Can Subrata Roy get an office: SC to jailers

TNN | Jul 26, 2014, 12.10AM 

The Supreme Court on Friday asked Tihar Jail authorities in Delhi whether they could make available office space with Wi-Fi and internet facilities to help detained Sahara group chairman Subrata Roy finalize negotiations for sale of three hotels in London and New York. Roy and Sahara group had identified a guest house within the Tihar Jail complex but solicitor general Ranjit Kumar informed the court that it was close to the staff quarters and had not been designated as a prison.

"Communication facilities can be set up at the guest house, which could also be designated as a jail by the lieutenant governor for a specified period of the day during which Roy and Sahara group's identified personnel could use it for negotiations for the sale of assets," he said.

Appearing for Roy, senior advocate K T S Tulsi said important prospective buyers from abroad were in Delhi and the Sahara chief would like to participate in the final phase of negotiations to get the best price for the assets so as to enable him to raise the money needed for getting out of jail on interim bail. A bench of Justices T S Thakur, A R Dave and A K Sikri asked the SG to explore the possibility of providing Roy office facility in Tihar, where he has been lodged since March 4. The court had told him that he could come out on interim bail if he deposited Rs 5,000 crore in cash and Rs 5,000 crore in bank guarantee with market regulator Sebi.

Collegium system a failure: Law panel Chief

 TNN 26 July 14

NEW DELHI: Days after Press Council of India chairman Justice Markandey Katju attacked the Supreme Court collegium for appointment of judges, law commission chairman Justice A P Shah on Friday said its conduct has been opaque and that appointments to higher judiciary lacked transparency. 

In an interview to a TV channel, Justice Shah said: "Justice Katju's revelations cannot be undermined, but I have reservations over the manner in which it has been done and about its timing." The collegium system is so opaque that even if someone wants to speak out, he cannot do it having come through the same system, he said. 

"The collegium system has completely failed, judges are appointed on unknown criteria," Justice Shah said calling the apex court system of appointing judges as a cabal or a club lacking transparency. "It has failed as favourites get appointed and the rest are left out," said the former chief justice of Delhi High Court. 

Justice Shah's attack comes soon after some other retired senior judges supported Justice Katju's claims that a Madras High Court additional judge had been given an extension despite an IB report containing allegations of corruption against him. Former SC judge Ruma Pal, who was part of the three-member collegium that had initially refused extension to the Madras High Court additional judge, had supported Katju's claims. 

Later, Goa human rights commission chairman and former chief justice of Patna High Court Justice P K Misra also supported Justice Katju on the expose. 

Justice Shah pointed out how the collegium had gone ahead to appoint a judge at the age of 60 years when the criteria laid down clearly says any appointment to higher judiciary has to be below the age of 55. 

"I remember once lists were forwarded by the Punjab and Haryana High Court and Madras High Court. The apex court collegium completely scrapped the two lists without assigning any reason," Justice Shah recounted. 

Justice Shah's assertion strengthens the government's move to bring in the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill replacing the collegium. It has sought opinion from all parties and is likely to bring the bill in Parliament in the winter session. 

The law panel chief supported the government's bill but said the composition of the commission should be part of the Constitution amendment bill. "Unless it is backed by Constitutional provision, it will not be effective," he said. 

He said the present JAC bill framed by the UPA is inadequate. The entire composition of the JAC should be part of the Constitutional amendment bill. He also clarified that the JAC should not be reduced to just a recommendatory commission but its recommendations should be made binding on the executive. In case there are some issues, there should be a provision of an Ombudsman, like in the UK, which should look into point of conflict, he said.

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Statute amendment likely to change how judges are appointed

TNN July 26,2014

With the collegium system of judges' appointment under fire, the government proposes to end Supreme Court's monopoly by amending Articles 124(2) and 217(1) of the Constitution to broad-base the process for selection of judges to the SC and high courts. 

The Centre is of the view that a law enacted to annul the judge-appointing-judge system, devised by the SC through two judgments in 1993 and 1998, will run the risk of getting struck down by the apex court. 

