Quoting the Indian government’s lawyers Helen Malcolm QC and Nicholas Hearn, the judgment said: “India is governed by its written constitution which has at its core the fundamental principle of the independence of the judiciary by virtue of the separation of powers between judiciary, the executive and the legislature."
The UK court’s verdict in the Nirav Modi extradition matter may have been a loss of face for former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, but it has come as a boost for Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, whose words were relied upon while rejecting Katju’s statements. Quoting the Indian government’s lawyers Helen Malcolm QC and Nicholas Hearn, the judgment said: “As Ms Malcolm and Mr Hearn correctly remind me in their final written submissions, of the observations made by the Solicitor General of India. India is governed by its written constitution which has at its core the fundamental principle of the independence of the judiciary by virtue of the separation of powers between judiciary, the executive and the legislature. There is no cogent or reliable evidence that the judiciary in India are no longer independent, or capable of managing a fair trial even where it is a high-profile fraud with significant media interest.”
Word Of Praise
DURING HIS visit to Meghalaya on Thursday, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had a special word for the efforts of the state assembly and the government to construct a new assembly building. Birla, who is taking a lot of interest to see that the new Parliament building is in place in the estimated time, praised the Meghalaya government for taking initiatives for an assembly building by 202. The Meghalaya assembly is currently functioning in the central library auditorium in Shillong, ever since the old British era building was devastated in a fire in 2001. During his address to the MLAs, Birla also remembered former Speaker P A Sangma fondly, saying that the late leader was always an inspiration for him.
Appointment Delay
SELECTION OF the next Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University has been delayed. The incumbent V-C’s term expired on January 26, but M Jagadesh Kumar continues to hold the post since his successor has not been appointed by the government yet. The interaction with shortlisted candidates has been postponed twice. It turns out that the Education Ministry was recently tipped off about alleged impropriety in the conduct of one of the applicants. Apparently, two incumbent Rectors at JNU have applied for the job. One of them was present in a meeting in which the university’s Executive Council (EC) selected its nominee to the search-cum-selection committee, which is tasked with finding the next V-C. The candidate in question, since he was applying to the post, should have ideally recused himself from the EC meeting. The ministry, it is learned, is in a bind on whether the current search-cum-selection committee should be allowed to continue and has sought facts from JNU on the alleged impropriety by one of its Rectors.
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