Lawgic Simplified

Credits: Live Law Add. District Judge Uttam Anand in Dhanbad, Jharkhand was hit by an unidentified vehicle just half a km from his home in Dhanbad, according to the police. The video footage of this incident indicates that it was murder and not merely a hit-and-run case. The footage shows that he was intentionally hit by a vehicle while he was jogging. According to the police the driver of the said vehicle has been arrested. When this issue was brought before Supreme Court by the Supreme Court Bar Association the The Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said that he had spoken to the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court and the Jharkhand High Court has taken up the issue suo motu and interference at this stage will hinder the probe. According to NDTV, the police are focusing on Judge Anand’s cases. He recently rejected the bail requests of two gangsters and had been hearing cases of mafia killings in Dhanbad town. The Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan of Jharkhand High Court has taken suo motu co...

Today the Delhi High Court refused to interfere with a lower court order criticising Delhi Police for failing to register an FIR concerning Northeast Delhi violence last year. However, the court granted an interim stay on the cost imposed by the lower court of Rs 25,000 till the next date of hearing. “We can’t expunge the remarks without hearing you (Police). Costs may not be deposited till the next date of hearing,” Justice Subramonium Prasad said. The lower court vide its order had dismissed the investigation agency’s appeal against the order of a magisterial court directing the Delhi Police to register an FIR on the complaint of one Mohammad Nasir, who lost his left eye due to a gunshot injury during the Northeast Delhi violence The Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav had expressed disappointment on the lack of efficacy and fairness in the investigation by the police in the case and stated that the investigation was carried out in a casual, callous, and farcical manner. It was sub...

Senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar have filed a plea before the Supreme Court seeking a probe into reports on the alleged use of Pegasus spyware to spy on union ministers, opposition leaders, and 40 journalists among others by a sitting or former Supreme Court judge. According to the plea, a global investigation carried out by several leading media groups around the globe indicates that more than 142 persons in India, including lawyers, ministers, opposition leaders, journalists among others were identified as potential targets for surveillance through Pegasus spyware. The plea also states that through the forensic analysis of several mobile phones of potential targets by the Security Lab of Amnesty International, security breaches have been confirmed. According to The Wire, “Such mass surveillance using a military-grade spyware abridges several fundamental rights and appears to represent an attempt to infiltrate, attack and destabilise independent institutions that act as crit...

Today the Supreme Court has refused to grant a stay on proceedings against BJP MP Gautam Gambhir for hoarding and black marketing of COVID-related drugs, during the second wave. "We saw how the common man was suffering. This cannot be done. Do you want us to go into merits?" questioned the bench. Gambhir then withdrew his plea. Earlier in June, the Drug Controller had stated before the Delhi High Court that Gambhir's Foundation had committed an offense under Rule 61 and 18 C of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act as it was in possession of unauthorised stocks of Fabiflu.  On May 24, the Drug Controller was directed by a division bench of Delhi High Court comprising Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh to probe into hoarding of essential COVID drugs by Gautam Gambhir and medical oxygen by AAP MLAs Priti Tomar and Praveen Kumar and to submit a report within a week. The High Court was hearing a PIL asking for the lodging of an FIR on allegations that politicians were able to obta...

A plea concerning the involvement of Kerala Police officers in the framing of Padma Bhushan awardee and former ISRO aerospace scientist Dr Nambi Narayanan was heard by the Supreme Court today. Dr Nambi Narayanan was accused in a 1994 espionage case and was acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2018. A division bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna granted permission to CBI to proceed against ex-Kerala Police officers who framed Dr Nambi Narayanan, stating the investigation must proceed as the agency had filed an FIR. “CBI can proceed after registration of FIR.., as per law and no directions required from this court. The respondent can take all possible remedies available in law,” the bench said. The bench added that CBI must collect evidence and other material and should not rely solely on the report of the Justice D.K. Jain committee for proceeding against the accused. The accused argued that CBI’s refusal to share the aforementioned report would prejudice their defens...

Today the Supreme Court granted the Manipur government two weeks to file its response to a plea seeking compensation to political activist Leichombam Erendro, who was released yesterday from detention under the National Security Act for having criticised BJP leaders on use of cow dung and urine as cures for COVID-19.  A bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah on Monday had directed the Manipur government to release Erendro, stating that he cannot be kept in prison even for a night.

