Legopolis

A request for an early hearing was sought in the Supreme Court in the contempt petition against the Director General of Police and Chief Secretary of Haryana in the ongoing controversy over open namaz in Gurugram. Senior Advocate Indira Jaising mentioned the matter before the bench of Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana , Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli. The CJI said that we will send this matter to the appropriate bench for hearing. Former Rajya Sabha MP Muhammad Adeeb had filed the contempt petition against the DGP and Chief Secretary of the Haryana Government for contempt of the order of the Supreme Court. In the petition, citing an old decision, it has been said that every state police should take appropriate steps immediately after receiving complaints in the case of inflammatory speech and communal violence, despite this the Haryana government has not taken any action. The post Gurugram namaz: CJI says contempt petition will be heard by appropriate bench appeared first ...

The Delhi High Court on Friday altered the conviction and order on sentence of a person charged for the offence of robbery to undergo punishment under Section 392 (prescribing punishment for robbery) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, rather than Section 397 (prescribing punishment for robbery with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) on the ground that the prosecution failed to prove the use of a deadly weapon. The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Mukta Gupta observed that in case of knife or blade, the nature of weapon of offence needs to be proved. The Bench noted thus: “It is well settled that whether the weapon of offence is deadly or not, is a question of fact which would depend on the nature of weapon used in the offence……. Though it is not essential that the weapon of offence should be recovered to prove the nature of the weapon used and that a deadly weapon was used at the time of commission of the offence, however, the prosecution is required to prove the nature of the weapon...

A bench that comprised of Justice AS Oka and Justice Ajay Rastogi was looking after a case in which the issue pertained to whether the Delhi High Court, as in its original civil jurisdiction, was competent enough to help execute a particular foreign decree under the Section 44A of the Civil Procedure Code. At the […] The post SC: Difficulties for a litigant begin after obtaining decree appeared first on Law Times Journal .

On Saturday, The Kerala High Court held that the prosecution of a case has every right to ask that the accused surrender their mobile phones for the forensic examination under Section 79A of the Information Technology Act. The Court had rejected the argument saying that the surrender of mobile phones would infringe the fundamental right […] The post Kerala HC: Asking the Accused to surrender mobile phone appeared first on Law Times Journal .

Bombay High Court has issued practice directions to trial court judges, with respect to the trial of cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. These directions were issued by the Registrar General Mahendra W Chandwani in adherence with the Supreme Court’s directions in the suo moto case on swift disposal of the cases of cheque-bouncing  under Section […] The post Bombay High Court gives practice directions for trial courts relating to section 138 of NI Act , appeared first on Law Times Journal .

Whenever injured because of the carelessness or the negligence of someone else, there is a possibility you can file an injury claim so you can be compensated for what you suffered. This means you get help when it comes to dealing with lost wages and costly medical bills, which can be quite crippling. To increase […] The post Characteristics You Should See In Your Personal Injury Attorney appeared first on Law Times Journal .

A petition seeking action against the officials involved in India-Israel defence deal has been filed in Supreme Court. In this petition, the petitioner sought action against the officials involved in this deal including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Citing 2017 report, the petitioner also sought direction for recovery of the payment made in India-Israel defence Israel. Apart from this, the petition has also sought a direction to investigate the matter and demand action, through the SIT set up by the Supreme Court to investigate the Pegasus case. The petition has sought investigation and action under sections 65, 66 and 72 of the IT Act, 3 of the Official Secrets Act and sections 408, 409 and 120-b of the IPC. In fact, Supreme Court lawyer ML Sharma, citing a New York Times report in the Supreme Court, said that the New York Times investigation report revealed that in 2017 there was a defense deal between India and Israel in which weapons and intelligence are similar to Israel. ...

A petition seeking action against the officials involved in India-Israel defence deal has been filed in Supreme Court. In this petition, the petitioner sought action against the officials involved in this deal including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Citing 2017 report, the petitioner also sought direction for recovery of the payment made in India-Israel defence Israel. Apart from this, the petition has also sought a direction to investigate the matter and demand action, through the SIT set up by the Supreme Court to investigate the Pegasus case. The petition has sought investigation and action under sections 65, 66 and 72 of the IT Act, 3 of the Official Secrets Act and sections 408, 409 and 120-b of the IPC. In fact, Supreme Court lawyer ML Sharma, citing a New York Times report in the Supreme Court, said that the New York Times investigation report revealed that in 2017 there was a defense deal between India and Israel in which weapons and intelligence are similar to Israel. ...

