Weekly Legal Updates (15th -21st October 2019)

Dear Students,

In this post, we have covered the Legal updates of the third week of October (15th-21st). "Weekly Legal Updates" series aims to provide important legal events and developments. These updates will help aspirants appearing for Law Entrance Exams.

Weekly Legal Updates

1. Ayodhya case came to an end after 40 days

• The hearing of the Ayodhya case came to an end after 40 days which lasted over a span of more than two months.
• This is the second-longest hearing in the history of Supreme Court after the landmark hearing in Keshavananda Bharati case which lasted 68 days.
• The Ayodhya case is being heard by a Constitution Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer.
• Earlier this year, the Ayodhya dispute was referred to a mediation panel comprising former Supreme Court judge Justice FMI Kalifulla, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and Senior Advocate Sriram Panchu.

2. Orissa High Court had initiated suo-motu contempt proceedings against bar associations in the state for boycotting court

• A Full Bench of the Orissa High Court headed by Chief Justice KS Jhaveri initiated the proceedings after reports submitted by district judges and the High Court Registry regarding boycott of courts by lawyers.
• Lawyers in the state went on strike in April this year against certain recommendations made by the High Court Collegium for elevation to the High Court.

3. Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi recommends Justice SA Bobde as next CJI

• The current Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has recommended the Central Government to make Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde the next Chief Justice of India (CJI).
• On 18th October, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi wrote a letter to the ministry of law and justice recommending Justice Bobde to be the next chief justice.
• Justice Bobde will likely take oath as 47th CJI on November 18, 2019.

Note:

• Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi will demit the office on November 17, 2019.
• He was sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India on October 3, 2018.

About Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi 

• Justice Ranjan Gogoi became the first person from the Northeast to be appointed as the Chief Justice of India.
• His father Keshab Chandra Gogoi is a former chief minister of Assam.
• He was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 23rd April 2012.
• He was born on 18th November 1954 in Assam.

About Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde

• Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was born on 24 April 1956 in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
• He joined the Maharashtra Bar Council in 1978.
• He practised law in Bombay High Court Nagpur Bench.
• He became Additional Judge in the Bombay High Court in the year 2000. Then appointed as Chief Justice in Madhya Pradesh High Court.
• In 2013, Justice Bobde was appointed a judge in the Supreme Court.
• He will retire on 23 April 2021.

Source: India Today & Times of India

4. District Judge AK Mendiratta appointed as new Union Law Secretary

• For the first time, a serving District and Sessions Judge was appointed as Union Law Secretary. Anoop Kumar Mendiratta has been appointed as the new Law Secretary (Secretary, Legal Affairs) in the Union Law Ministry.
• Anoop Kumar Mendiratta is currently serving as District and Sessions Judge at North-East District, Karkardooma Courts in New Delhi.
• Judge Anoop Kumar Mendiratta, who hear the JNU sedition case, is currently serving as District and Sessions Judge, North-Eastern District in Delhi's Karkardooma court.
• According to the sources, Anoop Kumar Mendiratta has been appointed on this post on contractual basis till March 30, 2023.

5. SC extends Navlakha relief

• Gautam Navlakha who had approached the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the FIR implicating him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the Bhima Koregaon case, was granted protection from arrest by four weeks.
• Further, the Supreme Court has granted liberty to Gautam Navlakha to approach the Trial Court to seek regular bail in the matter.

6. J&K HC Orders Govt to provide free Legal aid to detainees under PSA

• In a petition alleging that no access to legal aid was made available to poor and financially unstable detenus who were detained under the recent orders of detention in the State, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed the government to ensure that legal assistance be made available to all the detenus under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978.

Note:

• In July this year, the J&K Reorganization Act, 2019 was passed by the Parliament to bifurcate the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two successor Union Territories – UT of Jammu and Kashmir, and UT of Ladakh.
  
  

----------------------------

October

Weekly Legal Updates (1-7th Oct)

Weekly Legal Updates (8-14th Oct)

September 

Weekly Legal Updates (1-7th Sept)

Weekly Legal Updates (8-14th Sept)

Weekly Legal Updates (15-21st Sept)

Weekly Legal Updates (22-30th Sept)

Monthly Legal Updates for Law Exams: August 2019, Download PDF