SC seeks ED's reply by May 17 on ex-Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's plea against his arrest
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Enforcement Directorate's response by May 17 on a plea of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader and former chief minister Hemant Soren, challenging his arrest in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.
A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, which was initially listing the matter on May 20, had to change the date to May 17 after senior advocate Kapil Sibal said polls would be over by then and he would be prejudiced if the long date is given in the matter.
"My case is covered by Arvind Kejriwal's order and I need bail for election campaigning," Sibal told the bench.
The bench said this week it is too much work and a lot of matters are listed.
It expressed unwillingness to change the date from May 20 but after Sibal and senior advocate Arunabh Chowdhury, appearing for Soren persisted with the request, the date was changed to May 17.
"We don’t know whether we will be able to take up the matter but still we are posting it for May 17," the bench said.
Soren, in his plea, challenged the May 3 order of the Jharkhand High Court dismissing his petition against the arrest. He had also sought interim bail for campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections till the court delivered its verdict on his plea against arrest.
Kejriwal was on May 10 granted interim bail by the top court for campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls. He was arrested in a money laundering case related to an alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
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Ordinance issued to increase number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38
New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.
So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.
The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.
With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.
A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.
The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.
This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.
A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.
Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.
An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.
The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.