The Allahabad High Court has allowed the bail application of a man accused of kidnapping and raping a minor girl. A single-judge bench of Justice Rajeev Misra passed this order while hearing a Criminal Misc Bail Application filed by Vipin Kumar. The application for bail has been filed by applicant Vipin Kumar seeking his enlargement on bail in case under Sections 363, 376 IPC and 3/4 POCSO Act, Police Station Narsena, District Bulandshahr, during pendency of trial. Record shows that in respect of an incident which is alleged to have occurred on June 17, 2021, a belated FIR dated June 18, 2021 was lodged by first informant Ravindra Kumar, father of prosecutrix, which was registered as Case under sections 363, 376 IPC and 3/4 POCSO Act, Police Station-Narsena, District Bulandshahr. According to the prosecution story and the FIR, it is alleged that on June 17, 2021 at around 9 am, first informant Ravindra Kumar after dropping his minor daughter home, went to his field. However, when ...

The Central Water Commission has said in its latest status report to the Supreme Court that the overall condition of the Mullaperiyar Dam and its appurtenant structure, based upon visual inspection conducted by the Supreme Court-appointed Supervisory Committee, was found to be “satisfactory”. But added that a fresh review of the dam’s safety was due. “A fresh review of the safety of the Mullaperiyar Dam is now due and is required to be undertaken,” said the status report filed on Thursday by Rakesh Kumar Gautam, Deputy Director, Central Water Commission. The report said, “The safety check of Mullaperiyar Dam was carried in the years 2010 to 2012 by an Empowered Committee which took assistance from the tests, studies and investigation of various premier institutes and organisations. The conclusion was that Mullaperiyar Dam was safe in all aspects, viz., hydrologically, structurally and seismically, after conducting 40 tests/investigations/studies.” “In addition to the study conducted ...

The Central Water Commission has said in its latest status report to the Supreme Court that the overall condition of the Mullaperiyar Dam and its appurtenant structure, based upon visual inspection conducted by the Supreme Court-appointed Supervisory Committee, was found to be “satisfactory”. But added that a fresh review of the dam’s safety was due. “A fresh review of the safety of the Mullaperiyar Dam is now due and is required to be undertaken,” said the status report filed on Thursday by Rakesh Kumar Gautam, Deputy Director, Central Water Commission. The report said, “The safety check of Mullaperiyar Dam was carried in the years 2010 to 2012 by an Empowered Committee which took assistance from the tests, studies and investigation of various premier institutes and organisations. The conclusion was that Mullaperiyar Dam was safe in all aspects, viz., hydrologically, structurally and seismically, after conducting 40 tests/investigations/studies.” “In addition to the study conducted ...

The Rajasthan High Court has recently directed that as soon as the training of the newly-recruited batch of Block Development Officers (BDO) is completed and posting orders are issued, the Ayurvedic and other doctors, if any working in the Panchayati Raj Department, shall forthwith be repatriated to their parent department/s and shall be provided postings as Medical Officers. The Division Bench of Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Vinod Kumar Bharwani heard a PIL filed by Ghewar Chand seeking to assail the action of the respondents in deputing and posting Ayurvedic Doctors as BDOs in Panchayat Raj Department and to repatriate them to their parent departments. Challenge has also been laid to the orders dated 07.03.2017 and 19.11.2019, whereby such doctors were deputed and were provided to the Panchayat Raj Department for being posted as Block Development Officers across the State of Rajasthan. The respondents have filed a reply and additional affidavit, wherein it is stated that the ...

The Allahabad High Court has directed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to revise the father’s name in the mark sheet and certificate of high school and intermediate examination of the petitioner within three months. A single-judge bench of Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Mehul Yadav. In this petition, a challenge has been raised to the order dated August 3, 2020 whereby the Assistant Secretary (M & M), Central Board of Secondary Education, had refused to make any correction in the marksheets and certificates of Class X and Class XII issued to the petitioner. The petitioner claims his father’s name should have been recorded as “Praveen Kumar Yadav” and not “Praveen Yadav” as reflected in those marksheets and certificates. The respondent Board rejected the correction application as there was no discrepancy in the Board records and the school records. However, Shri Pandey has most fairly stated, in light of the decisi...

