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Indu Malhotra to be first woman to be promoted from Bar to SC judgeship

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Indu Malhotra to be first woman to be promoted from Bar to SC judgeship

Supreme Court Collegium also recommends elevation of Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph as judge of the apex court

In a first, the Supreme Court Collegium has decided to elevate a woman lawyer – Indu Malhotra – straight from the Bar Council to be made a judge of the apex court.

Indu Malhotra to be first woman to be promoted from Bar to SC judgeshipThe Collegium, comprising senior-most judges of the Supreme Court – Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph – has, according to media reports, recommended unanimously the appointment of Malhotra and Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph as judges of the apex court.

It is pertinent to note that in the first 39 years of its existence, the Supreme Court’s judiciary had no woman member. The glass ceiling was broken in 1989 with the appointment of Justice Fathima Beevi as a judge of the Supreme Court. Justice Beevi was not just the first woman judge of the Supreme Court but also the first Muslim woman to have made it to India’s higher judiciary. The other women judges of the Supreme Court have been Justice Sujatha Manohar,  Justice Ruma Pal, Justice Gyan Sudha Misra and Justice Ranjana Desai.

With Malhotra’s appointment, the Supreme Court will now have two sitting women judges, the other being Justice R Banumati. Malhotra would be one of only seven women judges that the apex court has had so far since independence.

However, this won’t be the first time that the apex court will have two sitting women judges. Speaking to India Legal, Justice (retired) Gyan Sudha Misra said: “Little after Justice Ruma Pal retired I was elevated to the Supreme Court and was the only lady judge for a while before Justice Ranjana Desai was elevated to the SC. Justice Desai and I served as judges of the Supreme Court together for a while.”

However, when asked for her views on the direct elevation of a lawyer to the SC judgeship, Justice (retd) Misra said: “It is the Collegium’s decision and I would not like to comment on it”.

Malhotra had, in 2007, become the second woman to be designated as a Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court. A expert on arbitration, Malhotra has authored the third edition of The Law and Practice of Arbitration and Conciliation, 2014 and has appeared in various domestic and international commercial arbitrations. She has also served as a member of the Centre-appointed High Level Committee (HLC) in the Ministry of Law and Justice to review ‘Institutionalization of Arbitration Mechanism in India’.

Daughter of the late Om Prakash Malhotra, a legal luminary himself with pioneering work in the legal disciplines of industrial disputes and arbitration, Indu Malhotra had enrolled as a lawyer in the Bar Council of Delhi in 1983. Then, in 1988 she qualified as an Advocate-on-Record (AoR) in the Supreme Court and also served as Standing Counsel for the State of Haryana and represented statutory bodies like the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi), Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), before the Supreme Court.

The Collegium’s other pick for the Supreme Court judiciary – Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph – is also an interesting one. It was Justice Joseph who had, in 2016, struck down the imposition of President’s Rule in Uttarakhand by the Narendra Modi-led government and allowed Congress’ Harish Rawat to prove his strength in the state assembly. The decision had paved the way for Harish Rawat to return as Uttarakhand chief minister following the controversial defections to the BJP that had been orchestrated by his predecessor and then party colleague Vijay Bahuguna. A month after he delivered this verdict, the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended Justice Joseph’s transfer to the joint high court for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in Hyderabad. However, the Modi government refused to clear the transfer, instead choosing to keep the Chief Justice’s post vacant. The high court at Hyderabad still does not have a full-time Chief Justice.

The Collegium has also regularised Chief Justices of five High Courts which currently had acting chief justices. Justice J Bhattacharaya, who is presently chief justice of Calcutta High Court, will be the new chief justice of Delhi High Court, taking over from Justice Gita Mittal who has been serving as the acting chief justice of the court for several months now.

Chief Justice of the Chattishgarh High Court, Justice TB Radhakrishnan, has been transferred to the Andhra Pradesh High Court which Justice Abhilasha Kumari of the Gujarat High Court has been transferred to Manipur as chief justice. The Collegium has also appointed Justice A Dominic as chief justice of the Kerala High Court while Justice Ajay Rastogi has been transferred to the Tripura High Court. Justice Surya Kant of the Punjab and Haryana High court will be the new chief justice of Himachal Pradesh.

2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Sunita Kejriwal holds maiden Lok Sabha election roadshow in Delhi

Sunita Kejriwal will also hold a road show in West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency on Sunday. AAP party leaders said Sunita Kejriwal will also spearhead the campaign for AAP candidates in South Delhi and New Delhi constituencies as well as in Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab.

