SC refuses to stay warrant of appointment of Indu Malhotra

Agencies

April 26, 2018

New Delhi, Apr 26: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay the Presidential Warrant appointing senior woman lawyer Indu Malhotra as a judge of the apex court.

The top court termed the plea of advocates as "unimaginable, unthinkable, unconscionable and never heard before."

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Dipak Misra took strong note of submission of senior advocate Indira Jaising that Indu be not sworn in as the apex court judge and the Centre be directed to recommend the name of Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court Justice K M Joseph as well.

"What kind of prayer is this," the bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said, adding that the Centre is "well within its right to send back the recommendation for reconsideration."

"Supposing the government is sending it for reconsideration, it will be seen. You are saying 'stay the warrant.' It is unthinkable, unconscionable, unimaginable and if I may add 'never heard before'," the CJI said.

Indira referred to the Centre's decision of segregating the name of Justice Joseph and Indu and said it cannot be done and either both names should have been recommended or rejected.

"Constitutional propriety demands that the warrant of appointment of Indu Malhotra be implemented," the bench said.

The top court said that it is surprising that a member of a Bar is being appointed as a judge and lawyers are mentioning at 2 pm for a stay on Warrant of Appointment.

Indira said that she is not pressing the prayer for a stay on the Warrant of Appointment and wants the larger issue of "cherry picking" of judges to be dealt by the court.

She urged the court to direct listing of the matter urgently and said, "We are worried about the independence of the judiciary."

The bench refused to list the matter urgently and said it will come in due course of time.

Over 100 Supreme Court Bar Association members had mentioned the plea alleging that the Centre was interfering with the administration and independence of the judiciary by selectively acting upon the Collegium's recommendation for appointment in the Supreme Court.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Adani Group in Crisis: $30 Billion Wiped Out after US Bribery and Fraud Charges Emerge

News Network

November 21,2024

Shares of Adani Group companies lost about $28 billion in market value in morning trade on Thursday after US prosecutors charged the billionaire chairman of the Indian conglomerate in an alleged bribery and fraud scheme.

Gautam Adani's flagship company Adani Enterprises tumbled 23 per cent, while Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar and Adani Energy Solutions, ACC , Ambuja Cements and NDTV fell between 20 per cent and 90 per cent.

Adani group's 10 listed stocks had a total market capitalisation of about $141 billion at 0534 GMT, compared to $169.08 billion on Tuesday.

US authorities said Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and develop India's largest solar power plant project.

Adani Green in a statement on Thursday said the US Justice Department had issued a criminal indictment against board members Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani and the Securities and Exchange Commission had issued a civil complaint against them.

The US Justice Department also included Adani Green board member Vneet Jaain in the criminal indictment, it said.

Adani Green's units had decided not to proceed with the proposed US dollar denominated bond offerings due to developments, it added.

"Investors will shy away from Adani Group stocks ... and that's what this sharp selling is signifying," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of retail equities research at SMC Global Securities.

"This could hurt the credibility of the group and maybe borrowing costs will rise," he said.

The indictment comes nearly two years after US shortseller Hindenburg Research alleged that Adani had improperly used tax havens and was involved in stock manipulation, allegations the conglomerate denied.

Also in early Asian trading on Thursday, Adani dollar bonds slumped, with prices down 3c-5c on bonds for Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone. The falls were the largest since the Adani Group came under a short-seller attack in February 2023.

Comments