The issue of accountability of the higher judiciary has long been troubling all sections of society. While the power of the higher judiciary has greatly increased over the years because of the poor popular perception of the political class, which the judiciary has used to enhance the scope of its actions, its accountability has been gradually reduced.

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That this Writ Petition is being filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India in public interest seeking appropriate declarations and issuance of writ of quowarranto or any other writ or direction by this Hon’ble Court for quashing the appointment of Justice S Ashok Kumar i.e Respondent No. 2 as a Judge of the Madras High Court.

New Delhi: Much as it’s desirable to find ever new ways of empowering citizens, law minister H R Bharadwaj seems to have gone overboard in introducing a Bill that equates a single citizen, however inadvertently, with 50 MPs from Rajya Sabha or 100 from Lok Sabha.

The Supreme Court on Thursday sought an unconditional apology from a private TV channel reporter who conducted a sting operation and obtained bailable warrants from an Ahmedabad court against the them President, Chief Justice of India, a Supreme Court Judge and a senior advocate in 2004.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is learnt to have asked law minister H R Bharadwaj not to desist from giving the executive's inputs on judicial appointments recommended by collegiums — the panels of senior judges of high courts and Supreme Court.

The Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad (ASCI) joined the Centre for Media Studies, Delhi (CMS), which is one of the key constituents of the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), in organising a one – day seminar on the topic in Hyderabad on 20th June 2007.

40 prominent citizens from different fields of public life have, after a daylong discussions last week, at CMS-ASCI meet, Hyderabad have resolved to bring out the following Recommendations to the attention of the public in particular and to the concerned Constitutional Authorities.

A Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of India said1 that the State should secure the proper operation of legal system and proper opportunity to get justice, which shall be its Fundamental Obligation as per Article 39A of Constitution of India.

The basic structure theory plays a useful part in our constitutional jurisprudence. But was there truly a judicial formulation by the Supreme Court of India of the basic structure doctrine in the Kesavananda Bharati case? An insider's unravelling of a fascinating story.

Message from Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer

Background note in Hindi

While the corporate media often lionises the judicial system as the only working wing of the State and projects it as the only institution which stands in the way of a government controlled by criminals, the vast majority of the country do not see the judicial system as capable of providing any modicum of justice to them.

The mandate to bring together peoples’ organisations was to ensure a more accountable judiciary, which can be accessed by poor.

The judicial system of the country, far from being an instrument for protecting the rights of the weak and oppressed, has become an instrument of harassment of the common people of the country.

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Feburary, 2007

In a democracy the people should have the right to criticise judges. The purpose of the contempt power should not be to uphold the majesty and dignity of the court but only to enable it to function.

for establishing the National Judicial Council to undertake preliminary investigation and inquire into allegations of misbehaviour or incapacity of a Judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court and to regulate the procedure for such investigation, inquiry and proof, and for imposing minor measures; and for the presentation of an address by Parliament to the President and for matters connected therewith.

Former Union law ministers are spearheading a campaign against sitting judges they accuse of being corrupt. What is the higher judiciary doing to clear itself of these grave charges?

The Supreme Court has confirmed that its comparison with Nero is intended to be seen as a brand on those responsible for the communal carnage in Gujarat two years ago - the worst of its kind in independent India.

Mechanisms to give the government a say in appointing Supreme Court judges and to hear "complaints of misbehaviour and incapacity" against High Court and Supreme Court judges, have been recommended by the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC). The recommendations submitted last week by the commission led by Justice M.N.

NEW DELHI, Aug 2: A curious interlocutory application seeking to advance the hearing of the writ petition urging the Supreme Court to direct the Union Government to appoint and transfer judges on the recommendations of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is to come up before a Division Bench of Justice S Saghir Ahmad and Justice K T Thomas tomorrow.