Legopolis

The Bombay High Court has granted anticipatory bail to a rickshaw driver on the grounds that expressing liking for a minor girl by holding her hand did not amount to outraging the modesty of the girl. The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Bharati Dangre noted on February 10 that accused Dhanraj Babusingh Rathod did not have any sexual intent to either outrage the modesty of the minor girl or to sexually harass her and thus, no case was prima facie made out. The Bench further observed that the applicant deserved protection from arrest, as his custody was not needed for any purpose. As per the first information report (FIR) lodged by the father of the victim on November 1, 2022, accused Dhanraj attempted to sexually harass his 17-year-old daughter and even outraged her modesty by holding her hand.  The father said the applicant was known to the victim and her family as he lived in their vicinity. He used to drive an auto rickshaw and the victim had at times travelled in the sam...

The Delhi High Court has today decided to hear on March 24, a petition filed by Ishfaq Ahmad Bhat, who has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Jaish-E-Mohamad Conspiracy Case by the NIA Court in Delhi. The life imprisonment has been given to Ishfaq for various offences under IPC and UAPA. In the hearing today, the Counsel for Ishfaq said that the present matter was based on the same First Information Report (FIR), same RC, and same order which was passed by the bench in other connected appeals. He requested for the matter to be de-notified. The Division Bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh re-notified the matter for March 24 along with the connected appeal matters, after noting all the points made by the Counsel. The NIA Court in November 2022, had sentenced Ishfaq to life imprisonment, rigorous imprisonment, and fine. He was sentenced under Sections 121A, and 120B of IPC and Sections 18, 19, 38, an...

A petition has been filed in the Kerala High Court seeking a direction to the Union of India, the second respondent, to take necessary steps to ensure that materials disclosing the identity of the petitioner as a rape victim in websites maintained by Indian Kanoon, the third respondent, and Google India, the fourth respondent, are removed or hidden to protect the right to privacy of the petitioner. The petitioner further sought a direction to the Union of India to hide any material/information in the petition which will disclose the identity of the petitioner as a rape victim before publishing it by way of case status or judgment in the website owned and maintained by the Union of India and the National Informatics Centre, the 6th respondent. A single-judge Bench of Justice Shaji P. Chaly considered the petition. The Bench posted the matter on 09/03/2023 as the petitioner appearing in person seeks time for impleading the Google India managing director and Yahoo India. The post Kera...

Activist Gautam Navlakha’s lawyer has apprised the Bombay High Court that the Communist Party of India (Maoist) had suspected the senior journalist of being a government ‘agent,’ who could negatively impact their movement. Seeking bail for Navlakha in the Elgar Parishad Maoist Links case, Advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry apprised the Bench of Justice A.S. Gadkari and Justice P.D. Naik that the charges levelled by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against Navlakha under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were diametrically opposite to CPI’s condescension against Navlakha. NIA had accused Navlakha of having ‘deep involvement’ in the activities of the CPI(Maoist) party, besides having connections with Pakistan intelligence agency ISI and the separatist movement of Kashmir.  Chaudhry cited a document seized from co-accused researcher Rona Wilson’s laptop to validate his arguments. Stating that one of the surest signs of independence was being criticised and attacked by both ...

Former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav have been summoned by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) scam case. The scam alleged rigged recruitment in Indian Railways and providing jobs in lieu of land. The Delhi court summoned 14 accused, including their daughter Misa Bharti, on March 15. Lalu Yadav recently returned home after undergoing a kidney transplant from Singapore. The CBI, which is probing the allegations of accepting land in lieu of a job in Indian Railways, has filed a charge sheet in the case. Taking cognisance of the charge sheet, Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court sent a summons to a total of 14 people. After questioning all the accused, framing of charges will be done on March 15 Lalu Yadav’s close aide and former MLA Bhola Yadav and Hridayanand Chowdhary are also accused in the railway recruitment scam case. RJD leader Bhola Yadav was arrested by the CBI on July ...

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a petition filed by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, challenging his arrest and the probe conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation in the liquor scam case. The matter was mentioned this morning before the Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha for urgent listing. During the mentioning, the CJI observed that Sisodia could avail other remedies available before the High Court under Section 482 CrPC. Justice Chandrachud pointed out that the Court interfered last week in Pawan Khera’s case as there was a prayer to consolidate FIRs filed in multiple states.   Appearing for Sisodia, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi replied that it was an extraordinary case, which warranted interference under Article 32 and cited the judgment in the Vinod Dua case.  The CJI then agreed to hear the matter this afternoon, after the Constitution Bench hearing. ...

