Legopolis

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) took Suo Motu cognizance of the matter relating  to severe water scarcity in Karnataka’s major cities like Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Shivamogga. The Petition is registered suo-moto on the basis of the news item dated 06.04.2024. As per the article, relying entirely on monsoon rains to replenish water reserves has become increasingly precarious due to dwindling and erratic rainfall patterns. Shivamogga, even though benefitted by a natural drainage system, is also facing looming water scarcity.  The news item further alleges that Shivamogga’s rapid urbanization, industrial growth and real estate expansion, exacerbates water consumption. Coupled with inauguration of the airport and the district’s emergence as a healthcare and education tourism hub, the development has come at a cost, with Tunga river witnessing reduced water output during failed monsoons in 2023.  The news item alleges that encroachments on vital water bodies along natio...

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed on merits a petition that sought directions for re-polling and re-counting of votes in certain booths of Munger in Bihar on grounds of booth capturing and rigging of elections. The Bench of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Prasanna B Varale told the petitioners that the High Courts were not closed in this country. They should argue all this before the High Court. Appearing for the petitioners, Advocate Aljo Joseph tried to persuade the Court, however, the Bench refused to entertain the plea. The top court of the country dismissed the petition as withdrawn, granting liberty to the petitioner to approach the High Court. The petition alleged that the members of the ruling Janata Dal (United), aided by government officials, indulged in booth capturing during elections in Bihar’s Munger constituency. It was further alleged that several representations were made to the authorities, including the observers of the Election Commission of Indi...

The Delhi High Court recently directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to frame rules and levy charges on encroachers for illegal encroachment of public spaces and land.  A single bench of Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar said that encroachers should be made liable to the extent of illegal encroachment. The court remarked that there should be a clear perception through careful quantification of the charges to be recovered from the encroacher that shall be for the benefit of the public at large.  It added that for ascertaining the charges to be recovered from the encroacher, the land-owning authorities shall take into consideration various factors such as the area of encroached land, period for which the encroached land was illegally used by the encroacher for his own personal gains, the market price or circle rate of the encroached area or as the case may be. Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar maintained that encroachment in public places, es...

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted statutory bail to activist Sharjeel Imam in a UAPA and sedition case relating to the alleged inflammatory speeches made by him in Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia area in the national capital against the Citizenship Amendment Act. A division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain allowed Imam’s bail plea. The activist had challenged the trial court order denying him statutory bail in the case. He had sought bail on the ground of having undergone one half of the maximum seven years punishment. However, he will remain in jail in the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case involving UAPA charges. Appearing for Imam, Advocate Talib Mustafa contended that Imam has already undergone four years and seven months of incarceration out of the seven years of maximum imprisonment. Opposing the plea, SPP Rajat Nair representing the Delhi Police said that Imam had not undergone half sentence. He added that the case was squarely covered b...

Delhi’s Karkardooma court recently rejected the bail application of former JNU student leader Umar Khalid in the larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots. He has been in custody since September 2020 in a UAPA case. The student leader had sought regular bail in the case on the grounds of delay and parity with other accused. Special judge Sameer Bajpai on May 13 had reserved the order on his bail application. The Delhi police’s special public prosecutor had opposed the bail plea calling it as frivolous and baseless. Meanwhile, Advocate appearing for Khalid had claimed that no terror allegations were levelled against the accused in the Delhi police’s charge sheet and his name was merely repeated in the document. The counsel also argued that by repeating his name, a lie didn’t become the truth. He had also alleged a vicious media trial against his client. Notably, the Delhi police have accused Umar Khalid of planning protests in 2020 at 23 places, which allegedly led to ri...

The Supreme Court has disposed of the petitions seeking review of its judgment upholding the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. The five-judge Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant and Justice AS Bopanna dismissed the review petitions in chamber noting that there was no apparent error in the judgment delivered on December 11, 2023. The Bench noted after perusig the review petitions that there was no error apparent on the face of the record. It further observed in its May 1 order that there was no case for review under Order XLVII Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Rules 2013. While upholding the Presidential Orders which took away the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the Apex Court refrained from adjudicating the constitutionality of the J&K Reorganisation Act in view of a statement made by the Solicitor General that the statehood of J&K will be rest...