It feels that since there is an ambiguity in the constitutional provisions about the process and mechanism for appointment of judges to the SC and HCs and the present practice, it would be better to adopt the constitutional amendment route to specify the procedure for selection and appointment of judges to constitutional courts. 

Article 124(2) says, "Every judge of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with such of the judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts in the states as the President may deem necessary for the purpose and shall hold office until he attains the age of 65 years." 

It also provides that "in the case of appointment of a judge other than the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of India shall always be consulted". For appointment of a high court judge, Article 217(1) mandates the President to consult the CJI, governor of the state and chief justice of the HC. 

These two articles provide that the executive, through the President, would have primacy in appointment of judges. This is how it was till 1993, when a constitution bench of the Supreme Court held that the Chief Justice of India would have primacy in appointment of judges.

Madras Lower court lawyers need not wear gowns

Manish Raj,TNN | Jul 26, 2014, 02.23 AM IST

CHENNAI: Here's some good news for lawyers. The Bar Council of India has said that lawyers practising in subordinate courts need not wear the long black gown or coat while arguing their cases.

This relief, which would give lawyers respite from the sweltering heat, conveyed to the Tamil Nadu Federation of Women Lawyers (TNFWL), in response to a representation seeking relaxation of dress code for advocates during summer. The Bar Council of India letter dated July 16, however, said advocates practising in high courts and the Supreme Court cannot avail themselves of the dress rule relaxation.

K Santhakumari, president of Tamil Nadu Federation of Women's Lawyers, wrote a letter to the BCI on June 2, seeking exemption for advocates from wearing gowns during the summer, keeping in mind the heat.

"On an average the temperature touches 40 degree Celcius from April to June. As such the lawyers in Tamil Nadu are finding it extremely difficult to wear the coat and gown during summer." Also, labour, criminal and family courts did not have summer vacation. Despite finding it difficult to wear coats and gown in the searing heat, the lawyers had to follow the dress code prescribed by the bar council, Santhakumari said.

She also referred to the exemption given to advocates in Delhi and Punjab from wearing gowns during summer months (from April to June). A similar directive could be issued for Tamil Nadu as well. "This will not only ease the difficulty but also increase the efficiency of the Bar," she said.



(K Santhakumari, president of Tamil Nadu Federation of Women's Lawyers)

Replying to it, the council said that as per Rule III of the Rules of the Bar Council of India "wearing of advocate's gown shall be optional except when appearing in the Supreme Court or in High courts."

Further, as per Rule IV, "except in Supreme Court and high courts during summer, wearing of black coat is not mandatory."

It then directed the secretary of bar council of Tamil Nadu to circulate the rules among various Bar associations in the state to "remove the confusion or doubts."

SBH Bank to pay Rs 30,000 for wrongly debiting money from saving account

Tuesday, 8 July 2014 - 2:59pm IST | Agency: PTI

State Bank of Hyderabad has been directed by a consumer forum here to pay Rs 30,000 to a man, who could not withdraw money from the ATM but cash was wrongly debited from his account.

The East Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, presided by N A Zaidi, said it was the bank's duty to see that the CCTVs in ATMs were placed in such a manner that they could record the identity of the person operating the machine and the amount delivered to him.

The forum asked the bank to pay Rs 30,000, including compensation for causing harassment, to East Delhi resident Arun Sharma after noting that Rs 20,000, which was debited from his account through the bank's ATM, was never withdrawn by him.

"The entire material on record clearly shows that the transaction in question (Rs 20,000) was not carried out by the complainant and the amount which has been debited from the account of the complainant was never withdrawn by him.

"It is the duty of the Bank to keep their ATMs free from any kind of fault, the CCTV cameras should be fixed in such a manner that they could record the identity of the person operating machine and recording the amount delivered by the machine," the forum, also comprising its member Poonam Malhotra, said.
It also said that since these facilities were not in place at the bank's ATM, advantage can always be taken by an "unscrupulous" person of such defects in the machine as it has been taken in this case.
It said the ATM record showed that Rs 20,000 transaction took place at 7.30 AM on October 28, 2010 but as per the complainant, the CCTV footage which was played in front of the branch manager of the bank showed that Sharma had visited the ATM at 7 AM but the machine had not responded.

