Govt appoints former SC judge Hemant Gupta as chief of NDIAC

During his tenure as a judge of the apex court, Justice Gupta delivered several important judgments, including the verdict in the Karnataka Hijab ban case. In the split verdict in the Hijab case, Justice Gupta, just three days before his retirement, had dismissed the appeals challenging the March 15 judgement of the Karnataka High Court which had refused to lift the ban. Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia disagreed with Justice Gupta.

Justice Gupta was also part of another two-judge bench split verdict delivered in August this year in which the Karnataka High Court’s decision allowing the use of Idgah Maidan in Bengaluru’s Chamarajpet for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations was challenged. The case was heard by a three-judge bench the same day which stayed the High Court ruling.

The Centre also appointed Ganesh Chandru, Partner at Dua Associates, and Advocate Anant Vijay Palli as its part-time members. Palli is the son of former Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge P K Palli and is married to Justice Rekha Palli, judge of the Delhi High Court. His brother, Justice Arun Palli, is currently a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Last week, Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju introduced a Bill to rename the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre as the India International Arbitration Centre in the Upper House and it was passed by voice vote.

Set up in 2019, the NDIAC has been declared to be an institution of national importance and is mandated to be a seven-member body that is headed by a former Judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court or an eminent person.