By Kenneth Tiven in Washington In an announcement that surprised almost no one, US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said he will retire at the end of this court term, giving President Joe Biden his first opportunity for a high court appointment. Breyer at age 83 had hinted at this over the past year. No matter whom Biden appoints, it will not dramatically shake the nine person Court’s ideological balance which at the moment is dominated by seven conservatives, six of whom are white males. Former president Donald Trump had jammed in Amy Coney Barrett at the end of his term to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had declined to retire while Barack Obama was president, believing a Democrat would beat Trump. Biden on the campaign trail said he would name an African-American woman to the Court. Court appointments are exempt from the filibuster requirement for 60 votes, meaning that the Democrats, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the 50/50 tie can prevail. This assumes no Democr...

The Indian judiciary, has time and again, upheld the right to privacy. Courts in their orders/judgments have observed that any private conversations of any individual have to be protected unless it is undermining national security and sovereignty. Recently, a single-judge bench of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh set aside two orders passed by a Special Judge who had framed charges against Jatinder Pal Singh in 2012 in a case registered by the CBI, on the basis of evidence gathered through such illegal means. “It is also relevant to add here that if the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in PUCL which are now re-enforced and approved by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in KS Puttaswamy as also the mandatory rules in regard to the illegally intercepted messages/audio conversations pursuant to an order having no sanction of law, are permitted, it would lead to manifest arbitrariness and would promote the scant regard to the procedure and fundamental rights of the citizens, and law laid down by...

The Supreme Court on Friday turned down a plea filed by a mining firm challenging the show-cause notice to pay service tax on royalty stating the same is completely illegal, unconstitutional and arbitrary and deserves to be set aside.  The petitioner’s counsel submitted before the Court that in recent order passed by this Court in matter of “Lakhwinder Singh Vs Union of India” (writ petition) on 04/10/2021, granted stay of payment of GST for grant of mining lease/royalty by the petitioner until further orders while tagging along with a pending SLP (C) No 37326/2017.  Justice D.Y. Chandrachud replied, “Actually thereafter a lot of petitions under Article 32 we have dismissed, you will get those orders.  Actually, I think after 4th of October 2021, those orders have been passed. These orders were shown and the three-judge bench took the view that Article 32 petition will not be entertained because lot of writ petitions listed with SLPs. Because otherwise at the end o...

The Allahabad High Court has disposed of a petition seeking to restrain the devotees from participating in Magh Mela at Prayagraj, stating that necessary steps were being taken by the state government and the Prayagraj Mela Authority, to make sure the pilgrims follw the government guidelines on Covid-19. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Piyush Agrawal passed this order, while hearing a PIL filed by Utkarsh Mishra. Manish Goyal, Additional Advocate General, submitted that the government has already issued guidelines to be followed by the worshippers, who come to Magh Mela. He submitted that a separate Prayagraj Mela Authority has been set up to monitor all the arrangements and check the rush of people at one place. He further submitted that to advise people to take all precautions and not to create rush at Mela areas, they will issue public notices by different means of communication, apprising the devotees and the prospective pilgrims about the restrict...

By Lokendra Malik & Shaileshwar Yadav “Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans, Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground; The emptiness of ages on his face, And on his back the burden of world.”   These lines from the Edwin Markham’s famous poem “Man with the Hoe” epitomise the reams of legal prose where rule of law and the rule of life run close together; a jurisprudence where human dignity matters abound. Human dignity is a quintessential idea based on philosophical understandings, which supplements human rights in the contemporary debate. Popularly it is understood as an inherent value of humans vis-à-vis the moral foundation of human rights. The conception of human dignity engrossed as the individual’s dignity is touched upon only once in the preamble to the Indian Constitution, which reads it as “…assuring the dignity of the individual”. At the same time, a single reference to it spares us the opportunity to delve into a more significant debate around it. The Supreme ...

