People you will come across in a Law School. - www.legallyindia.com

This post is written to provide a cynical view of the categories of people one comes across in a Law School.

1. The Making Contacts Specialists: These people love to volunteer at moots, Conferences and other academic activities organized by their colleges. You will then find them going on a socializing spree at such gatherings. They start with chatting up seniors and gradually make their way to academicians/Advocates/Judges. They use all devices to make an impression ranging from flattery, humour, wit, knowledge.

2. “I am a Mooter so Mankind ought to grovel at my feet” type: As the name suggests these people have their heads in the clouds. They make up the elite class in any law school. Students might hate them, be in awe of them but absolutely no one can ignore them because they make sure of that. In my very personal opinion such people have taken a break from reality and are in need of help.

3. The Schemers: “Usko mere se accha moot kaise mila??? :-o Maine toh Moot Court Committee ke har member se dosti kar rakhi thi!! Meet the schemers. They have remarkable clairvoyance regarding who can be of what help to them. Therefore their every action is guided by an ulterior motive. They set their goals not according to their own abilities but according to what people around them are doing. If their friend does one moot they have to do two, if he has written two papers; they have to write three. So their entire time goes in plotting/scheming.

4. “ Mera baap lawyer/Judge hai” type: At times when everybody is anxiously sending hundreds of emails in the hope that they land a good internship; these people casually click ‘send’ on one mail addressed to their “Daddies” and Lo and behold they land an internship with the best law firm or the CJI even, just like that. Well to these lot I would just like to quote Plutarch “It is indeed a desirable thing to be well-descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors, not to us”. Therefore it would be nice of them to seek glory on their own sometime too and not because unka baap lawyer/judge hai.

5. “I have an opinion on everything” type: It’s good to have your own opinion regarding issues, provided you don’t force every poor soul you come across to listen to your opinion. But this is exactly what this kind takes pleasure in doing. The hapless soul has no choice expect to listen meekly. And God forbid if “I have an opinion on everything “comes across another “I have an opinion on everything” then their tirade just never ends.

6. The Use and Throw type: As soon as you land a good moot/an awesome internship/a good post in a committee you find yourself surrounded by them. Once you provide them with help regarding the moot/information on how to go about getting the internship/do their work in the committee they vanish from your life .Hence the name Use and throw type for them. To them also I would like to quote Plutarch (Yes yes you guessed it right .I am a fan of Plutarch) “We ought not to treat living creatures like shoes or household belongings, which when worn with use we throw away”.

7. The Lost Ones: These are ‘I have no clue what I am doing in the law school’ ones. When these people joined law school they had a vision. Some wanted to serve the society; others wanted to fight for human rights/women rights/etc. But five years in law school leave them disillusioned.

8. The Good Ones: Err...Now do they even exist in a law school? :-o

So which category do you fall in?
Source - http://www.legallyindia.com/1136-people-you-will-come-across-in-a-law-school

ICICI legal hikes starting salaries above Rs 9 lakh barrier | In-house counsel | Legally India - News for lawyers | Indian law firm, law school & student news and community |

ICICI legal hikes starting salaries above Rs 9 lakh barrier | In-house counsel | Legally India - News for lawyers | Indian law firm, law school & student news and community |

ICICI Bank's in-house department, which hired 24 campus graduates this year, has increased the salary package of new joiners to Rs 9.05 lakhs per year. This figure includes all benefits that employees receive but lawyers can choose to be paid the amount in full on a retainer basis after six months with the company.

The new starting salary was a figure that was the "cost-to-company" and included loans, assistance with housing, pensions and other benefits, explained ICICIgeneral counsel Pramod Rao.

"They have an option about six months later to move to being exclusive retainers in which case their package becomes completely payable in cash subject to deduction of applicable taxes," said Rao.

The previous ICICI package was betwen Rs 8.35 and 8.8 lakh according to Legally India's starting salary survey.

In-house lawyers traditionally suspend their Bar Council membership and take up employment with companies and members of the ICICI's in-house department which is called "corporate legal group" get similar benefits to the bank's other employees.

By contrast, most law firm lawyers are employed on a retainer basis by law firms, which means that they can handle their own tax affairs and which could result in higher pay.

