Judicial Appointments, JSW Hydro, Adani-Ambuja Cement Merger

“It is your faith in this institution that sustains it. It’s our job to ensure that this faith is not misplaced”
 — Justice Vibhu Bakhru as he was sworn in as the chief justice of Karnataka High Court

Big week for pending approvals of judicial transfers and appointments
The centre cleared a massive backlog in its notification of a number of judicial appointments and transfers this week by notifying transfer of as many as 19 high court judges, four high court chief justices and appointment of five judges as chief justices of various high courts. As per reports, all these moves were recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium on May 26 but have come to be cleared nearly two months after.

Despite the big dock of files being cleared recently, the move yet again highlights the delays and hold-ups in judicial appointments. The judiciary and the government are always seen to be in a tussle over this issue where many outgoing chief justices of India have urged the government to speed up the process to granting clearance to the collegium recommendations in the interest of justice.

While a two-month gap for approval may not look like a long time but the government is often criticised for delays keeping in mind that there have been occasions when transfer recommendations have been given effect to overnight as was the case with Justice Muralidhar, who had made observations against the government and was transferred almost immediately after. On the other hand, many other files with the government take so long to be cleared that sometimes lawyers who are in the running for elevation to the bench withdraw their consent owing to such long delays.

Appointment of HC Chief Justices
o    Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva to Madhya Pradesh High Court
o    Justice Vibhu Bakhru to Karnataka High Court
o    Justice Ashutosh Kumar to to Gauhati High Court
o    Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi to Patna High Court
o    Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan to Himachal Pradesh High Court

Transfer of HC Chief Justices
o    Justice Shriram Kalpathi Rajendran from Madras to Rajasthan High Court
o    Justice MSR Sri Ramachandra Rao from Jharkhand to Tripura High Court
o    Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh from Tripura to Telangana High Court
o    Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava from Rajasthan to Madras High Court

Transfers 
o    Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak from Gauhati to Orissa High Court
o    Justice T Vinod Kumar from Telangana to Madras High Court
o    Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre from Bombay to Delhi High Court
o    Justice Shree Chandrashekhar from Rajasthan to Bombay High Court
o    Justice Jayant Banerji from Allahabad to Karnataka High Court
o    Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra from Allahabad to Punjab & Haryana High Court
o    Justice Arun Monga from Rajasthan to Delhi High Court
o    Justice Om Prakash Shukla from Allahabad to Delhi High Court
o    Justice Battu Devanand from Madras to Andhra Pradesh High Court 
o    Justice Vivek Chaudhary from Allahabad to Delhi High Court
o    Justice Vivek Kumar Singh from Madras to Madhya Pradesh High Court
o    Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh from Kerala to Karnataka High Court
o    Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma from Punjab & Haryana High Court to Rajasthan High Court
o    Justice Sudhir Singh from Punjab & Haryana to Patna High Court
o    Justice Suman Shyam from Gauhati to Bombay High Court
o    Justice Anil Kshetarpal from Punjab & Haryana to Delhi High Court
o    Justice Lanusungkum Jamir from Gauhati to Calcutta High Court
o    Justice V Kameswar Rao from Karnataka to Delhi High Court
o    Justice Sujoy Paul from Telangana to Calcutta High Court

The Week That Was
Key Rulings

• Supreme Court says that Electricity Commissions cannot entertain pleas for investigation solely on grounds of public interest, sets aside an electricity regulatory authority order to probe Torrent Power
• SEBI has the power to recover interest on unpaid penalty dues from the date of the adjudication of a matter, the Supreme Court has held

Courts

• Kerala High Court frames guidelines over use of artificial intelligence by the state’s district level judiciary, bars using AI for any relief, order or judgment
• Justice Yashwant Verma moves the Supreme Court questioning the in-house committee’s report against him in a corruption case
• Bombay High Court rejects the PIL filed against luxury brand Prada over misappropriation of Kolhapuri chappal on grounds of locus standi
• Delhi High Court grants a dynamic injunction to two Tata companies against fraudulent use of their trademarks and domain names
• Bombay High Court allows passenger jetty project near Mumbai’s Gateway of India subject to conditions of limitation on facilities provided in relation to the facility
• Delhi High Court directs e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart to delist products that infringe Reliance and Jio trademarks
• Supreme Court asks JSW Hydro to supply more power free of cost to the state of Himachal Pradesh from its plant made in the state

Quasi Courts

• NCLT Ahmedabad approves merger scheme of Adani Cementation and Ambuja Cements

The Big Listings
Jul 22: Constitution bench of Supreme Court to hear President’s challenge to top court judgment making asset to bills by governors and president time barred
Jul 23: Bombay High Court scheduled to hear a petition by HDFC Bank’s MD-CEO against an FIR filed against him by the trust that operates Lilavati hospital
Jul 23: Bombay High Court to hear Celebi’s plea for interim protection of its interests in Mumbai Airport
Jul 28: Supreme Court scheduled to hear PIL against special intensive revision of the Bihar electoral roll
Aug 1: NCLT’s principal bench is scheduled to hear BPSL’s former promoter’s plea for initiating liquidation in line with top court’s order
Aug 20: Supreme Court to hear Flipkart’s appeal against a high court which affirmed CCI probe into the company

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

Legal Moves 

• Himachal Pradesh National Law University appoints former CJI Sanjiv Khanna as a distinguished professor
• Ravi Shandilya joins GMR Energy as the Legal Head
• Anshuman Chanda appointed Dentsu International India’s Director Legal
• Paras Parekh joins CMS IndusLaw as Partner in Mumbai