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) took Suo Motu cognizance of the matter relating to the alleged illegal mining taking place in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. The Petition is registered suo-moto on the basis of the news item dated 04.03.2024.  As per the article, the joint team of Mineral, Police, Environment and Revenue Department together took action on 95 cases, which yielded revenue of Rs 26 lakh, while 18 crusher mines in the district were sealed for violating environmental norms.   The above news item indicates to the Bench violation of the Sand Mining Guidelines, 2016 and the provisions of Environment Protection Act, 1986.    The news item raises substantial issue relating to compliance of the environmental norms and implementation of the provisions of scheduled enactment. “Power of the Tribunal to take up the matter in suo-motu exercise of power has been recognized by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of “Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai vs. ...

The Delhi Rouse Avenue Court today extended the judicial custody of AAP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia till May 31 in the liquor policy case.  Manish Sisodia has been in custody since February 26, 2023, after arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Thereafter, he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The former Deputy Chief Minister resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023. The Delhi Court on May 15 had extended the judicial custody of the AAP leader till May 30 in the same case. Kaveri Baweja, Special judge for CBI and ED also fixed May 30 for further arguments on framing of charges in the case. She noted that an application for postponement of arguments on the charge is pending before the high court. Manish Sisodia and other accused persons in custody were produced before the court through video-conferencing from prison. Earlier on April 30, the Delhi Court dismissed the bail pleas of Manish Sisodia in corruption a...

The BJP on Tuesday filed an appeal against the Calcutta High Court order restraining the party from publishing any derogatory or slanderous ads against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party.  A Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya granted urgent hearing to the BJP appeal. The bench mentioned that the matter will be subjected to serving of the notice to the other side.  When the BJP’s counsel pressed for a hearing today, stating that the Judge has stopped their advertisement, the Chief Justice said that nothing will happen in a day. Subsequently, the bench scheduled the matter for hearing on Monday morning.  The BJP’s advocate told the court that the party was not heard by the single-judge bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya, yesterday while passing the order. He added that the Trinamool Congress did not serve a notice to his client, hence, they did not appear, and the judge could not hear them before passing orders and making obse...

In another setback, the Delhi Rouse Avenue court on Monday extended the judicial custody of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha in the Delhi excise policy case until June 3. The custody was extended in cases being investigated by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). BRS leader K Kavitha’s lawyer argued that the chargesheet has been filed and cognisance hasn’t been taken by the court yet, and hence, the court cannot extend her custody, and she is entitled to be released. Appearing for K Kavitha, Advocate Nitesh Rana called the BRS leader’s custody after May 13 as illegal. The chargesheet was filed against her on the same day. The counsel questioned under which provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure the investigation agency is seeking further judicial custody. Responding, the ED’s counsel stated that the court is empowered to extend custody under Section 167 CrPC and post-cognizance under Section 309 CrPC. Subsequently, w...

The order was passed by Judge Gaurav Goyal past midnight, after hearing arguments from the Delhi Police and the counsels appearing for Kumar. Appearing for the Delhi Police, Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Atul Srivastava sought 7-day police custody of the accused. Advocates Rajiv Mohan and Shadan Farasat, appearing for Kumar, opposed the police custody on the grounds that the arrest was made in haste since Kumar had filed for anticipatory bail. Kumar was arrested by the Delhi Police on Sunday. He filed for an anticipatory bail application, but the same became infructuous after his arrest. Maliwal is a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) from AAP. She alleged that she was assaulted by Kumar at Kejriwal’s residence. As per the FIR, Kumar hit Maliwal in her chest, stomach, and the pelvic area with legs. Some purported videos surfacing on social media have showed Maliwal engaging in a heated argument with the security personnel, while walking out of the Chief Minister’s reside...

