Legopolis

The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned to December 6, the interim medical bail petition of women rights activist and academic Prof Shoma Sen, who was arrested for her alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon violence case. Earlier on July 17, the Bench of Justice Aniruddha Bode and Justice Sanjay Kumar directed Sen to file an additional affidavit on her deteriorating health within two weeks. Sen was charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, along with 14 other activists and academics. She has remained behind bars since June 6, 2018, lodged at the Byculla jail in Mumbai. Earlier in January this year, the Bombay High Court refused to entertain the plea challenging the order passed by the Additional Sessions Judge of Pune rejecting her bail application and asked her to approach a special court under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act, 2008 for bail. This was done by the court keeping in mind that the investigation was transferred to the NIA in the case. The ...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the States of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Nagaland and Kerala for not appointing nodal officers in every district to curb incidents of mob violence and lynching The Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice S.V. Bhatti passed the order on a batch of petitions concerning the incidences of hate speech across the country. Earlier, the Apex Court had asked the Central government to file an affidavit regarding the States and Union Territories which have adhered to the Supreme Court directives laid out in the Tehseen Poonawalla case. Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, apprised the Bench that 28 States and Union Territories have appointed Nodal Counsels to tackle lynching and mob violence, besides procure intelligence reports pertaining to individuals likely to commit such crimes or engage in the dissemination of hate speeches. The affidavit further gave details on which States or Union Territories were yet to co...

Supreme Court quashes re-appointment of Gopinath Raveendran as Vice Chancellor of Kannur University The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the re-appointment of Dr. Gopinath Raveendran as the Vice Chancellor of Kannur University on the grounds that the appointment was vitiated by undue interference from the Government of Kerala. The Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra observed that though the notification of appointment was issued by the Chancellor in November 2021, the same was vitiated by ‘unwarranted interference’ by the state government. Setting aside the February 2022 verdict of the Kerala High Court, the Apex Court observed that the Chancellor (Kerala Governor) ‘abdicated or surrendered’ the statutory powers for re-appointing the Vice Chancellor, rendering the entire decision making process ‘invalid’. Taking cognisance of a press release issued by the Kerala Raj Bhavan, which stated that the process of re-appointment ...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan for delaying the passage of eight bills, which were passed by the Kerala State legislature two years ago. The Bench of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra noted that no reason has been given by the Governor to keep the bills pending, adding that the power of the Governor cannot be utilised to pause the law making exercise of the legislature. The Bench made the observations while hearing a writ petition filed by the Kerala government against Governor Arif Mohd Khan for sitting over eight bills passed by the State Legislative Assembly. The Governor had later sent seven out of the eight bills to the President for her consideration. The Bench initially turned down the request made by the State of Kerala to lay down guidelines on when a State Governor can send bills to the President, stating that the prayer for guidelines would not strictly arise in ...

The Supreme Court today has adjourned the plea by TMC leader Anubrota Mondal seeking bail in connection with cattle smuggling case by a week. Anubrata Mondal who is TMC leader has been an accused in the two major cases (the coal scam and cattle smuggling cases) which are being investigated by the ED and the CBI. The investigation agencies believe that the the money received through these scams and cases has been sent abroad through hawala transactions.  The case of cattle smuggling was first lodged in Delhi as many senior BSF leaders were allegedly involved in the crime. The investigation agencies have claimed that the cattle smuggling mafia led by Anup Majhi used to bribe a section of BSF officials along with politicians like Mondal to send thousands of cows to Bangladesh, which has high demand for meat. The action was taken against him after the after Amit Shah became the home minister. Its order for an investigation was earlier challenged in Calcutta High Court, but the c...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that an offence of criminal conspiracy punishable under Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) will be deemed a scheduled offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, only if the alleged conspiracy was directed towards committing an offence specifically included in the schedule of the PMLA. The Bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Pankaj Mithal passed the orders on a petition challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict, which refused to quash the proceedings in a case pending before Special Judge, Bangalore for the offence of money laundering against her under PMLA. The case pertained to a complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 7, 2022 against the former Vice-Chancellor of Alliance University, which stirred a controversy.  An FIR in the predicate offence was registered under Sections 143, 406, 407, 408, 409, 149 of IPC. Though the offences in the present case were not ‘scheduled offences,’ the Enforc...

