Legopolis

The Bombay High Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed pointing out certain irregularities in the processes of tenders issued by the respondents in respect of some works undertaken by the Public Works Department.  The petitioner has prayed that because of the irregularities, loss has been caused to the State exchequer and accordingly respondents be directed to fix the responsibility for the said loss to the Government. Another prayer made in the PIL petition is to direct the respondents to introduce certain safeguards for avoiding any malpractices in the e-tendering process.  The petitioner has also prayed for issuing directions for recovery of the loss caused to the State exchequer on account of irregularities in the tender process. After filing of the PIL petition, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S Doctor noted that an internal committee by the State Government was appointed for assessing the flaws in tend...

The Allahabad High Court while disposing the petition observed that mere filing of an appeal against the order of acquittal cannot be a ground to deny the petitioner’s claim regarding the post retirement dues. A Single Bench of Justice Ajit Kumar passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Shaukat Ali Khan. Counsel for the petitioner submitted that since the final report was rejected by the Magistrate and the case was treated as a complaint case and therefore, the trial is going on, however in that also he has been acquitted on 27.01.2021 against which some revision has been preferred. Filing of revision against the order of acquittal cannot be a ground to withheld the gratuity amount or otherwise not to finalize the pension. Standing Counsel submitted that the State has preferred an appeal against the order of acquittal. In the circumstances, the Court disposed of the petition with direction to the respondents to immediately release the entire gratuity amount of the petit...

The Bombay High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeking intervention in the section of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999. The petition has been filed for the following reliefs: – -to intervene in the section 16(g), 16(2), 53, 55(3) and 56(2), 60 of the Maharashtra Rent control Act, 1999, to protect the rights of the tenants at large and provide justice to them by directing to the Respondent for amendment, omission, addition etc.; -to interpret in the section 16(g), 16(2), 53, 55(3) and 56(2) of the Maharashtra Rent control Act, 1999, for protect the rights of the tenants and provide justice to the tenants; -court may appoint commissions to collect information on facts and present it before the bench to avoid injustice. From a bare perusal of the prayers made by the petitioner, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S Doctor noted that the petition has been filed only for academic purpose as the petitioner calls ...

The Karnataka High Court has expressed its strong displeasure against a trial court judge for being ‘highly insensible’ and ‘lacking professionalism,’ while dealing with the evidence in the aggravated sexual assault case of an 8-year-old girl. The single-judge Bench of Justice Hanchate Sanjeevkumar noted that the POCSO Court judge who acquitted the accused in the minor sexual assault case, required some training in the Karnataka Judicial Academy on handling these types of cases. It suggested the POCSO Court judge to undergo training in the Karnataka Judicial Academy and sentenced the accused to a rigorous imprisonment of five years. The minor was sexually assaulted outside her house in February 2018. Accused Venkatesh faced trial under provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code. The trial court had acquitted the accused in December 2020 on the ground that no independent witnesses had been examined and that the doctor’s evidence...

Appointment of Justice Shree Chandrashekhar as the Acting Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court has been notified by the Central government with effect from December 29, 2023. Duties of the Chief Justice will be performed by Justice Chandra Shekhar after the retirement of Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra on December 28. Justice Chandrashekhar was born on May 25, 1965 and he completed his LL.B. from the Campus Law Centre (CLC), University of Delhi, in 1993 and enrolled as an advocate in the same year. In his nearly 19 years of practice as an advocate in various courts, he handled around 3500 cases, primarily in the Supreme Court, and appeared as counsel in approximately 140 reported judgments of the apex court. He held the position of Standing Counsel for the All India Council for Technical Education and the State of Jharkhand in the Supreme Court. Additionally, he represented entities such as the Bihar State Housing Board (BSHB), Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB...

