Union Of India vs. S. N. Sharma

ITEM NO.42 COURT NO.1 SECTION PIL-W SUPREME COURT OF INDIA RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS <pre>Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 1431/2019</pre> THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (INDIA GROUP) Petitioner(s) VERSUS UNION OF INDIA Respondent $(s)$ $(FOR)$ ADMISSION and $\mathbf{I}\mathbf{A}$ No.187583/2019-APPROPRIATE $ORDERS/$ DIRECTIONS) Date: 18-12-2019 This petition was called on for hearing today. CORAM : HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE B.R. GAVAI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURYA KANT For Petitioner(s) Mr. Arvind P. Datar, Sr. Adv. Ms. Mamta Jha, Adv. Mr. Waseem Shuaib Ahmed, Adv. Mr. Vipul K. Tiwari, Adv. Mr. Sambhav Jain, Adv. Mr. Mohit D. Ram, AOR Ms. Monisha Handa, Adv. Mr. Rajol Shrivastav, Adv. For Respondent(s) Mr. K.K. Venugopal, Ld. Attorney General Mr. Tushar Mehta, Ld. SG Mr. R. Bala, Sr. Adv. Mr. Ankur Talwar, Adv. Mr. Rajat Nair, Adv. Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv. Ms. Chinmayee Chandra, Adv. Mr. Adit Khorana, Adv. Ms. Ramya Khanna, Adv. Mr. Manan Popli, Adv. Mr. Rajeev Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Shantanu Sharma, Adv. Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv. Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv. Ms. Shraddha Deshmukh, Adv. Mr. B.V. Balram Das, AOR Mr. Santosh Kr. Vishwakarma, Adv. UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following

O R D E R

Having heard Mr. Arvind P. Datar, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner and Mr. K.K. Venugopal, learned

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Attorney General appearing for the respondent – Union of India and upon perusal of the record, we are of the considered view that the post of Chairman of Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) cannot be allowed to be vacant.

The appointment process of the new Chairman of the said Board according to law is likely to be complete soon. In the meantime, however, we consider it appropriate to direct that the last incumbent viz., Mr. Justice (Retd.) Manmohan Singh, be allowed to continue as Chairman of IPAB for a period of one year after he attains the age of superannuation as there is no break in service.

Mr. Venugopal, learned Attorney General, seeks time to obtain instructions from the concerned Department of the Government of India about relocation of the Principal Bench of Madras or location of a new Bench to a central place in the country such as Nagpur, Jabalpur, Bhopal, etc.

Order accordingly.

List the matter on 05.02.2020.

(SANJAY KUMAR-II) (INDU KUMARI POKHRIYAL) COURT MASTER (SH) ASSISTANT REGISTRAR