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the winding up of Spice Jet Airlines for 3 weeks after it was informed by Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appeared for Airline that they are reaching on a settlement with the Credit Suisse AG. In the present case, Spice Jet Limited has moved the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court order to wind up its operations after it failed to make payment of over Rs 24 million dollars to swiss maintenance, repair, and overhauling (MRO) service provider SR Technics. On Friday, Senior Advocate Harish Salve appeared for the Spice Jet sought adjournment for three weeks in view of the negotiations going on with Credit Suisse AG, to settle the matter. “We are trying to work something out,” said Salve. Senior Advocate KV Viswanathan appeared for the respondent Credit Suisse AG submitted what has been offered now is not even worth mentioning. We can wait for three weeks but kindly ask them to give a proper offer. “I will speak to Mr Viswanathan on the phone. I...

The Supreme Court on Friday, while calling the indefinite suspension of 12 BJP MLAs from Maharashtra Assembly as unconstitutional and arbitrary, set aside the same on account that such suspension could be only limited to the ongoing Monsoon session, ehich happened last year A Bench comprising Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice C.T. Ravikumar passed the verdict on a joint appeal filed by the 12 suspended BJP MLAs, led by Ashish Shelar. The Supreme Court had, on January 19, reserved its order on plea of MLAs, filed on July 22 last year, challenging their one-year suspension from the state Legislative Assembly for allegedly misbehaving with the presiding officer. The 12 suspended members are- Ashish Shelar, Sanjay Kute, Abhimanyu Pawar, Girish Mahajan, Atul Bhatkhalkar, Parag Alavani, Harish Pimpale, Yogesh Sagar, Jay Kumar Rawat, Narayan Kuche, Ram Satpute and Bunty Bhangdia. They were suspended on July 5, 2021 from the Assembly for one year after the State government accused them o...

The Supreme Court will on Friday pronounce it’s judgement on the issue of reservation in promotion for SC/ST employees in government jobs. A three-Judge Bench of Justice L. Nageswara Rao, Justice Sanjiv Khanna abd Justice B.R. Gavai will  shortly pronounce the verdict on the case related to SC/ST employees. (Jarnail Singh vs Lachhmi Narain Gupta and others)  Earlier on October 26, 2021, the Apex Court had reserved its order on the matter. The Apex Court had asked the Central government to inform about the steps taken to assess the inadequate representation of SC/ST employees in Central jobs. The Court further asked the government about steps taken to implement the decision of the Constitution Bench of 2006 on the Nagraj case to give reservation in promotion to those employees. However, during the hearing of this matter, the Supreme Court had decided that SC/ST will not reconsider the decision given on the reservation in promotion. On October 26, 2021, Attorney General K....

By Devender Singh Aswal The New India script has multiple dimensions, including proposed changes in the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954, by the Government of India. But states seem to be exceedingly wary, so much so that there is a forewarning of launching a people’s movement.  The chief ministers of West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and now Kerala have written letters to the prime minister strongly opposing the proposed changes. Other states may join the chorus of protests as they view the move as an erosion of India’s federal structure, destructive of the spirit of cooperative federalism, the cornerstone of Indian nationhood. An incipient Opposition is coiling in the states and a larger segment of the bureaucracy as well for obvious reasons. The states, including many NDA-ruled states, are apprehensive that the proposed changes, once effected, would confer overarching powers to the Union government in the posting of IAS officers. This may be fol...

Coming down heavily on the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for their lack of effort in gathering independent evidence and improper recording of confessions, the Kerala High Court has acquited two prime accused in the 2006 twin bomb blast case of Kozhikode district.  A Division Bench of Justices K Vinod Chandran and C Jayachandran on Thursday observed that there was no reliable evidence regarding preparation or commission of the crime that would incriminate the accused beyond any  reasonable doubt.  The Bench further noted that the approver’s evidence, relied on heavily by the prosecution, was unreliable and uncorroborated, under Section 25 and 26 of the Evidence Act. The case pertained to the twin bomb blasts in the Kozhikode KSRTC and Mofussil bus stands on March 3, 2006. Nine people were arrested for allegedly conspiring, planning and executing the twin blasts, including Thadiyantevida Nazeer and Shafas. Investigation into the blasts was first taken over b...