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended appointments of new Chief  Justices (CJs) for the High Courts of Allahabad, Rajasthan, Jharkhand,Gauhati and Punjab & Haryana. The Collegium under the guidance of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud along with Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice BR Gavai passed the resolutions, which were uploaded on the official website. The Collegium has recommended the following judges to take over as Chief Justices: Justice Arun Bhansali who is currently a Judge in Rajasthan High Court, has been recommended for appointment as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court. Another Judge from Rajasthan High Court Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava,, has been recommended for appointment as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court. Justice Vijay Bishnoi, Judge Rajasthan High Court, has been recommended for appointment as Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Cou...

The Delhi High Court looked worried over the potential actions proposed by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) regarding a 150-year-old mosque situated at the Sunehri Bagh Road roundabout while concluding on the plea by Waqf board. On July 7, an interim order was passed by court where it directed the maintenance of the status quo regarding the mosque, and this order had been periodically extended.  On December 18,a single judge bench by Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav decided to close the proceedings based on the developments. The court found that the Waqf board had questions related to a joint inspection which was conducted in the absence of the board in their plea. It was  acknowledged by the court that,taking note of the interim order of July 7, a joint inspection had taken place in the presence of the parties on July 12, resulting in a prepared report. Advocate Sanjoy Ghose who was representing the petitioner, expressed apprehension that the respondents mig...

The Centre’s Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) has recently directed Meta to remove a fake interview of veteran journalist Karan Thappar from Facebook. It also advised the social media platform to diligently deal with public complaints.  Earlier, Facebook has turned down the request against the removal of the posts in question, mentioning that they did not violate its community guidelines. Reportedly, one of the fake interviews used Karan Thapar’s picture to promote a fraudulent money-making scheme. The Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) in its order dated December 12, considered the appeal lodged through Dua Associates against Facebook’s refusal to turn down the posts. The GAC is constituted under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The GAC mentioned that while Meta had earlier said that the posts were not in violation of its community guidelines, it later raised questions about the existence of the URL and the res...

The Delhi High Court refused to urgently hear the habeas corpus plea filed by Parliament security breach case accused Neelam Azad. Appearing for Azad, Advocate Suresh Kumar mentioned the plea before the vacation bench of Justices Neena Bansal Krishna and Shalinder Kaur. Nonetheless, the Bench stated that there was no urgency in the matter. It observed that in any case, the matter will come up on January 3 and that there is no urgency. On Wednesday, Neelam Azad filed a habeas corpus plea seeking immediate release from police custody.  The accused has challenged the legality of the trial court order dated December 21 remanding her to police custody. Neelam Azad contended that she was not allowed to consult legal practitioners of her choice to defend her during the remand proceedings. In her plea, Neelam Azad claimed that it was only after the disposal of the remand application that she was asked by the Ld. court if she wanted to be represented by an advocate of her choice, which ...

The Centre’s Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) has recently directed Meta to remove a fake interview of veteran journalist Karan Thappar from Facebook. It also advised the social media platform to diligently deal with public complaints.  Earlier, Facebook has turned down the request against the removal of the posts in question, mentioning that they did not violate its community guidelines. Reportedly, one of the fake interviews used Karan Thapar’s picture to promote a fraudulent money-making scheme. The Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) in its order dated December 12, considered the appeal lodged through Dua Associates against Facebook’s refusal to turn down the posts. The GAC is constituted under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The GAC mentioned that while Meta had earlier said that the posts were not in violation of its community guidelines, it later raised questions about the existence of the URL and the res...

The Punjab High Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeking direction to the respondents to prevent and stop the illegal practice of selling of lottery tickets in bundles as the same leads to evasion of taxes by the distributor thereby causing huge loss to public exchequer. The PIL has been filed by Samaj Sudhar Society. It is further prayed  for issuance of directions to the respondents to decide the representation of the petitioner dated 19.10.202. The counsel for the State, on instructions, has informed the Court that the tender of Rs. 48 Crores has been floated now and in the year 2022- 23 the net revenue earned was Rs. 10.49 Crores. She has also given details to the Court of the tenders floated w.e.f. 2007 and there has been down fall since then.   Keeping in view the instructions received by the State counsel, the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Nidhi Gupta disposed of the Petition by giving directions to res...