Sharma, who was having a saving account with the bank's Vikas Marg branch in Laxmi Nagar, had told the forum that on October 28, 2010, he had tried to withdraw money from the ATM at 7 AM but the machine did not respond as it was having some technical problem. However, at 7:30 AM, the amount was debited from his account.

Sharma said he had given a written complaint to branch's deputy manager informing him that he has not withdrawn this amount on October 28, 2010, and it should be enquired and his money be reverted to his account.

He said the bank, however, failed to make any investigation and gave flimsy grounds regarding the amount withdrawn and showed their inability to do anything on the complaint.

The bank, however, claimed in its written statement filed before the forum that Sharma was a "dishonest" man who had successfully taken the money from the ATM.

The forum, in its order, said the bank failed to place on record the CD of CCTV footage of 7 AM to 7:33 of that day.

"The withholding of CCTV footage from this Forum of the relevant time further fortifies the case of the complainant that he has not done the transaction in question.

"There is no report filed by the OP regarding the perfection of the ATM machine and its efficient working in rebuttal of the case of the complainant that it was suffering from technical glitch," the forum said.

Retrieving bad loans

Tuesday, 22 July 2014 - 6:05am IST Updated: Monday, 21 July 2014 - 7:50pm IST | Agency: DNA

There are some inherent checks and balances, which, if followed diligently, can bring down the proportion of non-performing assets of Indian banks

Reports of loans extended by public sector banks turning sticky are appearing with increasing frequency these days. The Reserve Bank of India as well as the government have rightly expressed concern about the accumulated debts. But if this is cause for some real anxiety — it is particularly so for the common man. Because, it is the deposits of the common citizen in the banks which feed loans. And the possibility of loans turning bad tends to put these savings to risk. 

The figures of sticky loans for public sector banks are truly alarming. In 2001, bad loans were to a tune of 12% of the total advances. In 2011, these came down to 3.5% due to persistent focus of the issue. Since then, the proportion of bad loans — euphemistically called non-performing assets — has gone up, and currently stand at over 4.5%. In a recent review, some international agencies have brought attention to this weakness of Indian financial sector, particularly of public sector banks. 

Basically, there are two categories of bad loans: first, those of wilful defaulters; second, those which have turned bad because of external factors and reverse turn in the macro-economic situation. The wilful defaulters need harsh treatment; the second category needs nurturing. 

The RBI has taken the view that the economic slow down in the last two years has landed the industry segments in a spot. The borrowers are often not in a position to service the loan accounts. RBI hopes that once the economy turns around, many of these borrowers should come back to normalcy. 

Leaving these long term external factors aside, there are some inherent checks and balances which could prevent increasing stickiness in loan portfolios. First and foremost is the banks’ internal capability to evaluate the borrowers soundness and ability to repay. Banks should have the capacity to assess the viability of the loan-seeking projects. Currently, the banks do not possess the requisite expertise for this job. 

Second, the contracts giving loans should have inherent clauses for protecting the interests of banks — in case the loans are not serviced. It’s useful to recall in this context the earlier “conversion clause” under which any dues could be converted into share capital of the borrowing companies. This would then facilitate a quick management take over and replacement to secure interests of the banks. This clause was hotly contested and scrapped at the bidding of promoter shareholders. Given the rising incidence of bad loans and difficulty of recovering dues,  the convertibility clause may be revived again as a deterrent provision. 

Third, loans are now extended on the strength of recommendations of the credit rating agencies (CRAs). This has become an established global practice and even required under the Basel III agreement. Often, CRAs give  ‘triple A’ rating to companies or products which then quickly go under. However, even in such cases the CRAs go scot free, refusing to accept any responsibility. The Reserve Bank appears to be seized of this matter and is looking at options for putting some responsibilities on rating agencies. One of the ways should be to make their accreditation more stringent. 