The Supreme Court recently recommended the Centre to prepare a report within six months on the feasibility of introducing a comprehensive sentencing policy in India to ensure uniformity and fairness in sentencing. A bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice SVN Bhatti stressed on the necessity of such a policy, underlining that sentencing should not be judge-centric and must avoid unwarranted disparities. The bench observed that hearing the accused on the sentence is a valuable right, and the real importance lies only with the sentence, as against the conviction. Mentioning that there is no clear policy or legislation when it comes to sentencing, the bench said that over the years, it has become judge-centric and there are admitted disparities in awarding a sentence. It mentioned that there is a crying need for a clear sentencing policy, which should never be judge-centric as society has to know the basis of a sentence. It underlined that sentencing shall not be a mere lotte...

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, while calling Justice AS Bopanna ‘Mr. Dependable’ of the Supreme Court, said that when Justice Bopanna would circulate a judgment, the CJI would respectfully agree with a smile and warm regards. Speaking during the farewell function of Justice Bopanna, organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the CJI said that Justice Bopanna had all the qualities of a great judge, a good human being and a worthy friend. He said Justice Bopanna had a keen interest in cricket and symbolised a captain cool when he presided over the court. Stating that he did not know about Justice Bopanna’s favourite player, the CJI likened him to Rahul Dravid, calling him Mr Dependable of the Supreme Court. Justice Bopanna’s soft spoken demeanour made everyone feel heard and valued. In his court, several young lawyers got a chance to argue and hone their skills for which they were grateful, he added. The CJI further said that all his interactions with Justice Bo...

The Allahabad High Court has quashed the dismissal order of the sub-inspector, Gulab Singh, accused of taking bribes and ordered his reinstatement. A Single Bench of Justice Salil Kumar Rai passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Gulab Singh. The petition has been filed challenging the order dated 27.1.2023 passed by the Additional Commissioner of Police (Headquarters), District Gautam Budh Nagar dismissing the petitioner from service ostensibly exercising powers under Section 8(2)(b) of the Uttar Pradesh Police Officers of the Subordinate Ranks (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1991. The Court noted that, The Section 8(2)(b) of the Rules is as follows: “8. Dismissal and removal: (1) No Police Officer shall be dismissed or removed from service by an authority subordinate to the appointing authority. 2. No Police Officer shall be dismissed, removed or reduced in rank except after proper inquiry and disciplinary proceedings as contemplated by these rules: Provided that t...

Delhi High Court judge Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani has recused himself from hearing a Rs 10,000 crore defamation case filed against British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for its two-part documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The matter was listed for hearing on May 17 before the single-judge Bench of Justice Bhambhani. As soon the case was called, Justice Bhambhani said that the matter would be listed before another judge, subject to the orders of the judge in-charge of the Original Side of the High Court. The defamation suit was filed by a Gujarat-based non-profit organisation named Justice on Trial seeking damages of Rs 10,000 crore from BBC. The petitioner contended that BBC’s two-part documentary titled India: The Modi Question cast a slur on the reputation of India, its judiciary as well as the Prime Minister. Justice on Trial had sought permission from the High Court to file the defamation suit as an indigent person. Order XXXIII of the Code of Civil Procedure de...

The Supreme Court today stayed the ex-parte injunction order passed by a District Court in Andhra Pradesh restraining Andhra Pradesh Congress Committe President YS Sharmila and others from speaking against the YSR Congress Party and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in connection with the murder of YS Vivekananda Reddy. A bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta stayed the order on a petition filed by YS Sharmila against the refusal of the Andhra Pradesh High Court to interfere with the injunction order passed by the District Court. The bench observed that the District Judge passed the restraint order without hearing YS Sharmila which had the effect of curtailing her freedom of speech and expression. It added that the Judge has passed an order of injunction which has very serious ramifications. Subsequently, the top court stayed the order passed by the Kadapa District Court on April 16, 2024. Appearing for YS Sharmila, Senior Advocate Gaurav Aggarwal informed that cont...