The Bombay High Court ordered the Regional Passport Officer, Mumbai to renew the passports of a woman and her two sons, which were previously denied by the Passport authority owing to objections raised by the woman’s brother-in-law over the address mentioned by them in the passport application.  A bench comprising Justice AS Chandurkar and Justice Firdosh P. Pooniwalla stated that a person cannot be deprived of his/her fundamental right to travel abroad on the ground that there is a dispute in respect of the property which is mentioned in the address given by the applicant for the purposes of including it in the passport. The Bombay High Court clarified that the petitioner’s address in the passport would not by itself confer on them any right in respect of the said property so as to prejudice the brother-in-law in any way. The High Court further observed that the right to travel abroad is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Hence, no person can b...

A Delhi Court has been approached by the NewsClick’s human resources department head Amit Chakraborty asking permission to turn a government approver in the anti-terror case registered under UAPA. The NewsClick founder and HR have been accused of news portal receiving money to spread pro-China propaganda as per media sources.. Last week, an application was moved before the Special Judge Hardeep Kaur where Amit Chakraborty(HR head) sought pardon in the case. HR head Amit Chakraborty claimed to have information and material, that could come handy to the Delhi Police, which is investigating the matter. He was willing to share this and turn an approver. Media agencies were informed by the police that the agency will take a decision on whether to support his application before the court after going through his statement. It is however, important to note that the judge has posted the matter before a magisterial court for recording the HR head’s statement. Chakraborty and news portal’s...

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday gave her assent to the three criminal law bills namely Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita replacing Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Indian Evidence Act respectively.  The three criminal law bills were cleared by the Lok Sabha on December 20 and Rajya Sabha on December 21. The bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha through a voice vote after being moved by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In the concluding remark, chairman Jagdeep Dhankar said that these three bills which create history have been passed unanimously. He added that the bills unshackled the colonial legacy of criminal jurisprudence that was hurtful to citizens of the country and favoured alien rulers.  The bills were passed in the lower house of the Parliament on December 20, amidst suspension of 141 opposition MPs from both houses. The criminal bills have been under scrutiny with concerns r...

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday gave her assent to the three criminal law bills namely Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita replacing Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Indian Evidence Act respectively.  The three criminal law bills were cleared by the Lok Sabha on December 20 and Rajya Sabha on December 21. The bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha through a voice vote after being moved by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In the concluding remark, chairman Jagdeep Dhankar said that these three bills which create history have been passed unanimously. He added that the bills unshackled the colonial legacy of criminal jurisprudence that was hurtful to citizens of the country and favoured alien rulers.  The bills were passed in the lower house of the Parliament on December 20, amidst suspension of 141 opposition MPs from both houses. The criminal bills have been under scrutiny with concerns r...

NewsClick Human Resources Department head Amit Chakraborty has moved an application before the Patiala House Court, seeking permission to become an approver in a case filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against the news portal. Delhi Police had arrested Founder of the news portal, Prabir Purkayastha and Chakraborty on October 3 following a series of raids on the team behind NewsClick as well as its contributors, including independent journalists, over the allegations that they received money for promoting Chinese propaganda. After the raids, police sealed the NewsClick’s Delhi office. The accused were remanded to police custody for seven days on the night of October 3, after they were produced at the judge’s residence. A total of 46 people were interrogated in connection with the charges. Police took away their digital devices, including laptops and mobile phones, along with certain documents, for examination. Those questioned included senior journalists Urm...

On the auspicious occasion of Christmas, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud took part in a function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association. The Chief Justice was accompanied by Supreme Court judges Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah. The function took place in the Supreme Court premises.  In the Christmas function, CJI DY Chandrachud extended his greeting on the occasion and sang carols. He started by singing one of his favourite Christmas carols, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He then sang, We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Speaking at the function, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that they are very lucky that they are safe here and are celebrating. He added that the soldiers deployed on the border are also the reason behind this happiness. He expressed that they should also remember them during the time of these festivities.  Referring to the recent Poonch attack, CJI DY Chandrachud said that the country ...