Rao said that the retainer option was introduced around three years ago and that the take-up by lawyers had been around 30 per cent within the corporate legal group.

Lawyers under the scheme have a one-time option during their career to opt back to being an ICICI employee.

It is understood that one advantage of being an employee is that senior employee lawyers can be eligible to be granted ESOPs (employee share option schemes) in ICICI.

The revised retainer remuneration of Rs 9.05 lakhs would put ICICI just ahead of Luthra & Luthra's starting remuneration and only slightly less than firms such as Amarchand Mangaldas and AZB & Partners, according to Legally India's salary survey.

It is understood that Luthra & Luthra has budgeted for an increase of its base salaries from Rs 9 lakh per annum, although this is still to be finalised and announced.

Rao also added that ICICI corporate legal group had recruited around 24 students from law schools this year, all of whom are now working at the bank. The new salary also applies to the new joiners although they were originally recruited on the basis of the lower salary.

2010 Indian legal recruiters' basic starting salary, excl. performance-related pay unless indicated
Firm	Base remuneration (lakh Rupees)
AZB & Partners (Mumbai)	11.4
S&R Associates	10.8
Trilegal	10.2 (10.8 for 2011)
AZB & Partners (Delhi)	9.8
Amarchand Mangaldas	9.6
J Sagar Associates (JSA)	9.6
ICICI Bank	9.05 (CTC* convertible to full retainer after six months)
Luthra & Luthra	9 (under review)
Wadia Ghandy	8.4
Talwar Thakore	8.4
Khaitan & Co	7.2 - 8.5
Desai & Diwanji	6 - 8.4
Nishith Desai Associates (NDA)	7.2 (+4.8 retained until third year with firm; CTC figure therefore 12)
SAIL	6.6 - 6.8
Phoenix Legal	6 - 7.2
IFMR	6 - 6.5 [correction]
Juriscorp	4.8 - 6
Pangea3	4 - 6 (5 - 7 for 2010-11) (CTC* incl. bonus for top 10 law schools)
Lakshmikumaran Sridharan	4.8
Crawford Bayley	4.8
Kochhar & Co	4.2 - 4.8
Supreme Court judicial clerkships	1.8 - 2.4 (under review)

Source Legally India

*CTC: "cost to company" figure can include other benefits than just base salary.

Infrastructure in sub-ordinate courts (All India Judges Association v. Union of India): 14,008 courts need nearly $2 billion for upgrade

Infrastructure in sub-ordinate courts (All India Judges Association v. Union of India): 14,008 courts need nearly $2 billion for upgrade

- Vrinda Maheshwari at Bar and Bench . com

The Law Minister at a press conference today announced a Rs. 14,000 crore package to be rolled out over the next five years to tackle the backlog of 2.71 crore pending cases. Bar & Bench provides in-depth coverage on the infrastructure needs of the sub-ordinate courts, as discussed in the Supreme Court order in All India Judges Association v. Union of India (AIJA vs. UOI) which details the levels of investment that is required in each state.
AIJA vs. UOI, which is being heard by the CJI, Justices Aftab Alam and K.S.Radhakrishnan considered the infrastructure in the subordinate judiciary. Senior Advocate Fali Nairman has been appointed as the amicus in the case while Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium is appearing for the Government. The AIJA has been represented by advocate ATM Sampath. A little background on the issue is necessary to understand the implications of the judgement.
Administration and organization of the lower judiciary (district courts, mofussil courts) has been placed in the concurrent list under Entry 11A of List III. Lately, the abysmal state of infrastructure and lack of amenities in the lower courts have become matters of grave concern. It has been noted that the woefully inadequate infrastructure for both judges and lawyers in over 15,000 lower courts slows down the entire justice delivery system.
The Shetty Commission Report, which was submited to the Supreme Court on July 12, 2010 (Shetty Commission) has been registered by the Supreme Court as an Interlocutory Application. The Bench, headed by the CJI, will spend the afternoon session every Monday to discuss and revisit the infrastructure problems of sub-ordinate courts.
The Shetty Commission sought to highlight the various problems with the mofussil courts, including the lack of infrastructure and the various problems faced by them. Recommendations of the Shetty Commission were accepted by the Supreme Court in AIJA vs. UOI as far back as 2002.
Facts and Statistics:
As per the Centrally Sponsored Scheme, Rs. 1,102 crores ($244 million) have been sanctioned as assistance to the States and Union Territories up to March 2010. The Department of Justice has estimated that around Rs. 1,550 crores ($344 million) needs to be provided through domestic budgetary support in the 11^th plan period for the construction of courts, provision of residential accommodation etc.