The Supreme Court today ordered the Maharashtra government to release the first tranche of land necessary for the construction of the new Bombay High Court building. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice BR Gavai and Justice JB Pardiwala stressed that the state government need not wait until December 2024 to hand over the entire 9.64 acres earmarked for the project. Subsequently, the Supreme Court directed the Maharashtra government to release the first tranche of land for the construction to commence. The apex court was hearing a suo motu case based on a letter petition sent by the President of the Bombay Bar Association, Nitin Thakker, and others. The court on May 7, had remarked that Goregaon was not a convenient location for the proposed new High Court complex and had ordered expedited action towards relocation of the current complex to Bandra. Notably, the Bombay High Court had in April asked the Maharashtra government to explore land availab...

The Supreme Court has ruled that under the fundamental right to health, a consumer had the right to know about the quality of products being offered by the manufacturers and those advertising them. Taking a serious view of the dismal implementation of guidelines against misleading advertisements, the Bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah directed that from now on, an advertiser or the advertising agency would have to submit a self-declaration form before printing or displaying any advertisement. The declaration would state that the advertisement complied with the Advertising Code given under the Cable Television Networks Rules. It would then be uploaded on a dedicated portal to be created by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, ordered the Apex Court. The Bench said it was invoking the powers vested to this Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India for the enforcement of the fundamental right to health that encompassed the right of a consum...

The Delhi High Court has directed the Union of India to grant citizenship to a 17-year-old girl, who was born and raised in India to parents holding Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards and US citizenship at the time of her birth. The single-judge Bench of Justice Pratibha M Singh noted that the petitioner-girl’s case was covered under a special circumstance not covered by any specific provision of the Citizenship Act of 1955 or the Passports Act of 1967. Petitioner Rachita Francis Xavier was not an illegal migrant and qualified as a person of Indian origin entitling her to citizenship by registration under the category of person of Indian origin under Section 5(1)(a) of the Citizenship Act, it said. Justice Singh further noted that the case would be covered under Explanation 2, as both parents of the petitioner were Indian citizens who had thereafter obtained US citizenship. In addition, the petitioner was born in India when her parents were legally residing in India as OCI card...

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) took Suo Motu cognizance of the matter relating to illegal sand mining which is going on on the Bank of Gulfula river near Kusumi in Balrampur District of Chhattisgarh.   The Petition is registered suo-moto on the basis of the news item dated 21.02.2024. As per the news item, illegal mining in Gulfula river by use of tipper vehicles, 407 vehicles, tractors, etc. is going on and illegally mined sand is used by the nearby brick kiln and also in the construction activity.  The news item states that the sand mafia is collecting the illegally mined sand at one place and by using the Hyva, they transport it to other parts of the State and this activity of illegal mining has been going on for the last several days.  It is also disclosed that the illegal mining is within the knowledge of the Mining Department, but no action is being taken. The news item raises substantial issue relating to compliance of environmental norms.  ...

The Supreme Court has held that an accused, who has not been arrested by the ED during a money laundering probe, while appearing before a special court pursuant to summons issued by such court, need not satisfy the stringent twin test for bail under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan further ruled that the national agency could not arrest an accused who appeared before a special court after issuing of summons in a PMLA complaint, without obtaining permission of such court. It said that if the ED wanted custody of an accused after the person appeared on issuance of summons, ED could only get custody after filing an application before the special court. Further, the court would only grant custody with reasons satisfying that custodial interrogation was needed. The Bench further ruled that in essence, ED officers could not use their special powers to arrest an accused under Section 19 of the PMLA once ...

The Delhi High Court has refused to pass any directions to regulate the prices of plane tickets, stating that an auto rickshaw fare was more than the airline fare today. The Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora passed the order on Friday, while dismissing two petitions seeking capping of airfares. Terming the airline industry as well-regulated and highly-competitive, the Bench remarked that stray incidents did not require the court to entertain public interest litigations (PILs) on the issue. It further said that market forces will decide the pricing [of air tickets]. Filed by Advocate Amit Sahni and one Bejon Kumar Misra, the petitions sought directions to cap airfares across the country so that customers were not “fleeced arbitrarily” by airlines. Sahni requested the Court to frame guidelines and prevent the airline companies from charging arbitrarily, irrationally and exorbitantly for flights. Misra, on the other hand, asked t...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared NewsClick founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha’s arrest by the Delhi Police and his remand in a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 as illegal. The apex court noted that a copy of the remand application was not provided to Purkayastha or his counsel before passing the remand order on October 4, 2023, which means that the grounds of the arrest were not supplied to him in writing. It was the case of the Delhi police that the requirement to furnish the grounds of arrest in writing was fulfilled by the serving of the remand application. The court said that there is no hesitation in the mind of the court to reach to a conclusion that a copy of the remand application, in the purported exercise of the communication of the grounds of arrest in writing, was not provided to the accused-appellant or his counsel before the passing of the remand order dated 4th October, 2023, which vitiates the arrest and the subsequent reman...