The Chhattisgarh High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeking direction that operation of the limestone mines owned by the private respondent situated at the village Ghorda Tehsil Dogargaon District Rajnandgaon must be stopped to prevent further pollution and hardship caused to local residents. The PIL filed by Komal Lal Sahu further seeks direction to the private respondent to pay compensation to all the local residents whose houses have been damaged due to operation of the mine owned by him. Anmol Sharmam, counsel for the petitioner submits that the petition has been filed by the petitioner wherein the petitioner is seeking direction of the Court against the illegal mining of the limestone by the crusher owned by the private respondent . The mining has been done in the area in utter violation of the environmental norms which is causing hazardous results for the local residents of the nearby area. On the other hand, Chandresh Shrivastava, Additional Advoc...

The Allahabad High Court while setting aside an order of blacklisting and cancellation of mining lease passed against the petitioner, observed that in a civilized society if the rule of law has to be there then the principles of natural justice should compulsorily be followed. The Division Bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Shekhar B Saraf passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Maa Vindhya Stone Crusher Company. The petitioner was granted a mining lease for 10 years commencing from 15.7.2016 and ending on 14.7.2026 for the purpose of mining and crushing stone. The petitioner for the purposes of conveyance etc. was also issued Form – MM-11 and regularly OTPs were provided for effective use of the MM-11 Forms. On 17.7.2023, while the petitioner was still operating his mines as per the mining lease dated 15.7.2016 he received a notice on his E-mail Id where the allegation was that illegal mining had been done by him outside the area for which the mining lease w...

The Bombay High Court witnessed Advocate Somasekhar Sundaresan sworn in as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court. The oath was administered to Advocate Somasekhar by the Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya. The number of judges at the Bombay High Court is now 69, as against a sanctioned strength of 94 judges. The appointment of Sundareshan by the Central government as an additional judge was cleared on November 23, ten months after the Collegium had reiterated its recommendation to elevate him. Sundaresan was recommended for elevation by the Bombay High Court Collegium in October 2021. Subsequently, in February 2022, the Supreme Court Collegium also recommended his name. However, on November 25, 2022, the Central government opposed his elevation. The apparent reason given by the government was that Sundaresan aired his views in the social media on several matters which are the subject matter of consideration before the courts. In response to such a stand, the Collegi...

Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Justice Arun Kumar Mishra, has advocated for the enactment of a new law to differentiate between the legitimate promises made by political parties and freebies offered during elections. Speaking during the Plenary Session of the Constitution Day celebrations organised by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, the NHRC Chairman said the practice of political parties promising freebies during elections needs to be curbed. He said time has come to distinguish between the promise made to voters to create an egalitarian social order envisaged by Chapter 4 (of the Indian Constitution) and when freebies promised would be equivalent to alluring voters via forbidden means in elections.  The differentiation needs to be determined at an appropriate level and forum, even if it meant bringing a specific legislation for the same, he added. Talking about the impact of letter petitions and public interest litigation (PILs) petitions, th...

The Gauhati High Court has directed the State Authorities to file an affidavit giving the details of how the State is proposing to make the Human Right Commission functional. The Itanagar Bench of Justice Arun Dev Choudhury and Justice Kardak Ete filed by one Tarh Gambo alleging that Human Right Commission in the State of Arunachal Pradesh has not yet been set up. During the course of the proceeding, it is submitted at the bar, the Chairman of the Human Right Commission along with one Member have already been appointed. A Government building has also been provided for functioning of the State Human Right Commission. However, the counsel for the petitioner alleged that supporting staffs are not yet been appointed and other infrastructural facilities are not being provided till date and therefore, the Commission has not been able to start its function. The State counsel responding to such argument submits that even after due advertisement for filling up the vacancies, no candidate h...

Taking cognizance of the problem of day-long traffic jams around the court premises, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court has ordered the state government to consider shifting the Awadh bus stand located at Kamta, Lucknow elsewhere. The Division Bench of Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Om Prakash Shukla passed this order while hearing a PIL filed by Oudh Bar Association High Court Lucknow Bench. The PIL has raised an issue as regards the relocation of a bus station situated in the vicinity of the Court. The members of the Bar contend that the heavy vehicular traffic around the area of High Court is creating public inconvenience which has also added to the pollution in the area and it is for this reason, the Traffic Police of the Government of U.P has made a proposal for re-sitement of the bus stand to some other well-connected place on the outskirts of the city. On the proposal forwarded by the Police Commissioner, Lucknow to the State Government on 24.06.2023, the Co...