The Department of Justice sent a letter with a format of a questionnaire for assessing the infrastructural needs of various States. The Government estimate indicates that the infrastructure needs of the District and subordinate courts in the States (excluding Delhi, Allahabad and J&K) is around Rs. 7,077 crores ($1.57 billion), around Rs. 2,162 crores ($480 million) of which is needed this year itself. A very detailed report has been prepared by the Ministry of Law and Justice, which details the data regarding court complexes, buildings, the infrastructure needed and the cost, with a year by year breakup.
The Government is yet to estimate the infrastructure needs of lower courts which are part of the Allahabad, Delhi and J & K High Courts. Bar & Bench had reported the pending statistics released by the Supreme Court late last week. According to those statistics, lower courts under the Delhi High Court jurisdiction have a backlog of 0.9 million and lower courts under the Allahabad High Court have a backlog of more than 5.4 million. Bar & Bench research indicates that Uttar Pradesh alone needs 2,184 Court Halls, Delhi needs 605 Court Halls and J & K needs 207 Court Halls. This means an addition of 2,996 courts to the existing 11,012 courts taking the total to a whopping 14,008 courts. If we presume that the infrastructure spend in these 2,996 courts is similar to the national average of Rs. 75 lakhs ($1,66,000) per court, then an additional budgetary allocation of Rs. 2,247 crore ($499 million) is required to build additional infrastructure. This would mean a total infrastructure spend of Rs. 9,324 crore ($2.07 billion).
Suggestions by the Shetty Commission report:

1. Infrastructure of the courts has been included as a “planned item” by the Union government, to enable it to fund its betterment to some extent. However, what happens is that the amount to be contributed by the Centre is made dependent on the amount coming in from the State government, which can be rather unpredictable. This leads to a constant decrease or sliding down in the actual amount of money that goes in.
2. Fines and costs which have been deposited in the State government accounts are not being used for the betterment of the judiciary, when in fact they total a large amount and are not being utilized in an effective manner. If the State and Central governments co-operated, the funds which are generated internally and are being wasted right now, could be employed in a useful manner.
3. The report which makes various State governments as respondents through their secretaries, registrars, administrators etc. will consider the working conditions of the subordinate judiciary, both in terms of the working as well as the residential premises of the judges, and it was noted that the amenities available varied as per State.
4. A five year plan needs to be prepared by each State with a view for planned improvement in the infrastructure of the courts and the facilities and amenities that are to be made available. As per the plan that would be drawn up, half the expenditure is to be shared by the Central government. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme has been in place since 1993-94, where the grants of the State government are matched by the Central government in order to develop the infrastructural facilities of the judiciary. However, the scheme has not been implemented well and the funds have not been utilized in an appropriate manner.
5. The Report has advocated the formation of a three tier committee system: a District Committee (at the District level), a State Committee (at the State level) and a Monitoring Committee (at the Central level).
6. Perhaps the most important aspect of the report is the section on raising revenue, since it is recognised that lack of funds is one of the chief reasons that plans for betterment of infrastructure never reach fruition. The report tackles this problem by a two fold solution. The first is the utilization of costs, fines and court fees by the judiciary. The report recommends that an “infrastructure” head of account or a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) be created; the costs, court fees and fines can be deposited here, and the funds can be used for construction and maintenance of court buildings, computerization, furnishing, and other general development of infrastructure of the courts. The Monitoring Committee would help in the administration of the SPV. Some issues of conflict could arise, since the Central government is effectively having a regulatory power over the working of the State Committee, which might lead to tension. The second solution offered by the report is the rationalizing of the Court Fee Act, updating it so that it is more realistic. It gives the example of cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, which crowd the courts in urban areas and block litigation of all natures; yet the court fee for such a complaint is Rs.1.25. Similarly, OMPs (Other Miscellaneous Petitions) can be submitted by paying a Court fee of just Rs. 20, though applications of this nature (for example, interim measures in arbitral proceedings) often consume a lot of effort and energy. Rationalizing the Court Fee Act in matters of such commercial litigation only makes sense and would not be discordant with the actions of a Welfare State either.