The Supreme Court judge Justice MR Shah has informed that he would not recuse from hearing plea filed by former Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt. The former IPS officer Bhatt in his plea has asked permission for producing an additional evidence before the Gujarat High Court in his appeal against conviction in a custodial death case. In his plea, Bhatt had asked for recusal of Justice Shah from hearing the case , citing that Justice Shah had been a part of the bench which heard the matters pertaining to former IPS , which arose from the first information report (FIR) on the basis of which Bhatt was convicted. A bench of Justice MR Shah and CT Ravikumar have rejected the the request by Bhatt for recusal of Justice Shah. The bench said that this is no ground for which the justice should recuse,while stating that the hearing on merits of the case will continue later today. In the year 2019, a sessions court in Jamnagar, Gujarat had convict...

Justice V Lakshminarayanan has sworn in as additional judge of the Madras High Court today. He was administered oath by Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice T. Raja. The Central Government on February 23, 2023, had notified the appointment of Advocate Venkatachari Lakshminarayanan as an additional judge of the Madras High Court. It was on January 17, 2023 that the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the name of Lakshminarayan. The Collegium in its meeting had also recommended the name of (now) Justice Victoria Gowri. In total, the Collegium had recommended names of five advocates for elevation. Advocate Lakshminarayan has been appointed as an Additional Judge for a period of two years from the date he assumes charge of office. The post Justice V Lakshminarayanan sworn as additional judge of the Madras High Court appeared first on India Legal . from Top News of the Day – India Legal https://ift.tt/AEPlCBp

The High Court of Delhi on Monday upheld the constitutional validity of the Agnipath scheme, which was introduced by the Central government in June last year, for recruitment in Indian Armed Forces. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad dismissed a bunch of petitions challenging the Central scheme on the grounds that it was introduced in national interest, to ensure that the armed forces of the country were better equipped to meet any eventuality. The High Court dismissed the five petitions challenging the recruitment scheme, observing that the advertisements regarding the Agnipath scheme did not create any legitimate expectation for recruitment Total 23 petitions were filed in the High Court against the Agnipath scheme. The other 18 pleas, which sought halt on recruitment processes and appointment as per previous recruitment scheme, have also been dismissed. The petitioners were represented by Advocates Prashant Bhushan, Ankur Ch...

The Central Government has apprised the Supreme Court of India that the petition against extension of tenure Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) Sanjay Kumar Mishra has been filed with an intention of protecting Congress leaders who have been facing money laundering charges. On February 24th, a counter affidavit was filed that claimed the plea filed by Congress leader Dr. Jaya Thakur was with the purpose to garner political advantage as several Congress leaders are under the ED scanner. The advocate Varinder Kumar Sharma filed the  plea for Thakur, that challenged the third extension granted to Mishra. Thakur submitted that it was in violation of the top court’s orders and is destroying the democratic process of our country. Mishra was first appointed as the ED Director for a two-year term in November 2018. The two-year term expired in November 2020. In May 2020, he had reached the retirement age of 60. The Central Government however, issued an office order on ...

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia in connection with the liquor policy scam. Earlier in the day, Sisodia had reached the CBI office for questioning into the Delhi Excise Policy case. Ahead of his questioning by the Central agency, security personnel were deployed outside Sisodia’s residence as many Aam Aadmi Party supporters had gathered outside the house of the Delhi’s Deputy CM. Sisodia held a road show along with his supporters and even visited Rajghat before heading to the CBI headquarters. Several AAP leaders alleged that they were put under house arrest till Sisodia’s questioning was completed. CBI said it has arrested Sisodia on the basis of some documents and digital evidence. The Central agency said Sisodia would be produced before the court on Monday. CBI further said that it has also arrested the AAP leader for destruction of evidence The post Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia arrested...

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia in connection with the liquor policy scam. Earlier in the day, Sisodia had reached the CBI office for questioning into the Delhi Excise Policy case. Ahead of his questioning by the Central agency, security personnel were deployed outside Sisodia’s residence as many Aam Aadmi Party supporters had gathered outside the house of the Delhi’s Deputy CM. Sisodia held a road show along with his supporters and even visited Rajghat before heading to the CBI headquarters. Several AAP leaders alleged that they were put under house arrest till Sisodia’s questioning was completed. CBI said it has arrested Sisodia on the basis of some documents and digital evidence. The Central agency said Sisodia would be produced before the court on Monday. CBI further said that it has also arrested the AAP leader for destruction of evidence The post Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia arrested...