The Allahabad High Court has directed to renew the contract of temporary teachers working in the school run under the aegis of the Aligarh Muslim University as before and pay them regular salary. A Single Bench of Justice J.J Munir passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Uzma Naseem and 11 Others. The Court noted that, On 25.05.2023, the following interim order was passed backed by reasons carried in the order of that date: “1. Supplementary affidavit on behalf of the university is taken on record. 2. Heard Manish Goyal assisted by Ananya Shukla, counsel for the petitioner. Neeraj Tripathi, senior Advocate assisted by Shashank Shekhar Singh, appearing for the University. 3. Admittedly petitioners have been continuing, though on a temporary basis in the school run under the aegis of the University and are being paid salary ever since their initial appointments. They have been made to continue on a year to year basis by way of renewal of their respective appointments. ...

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved its judgment in a bail plea lodged by former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia in liquor policy cases. The AAP leader has sought relief in cases initiated against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma reserved the order after hearing the arguments from both sides. Manish Sisodia was arrested by the ED in February 2023 and a month later by the CBI. Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan, appearing for Manish Sisodia said the criminal trial against Sisodia had not begun and was unlikely soon. Both the CBI and the ED were investigating the case. The ED informed the court that the AAP would also be named in the case and a supplementary chargesheet would be filed soon. Opposing Manish Sisodia’s bail plea, the ED argued that while there have been 17 arrests, over 250 petitions have been filed, leading to the investigation officer’s frequent court ap...

The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed the first information report (FIR) registered against the Principal of Indore’s New Government Law College for promoting Hinduphobia and anti-India propaganda after certain books were found in the college library. A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta said that the allegations in the FIR were absurd since the books in question could be found even in the Supreme Court library. The Court further questioned why the state was so keen to persecute the accused, Professor Inamur Rehman, adding that he was already out on anticipatory bail. The court mentioned that the books in the library are about syllabus.  The apex court was hearing an appeal by Prof Rehman against a Madhya Pradesh High Court order that had refused an interim stay on the FIR and adjourned by ten weeks the hearing in the plea filed by the professor for quashing the case. It was reported that the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of...

The Supreme Court on Monday postponed to July the hearing of the plea lodged by Karnataka government against the Centre for drought relief funds. A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta passed the judgment, taking into consideration Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal’s opposition of the Union’s stance that Karnataka had not furnished relevant data. The Senior Advocate also said that there are factual errors in the report given by the central government. Mentioning that they want to file a reply, the counsel said that the Centre asserted that the state did not provide the data, whereas they have given it. Earlier, the top court had ordered the Centre to hand over the report of the inter-ministerial team. Attorney General R Venkataramani told the court that there was no longer a need for argument as pursuant to the previous hearing, the Centre solicited the Election Commission’s clearance for dealing with the matter and had been granted the same. He further submitted t...

The Calcutta High Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed praying for a direction upon the respondents to conduct an inquiry or investigation to find out the children on the streets who are used for begging and who are homeless and are abused and to rehabilitate them to the shelter homes and to direct the councilors also to participate in the rehabilitation process. A report in the form of an affidavit has been filed on behalf of the first respondent (State of West Bengal) signed by the Assistant Secretary, West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights. In the reply affidavit filed by the  petitioners , which suggested that a special task force should be constituted to nab the organized crime racket where the children are used for the purpose of begging and minor children are being used in various industries in various parts of the State of West Bengal.   From the report filed on behalf of the first respondent , the Division Bench of  C...