The Delhi High Court has asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Police to consider the feasibility of holding the All India Muslim Mahapanchayat at Ramlila Ground on December 18. The single-judge Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad on Friday directed the authorities to treat as a representation, the application given by Mission Save Constitution, an organisation founded by Advocate Mehmood Pracha, seeking permission for the public meeting on December 18. The High Court passed the orders on a petition seeking direction to the authorities to act upon its request and grant NOC to organise the public meeting. The organisation had filed an application on November 10, seeking permission for holding the Mahapanchayat on December 4. However, the MCD had submitted that the Ramlila Ground was not available for the said date and the same can be allotted subject to NOC from Delhi Police. The Delhi Police contended that NOC was already given to the Maha Tyagi Seva Sanstha...

The Supreme Court on Sunday witnessed the launch of two new initiatives – FASTER 2.0 and the Hindi version of e-SCR portal, in order to ease the release of prisoners, as well as make justice accessible to the common man. The initiatives were launched during the celebrations of the 74th Constitution Day celebrations at the Supreme Court premises, in an event attended by President Droupadi Murmu, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. Speaking about the Hindi version of e-SCR portal, the CJI said that 21,388 judgments have been translated in Hindi and vetted on the e-SCR portal. Besides, 9,276 judgments have been translated to Punjabi, Odia, Bengali, Urdu, Garo, Assamese, Konkani and other languages, which would soon be uploaded on the e-SCR portal.  The CJI said this was one of the best ways of the use of technology to bridge the distance between the courts and the citizens, bringing them closer to each other. Speaking about FASTER 2.0...

The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the state government to apprise it about the steps taken to rescue the 41 workers, who were trapped inside the Silkaya tunnel in Uttarkashi district following a landslide on November 12. Expressing satisfaction over the steps taken by the state government during the last 48 hours to rescue the workers, the Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Pankaj Purohit on Thursday directed the State to inform the Court about further progress in the rescue operation. As many as 41 workers were trapped after portions of the Silkyara-Dandalgaon under-construction tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri Highway collapsed on the morning of Diwali, at around 5:30 am.  The High Court passed the order on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by non-governmental organisation (NGO) Samadhan. The petition contended that the workers have been trapped inside the tunnel since November 12 but the government has faced challenges in re...

President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday unveiled a statue of the Architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, on the occasion of the 74th Constitution Day of India. The statue was unveiled by President Murmu in the Supreme Court premises in the presence of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Union Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal. President Murmu also planted a sapling on the occasion. Kalpana Das, wife of CJI Chandrachud, among others, was present on the occasion. The 7-foot-tall statue, portraying Dr Ambedkar wearing a lawyer’s dress and holding a copy of the Constitution in his hand, was recently brought to the Supreme Court premises from Manesar in Haryana.  Mounted atop a pedestal, the statue of Dr Ambedkar has been placed on the front lawn and garden inside the Supreme Court premises.  Around 50 labourers worked in the Apex Court premises, to build the platform housing the statue.  As per sources, the statue has been sculpted...

President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday unveiled a statue of the Architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, on the occasion of Constitution Day. The statue was unveiled by President Murmu in the Supreme Court premises in the presence of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Union Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal. The 7-foot-tall statue, portraying Dr Ambedkar wearing a lawyer’s dress and holding a copy of the Constitution in his hand, was recently brought to the Supreme Court premises from Manesar in Haryana.  Mounted atop a pedestal, the statue of Dr Ambedkar is located on the front lawn and garden inside the Supreme Court premises.  Around 50 labourers worked in the Apex Court premises, to build the platform housing the statue.  As per sources, the statue has been sculpted by famous sculptor Naresh Kumavat.  The decision to erect a statue of Dr. Ambedkar stems from the persistent request made by a group of lawyers who identif...