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted protection from arrest to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia, accused under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, till January 31, the next date of hearing. Appearing for Majithia, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi contended that this was a case of political vendetta. Senior Advocate P Chidambaram, who represented Punjab Government, apprised the Court that Majithia was granted three days protection. The order was passed on January 24 and Majithia went into hiding after that. After hearing the arguments, a Bench led by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana agreed to hear the petition and asked the State of Punjab not to take any coercive action against the accused till Monday. Majithia was apprehending arrest after a case under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against him at Mohali on December 20, last year. Majithia had moved the Punjab and Har...

The Supreme Court has granted interim protection from arrest for ten days to BJP sitting MLA Nitesh Narayan Rane, son of Union Minister Narayan Rane accused in FIR under Section 307 (Attempt to Murder), 120 B (Criminal Conspiracy) r/w Section 34 (Common Intention) of the Indian Penal Code. The Court has disposed of the SLP, with a direction to appear before the concerned court and apply for regular bail. Rane is a sitting MLA from Kankavali Constituency, State of Maharashtra.  Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Rane and argued, “this is completely cooked up case on the eve of election of a Cooperative bank. I want to show how bogus this case is…” In case of a simple injury, I was implicated in a case of Attempt of Murder. He has also made wrong statement. There are only 5 cases against me and all are political agitated cases. I went to Police station on 24,25,26. It was all conspiracy as I was a two time MLA, said Rohatgi rebutting to the submissions made by Senior Advoca...

The Supreme Court refused to show leniency to a driver, who was dismissed from service for driving in an inebriated condition, stating that driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol was not only a misconduct, but also an offence. A Division Bench of Justice MR Shah and Justice BV Nagarathna passed the order on a petition filed by Brijesh Chandra Dwivedi against the Allahabad High Court order, which had upheld his dismissal from service after being found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol due to which an accident took place. The Bench observed that an act of driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and playing with the lives of the others was a very serious misconduct. Dwivedi was a driver posted at the 12th Battalion, Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) at Fatehpur.While he was on duty driving a truck carrying PAC personnel from Fatehpur to Allahabad, it was involved in a motor accident. He was charged for having caused the accident by dashing his truck...

A local court has rejected the bail application of a 20-year-old man under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act, who had alleged serious charges against former zonal director of Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) Sameer Wankhede.  Wankhede is currently posted with the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. The NCB sleuths had recovered 1.32 gm  LSD, 22 gm ganja and one dab of cannabis from Zaid Rana’s house in Mumbai. A charge sheet against Rana and three others was filed by NCB, after which Rana filed the bail application. Advocate Ashok Saraogi, representing Rana, told the court that the accused lived in a flat which is adjacent to the flat that is owned by Wankhede. The officer had given out his flat on rent and the petitioner claimed that due to some differences between Wankhede’s tenant and Rana’s parents, Wankhede had raided his residence. He further alleged that Wankhede was settling personal score by creating “false and fabricated evidences”. ...

The Bombay High Court recently urged the tax department’s administrative section to establish and implement the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) scheme in its entirety to address pending tax litigation from the pre-GST regime. The Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme provides for the complete waiver of interest, penalty, and fine, immunity from prosecution, and a 40-70 […] The post Completion of investigation and determination of tax liability, not an eligibility provision under ‘Sabka Vishwas’ scheme: Bombay HC appeared first on Law Times Journal .

Recently, an appeal was filed in the Gujarat High Court against the order of the family court, which refused to waive off the 6 month cooling period, as envisaged under sec 13(b) of the Hindu Marriage Act,1955. A couple seeking a divorce by mutual consent must first adopt a 12-month separation period, followed by a […] The post Mutual-Consent Divorce Couple Denied 6 Month Cooling Off Period, For Marriage Lasting For 12 Days: Gujarat HC appeared first on Law Times Journal .

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had adjourned the hearing of a petition filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) to February 9 that was challenging the appointment of Rakesh Asthana to the position of Commissioner of Delhi Police. When the matter was taken, Justice Chandrachud, the presiding judge inquired if the hearing would […] The post CPIL’s Petition Challenging Rakesh Asthana’s appointment as Delhi Police Commissioner appeared first on Law Times Journal .