The problems highlighted by the Shetty Commission Report, as discussed in the AIJA vs. UOI, definitely need to be addressed post haste; the figures and surveys make for a compelling argument indeed. The Court has advocated urgency in the implementation of the Report; it now remains to be seen whether the deplorable state of infrastructure in the lower courts can actually be improved.
Click to download a copy of the Supreme Court order in AIJA vs. UOI and the Shetty Commission Report.

Society of Women Lawyers to inaugurate its India Chapter

Society of Women Lawyers to inaugurate its India Chapter

Priti Suri, Partner at Priti Suri & Associates (PSA) has been appointed as the President of Society of Women Lawyers-India (SOWL), a platform for women lawyers to come together within India.
SOWL, which was incorporated on May 14, 2010, is having a soft-launch on August 20, which will include meeting of members to shape the direction and agenda of SOWL-India. The official launch will be in November 2010, with participants who will hail from government dignitaries, corporate India and the legal profession.
Priti Suri speaking to Bar & Bench said, “The presence of women in the legal profession has often been met with challenges and bias, possibly based on biology. Committed to inclusion, empowerment and advancement of women lawyers in India, SOWL will enable women legal professionals to come together and work on their challenges in the rapidly changing legal landscape of India. It will be a platform to discuss issues, problems, share experiences, and find solutions that work. We hope that SOWL will become the soul of the women legal fraternity. As SOWL will mature, we intend to collaborate with other international bodies to see how we can cross-pollinate ideas because some problems transcend geographical barriers”.
This issue concerning women lawyers was first highlighted by the Women Lawyers’ Conference organized in February 2009, in New Delhi under the chair of the Women’s Business Lawyers Committee, of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA). It was attended by over 100 women lawyers and other attendees include Partners of various law firms and the Additional Solicitor General, Amarjit Singh Chandhiok and Lalit Bhasin of Bhasin & Co.
The objective of SOWL is to secure equal participation of women in the legal profession; promote pro bono and assist women in obtaining positions of influence and leadership; connect members for mutual advancement of their professional relationships and referrals and assist in advancement of the interests of women in law.
Advantage of becoming a member includes opportunity of meeting other women lawyers / law graduates along with exposure pertaining to supporting legal education of the girl child, law reform and lobbying for gender-sensitive laws, continuing legal education etc.
SOWL will impart training, inclusive of webinars in essential soft-skills needed to succeed in matters such as relationship management; business development; work-life balance and time. It will support members during a difficult career change or personal upheaval and will assist in looking for a job within the legal profession.
Membership will be given only to women holding a law degree. Law firms can also become members with maximum four women representatives from each firm.

Top 5 Reasons Lawyers Fail - Leadership for Lawyers Group News | LinkedIn

Top 5 Reasons Lawyers Fail

Leadership for Lawyers Group News | LinkedIn

by Keith Lee

Here is the final excerpt from Dr. Robert Jeffery Sternberg’sbook, In Search of the Human Mind, written in 1994. In it, Dr. Sternberg lists what he believes to be the twenty reasons why intelligent people fail. Now, regardless of public perception or personal anecdote, lawyers are intelligent people. Certainly some are more intelligent than others, but as a whole, they are intelligent people. Lawyers have: graduated from college, completed a graduate degree, and passed the bar exam. One might say this only makes them educated and not intelligent (a distinction not without merit), however for my purposes I am going to say that lawyers, in general, are intelligent.

Here are the top 5 reasons Why Lawyers Fail (my comments in bold):

5. “Inability to translate thought into action. Some people seem buried in thought. They have good ideas but rarely seem able to do anything about them.”