The Bombay High Court has said that at least some portion of the money which is lying in the account of Collector, Nagpur can be directed to be made over to PWD (Electrical), Nagpur to immediately start work relating to installation of fire safety equipment at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Nagpur. The Nagpur Division Bench of Justice Sunil B. Shukre and Justice Vrushali V. Joshi heard a number of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) including a Suo Motu PIL related to the issue of medical condition during the Covid 19 Pandemic. S.P. Bhandarkar, amicus curiae and Additional Government Pleader, submitted before the Court that a substantial amount of funds collected from and out of the CSR funds of various companies and corporations is lying in balance and therefore, a portion of it can be spent for taking forward the cause of the patients in Vidarbha region. The Amicus Curiae further submitted that installation of fire safety mechanism at IGMC is pending since long and if the f...

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Saturday expressed concern over the rising number of suicide by students belonging to the marginalised communities and said that in order to tackle the issue, it was important to acknowledge and recognise the problem. Delivering the keynote address at the 19th Annual Convocation of National Academy of Legal Studies and Research University of Law (NALSAR), Hyderabad, the CJI mentioned the recent suicide of a Dalit student at IIT Mumbai. He said it reminded him of suicide by an Adivasi student at the National Law University in Orissa last year.  Stating that his heart went out to the family members of these students, Justice Chandrachud said he was wondering where the educational institutions have been going wrong that students were forced to give up their precious lives.  Stating that suicide by students from marginalised communities was becoming a common phenomenon, Justice Chandrachud said these numbers were not just statistics, ...

By Sujit Bhar The massive deal Air India struck with Boeing and Airbus to purchase 470 aircraft—this will be the biggest aircraft deal ever—has made headlines. The airline also has the option of acquiring another 370 aircraft. Estimates of the total cost of purchase—all negotiated at a deep discount, considering the order size—have varied between $80  billion to $100 billion. Two questions have been raised following this news. The first is: how will Air India finance this deal? The second is: can the Indian and world passenger growth rate absorb such massive capacity extension for Air India, a full service airline? Before moving further, one needs to get an estimate of the deal size. To do that one can refer back to the overall performance of the entire Tata group. The annual revenue of the group for fiscal year 2021-22 was reported to be $128 billion. This estimate has been derived from revenues of 29 publicly-listed companies of the group with a combined market capitalisation...

The Supreme Court has directed the implementation of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 and the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. A Bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta have appointed Advocate K Parameshwar as the Amicus Curiae in the matter. The Central Government was told that incase of respondents it shall place have to keep a record of the steps taken after the judgment of this Court, viz.-a-viz. It was also instructed to keep record of the Status of implementation of the 2013 Act i.e. Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, including the steps towards rehabilitation of such persons falling within the definition of ‘Manual Scavengers’. The order also asked for record of steps that have been taken towards abolition/demolition of Dry Latrines, in different states along with the details of statu...

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition on Friday, which sought transfer of a defamation suit filed by a former judge of the Supreme Court against a woman alleging sexual abuse at his hands, from the Delhi High Court.  The Bench led by Justice K.M. Joseph on Friday listed the transfer petition filed by the woman in 2014, for hearing on March 3.  The woman had earlier alleged that she was sexually harassed by a former Supreme Court judge, while she was working as a law intern in the Delhi High Court. The Apex Court judge then filed a defamation suit against the woman. Certain media reporters were also named as defendants in the suit. Appearing for the former judge, Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra said on Friday they were trying to work things out and requested the top court of the country to take up the matter in the coming week. The Apex Court agreed to the request and listed the matter for hearing on Friday. Advocate Vrinda Grover appeared for the transfer petiti...

The High Court of Delhi will give its judgement on the bunch of petitions that challenge the constitutional validity of Agnipath Scheme for the Indian Armed Forces on Monday.  The judgement shall be pronounced by a Division Bench which will comprise of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad at 10:30 am.  The verdict in the matter had been reserved on December 15, 2022.  The bench had heard counsel appearing for the petitioners challenging the scheme as well as halt on recruitment processes in the Army, Navy and Air Force.  The Central government Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati argued for the Central government.  Bhati had apprised the Court that the scheme would not make a qualitative difference or quantitative difference, but would bring about a paradigm shift in the recruitment process of the armed forces in the country. Calling it as one of the biggest chan...

