Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar retired on July 29th, 2022 bringing his 6-year tenure to a close. His legal career began as an advocate specialising in Civil, Criminal and Constitutional matters at the Bombay High Court. He served the State of Maharashtra as a Standing Counsel, and then as an Additional Government Advocate before being appointed as the Standing Counsel for the Election Commission of India.
Justice Khanwilkar assisted the Supreme Court on multiple occasions even before his elevation to the Bench, such as in the M.C Mehta case—where he was appointed as Amicus Curiae—over the release effluents into the Ganga river, as well as in a 1995 task force formed to examine the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.
Justice Khanwilkar was elevated to the Bombay High Court in the year 2000 from the Bar. Additionally, he has served on the Bench in the Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh High Courts before his elevation to the Supreme Court on May 13th, 2016. He is the 4th SC Judge to retire in 2022.
Jul 28, 2022
SC Upholds Validity of PMLA, Says Not Mandatory for ED to Disclose Grounds of Arrest
Underlining that "the principle of innocence of the accused/offender is regarded as a human right" but "that presumption can be interdicted by a law made by the Parliament/Legislature", the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, as amended from time to time including those dealing with the powers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding arrest, search, attachment and seizure in money laundering offences.
The Centre had told the Court that "it cannot be said that presumption of innocence is a constitutional guarantee".
The Court also said an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) cannot be equated with an FIR, that supplying an ECIR in every case to the person concerned is not mandatory and "it is enough if ED, at the time of arrest, discloses the grounds of such arrest".
SC Orders Pay Hike for Judicial Officers
Judicial officers across India are in for a salary hike as the Supreme Court ordered implementation of the recommendations of the Second National Judicial Pay Commission with effect from January 1, 2016.
A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana directed the Centre and states to pay the arrears of the enhanced salary to the judicial officers in three installments — first two installments of 25% each after three months and six months and the rest by the end of June next year.
The Amicus Curiae told the Bench that according to the Second National Judicial Pay Commission's recommendations, judicial officers were entitled to a pay revision. He said states' refusal to pay the revised salary to subordinate court judges on account of paucity of funds was "unjust".
The top court had set up the Second National Judicial Pay Commission led by Justice (Retd) PV Reddy in 2017 for reviewing the pay scale and other conditions of service of subordinate court judges across India.
Jul 26, 2022
SC Recommends 35 Names to Centre for Appointment as Judges in 6 HCs
In a significant step to fill vacancies in the higher judiciary, the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice N. V. Ramana approved and recommended to the Centre the proposal for the elevation of 20 advocates and 15 judicial officers as judges in six High Courts.
Jul 25, 2022
Media Running Kangaroo Courts
Accusing the media of running "kangaroo courts", Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana urged them, particularly the electronic and social media, to behave responsibly, saying "media trials cannot be a guiding factor in deciding cases".
Delivering the inaugural Justice SB Sinha Memorial Lecture in Ranchi on 'Life of a Judge', the CJI said, "Of late, we see the media running kangaroo courts, at times on issues even experienced judges find difficult to decide.
The CJI's comments came close on the heels of widespread criticism of scathing comments made by a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice JB Pardiwala on suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her alleged remarks on Prophet Mohammed.
Jul 24, 2022
Supreme Court's Direction to Centre on Security Cover for Mukesh Ambani, Family
The Supreme Court allowed the Centre to continue with the security cover for industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his family members in Mumbai. The order by the Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, came in response to the Centre's appeal challenging the Tripura High Court's direction on a PIL.
In June a vacation bench had stayed the orders of the Tripura High Court on a PIL challenging the grant of security cover to the industrialist and his family members in Mumbai.
No Provision in Law to Accommodate Ukraine-returned Medical Students for Practical Training
Two months after the West Bengal government allocated seats for practical training to 412 medical students who had returned from Ukraine to the state, the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr. Bharti Pravin Pawar told the Lok Sabha that there were no provisions in the Acts governing medical education to allow such transfers. Therefore, no permission has been given by the NMC to transfer or accommodate any foreign medical students in any Indian medical institute or university.