A lawyer is a knowledge worker. Lawyers are retained and paid because of their their knowledge and experience, but also on the ability to apply that knowledge and experience to problems and provide solutions. It can be easy to get so wrapped in the complexities and nuances of a legal challenge, that is difficult to actually put a pen-to-paper in order to craft a solution. Take careful consideration with your processes, but know when to wrap it up and take action.

4. “Using the wrong abilities. People may not be using the right abilities for the tasks in which they are engaged.”

‘When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.’ Don’t get caught in the trap of over-specialization. As lawyers develop, there is a tendency to narrow one’s skill and abilities to certain sub-sections of the law and with the broad spectrum of the law and dearth of lawyers, this is inevitable. However, make sure you approach a problem with correct focus and be mindful of the types of tools you will need to solve the problem.

3. “Lack of perseverance and perseveration. Some people give up too easily, while others are unable to stop even when the quest will clearly be fruitless.”

Law is hard. It can require long hours and sacrifice of one’s personal time. It can eat away at the rest of your life. Maybe you feel like you were tricked into the profession in some way. Grow up. You choose this path, walk down it with your head held high and persevere despite the obstacles in your way.

2. “Lack of impulse control. Habitual impulsiveness gets in the way of optimal performance. Some people do not bring their full intellectual resources to bear on a problem but go with the first solution that pops into their heads.”

This seems to be an increasing tendency in the Outlook/Blackberry/Text/Email/Twitter/etc world. People have come to expect such immediate responses to problems that often times whatever is offered as the first solution, is seen as the best solution – which is likely to not be the case. Lawyers solve problems, often times very complex and difficult ones. Take the time to give the problems in front of you their due consideration and not try to speed off to the next in the name of client service or billing.

and the number one reason is…

1. “Lack of motivation. A talent is irrelevant if a person is not motivated to use it. Motivation may be external (for example, social approval) or internal (satisfaction from a job well-done, for instance). External sources tend to be transient, while internal sources tend to produce more consistent performance.”

Motivation: it is the single most driving source that determines whether or not a lawyer succeeds or fails. The world is filled with bright, talented lawyers who have all the skills necessary to succeed at their craft but fail time and again because of a lack of motivation. What determines whether someone is motivated or not is the stuff that fills psychology tomes and graduate courses. The inner workings of someone’s mind and what motivates them to act is often a mystery – not just to others but to themselves.

Is it intrinsic or learned behavior?

Are lawyers not motivated because they might fail? Or because they might succeed? After which, people will expect them to succeed again and again and they don’t feel as though they are up to that task. They fear, not failure, but their own success, so they never motivate themselves to meet the challenge.

—————————-
So there we have the Top Twenty Reasons Lawyers Fail. In case someone wanted to review these at a later date, I thought it would be easier to compile them into one place as opposed to forcing readers to jump all around the website. As such, I compiled the list into a free PDF available below and at the right hand menu. (Adobe Reader or equivalent required. Free download. That being said, most everyone should have this software installed on their machine already. But you never know)

Readers, is this the sort of thing you would continue to be interested in for future long/multi-part articles? It doesn’t take too much effort. All the hard part (writing) is already done and it’s just a lay out issue which takes a few hours out of my day. Please let me know.

A dog too has a caste (A Legal Reporter's Diary)

A dog too has a caste (A Legal Reporter's Diary)

In India's hierarchical society even an unsuspecting dog must have a caste. So it seemed when in Mirchpur village of Haryana, some dogs of a Dalit 'basti' dared to bark at Jat boys. There was an angry backlash by the Jat boys and counter protests by the Dalit owners of the dogs.

To demonstrate their physical and social might, the Jats rallied around and attacked the Dalit dwellings, resulting in the death of two people, including one physically challenged girl.

The incident strained the sensibilities of Justice G.S. Singhvi of the Supreme Court who pointedly asked how 'a dog of a Balmiki basti barking at a (Jat) child (could) become a cause of violence and murder of a physically challenged girl'. Justice Singhvi went on to say: 'A dog could not have been killed on this ground. If that was the case then all the dogs would have been killed'.