The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition seeking removal of an 11-feet statue of Manu, considered as the first man and lawmaker of Hinduism, from the premises of the Jaipur Bench of the Rajasthan High Court. The Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice M.M. Sundresh dismissed the public interest litigation filed by one Ramji Lal Bairwa on the grounds that a similar plea was already pending before the Rajasthan High Court. The Apex Court further directed the petitioner to approach the High Court in the matter. The petition contended that the statue was installed secretly in 1989 as Manu was not a popular figure, but rather someone who propagated the caste system of social hierarchy. A full-court meeting in 1989 had decided to remove the statue. However, the decision was challenged in a petition, which was still pending before a full-bench of the High Court. The petitioner said that Manu was the author of Manusmriti, which was against the very ‘concept’ of justice, liberty, equal...

Appointment of Justice Ashish Jitendra Desai as the acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court has been notified by the Central government on Friday. After the retirement of incumbent Chief Justice Sonia G Gokani, the new Justice Desai will take charge with effect from February 26, 2023. The Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju through a tweet on Friday announced the confirmation of appointment by the Central government. Justice Desai was appointed as an additional judge of the High Court on November 21, 2011 before being made permanent on September 6, 2013. He is due to retire on July 4, 2024. The post Central government notifies appointment of Justice Ashish Jitendra Desai as Acting Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court appeared first on India Legal . from Top News of the Day – India Legal https://ift.tt/3UxNBqO

The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to former MLA Vijay Mishra in a criminal case registered at Gopiganj police station in district Bhadohi for criminal conspiracy and demanding money for murder. A single-judge bench of Justice Ajay Bhanot passed this order while hearing a Criminal Misc Bail Application filed by Vijay Mishra. By means of the bail application, the applicant has prayed to be enlarged on bail in Case at Police Station Gopiganj, District Sant Ravidas Nagar (Bhadohi) under Sections 115, 120-B IPC. The applicant is in jail since 14.08.2020. The bail application of the applicant was rejected by the trial court on 30.11.2022. The following arguments made by G.S Chaturvedi, Senior Counsel, assisted by Saurabh Raj Srivastava, counsel on behalf of the applicant, which could not be satisfactorily refuted by Paritosh Kumar Malviya, AGA-I for the State from the record and Abhishek Kumar Yadav, counsel for the informant, entitle the applicant for grant of bail: The FIR is...

A petition filed by Andhra Pradesh Judicial officers has been dismissed by the  Supreme Court. The petition was filed by the judicial officers who were not given the due consideration during the  appointment of judges in the High Court by the Andhra Pradesh High Court Collegium.  As per the petitioners, their services as presiding officers of Fast Track Courts were not taken into consideration by the High Court collegium while making recommendations for the judgeship.  The two-judge Bench of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Bela M. Trivedi said that the services of the petitioners as the judges of Fast Track Court Judges was not recognized by court for the purpose of seniority except for pensionary and other retiral benefits. The petitioners had raised a plea to consider their service rendered as Fast Track Court Judges as a judicial service for the purpose of Article 217(2)(a) of the Constitution, in light of the judgment of this Court what being prayed for, is ...

A petition filed by Andhra Pradesh Judicial officers has been dismissed by the  Supreme Court. The petition was filed by the judicial officers who were not given the due consideration during the  appointment of judges in the High Court by the Andhra Pradesh High Court Collegium.  As per the petitioners, their services as presiding officers of Fast Track Courts were not taken into consideration by the High Court collegium while making recommendations for the judgeship.  The two-judge Bench of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Bela M. Trivedi said that the services of the petitioners as the judges of Fast Track Court Judges was not recognized by court for the purpose of seniority except for pensionary and other retiral benefits. The petitioners had raised a plea to consider their service rendered as Fast Track Court Judges as a judicial service for the purpose of Article 217(2)(a) of the Constitution, in light of the judgment of this Court what being prayed for, is ...

The High Court of Delhi on Friday directed Aam Aadmi Party leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj, Durgesh Pathak, Sanjay Singh and Dilip Kumar Pandey to remove the alleged defamatory material and allegations made on social media platforms against former BJP National Vice-President Shyam Jaju and his son, Sandesh Jaju. The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Navin Chawla observed that prima facie a case was made out in favour of Jaju and his son for grant of interim relief. Jaju had moved the High Court by way of a suit seeking permanent and mandatory injunction on the statements made by the AAP leaders in a press conference on January 22. The leaders had alleged that Shyam Jaju, through his son Sandesh, had made illegal earnings through a company named Majboot Solutions Private Limited. They further alleged that the company was involved in a large number of transactions related to buying and selling of immovable properties worth crores of rupees. Filed through Advocate Samapika Biswal, the suit con...