in the case and had gathered incriminating material when he was sent on leave by the government following an internecine war in the CBI.

The Delhi High Court on Monday initiated contempt proceedings against Swaminathan Gurumurthy, Editor of a Chennai-based Tamil weekly news magazine “Thuglak”, for his tweets against sitting judge Justice S. Muralidhar.

Taking suo motu cognisance of the issue, a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Yogesh Khanna has asked Gurumurthy, who is also a Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s part-time non-official Director, to file a response on the contempt proceedings.

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on December 11.

The court order came after receiving a letter from advocate Rajshekhar Rao, who sought contempt action against the scribe and requested to remove the tweets and online video against the judge.

Gurumurthy had shared a tweet alleging bias by Justice Muralidhar while delivering an order on October 1.

On October 1, a division bench headed by Justice Muralidhar set aside a lower court order allowing the Maharashtra Police to take Navlakha to Pune and said Navlakha’s detention had exceeded 24 hours which was “untenable” in law.

Karnataka Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari took Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to task and ordered the BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad to put an end to garbage dumped on the city’s roads.

“Mr Commissioner, the garbage in Bengaluru must be cleaned up by October 31 and how you do it is your problem,” said Justice Maheshwari, while hearing a case related to storm water drain clean-up.

Justice Maheshwari said, “We will hold you responsible if the city is not clean by October 31, when we are taking up the PIL petitions related to garbage menace. You can’t pinpoint the fault on others,” the Judge added. The Judge also reprimanded the BBMP’s engineers and ordered the Commissioner to hold training sessions for them.

Justice Maheshwari pointed out that there is a need to investigate the nexus between private builders and BBMP officials regarding the issue of storm water drain encroachments. “The BBMP has failed to address its civic duties,” he said.

Responding to the High Court’s order, Bengaluru Mayor Gangambike said the BBMP would concentrate on removing the garbage on the roads first. The other works related to dumping near lakes and others will be done once the roads are cleared.

PTI

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the listing of the Ayodhya title suit matter in January 2019 before an appropriate bench. However, it declined to specify any dates.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi directed the hearing for next year on a batch of petitions challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict trifurcating the disputed site in Ayodhya into three parts for Ram Lalla, Nirmohi Akhara and the original Muslim litigant.

Besides Gogoi, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice K.M. Joseph were also on the bench.

On September 27, the top court bench led by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, along with Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer, by a 2:1 majority rejected the plea challenging the high court judgment and had directed that the matter would be heard by a three-judge bench from October 29.

The newly constituted bench on Monday was expected to hear a batch of petitions filed by both the sides — Hindu and Muslim stakeholders — challenging the high court judgement.

The Muslim petitioners had pressed for hearing the challenge to the high court judgment by a five-judge bench as the court had relied on a 1994 top court judgment that said a mosque was not essential to Islam for offering ‘namaz’.

The government on Saturday appointed 1984 batch IRS officer Sanjay Kumar Mishra as the Interim Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for three months as incumbent Karnal Singh will retire on Sunday.

“Entrustment of additional charge to the post of the Director, ED, to Mishra for a period of three months, or till the appointment of a regular incumbent, whichever is earlier,” the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) said in its order.

The ACC also said that it has approved Mishra’s appointment to the post of Principal Special Director of the financial probe agency.

Mishra is the second Principal Special Director, a newly-created post in the agency, which was first filled by a 1988 batch IRS officer Seemanchal Das.

He will take over from incumbent Singh whose tenure at the agency ends on Sunday.

Singh, a 1984 batch IPS officer of the Union Territories cadre, will complete an over three-year tenure as the ED Director.

He was appointed as full time ED chief with a fixed tenure of two years on October 27, 2016, following a Supreme Court intervention.

The ED investigates in two major areas — Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

IANS