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Aam Aadmi Party began its campaign for 3rd phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 on Saturday with Sunita Kejriwal, wife of jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal holding a roadshow in Delhi. In a massive rally, Sunita Kejriwal was be seen standing on a vehicle holding her hands and greeting the people of the area. AAP’s East Delhi candidate Kuldeep Kumar was seen sitting on the vehicle as he showcased a portrait of Rani Laxmibai.

Earlier ahead of Sunita Kejrieal’s roadshow, Kuldeep Kumar told the media that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who worked to provide the best school, and free- electricity to the people of Delhi has been framed in a fake case by BJP. Kumar further added that from today onwards Sunita Kejriwal’s roadshow will start and she is going to seek support and blessings from the Delhi people to continue its fight against the BJP government.

Aam Aadmi Party workers also staged a protest under the banner of Jail ka jawab vote se near Delhi’s Lakshmi Nagar area on Saturday against the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in connection with an excise policy case.

After the Delhi CM’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the liquor policy case in March, Sunita Kejriwal has taken up a more prominent role in campaigning activities for the Aam Aadmi Party. Since the Delhi CM’s arrest, Atishi and other AAP leaders have alleged that the arrest was made so that to the AAP Supremo can be prevented from campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections. Arvind Kejriwal has been sent to judicial custody until May 7.

Sunita Kejriwal will also hold a road show in West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency on Sunday. AAP party leaders said Sunita Kejriwal will also spearhead the campaign for AAP candidates in South Delhi and New Delhi constituencies as well as in Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab. She is emerging as a star campaigner for Aam Aadmi Party.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Mallikarjun Kharge says candidates for Amethi, Rae Bareli seats in Uttar Pradesh will be announced in a few days

On being asked about the names of the candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies Mallikarjun Kharge said the people will have to wait for a few more days. He said when the names of candidates come from people to him and he will sign the notification, then the announcement will be made.

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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said that the candidates for prestigious Amethi and Rae Bareli seats in Uttar Pradesh will be announced in a few days. He was addressing a press conference where he claimed that though the BJP says the corrupt must be put in jails, when leaders facing corruption charges join the saffron party, they are put on the lap and sent to Rajya Sabha or assembly.

On being asked about the names of the candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies he said the people will have to wait for a few more days. He said when the names of candidates come from people to him and he will sign the notification, then the announcement will be made.

On being questioned about Congress leaders changing constituencies Kharge asked how many times have Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani changed their seats. His response came when asked about the BJP criticising Rahul Gandhi for fighting the elections from Kerala’s Wayanad instead of Amethi. Referring to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Kharge said the Congress is not affected by people who grew up in the party and left it later.

The Congress president launched an all round attack on the BJP and PM Modi and said the prime minister did not implement even one of his electoral promises and still says Modi did a lot of work for the country. Addressing the press conference he said the BJP never fought for the independence of India, but Congress is a party of those who made India independent. He said the BJP never fought for the independence of India, for the development of India. The Congress President said the BJP speaks so much about patriotism and that the contribution of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri is nothing before them.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Priyanka Gandhi accuses BJP of planning to change the Constitution, criticises PM Modi for inflation

Priyanka Gandhi was speaking at an election rally at Dharampur village of tribal dominated Valsad district held in support of Congress candidate for ST-reserved Valsad Lok Sabha seat, Anant Patel.

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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday said the BJP may be denying it now, but the party will change the Constitution if it returns to power. She targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over inflation and called him the mehengai man.

Gandhi said the BJP leaders and candidates are saying that they will change the Constitution. She said PM Modi is denying it and this is BJP’s tactic. Priyanka Gandhi was speaking at an election rally at Dharampur village of tribal dominated Valsad district, Gujarat held in support of Congress candidate for ST-reserved Valsad Lok Sabha seat, Anant Patel.

Gandhi said first the BJP will deny what they want to do. But after coming to power they will implement it. She further added the BJP wants to change the constitution to weaken the common people and deprive them of their rights given in the Constitution. She said the BJP leaders project the Prime Minister as powerful and say that chutki bajake ladai rukwa dete hai (he can stop the Russia- Ukraine war with the snap of his fingers). She asked why is Prime Minister unable to remove poverty just like that?

Priyanka Gandhi claimed the tribal population in Gujarat which is Modi’s home state and the whole country is suffering from issues like rising inflation, unemployment, low remumberation, loss of land, violence against women and other atrocities. She highlighted the Congress manifesto and said it addresses issues faced by the tribal population.

She assured the people that the Congress will bring schemes like MGNREGA for urban areas where families will get 100 days of guaranteed work. She said the Congress is committed to filing about 30 lakh vacancies in government jobs, providing subsidised diesel to fishermen and take the minimum wage to Rs 400. Gandhi said the Congress is going to work out sub plans for Scheduled Tribes and scheduled castes.

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