On the auspicious occasion of Christmas, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud took part in a function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association. The Chief Justice was accompanied by Supreme Court judges Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah. The function took place in the Supreme Court premises.  In the Christmas function, CJI DY Chandrachud extended his greeting on the occasion and sang carols. He started by singing one of his favourite Christmas carols, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He then sang, We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Speaking at the function, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that they are very lucky that they are safe here and are celebrating. He added that the soldiers deployed on the border are also the reason behind this happiness. He expressed that they should also remember them during the time of these festivities.  Referring to the recent Poonch attack, CJI DY Chandrachud said that the country ...

The Calcutta High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeks for rejecting the tender which was called for by the West Bengal State Beverages Corporation Limited dated 18.8.2023. The Division Bench of Chief Justice T. S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya noted from the notice inviting tender the tender process had commenced on 21.8.2023 and the date and time for opening the technical bid was fixed on 18.9.2023. “At this distance of time the question of quashing a tender notification which has already been worked itself out does not arise.” Therefore, the prayer sought for in the writ petition to quash the notice inviting tender dated 18.8.2023 cannot be granted and, therefore, such prayer  stands rejected by the High Court. The Bench took note of the submissions by the  advocate for the petitioners, submitting that endeavour of the State is to protect the health of the citizens and indiscriminate opening of such retail outlets will be again...

The seven judge bench of the Supreme Court scheduled to hear pleas challenging validity of amendments to PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), Aadhaar Act passed as money bill since 2015 from January 30, 2024. A Supreme Court notification stated that the bench will be presided over by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud.  Reports said that the original petition challenged the government role vis a vis running of tribunals. Following, a petition challenging the introduction of Aadhaar Act as money bill came to be listed before a five-judge bench which referred it to seven-judge bench. The matter concerns whether the government could use the money bill route to effect changes in PMLA and introduce the Aadhaar Act. On January 30, the seven-judge bench is expected to pass directions on filing of written submissions, appointment of nodal counsels to compile digital copy of submissions and accompanying documents, and fix dates for arguments in the case. Reports stated that the...

The Central government has requested the Supreme Court to give it permission for the eviction of over 4000 families living on encroached government land adjoining Haldwani Railway Station, commonly called as Gaffur Basti, on the grounds of railway track expansion and soil erosion. The Ministry of Railways filed an affidavit in the Apex Court, saying that keeping in view the space constraint at Kathgodam terminal station and the importance of Haldwani for the Kumaon region, the Haldwani Railway Station is the only option available for the expansion of the station and augmenting facilities like additional railway lines, platforms, washing pit, sick line shed, stabling lines and rate handling platform, etc. The said facilities are a prerequisite for originating long distance trains and special trains such as the Vande Bharat in the Kumaon region from the Haldwani Station. It further said that there was a strong apprehension that a situation may arise in future where the Haldwani Railw...

A committee has been constituted by the Delhi High Court headed by the Delhi health secretary to suggest ways for  improving the healthcare facilities in Delhi’s prisons. The other members of the committee include the Director General (Prisons), Chief Medical Officer of Delhi Prisons, two senior jail visiting judges of district courts, Secretary of the Delhi State Legal Services Authority as well as advocates Sanjay Dewan and Gayatri Puri. The Court said that the committee comprising the best in the field will give suggestions, regarding improving the health care facilities in the prisons and ways to promote equal health care to all prisoners within a period of one month to this Court.  The committee has also been asked to clearly inform the Court id the facilities are available in the jail hospital to deal with emergency situations such as cardiac arrest, haemorrhages etc. as the first few minutes in such eventuality are crucial to save the life of a prisoner. The bench ...

