Judicial activism was the key in many Supreme Court observations and judgments during 2011. 2011 CVC THOMAS: A three-judge bench led by CJI SH Kapadia declared “non est” — or nonexistent — the majority recommendation of a high-powered committee for P J Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner. The court ruled that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister’s recommendation amounted to “official arbitrariness”, coming in spite of the dissent of the third...

-PTI Under the proposals, the Prime Minister will be under the purview of the Lokpal with certain safeguards that will keep out aspects like international relations, public order, atomic energy, space, internal and external security from the inquiry. Probe on any complaint against the Prime Minister will be decided by the full bench, of which at least three-fourth should agree. The probe will in-camera and if a complaint is dismissed, the records on...

-The Telegraph   Prior sanction shouldn’t be needed to prosecute any class of bureaucrats under any law, the parliamentary panel on the Lokpal bill has said in its report, which Team Anna dubbed a bid to “fool” people for ignoring its key demands. Another significant recommendation in the report, which was submitted today, is that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) look into complaints of corruption against Group C & D employees alone. On including...

Despite criticism of the appointment process, and pendency , the Supreme Court appears to enjoy public confidence like no other institution As the Supreme Court of India approaches its final week of hearings for the year, a look back shows it has dominated the national consciousness by ruling on myriad issues. The court was conceived by the framers of the constitution to deal mainly with fundamental questions of law. But India’s top...

Lokpal provisions under consideration of the parliamentary standing committee could actually lead to significant delays in punishing erring bureaucrats, rather than speeding up the process. This would be among the key arguments from stakeholders who are expected to interact with the standing committee in the coming days. The constitution of the particular standing committee has been significantly delayed, forcing the presentations by CBI chief and central vigilance commissioner for the third...