Sowmiya Rajendrakumar

Published on: July 30, 2022 at 19:27 IST

Justice A M Khanwilkar, the second senior most judge of the Supreme Court, retired on Friday and thanked bar association leaders for their “love and affection”.

Justice Khanwilkar, associated with several path-breaking verdicts, including in the Aadhaar case and the one upholding the SIT’s clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots, said he firmly believes that development of law is a product of a “collaborative effort” of the bar and the bench.

Speaking at his farewell function, Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana said Justice Khanwilkar has always been a very “hard-working” and “disciplined” judge and his work ethic is clear for all to see.

The Apex court dealt with a range of cases on Friday.

A bench headed by CJI Ramana asked the Madras High Court to adjudicate upon in three weeks the pleas filed by O Panneerselvam (OPS) and others against the July 11 general council meet of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), in which OPS was expelled from the party.

Also, a bench comprising justices D Y Chandrachud and J B Pardiwala asked six petitioners challenging the validity of certain provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 to file an intervention in a pending matter.

The same bench sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea seeking directions to establish a bar council in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

It also directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to allow 15 candidates, who faced technical glitches in the first session of the JEE (Mains)-2022, to participate in an additional session scheduled for Saturday.

The Apex court also dismissed a plea seeking a review of its order upholding the One Rank-One Pension (OROP) principle adopted by the Centre in its 2015 communication issued to the chiefs of the three armed forces.

In another matter, the Apex court agreed to hear a judicial officer’s plea challenging his suspension by the Patna High Court and the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against him.

The plea moved by Shashi Kant Rai, an additional district and sessions judge (ADJ) in Bihar’s Araria, came up for hearing before a bench of justices U U Lalit and S R Bhat.

A bench of justices Hemant Gupta and Vikram Nath imposed stringent conditions while granting bail to Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Prasant Kumar Jagdev in a road rage case, barring him from addressing public rallies and visiting his Assembly constituency, Chilika in Khordha district of Odisha, without the district collector’s permission for a year.

Related Post