1. Justice AM Khanwilkar Appointed As Chairman Of Supreme Court Legal Services Committee

• Justice AM Khanwilkar has been appointed as Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.

• The notification in this regard has been issued by the Law Ministry. The Central Authority nominated Justice Khanwilkar, who is the second senior most judge in the Supreme Court, with immediate effect in the wake of retirement of Justice RF Nariman who held the post of chairman since September, last year.

• As per Section 3A of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, it is the Central Authority which has to constitute a Committee to be called the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee for the purpose of exercising such powers and performing such functions as may be determined by regulations made by the Central Authority.

• Supreme Court Legal Services Committee is constituted for implementing the legal services programme insofar as it relates to the Supreme Court of India. Following are the powers and functions of the committee as per Supreme Court Legal Services Committee Regulations, 1996:

1. To administer and implement the legal services programme in so far as it relates to the Supreme Court of India and for this purpose take all such steps as may be necessary and to act in accordance with the directions issued by the Central Authority from time to time;

2. To receive and scrutinize applications for legal services and to decide all questions as to the grant of or withdrawal of legal service;

3. To maintain panels of advocates on record and of senior advocates in the Supreme Court for giving the legal advice;

4. To decide all matters relating to payment of honorarium, costs, charges and expenses of legal services to the advocates on record and to senior advocates of the Supreme Court;

5. To prepare and submit returns, reports and statistical information in regard to the legal services programme to the Central Authority.
   
   The Chairman of the Committee (1) shall be in overall charge of administration and implementation of the programmes of the Committee: Provided that the Chairman shall not directly concern any question as to grant or withdrawal of legal service to any person. (2) cause the meetings of the Committee convened through the Secretary at least once in a period of three months. (3) shall preside over the meetings of the Committee. (4) shall have all the residuary powers of the Committee.

Source: Bar & Bench

2. Chief Justice AS Oka Inaugurates New Child Care Centre In Bengaluru City Civil Court Complex

• Karnataka High Court' Chief Justice Abhay S. Oka on Friday inaugurated the creche (Child Care Centre) facility inside the City Civil Court Complex in Bengaluru for the benefit of children of advocates and court staff.

• Justice B V Nagarathna was the chief guest at the inaugural function. It was Justice Nagarathna who, as the administrative judge of City Civil court Bangalore, had approved the establishment of a creche in the court complex. This facility is a first of its kind in a court complex in the state.

• After the inauguration, Justice Nagarathna said, "This is unique programme which is a very important landmark in our judicial history in Karnataka, for having this center established for the first time in our court. Now my request is that in every district headquarters the Principal District Judges must take the initiative to replicate such a center in whatever size that is available, so that we make it a model court in all sense of the term and we take care of gender justice, interest of the child etc.

• Advocates Association of Bengaluru President, A P Ranganatha also said "The facility can house a total of 35 children at a time, and two court employees will be manning it. The facility is free of charge for the court employees and advocates children, up to the age of 8 years."

• Similar creche facilities are available at the Supreme Court, Bombay High Court and Calcutta High Court.

Source: Bar & bench

3. Justice Abhay Sreeniwas Oka Has A Record Of Enforcing State Accountability & Protecting Citizens' Rights

• Justice Abhay Sreeniwas Oka, who is now elevated to the Supreme Court, has made several notable judicial interventions - both as a judge of the Bombay High Court and later as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court - to protect the fundamental rights of the ordinary citizens against the excesses of the State. He has displayed a pro-people and a rights-based approach in his judicial career so far, with no hesitation to question the actions of the State on the anvil of Constitutional principles.

• A remarkable feature of his career is the effective use of the tool of 'dialogic judicial review' to course-correct the executive.

• 'Dialogic Jurisdiction' is a facet of judicial review, whereby constitutional courts seek to know the rationale behind executive policy decisions by raising questions and demanding explanations. At times, the dialogue initiated by the Courts exposes the constitutional infirmities of the policy to the public, and this results in the executive being nudged to retract the policy in question. Even without having to set aside the executive decisions, the courts can cause a course-correction using this method.

• In numerous instances, Justice Oka has demonstrated that by simply asking the right questions and making the relevant observations, the judiciary can get the government to act. Actual directions may not be always necessary. This was particularly evident while dealing with the migrant workers crisis during the national lockdown last year.

• A bench led by Chief Justice A S Oka observed that the State has the constitutional obligation to mitigate the sufferings of migrant workers as they were a direct consequence of the lockdown imposed by it. The bench highlighted several lacunae in the state's policy regarding the migrants welfare. Following the sustained interrogation from the Court, the Karnataka Government made modifications in its policies regarding migrants.

• Likewise, Justice Oka's critical observations made the Karnataka Government withdraw a notification issued by it to increase the working hours of factory workers and cut down their allowances amid the pandemic. The bench led by him pointed out that the notification was unsustainable under the Factories Act. Few months later, the Supreme Court echoed the views expressed by Justice Oka while quashing a similar notification issued by the Gujarat Government under the Factories Act.

• Also, the Karnataka Government had to change its compensation policy for dependents of farmers who committed suicide by including those who borrowed from private lenders as well, after Justice Oka pointed out limiting compensation only to the dependents of those who borrowed from banks was discriminatory and unconstitutional.

• Similarly, the restrictions imposed by Karnataka for inter-state travel from Kerala during COVID were modified after intense scrutiny by Justice Oka, who pointed out that they fell foul of the guidelines of Union Home Ministry.

• Action against illegal eviction of migrants, Monitoring of COVID management, Upholding ethics of legal profession, Stopping the withdrawal of criminal cases against MLAs/Ministers, Right to peaceful protest a basic feature of Constitution, Action ordered against police officials who interrogated school kids over school drama against CAA etc.

Source: Bar & bench

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