The Bombay High Court said that the right to practice a religion did not guarantee the right to access public property to do so. The court said there was no need for the petitioner to visit a Hanuman temple in Mumbai’s Colaba district that lay on land restricted by the Navy for security reasons. “Why this particular temple? It means you want to create trouble,” said Justice Deshmukh according to the Indian Express. “There are many Hanuman temples. Any Hanuman mandir is good enough.” The petitioner’s lawyers unsuccessfully invoked article 25 of the Constitution giving the right to profess practise and propagate religion.

Full Indian Express article.

Following yesterday’s Bombay High Court victory against Vodafone and Hutchison in their potentially $2bn tax bill appeal, the Income Tax Department’s acting chairman Sudhir Chandra told the Business Standard: “[Income Tax] Department's position stands vindicated. It is a clear cut case of deliberate non-compliance to law on misplaced legal advice. This [Vodafone case] is a test case, we will look at similar cases. There are already some cases under investigation.

Full article at Business Standard.

The Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) appellate tribunal does not have the power to second-guess the CCI’s decisions to investigate anti-competitive behaviour, the Supreme Court held today in an “emphatic victory” for the CCI and Jindal Steel and their lawyers Amarchand Mangaldas, Economic Laws Practice (ELP) and counsel Harish Salve and Gopal Subramanium.

Yesterday's Bombay High Court decision that the tax authorities are permitted to assess Vodafone for its Indian tax liability in its acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa in 2007, means that previous and future foreign investments into India would face legal uncertainty, according to tax and corporate lawyers.

The Bombay High Court has held that the Indian tax authorities were correct in assessing Vodafone for its Indian tax liability in the $11bn acquisition of Hutchison Essar.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has rejected applications to renew the licences of approximately 50 law colleges at its meetings over the past weeks, as part of chairman Gopal Subramanium’s stated aim to reduce the total number from more than 900 to less than 200.

Veerappa Moily is visiting Singapore from 8 and 9 September to meet with his local counterpart K Shanmugam and discuss both countries’ development of the legal sector, arbitration and mutual co-operation, according to Channel NewsAsia.

Majmudar & Co and Herbert Smith have assisted port infrastructure company Essar Shipping Ports & Logistics Limited in launching their foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) issuance of $280m last month.

The much-awaited Legally India Mooting Premier League (MPL) second season has arrived with NLIU Bhopal taking home the first points, defeating RGNUL Patiala in the North India finals of the Surana & Surana National Trial Advocacy Moot Court Competition on Sunday.

Amarchand Mangaldas has hired dual-qualified chartered accountant and lawyer DD Nageswar Rao as a partner in Delhi. Rao’s was formerly the India country head of tax at Siemens, with his over 20-year career also including similar roles at the Coca Cola India and Colgate.

Procedural delays were set to derail the discussions on the merits in the All India bar examination court challenges, as the Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing in the transfer petition to 20 October after ordering the issue of fresh notices to the respondents and the shifting of the case to the Delhi High Court was not mentioned.

Who are the players in the saga around legal market liberalisation? And do those in favour actually care enough to make a difference? Legally India talks to the opposing factions and finds out why no progress has been made - and if any is around the corner.

Indian lawyers planning to qualify as English solicitors were thrown into temporary tizzy this week, as the new Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS) came into effect. Under the new rules Indian lawyers will not be allowed to apply to practise in the UK, as India is not included in the list of jurisdictions to benefit from the QLTS.

Private equity giant Blackstone has widened its circle of standing Indian advisers to include Desai & Diwanji on its latest investments in the power sector, having used Khaitan & Co on its previous two major deals. Luthra & Luthra advised its long-standing clients Moser Baer Projects in the $300m stake buy, and Clarus Law led for Monnet Power Company on Blackstone's $70m investment.

Nalsar Hyderabad is planning to open two postgraduate diploma centres in Munich and Kuala Lumpur to teach aviation law and air transportation management, according to the Business Standard. “We are currently in discussions with our partners in those countries and expect to start the diploma courses sometime next year,” said the head of air and space law at Nalsar V Balakista Reddy yesterday, according to the paper, adding that the university was in the process of signing a memorandum of understanding with the GMR Group to offer project work to the postgraduate students at Indian airports.

The Delhi High Court has fined two siblings Rs 75,000 after litigating against each for 18 years over property. The court said: “Keeping in view the conduct of the petitioners that they still do not want the suit instituted about 18 years ago to reach its ultimate destination, they must be made to pay heavy costs for filing frivolous and bogus applications,' the court said according to the Indo-Asian News Service agency. The court also added that the trial has only wasted the precious time of the court. “No mercy should be shown to such type of litigants who have no other work but just to waste the time of different courts and create obstruction in the smooth functioning of the judicial system.”

The full story at Sify.

The defence counsel of a man accused of killing and injuring two motorists while driving under the influence of alcohol on Marine Drive, has argued that section 304(II) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) – culpable homicide – could not apply because the accused had no prior intention of hitting the other vehicle.

The accused’s lawyer Satish Meshinde relied on the case of Bollywood actor Salman Khan, who had successfully defended himself in against a charge of culpable homicide in the 2002 alleged drink-driving hit-and-run case in Bandra that killed one pavement dweller and injured three.

Full story at DNA India.

Advocates from Rajasthan High Court are protesting the most recent exam for the post of additional district judge, in which they allege non-lawyers have been selected. A number of lawyers in Jaipur and 29 colleagues from Jodhpur have announced an “indefinite strike” and kept work at the court suspended yesterday, according to the Times of India. The protesting advocates want the exam voided.

The full Times of India story.

Indian qualified lawyers will currently not be able to apply to practise law in England and Wales under the new Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS) since yesterday (1 September), due to an oversight by the Bar Council of India (BCI), said the countries’ Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).