-*-

Learn basics, Supreme Court to judges

Judges in the Supreme Court have often expressed concern over the state of affairs in the appellate judiciary, particularly the high courts. The other day Justice G.S. Singhvi lamented that a number of lawyers and even some high court judges did not know the basic concepts of law.

Justice Singhvi made this observation while assailing a high court for granting stay in a case. It was on his direction that Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam collected facts to prove that high courts were indiscriminately granting stays in cases involving murder, rape, dacoity and kidnapping.

Little wonder why Justice Singhvi, through tongue in cheek remarks, singled out the Punjab and Haryana High Court for often passing verbal orders. He said the shortest order would be 'dismissed', a longer one would be 'heard and dismissed' and the longest would be 'heard on merit and dismissed'.

-*-

What court can do, TV can't

Can Valmiki, the author of the epic Ramayana, be described as a dacoit in a television serial simply because the Supreme Court had made similar references to him in judgments?

Senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi asked the vacation bench to stay proceedings in a trial court against a television channel for airing a serial wherein Valmiki was described as a 'thief'. Rohtagi said: 'If I am guilty of calling Valmiki a thief, so is the Supreme Court'. He referred to three judgments of the apex court wherein Valmiki was described as a dacoit.

But the court washed its hands off. It said by airing the information in a TV serial 'you have taken the information to people who did not even know it'.

Valmiki, before becoming a saint, was indeed a notorious bandit by the name of Ratnakar. But for the judges, it was clearly a case of once bitten twice shy. After all, in actress Khushboo's case, misreporting of the court's observations on the relationship between the divine Radha and Krishna had given anxious moments to one particular judge.

-*-

Looking for a 'sweet' suicide

If a man intends to commit suicide, will he consume poison with plain water or with liquor? The point arose during the hearing of a murder case in Haryana.

The defence lawyer argued that it was a case of suicide wherein the deceased consumed pesticide (sulphas) powder mixed with drinks. The prosecution lawyer said anyone intending to commit suicide would consume pesticide with water and not liquor.

Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan intervened to say he did not know the practice in Haryana, but if a person was planning to commit suicide in Gujarat, he would rather do so with sweets. He said Gujaratis are so fond of sweets that they couldn't think of anything unless it was coated with sugar.

Thus if someone wanted to commit suicide, he or she would probably look to sweeten the lethal mix before consuming it. Justice Radhakrishnan, before being elevated to the Supreme Court, was chief justice of the Gujarat High Court.

(Parmod Kumar can be contacted at mazak1453@gmail.com.)

From - Sify.com

Pending Litigations 3.13 crore - 3054 Judges Reqd - Bar & Bench News Network

From - Bar and Bench . com

There have been several reports about the volumes of litigations in Indian courts. The Law Minister released a detailed National Litigation Policy (NLP) last month to combat the ever-growing litigation statistics in India. Here are some of the litigation and judges’ vacancies statistics released by the Supreme Court. Bar & Bench has compiled a three-year statistics to accurately estimate the pending litigations in India and the vacancies of judges in the Lower Courts, High Courts and the Supreme Court.

Pending cases:

The backlog has been increasing at an average rate of 3.4 percent annually. This huge backlog of unresolved cases, experts claim, is directly proportional to a lack of judges. First and foremost, poor pay for judges causes a huge talent crunch, which leads to delays and also is a cause of rampant corruption and bribery in the Indian judicial system. Though with the 6^th Pay Commission which seeks to increase the salary of the Chief Justice of India from a measly Rs. 33,000 ($ 733) to Rs. 1lakh ($2,200) might go along some distance to solve this problem.

The increase in the salary will not serve as a solution to reduce the vacancies of judges or increase the quality of the people joining the legal services. In India there are only 10 judges for every million people whereas the United States and Great Britain have around 150 judges for a million of its population.

Statistics released by the Supreme Court although shows a drop in the vacancies of the judges in the courts of the country, the number is still very high. Here are the statistics for the past three years and vacancies that continue to exist.

Vacancies in the Courts:

The vacancies in the Supreme Court have been reduced by the new appointments last year and this year. The High Courts’ statistics however, show some concerns. There have been nearly 30 percent vacancies in the High Courts for the past three years. The Lower Courts are not doing any better. Lower Courts across India continue to have a 16 percent vacancy, although this figure has come down over the past three years whereas in 2008 there was a 30 percent vacancy in the number of Lower Court judges.