At any rate, what is needed now is not to rue over the huge amounts of NPAs but to find ways of recovering the dues and prevent a repeat of the bad practice in future.

Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul was on Saturday sworn-in as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

Madras highcourt advocates association July 26 ,2014, 4mts back

Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul was on Saturday sworn-in as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. Earlier, he was the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The Governor, K. Rosaiah, administered the oath of office at a brief ceremony at the Durbar Hall of the Raj Bhavan.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, her cabinet colleagues, Judges of the High Court, Advocate-General, A.L. Somayaji, Additional Advocates-General, and members of the Bar, were among those who attended the swearing-in.

Earlier, the Chief Secretary, Mohan Verghese Chunkath, read out the Presidential Notification on the appointment of the Chief Justice.

Mr. Justice Kaul (55) will be the 27 Chief Justice of the Madras High Court since Independence. At present, Justice Satish K. Agnihotri is the Acting Chief Justice of the High Court. Justice R.K. Agrawal was the last regular Chief Justice, who was later elevated to the Supreme Court.

The new Chief Justice was born on December 26, 1958. After schooling in Modern School, New Delhi, he graduated in Economics (Hons.) from St. Stephen’s College. He obtained LL.B from the Campus Law Centre, Delhi University in 1982. He enrolled himself as an advocate in July 1982 and practised in the Delhi High Court. He was designated a Senior Advocate in December 1999. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court in May 2001 and made permanent in May 2003. He was elevated as the Acting Chief Justice in September 2012. He became Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on June 1 last year.

Kingfisher Airlines withdraws its plea in SC

Monday, 21 July 2014 - 7:07pm IST | Agency: PTI

Kingfisher Airlines today withdrew in the Supreme Court its appeal against Karnataka High Court's verdict allowing a consortium of banks led by SBI to take possession of its prestigious property Kingfisher House in Mumbai.

As soon as the matter came for hearing before a bench headed by Justice J S Khehar, the company pleaded the court to allow it to withdraw the petition.

The Airlines had moved the Supreme Court challenging the high court's January 29 verdict that allowed a consortium of banks to take possession of Kingfisher House.

The banks seeking possession and sale of the property are State Bank of India, Axis Bank Ltd, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank Ltd, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, and United Bank of India. 

Man Fined for Throwing out Tenant’s Belongings

By TNN

Published: 26th July 2014 08:32 AM

CHENNAI: A house owner who had thrown out his tenants by force has been asked by the Madras high court to pay 50,000 as compensation to the evicted tenants. 

"The right of persons who come to court cannot be allowed to end in an illegal manner," observed Justice 8%B Rajendran, who then said A Jagajothi of Gudalur in the Nilgiris district was entitled to at least 50,000 as compensation, as she and her family members had been illegally thrown out of the rented house. 

In her petition, Jagajothi said that she was living with her family in a rented a house near a government school in Gudalur, owing to certain differences of opinion with the school headmaster, her husband had lodged a police complaint against him. A few days later, after the police complaint created tension, their house owner tried to evict them in the middle of her daughter's academic year. As pleas for extension did not help, she filed a civil suit. Even while the suit was pending, the house owner threw out all her belongings. Police did not take any action despite complaints, which forced her to file the present case in the Madras high court. The house owner's son, denying the allegations and questioning the admissibility of the petition wherein his father had not been impleaded as party, said Jagajothi moved the court to gain sympathy. 

Justice Rajendran, finding merit in the tenant's case, said her right had to be safeguarded. He awarded a compensation of 50,000, and asked court authorities to implead Kathirvel as a party to the proceedings 

RBI fines 12 banks in DCHL loan default case

        BS Reporter  |  Mumbai  July 26, 2014 

 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has fined 12 banks, including ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank andCorporation Bank, a total of Rs 1.5 crore in relation to theDeccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) loan default case. This fine has been levied as a result of not following proper procedures while lending to DCHL.