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The Supreme Court has granted anticipatory bail to law students, who were accused of injuring two advocates inside their chamber. The students had earlier filed a petition seeking anticipatory bail before the Hyderabad Bench of the Telangana High Court.  The High Court had dismissed the petition on the grounds that the accused had trespassed into the advocates’ office and assaulted the two lawyers. The High Court had further recorded that in the complaint filed by the advocate, the accused were also slapped with allegations for assaulting a woman advocate as well. Apart from this, the offence of trespassing was also alleged. It noted that the de-facto complainant had filed a written complaint on July 27, 2023, alleging that the petitioners had trespassed into their office and assaulted both the de-facto complainant and the woman advocate in the office. The de-facto complainant received injuries on the face and eye. The woman advocate was assaulted, amounting to outraging her m...

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday permitted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to hold a rally on November 29 near Victoria House at Esplanade, the same place in central Kolkata, where the ruling Trinamool Congress holds its annual ‘Shaheed Divas (Martyrs’ Day)’ rally on July 21. The Division Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya upheld the single bench order and dismissed the petition filed by the West Bengal government against it. On November 23, the West Bengal government had approached the High Court against the single-judge Bench judgement. The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of the High Court had pulled up the Kolkata Police on November 20 for denying permission to BJP for its rally at Kolkata twice without any apparent reason and by way of computer-generated responses.  The Bench not only allowed the BJP to conduct the rally on November 29, but also made some negative observations about the denial of police permissio...

The proceedings in a local court at Kottayam district of Kerala were stopped by members of the Kottayam Bar Association, who were protesting against registration of a first information report against a lawyer in a forgery case. The agitated lawyers halted the proceedings going on in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Viveeja Sethumohan on Thursday and shouted slogans against her. As per reports, the Advocates shouted “po pulle, podi pulle, CJM ye” and allegedly used abusive words against the CJM. CJM Sethumohan recorded in her order that more than 200 lawyers led by Advocates Sojan Pavianiyos and Benny Kurian halted the proceedings going on in her court and shouted slogans against her.  She alleged that the President and Secretary of the Kottayam Bar Association were amongst the agitators. The Magistrate said that a few videographers recorded the court proceedings, including the protest. When police aid at the court tried to intervene, the lawyers turned against them as we...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Union government to explore the possibility of reconstituting the Delimitation Commission for proportional representation of the communities designated as the Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST). The Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, while noting that no exercise of delimitation has been carried out since 2008, observed that the matter required serious and concerted consideration by the Centre. While observing that it cannot direct Parliament to enact a law, the Bench directed the Union of India to discuss this idea with the Chief Election Commissioner and provide a working solution by November 23. The Apex Court passed the orders on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking proportionate representation of Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assemblies of West Bengal and Sikkim. The Apex Court rejected the Centre’s argument that the Delimitation Commis...

The Supreme Court has spurned the plea by National Investigation Agency (NIA) requesting to quash second criminal complaint into the 2013 Maoist attack on Congress leaders. The plea by NIA has alleged that there was a larger political conspiracy behind the attack. The bench comprising of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra not only refused the plea but also turned down the request by NIA to transfer the investigation into the second criminal complaint from the Chhattisgarh State police to the central agency. The Court while dismissing the NIA’s plea said they were not inclined to entertain the Special Leave Petition under Article 136 of the Constitution and dismissed it. The High Court in March 2022,had upheld a special NIA court order that had declined to quash the second first information report (FIR) or transfer it to the NIA for a further probe. The state police in 2020 filed second FIR wa...

The Allahabad High Court has directed the Hapur Sessions Court to record the statements afresh of two servants who were sentenced to death by by the court in the case of gang rape and murder of their master’s daughter within two months. The Division Bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Nand Prabha Shukla passed this order while hearing a Capital Cases filed by Sonu @ Paua @ Beedi and Another. The Court seized proceedings under Section 366 of the Cr.P.C for confirmation of death sentence awarded to the accused appellants, as well as the appeals filed by the accused against their conviction and sentence. The confirmation proceedings were placed earlier before the Court on 28.4.2023. It transpired that a young lady was subjected to sexual assault and then done to death in an incident occurred on 6.9.2018. The younger brother of the deceased was assaulted with a knife and his throat was cut. The injured brother temporarily lost his voice. Heavy reliance is placed upon the ...