Among the many proposals that have been mooted to reduce the pendency of cases as eschewed by the NLP are guidelines specifically aimed at the government which is the biggest contributor to the number of pending cases. Among the other proposals that have been voiced include, increasing the number of fast track courts, setting up of andencouraging mobile courts and Lok Adalats wherever feasible and also the setting up of Gram Nyayalayas at the grassroots levels.

At the High Court level and the Lower Courts, Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state with nearly 20 percent of India’s population, is the single largest contributor to the backlog of cases. The Allahabad High Court (0.95 million cases) and the Lower Courts (5.4 million cases) in Uttar Pradesh contribute to nearly 25 percent of the total pending cases in the country. Sikkim contributed the least amongst all states to the backlog statistics with 85 cases in the High Court and 1,128 cases in the lower court. Here is a state wise statistics of the pending cases.

*Total Pending cases as of December 31, 2009

BHC-Bombay High Court

CHC- Calcutta High Court

GHC- Guwahati High Court

KHC- Kerala High Court

P&H HC- Punjab & Haryana High Court

The NLP also aims at educating the masses about being a responsible and efficient litigant while at the same time dissuading lawyers from asking for frequent and unnecessary adjournments among other proposals.

One hopes that the NLP is implemented in earnest otherwise the Indian citizens will continue to grapple with protracted judicial delays and injustices. 

Indian Rupee gets its symbol - Ndtv.com

IIT graduate gives Indian Rupee its symbol

The Indian rupee will soon have a unique symbol -- a blend of the Devanagri 'Ra' and Roman 'R' -- joining elite currencies like the US dollar, euro, British pound and Japanese yen in having a distinct identity.

The new symbol, designed by Bombay IIT post-graduate D Udaya Kumar, was approved by the cabinet today -- reflecting that the Indian currency, backed by an over-trillion dollar economy, was finally making its presence felt on the international scene. (How do you like the symbol?)

"It's a big statement on the Indian currency... The symbol would lend a distinctive character and identity to the currency and further highlight the strength and global face of the Indian economy," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

Though the symbol will not be printed or embossed on currency notes or coins, it would be included in the 'Unicode Standard' and major scripts of the world to ensure that it is easily displayed and printed in the electronic and print media.

Among currencies with distinctive identities, only the pound sterling has its symbol printed on the notes.

Unicode is an international standard that allows text data to be interchanged globally without conflict. After incorporation in the global and Indian codes, the symbol would be used by all individuals and entities within and outside the country.

The symbol will be adopted in a span of six months in the country, and within 18 to 24 months globally, Soni said, adding that it will feature on computer keyboards and softwares for worldwide use.

Soni said that the symbol, which reflects the Indian ethos and culture, would help distinguish the currency from the rupee or rupiah of other countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Besides this, state governments would be asked to proactively promote the use of the new symbol, she added.

Kumar's entry was chosen from 3,000 designs competing for the currency symbol. He will get an award of Rs 2.5 lakh.

"It is a perfect blend of Indian and Roman letters -- capital 'R' and Devanagri 'Ra' which represents rupaiah, to appeal to international and Indian audiences... My design is based on the tricolour, with two lines at the top and white space in between," a visibly-happy Kumar said.

The jury, which had sent the five short-listed entries for the cabinet's approval, was headed by a Reserve Bank Deputy Governor.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/indian-rupee-finally-gets-its-symbol-37536?cp

Image from - http://www.moneycontrol.com/news_image_files/NewRupee_190.jpg

Bandh- (Un)Necessary Evil? - www.legallyindia.com

Bandh- (Un)Necessary Evil?

The strike of the strike, as a newspaper called it.

What are the effects of Bandh? Is it the right way to protest?

Bandh is basically a strike. Everything is supposed to be closed on a day when a Bandh is ‘called’ for. If you ask a layman about whether there should or should not be bandhs, you will surprisingly get mixed answers. It is true because for a bandh to be successful a lot of people have to co-operate. Kolkata is very infamous for its bandhs. Nationwide bandhs are a rarity but are not entirely unheard of. I was in Gujarat when the Bandh took place. I have stayed here all my life and I have never seen such a huge response to a bandh ever before. There have been minor events but nothing of such magnitude.