"After considering the facts of each case and the individual bank's reply, as also, personal submissions etc., by some of the banks before its Committee of Executive Directors, the Reserve Bank came to the conclusion that some of the violations were substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty as determined above," RBI said.

The banks collectively had a total exposure of around Rs 4,000 crore.

ICICI Bank, the second largest lender of the country, has been slapped with a fine of Rs 40 lakh, the highest penalty in this case. The remaining 11 banks have been fined between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 15 lakh.

"RBI had been communicating with the banks for a while now, seeking clarity on the know your customer (KYC) procedure and due-diligence with regard to lending to DCHL. The central bank had been trying to ascertain what was lax on the bank's part in this case," said a senior official from a bank fined by RBI.

RBI had issued showcause notices to these 12 banks in March 2014 and the banks had then submitted written replies.

"This action is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into between the bank concerned and the borrower," the notification added.

A forensic audit conducted by Canara Bank had revealed owners of DCHL had taken loans by mortgaging the same property with multiple lenders. This was conducted after the media firm had started defaulting on the loans to the lenders.

Based on a complaint by Canara Bank, the Central Bureau of Investigation had also filed a case against T Venkattram Reddy, chairman of DCHL, for criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery. 

No Advocate Clean enough to be Judge ?

TNN 24 July 2014

The true facts about the corrupt Madras High Court Judge

Justice Markandey Katju, 24 July 2014

Many people have asked why i did not speak out in 2005 about the incident relating to the corrupt Judge of Madras High Court when it happened that year. My reply is : I was a sitting Judge  (Chief Justice of Madras High Court) at that time, and judicial discipline and the unwritten code of conduct requires that a Judge should not go into the public domain. So I could not have gone to the press. But I was not silent. I informed the then Chief Justice of India, both in writing as well as orally when I met him in Delhi, about the full facts, and requested him to order a secret IB enquiry, which he did, and the IB report proved that what I said about that Judge was correct. I retired in September 20011, and it was only when some Tamilians wrote on my facebook page that I should write about some of my experiences as Chief Justice of Madras High Court that I wrote about it.

 Moreover, the important question is not about timing, but whether what i said was correct or not. I posed 6 specific questions for Justice Lahoti ( the then CJI) to answer, but he did not, and instead said that he will not stoop to the level of someone else ( implying me). Let the people decide who has stooped. Justice Ruma Pal, who was at that time on the 3 Judge Supreme Court Collegium ( consisting of Justices Lahoti, Sabarwal and Ruma Pal ) has vindicated me  ( see front page of Hindustan Times today ). Also, the letter of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh putting pressure to continue that corrupt Judge has now come to light, as well as the written comment of Justice Lahoti that the sensitivities of the government should be taken into account ( meaning that the Judges should surrender to political pressure ).

In today's Punjab Kesari Hindi Newspaper (24.07.2014) it is stated in the front page in a special editorial by Mr. Ashwini Kumar, the editor, that if Justice Ashok Kumar was a corrupt judge, I should not have recommended him for elevation to the High Court. In fact, I never recommended him but it was my predecessor who recommended him. I became Chief Justice of Madras High Court in November 2004, whereas Justice Ashok Kumar had become the Additional Judge of the High Court in April 2003.

In the said editorial Mr. Ashwini Kumar asks why I did not do anything when I found he was corrupt. The truth is that I immediately requested the CJI to get a secret IB enquiry held, which was held and he was found to be corrupt. Thereafter, it was for the CJI to do the needful. I could not go into the public domain as it is against judicial discipline and unwritten code of conduct for judges that they should not go into the public domain.

சென்னை: உயர் நீதிமன்ற தலைமை நீதிபதியாக சஞ்சய் கிஷன் கவுல் வரும் 26ம் தேதி பதவியேற்கிறார்.