The petitioner claims to be the wife of a retired Judicial Officer. The petitioner is a 96 year old widow whose husband, she claims, was in the service of the State of Bihar as a Judicial Magistrate. The late husband of the petitioner served as a Judicial Officer for 13 years  and then after his retirement he is said to have been granted an extension for five years. He is also said to have finally retired in May, 1963; from which we should presume that he actually retired five years before and in 1963 his extension also came to an end. The retired employee died on 20.06.1989 till which time he is said to have been drawing pension. His PPO number is stated but the petitioner claims that the book is lost. It is also stated that at the time of retirement of her husband, there was no provision for grant of family pension as per the Bihar Pension Rules, 1950. The Division Bench of Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice Rajiv Roy noted from the Bihar Pension Rules, 1950 that the ...

A Mumbai court has granted bail to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor in a money laundering case in which he was arrested. The relief was granted to Kapoor by the special court under Section 436A of the Criminal Procedure Code of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Section 436A of Criminal Procedure Code of Money Laundering Act provides the maximum period for which an undertrial prisoner can be detained. The section states how no person can be detained for more than half the maximum period of imprisonment provided for the offence in law. On Deceber 21, the Special judge MG Deshpande observed that Kapoor had been detained for three years and nine months. The Bench fond that this is more than half of the maximum imprisonment (seven years) that can be awarded to Kapoor for his alleged offence. The Court took pulled up ED for opposing the bail application despite not having started the trial for more than three years incarceration of Kapoor. Kapoor, who was arrested in March 2020, ...

Rahul Gandhi says will take down tweet disclosing identity of minor rape victim, Delhi High Court seeks status report from Police on probe against Congress leader Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has apprised the Delhi High Court that he would take down the post from X (formerly Twitter), in which he allegedly disclosed the identity of a minor girl, who was raped and murdered in 2021. The Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna on Thursday refused to pass a judicial order directing Gandhi to take down the tweet. As per reports, a nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by a priest inside a crematorium at Delhi Cantonment area in 2021 The Congress leader had met the family of the victim and posted a picture on X. The Division Bench asked Advocate Santosh Kumar Tripathi, appearing for Delhi Police, about the status of prayer regarding registration of FIR against Gandhi. The counsel said he has already submitted a report regarding details ...

The Allahabad High Court while allowing an appeal observed that an offence under S.C/S.T Act, 1989 would be made out when a member of the vulnerable section of the society is subjected to indignities, humiliations and harassment in any place within the public view. A Single Bench of Justice Shamim Ahmed passed this order while hearing a Criminal Appeal filed by Bhaiya Lal Singh. The Criminal Appeal under Section 14-A(1) of  the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 has been filed by the appellant, namely, Bhaiya Lal Singh with a prayer to set aside the proceedings of the Special Sessions Trial (State Vs Manager B.L Singh and Others) arising out of Case at Police Station-Kotwali, District-Rae Bareli, under Section 143 and 506 I.P.C as well as under Section 3(1)(Dha) of S.C/S.T Act, 1989, pending in the Court of learned Special Judge, S.C/S.T Act, Rae Bareli. Further prayer is to set aside the impugned cognizance as well as summoning order dat...

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeking direction to the respondents to ensure the completion of project of construction to Artificial Lake in River Tawi with clean, hygienic and healthy environment to the public at large. The PIL filed by one  Inderjeet Khajuria further prayed for the following reliefs:- -directing the respondents to undertake the laying down of Gandola Project from Mubarakh Mandi Complex to Bahu Fort in order to attract the tourists;  -directing the respondents to beautify the areas being used by the morning/evening walkers and ensure that nobody is allowed to dump waste/garbage which ultimately pollutes and contaminates the water of River Tawi;  -directing the respondents to make accountable the concerned officials who are negligent in performance of their official duties to ensure not to allow the miscreants to dump garbage/waste on the road side which is used by the morning/evening walkers in...