I am still not sure most people know why the Bandh actually took place. For those who don't know, it took place as a protest against the rising prices. Inflation.

I would like to quote some figures given in Times of India.

[Economics Loss due to bandh (In cr.):

13,000 according to FICCI
10,000 according to Assocham
3,000 according to CII
Maharashtra (estimated economic loss Rs 1,000cr),Karnataka (Rs 725cr),West Bengal (Rs 250cr),Kerala,Orissa,Bihar and Madhya Pradesh (Rs 150cr each) among worst-hit states Though the stock market remained open,trading volume at BSE was down 52% to Rs 2,857cr against daily average of Rs 6,000cr Rail operations,especially in east,severely affected with 78 trains 60 mail and 18 passenger cancelled and 340 disrupted At least 96 flights were cancelled across India,with at least 47 departures being cancelled in Mumbai alone Over 62 lakh commercial vehicles remained off road,according to trucker unions.]

Bandh has a very negative connotation. Well, to an extent, it is bad. Imagine how many daily wage earners lost a square mean due to the Bandh, and to think that this was a Bandh for them. (Ha!). Even then, as I am a law student, I have been asked to look at both the sides of everything. So I will deal with it accordingly.

Against:

Bandh is a stupid. It is a way for political parties to show power. They bully innocent citizens into participating in the bandh. It causes great economic harm to the country (as stated above). It is a very barbaric way of solving matters or getting our point across. It does nothing good. It’s a extended weekend for the college student, a lucky leave for office goers and tension filled atmosphere for the people whose offices were not closed. Loss to daily wage earners, most important. I guess we all know a lot of points against. I need not mention all.

For:

Okay. I am sure not many people agree to my views. I advise them to read the entire thing before commenting or framing views about the post. I guess this is the main part of the post.

I agree Bandh is bad. The main problem that I have is, if they don’t listen through any of the legal ways, what do we do?

Common citizens cannot go to the parliament every time. When our elected representatives try to put our point across they are accused of being traditional in their views and being against development of the nation. They are then in a Catch 22 situation. The price rise is not a figment of imagination of the opposition parties. It is out there. Reducing the value of our money consistently. he Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for May 2010,the latest month for which data is available,shows a 10.2% increase over May 2009. Food inflation, which actually affects the aam aadmi (common man) even higher. The rate of pulses grew by a whopping 32.4%,eggs,meat and fish by 35%,milk by 21.1%,sugar by 26%,flour by 16%,cereals by 6%,and fruits and vegetables by 7.6%. It’s not like everyone else in the world is faced by it. China had only 1% rate of inflation with regard to food prices. India is one of the very few countries where the rate of inflation is above 9%. The above mentioned percentages are with regard to WPI (Wholesale Price Index), the real danger can be found out from CPI (Consumer Price Indices).

So my main contention is that, there is a problem. It has been a problem since a long time. The government has been told about it since a long time. What has the government done? Almost nothing, or even if they have, it hasn’t worked.

Bandh is barbaric but well, when we cannot achieve anything through proper means, are we not allowed to be pissed? Is there no specific waiting period?

I have to make it clear that I am definitely not in favour of holding Bandhs. I want the country to work efficiently through the prescribed mechanism. Bandhs waste a lot of resources. Let’s not do that.

Bandh karo ye bandh ! (Stop the strikes).

Lighter Note:

My dad was scandalized when I told him that now onwards I should get a raise in the pocket money according to the rate of inflation. In his counter offer, he proposed a 10% increase every 6 months. He thought that it would be more economical to him. I guess he has a lot of ‘faith’ in the government. :D

Okay one more.

If the opposite of pro is con then the opposite of progress is ..... ‘Congress’ :D

Disclaimer: I am not a supporter of any party. I like individuals in various parties. I know most of the political parties have both merits and demerits. I wrote this article because I kept on getting ideas about why people resorted to Bandh and so wanted to put it together. All the figures have been taken from the Times of India.