தினகரன் 24 ஜூலை, 2014 

சென்னை: உயர் நீதிமன்ற தலைமை நீதிபதியாக சஞ்சய் கிஷன் கவுல்  வரும் 26ம் தேதி பதவியேற்கிறார். அவருக்கு ஆளுநர் ரோசய்யா பதவிப்  பிரமாணம் செய்து வைக்கிறார். 

சென்னை உயர் நீதிமன்ற தலைமை நீதிபதியாக இருந்த ராஜேஷ்குமார்  அகர்வால் உச்ச நீதிமன்ற நீதிபதியாக பதவியேற்றதையடுத்து, தலைமை  நீதிபதி பணியிடம் கடந்த 5 மாதங்களாக காலியாக உள்ளது. நீதிபதி  சதீஷ்குமார் அக்னிஹோத்ரி தற்காலிக தலைமை நீதிபதியாக  செயல்பட்டு வருகிறார். 

 இந்நிலையில், உயர் நீதிமன்ற தலைமை  நீதிபதியாக பஞ்சாப், அரியானா உயர் நீதிமன்ற தலைமை நீதிபதி சஞ்சய்  கிஷன் கவுலை நியமனம் செய்ய உச்ச நீதிமன்ற தலைமை நீதிபதி  ஆர்.எம்.லோதா அடங்கிய நீதிபதிகள் குழு முடிவு செய்தது. 

அதன் படி  புதிய தலைமை நீதிபதிக்கான ஒப்புதலை ஜனாதிபதி பிரணாப் முகர்ஜி  வெளியிட்டார். இதையடுத்து, வரும் 26ம் தேதி புதிய தலைமை நீதிபதி  சஞ்சய் கிஷன் கவுல் பதவியேற்கிறார். அவருக்கு தமிழக ஆளுநர்  ரோசய்யா பதவிப் பிரமாணம் செய்து வைக்கிறார். 

ஆளுநர் மாளிகையில் 26ம் தேதி காலை 11.30 மணிக்கு பதவியேற்பு  நிகழ்ச்சி நடைபெறுகிறது. நீதிபதி சஞ்சய் கிஷன் கவுல், டெல்லியில்  1958ல் பிறந்தார். 

1976ல் பொருளாதார பட்டம் பெற்ற இவர், 1982ல்  டெல்லியில் சட்டப் படிப்பை முடித்து டெல்லி பார் கவுன்சிலில் பதிவு  செய்தார். சிவில், ரிட், கம்பெனி சட்ட வழக்குகளில் அதிக அனுபவம்  பெற்ற இவர் 2001 மே 3ல் டெல்லி உயர் நீதிமன்ற கூடுதல் நீதிபதியாக  நியமிக்கப்பட்டார். 

பின்னர் 2003ல் நிரந்தரம் செய்யப்பட்டார். 2013  ஜனவரி 6 முதல் பஞ்சாப், அரியானா உயர் நீதிமன்ற தலைமை  நீதிபதியாக பதவி வகித்து வருகிறார்.

Maximum customer grievances against SBI: ombudsman

B L :CHENNAI, JULY 22: 2014 

Complaints rise following improved awareness

State Bank of India leads public sector banks in number customer complaints received by the Banking Ombudsman during the year 2013-14.

SBI, with 1,960 complaints from customers, is followed by Indian Bank with 910 and Indian Overseas Bank with 740.

Among the private sector banks, ICICI Bank with 682 complaints is on top of the list, followed by HDFC Bank (560 ), Standard Chartered Bank (440) and Axis Bank (326).

Announcing this at a press conference here, U. Chiranjeevi, Banking Ombudsman (Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands), said due to improved awareness among consumers the total number of complaints received in his region has gone up by 21 per cent during the year 2013-14.

He said 8,775 complaints were received during the year against 7,255 last year. “And, close to 7,000 of them were maintainable, excluding the 241 complaints, which are under process,” he said.

According to him, more than 97 per cent of them were disposed. Majority (21.93 per cent) of the complaints received during the year were about lapses in the process of loans and advances.

This is followed by complaints about debit cards, credit cards and ATM related issues (21.73 per cent)