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From bringing a long-running international saga against Nirav Modi to an end, to meeting the Pope, to launching new business wins at Michelin-star restaurants - it’s been a busy week for some of our Members. Scroll down to read more.
The Government of Uttar Pradesh, in association with the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, is organising the 4th Edition of the Uttar Pradesh International Trade Show from 25–29 September 2026 in Noida. If you’re a foreign buyer, you can apply to be part of their Hosted Buyer program, which gives you: Visa support; Reimbursement of economy-class airfare up to $350 - $1,200; Complimentary five-star hotel accommodation for approved buyers for 2/3 days; Airport transfers and local transport; focused on sectors: Agri, Textile, Engineering, construction, plastic, chemicals and all industrial sectors to AI, IT and all service sectors. To register, fill in this form: Foreign Buyer Registration Link. In Question 7 (“Reference”), please add Bridge India.
“90% judges in Lower Courts judiciary are corrupt. 10% who are honest are suffering.” Those were the words of Delhi High Court Senior Advocate KK Manan, to Republic TV over a year ago.
The statement came after a fire broke out at Delhi HC judge Yashwant Varma's official residence, where the fire brigade personnel discovered around Rs. 10 crore (£800k) in cash. The three-member committee that investigated the incident found “strong evidence” that the judge and his family had “tacit or active control” of the storeroom where wads of cash were found.
How pervasive is the corruption really in India’s judiciary? Scroll down for more.
Recent Member news
Congratulations to our Corporate Member Fladgate LLP and the case team led by Milan Kapadia in particular, for successfully representing the Bank of India in a high-profile banking fraud claim, Bank of India v Firestar Diamond FZE & Ors [2026] EWHC 1565, bringing a long-running international saga to an end.
The High Court upheld the Bank’s claim against Nirav Modi, the well-known Indian diamond merchant and billionaire, addressing significant issues relating to cross-border banking litigation, personal guarantees, Indian law, FEMA, conflict of laws, commercial contracts, and enforcement of international financial obligations. Read more here.
Ragasudha Vinjamuri was invited to The Vatican to present at a leading Inter-Religious Conference recently. She presented a roadmap for strengthening interfaith dialogue and collaboration among dharmic traditions in Europe; and also presented a classical dance on the theme of harmony at this unique setting. She was also able to meet and shake hands with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.
Congratulations to Subha Balakrishnan, founder of Bodha Drinks - her non-alcoholic drinks range is now proudly serving at Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar’s restaurants in London.
If you live in Birmingham, please take a look at this petition from West Midlands Lead Member for Police & Crime, and Birmingham Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Member, Councillor Dr Nagu Penakacherla (Reform UK) about protecting green spaces in West Harborne in Quinton Ward.
Entertainment journalist Anuj Radia was the European premiere of 52 Blue last week at the London Indian Film Festival, and before that interviewed Bollywood star Neha Dhupia on Lionel Messi-inspired first international project.
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NRI remittance service Aspora has a special offer for you: use code BI20 or 📲 download at https://link.aspora.com/DYot/9lbkljd7 to get £20 off your first transfer.
Asian Achievers Awards (6pm, Fri 18 Sept | Find out more)
Established in 2000, it is consistently recognised by the South Asian community as the most prestigious and highly respected such Awards. Bridge India is Community Partner for the event. Sir Keir Starmer said of the last event “It is wonderful to see so many British Asian change-makers being recognised tonight by the team” where a net worth of over £30bn was amongst the guests. You can submit a nomination or book your table here. Special prices for BI Members.
When: 6pm-1am | Fri 18 September
Where: London Hilton on Park Lane
Who: 600 business leaders, entrepreneurs and others, with world-class entertainment and drinks flowing the while night
Book here: Click here | Get in touch for BI Member-only prices
When asked about Advocate KK Manan’s comments that 90% of judges were corrupt, Ved Prakash Sharma, Co-Chairman of the Bar Council of India, said in a podcast last year (33min onwards):
“If we reach the level of 90% corruption in the judiciary, people will lose complete faith in judiciary and they will start deciding their disputes and conflicts on the streets.”
“What about corruption in the higher judges? We have to think about that also.”
“My view is that honest advocates and honest judges are both suffering and suffocating. I can’t say about the figure of 90% … but yes, corruption is there.”
“Who are the touts and fixers (who facilitate the corruption)? They are among the advocates only.”
He went on to talk about the evidence:
“In Bar Council of India, we are dealing with many matters where leaders of the Bar, complaints have been made by the judicial officers that they approached me with a offer of bribe.”
Manan and Sharma aren’t alone in their lamentation.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) in 2002, S.P. Bharucha,J admitted that:
“up to 20 percent of the judges in India are corrupt”.
In June 2010, former law minister Shanti Bhushan (a member of the Anna Hazare anti-corruption movement) moved an application accusing eight former Chief Justices of India of corruption.
Writing in Fair Observer in 2011, Commodore C Uday Bhaskar, then Senior Fellow at the National Maritime Foundation said that Ruma Pal, a former judge of the Supreme Court opined institutional integrity in the judiciary had been compromised. But this was part of a wider point around favouritism, nepotism and judicial exceptionalism.
MN Venkatachaliah (CJI 1993-94) and JS Verma (1997-98) also said corruption had seeped into the Supreme Court. “There are just 25 judges in the Supreme Court in a country with a population of a billion-plus. And even there, some of them turn out corrupt,” Venkatachaliah said in an interview in 2011.
Justice Katju (who was also Chairman of the Press Council of India 2011-14) said in the past that the Supreme Court is “subservient”, “spineless” and “servile” with its judges prone to “doing [the government’s] bidding.” He said:
“I guess 50% of judges are corrupt in lndia.”
Katju’s quotes are from Government of lndia v. Nirav Deepak Modi, [2021] 1 UKWMC 55 as quoted in a research paper from the University of Portsmouth.
Maybe that was all in the past. What about the present day?
Delhi HC judge Yashwant Varma’s cash haul was of course just last year.
Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma recused himself from a case in August 2025 claiming pressure from a senior figure in the judiciary who wanted to influence the outcome of a hearing involving an insolvency petition regarding Byju's founder Byju Raveendran.
Speaking at the Supreme Court in London last month, India’s current CJI BR Gavai said: “Sadly, there have been instances of corruption and misconduct that have surfaced even within the judiciary.”
Data presented in the Lok Sabha in February this year by Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal shows over 8,000 complaints filed against sitting judges over from 2016-2025. The last four years have seen a considerable uplift in complaints. The data doesn’t specifically identify corruption-related complaints.
But when a social science textbook for 13–14-year-old students, released by the he National Council of Educational Research and Training, included a brief section on corruption in the judiciary, including quoting the current CJI’s own comments, India’s Supreme Court banned it, saying its content were “extremely contemptuous” and “reckless”. This seemed particularly thin-skinned given the sitting CJI had accepted there was corruption in public comments.
Maybe there is some cause of optimism:
The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business metrics for the ease of enforcing contracts in India includes a one-third weighting for ‘Quality of judicial processes index’ (with the rest of the weighting for time and cost). India has improved from 186th in the world (2014) to 163rd (2020), according to the Indian government (the equivalent World Bank data is here).
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