New Delhi (PTI): Raising the issue of "conflict of interest," more than 150 lawyers on Thursday sent a representation to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, saying the Delhi High Court Judge Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain should have recused himself from hearing ED's appeal against grant of bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case as his brother is a counsel for the probe agency.

The representation claimed that Justice Jain's "real brother" Anurag Jain is a counsel for the Enforcement Directorate and that "this clear conflict of interest was never declared."

However, lawyer Anurag Jain is not handling any money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam, sources said.

The representation signed by 157 lawyers said, "Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain should have rescued himself from the proceedings since his real brother Anurag Jain is a counsel for the ED. This clear conflict of interest was never declared."

It also expressed concern over a purported internal communication from a district judge here asking vacation judges of trial courts to not pass a final order in pending cases during a court recess, calling it "unprecedented".

The representation assumes significance as it was sent in the wake of vacation judge Niyay Bindu granting bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on June 20 in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam. The bail order was later stayed by the Delhi High Court on the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) appeal.

"We are writing on behalf of the legal fraternity regarding some unprecedented practices being witnessed in the Delhi High Court and the district courts of Delhi," it said.

The representation said Additional Sessions Judge Bindu had granted bail to Kejriwal while quoting the CJI that the trial courts needed to make speedy and bold decisions so that the superior courts are not clogged with cases.

"However, on the very next day, the ED challenged this order in the Delhi High Court. What makes this challenge extremely irregular is the fact that the challenge was done even before the Rouse Avenue Court order was uploaded (on the website)," the representation said.

The representation also bears the signature of lawyer Sanjeev Nasiar, the chief of the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) legal cell.

Referring to the urgent listing, hearing and stay of the trial court's bail order by the high court, the representation said, "Something like this has never been seen in the history of the Indian judiciary before this and this has raised deep concerns in the mind of the legal fraternity."

It said the purported internal administrative communication asking vacation judges of trial courts to not pass any substantive order has defeated the purpose of forming vacation benches and also violated the spirit of statements of the CJI asking trial courts to make speedy decisions.

"As a consequence, many lawyers who had cases listed in the vacation, have not been able to have final disposal of their matters. We as representatives of the lawyers community would like to lodge a very strong objection against such an administrative order," the representation said.

On July 2, lawyers affiliated to the Delhi Lawyers' Association had met a district judge and objected to the purported internal communication.

District courts in Delhi were closed for summer vacations from June 10 to June 29. Judicial officers take turns to act as vacation judges during vacations.

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New Delhi: Over the past five and a half years, India’s major airports have witnessed nearly 2,800 bird-hit incidents, with Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru topping the list, according to data recently shared by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in the Rajya Sabha.

The data, cited by Deccan Herald on Sunday, showed that the Delhi airport reported the highest number of bird-hit cases, recording 695 incidents between 2020 and June 2025. Mumbai’s airport followed with 407 cases, while Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport witnessed 343 cases.

Other airports on the list include Ahmedabad (337), Chennai (205), Kolkata (193), Bhubaneswar (150), Pune (145), and Thiruvananthapuram (125).

An analysis of the data shows that bird-hit incidents were lower during 2020 and 2021—years impacted by COVID-19-related flight restrictions—but rose sharply in subsequent years. 

There were 309 bird-hit cases in 2020, which increased to 354 in 2021, 588 in 2022, and peaked at 709 in 2023. However, the number saw a slight decline in 2024, falling to 609. In the current year, up to June, 238 incidents have already been reported.

In a written response to AAP MP Swati Maliwal, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol stated that the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) mandates the development of a Wildlife Hazard Management Plan (WHMP) to ensure safety of aircraft operations.