The Supreme Court today expressed its disappointment over the Kerala government’s decision to allow a three-day relaxation in Covid-19 restrictions in Kerala ahead of Bakrid festival, stating that granting such relaxation by bowing to traders’ pressure shows a “shocking state of affairs” and such a step was “wholly uncalled for”. The bench did not quash the Kerala government notification granting such relaxation stating that "There is no point. The horse has already bolted. We are not quashing the notification." However, the bench added that " pressure groups of all kinds, religious or  otherwise, cannot in any manner, interfere with this  most precious Fundamental Right of all the citizens  of India. We may also indicate that if as a result  of the Notification dated 17.07.2021, any untoward  spread in the Covid-19 disease takes place, any  member of the public may bring this to the notice of  this Court, after which this Court will take  necessa...

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah on Monday directed release of Leichombam Erendro, a Manipur-based political activist, arrested for sedition under the National Security Act by 5 pm, stating that he cannot kept behind bars even for a night as his continued detention would amount to violation of his fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

The Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of delay in releasing convicts by prison authorities even after being granted bail by courts and asked state governments to inform it about the availability of internet connection in the prisons in their respective territories and the time required to make jails equipped with facilities to ensure prompt release of prisoners. In order to ensure speedy release of prisoners who have been granted bail, the court will soon develop a secure electronic transmission mechanism of its bail orders so that it reaches the jail authorities in minimum time. This came after the Supreme Court on July 8 granted interim bail to 13 convicted prisoners, as they were declared juveniles by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) at the time of the commission of the offence and had already served 14 years jail sentence and are currently lodged in Agra Central Jail in Uttar Pradesh, on personal bond. But the Uttar Pradesh authorities released the prisoners after a delay of f...

The Centre in its affidavit has stated before the Supreme Court that states must not permit Kanwar Yatra to Haridwar in Uttarakhand and asked the state governments to  develop a system to make Gangajal available to devotees at nearby temples in view of Covid-19. According to India Today, "The state governments must also ensure that this exercise of distribution of Gangajal amongst devotees and the rituals to be performed by such devotees in the nearby Shiv temples takes place mandatorily, ensuring social distancing, wearing of masks and adherence to all steps required for Covid-appropriate behaviour and Covid health protocols,” the Centre said in the affidavit. Centre's response came after the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the UP government's decision to allow the Kanwar Yatra from July 25 amidst the pandemic and issued notice.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana, today equated the British-era sedition law to "a saw" used to cut a forest instead of a piece of wood. "If a police officer wants to fix anybody in a village for something, he can use Section 124 A... People are scared." the bench said. Describing Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code on sedition as "colonial", the bench questioned the necessity of this law after 75 years of Independence. The law holds "enormous power" for misuse with no accountability for the executive and poses a serious threat to the functioning of institutions, the bench said. "The sedition law is a colonial law. Do we still need the law in our country after 75 years of Independence?" the Chief Justice of India questioned. It was suggested by the Attorney General, KK Venugopal that the law be retained with "guidelines". "We are not blaming any state or government, but look at how Section 66A of th...

On Wednesday, CBSE was directed by the Delhi High Court to decide within eight weeks if it would be refunding the examination fees taken for class X and class XII board examinations since the exams have been cancelled due to COVID-19. The decision of CBSE would be open to challenge if the petitioner is not satisfied, the court clarified as it disposed of the petition. The petition was filed by one Deepa Joshi, mother of a Class X student of a school in Delhi, who had paid ₹ 2,100 as fee for the board exam. The petition was filed for a refund of the examination fee taken for the class X and class XII board examinations as the exams are cancelled due to the pandemic. The parties had no objection to the hearing of the petition by Justice Prateek Jalan, even though his son is a Class 12 student and thus he would be a beneficiary of the petition. It was contended on behalf of the petitioner that as the board examination has been cancelled due to COVID-19, at least some part of the examinati...

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government as the UP government has allowed the Kanwar Yatra from next week despite the COVID-19 threat. According to News 18, “I read something. The citizens of India are completely perplexed. They don’t know what is going on. And all this amid the prime minister’s warning against third Covid wave, and saying that we cannot compromise even one bit,” said Justice Nariman while issuing the notice. According to the UP government Kanwar Yatra could take place from July 25 with “strict implementation of COVID-19 protocol” with “minimum number of people”. A negative RT-PCR test report could be made compulsory, if required, a state official was quoted by news agency PTI. According to The Indian Express, “We read something disturbing in The Indian Express today that the state of UP has chosen to continue with the Kanwar yatra, while the state of Uttarakhand with its hindsight of experience, has said that there will ...

According to Twitter's website, Vinay Prakash has been named its resident grievance officer for India and he can be contacted using the email ID available on the website. Twitter has been facing severe criticism over its alleged non-compliance with the new IT rules in India, which require social media platforms with 50 Lakh (50,00,000) or more users to appoint three key personnel - chief compliance officer, nodal officer and grievance officer. All three of them have to be Indian residents. In an affidavit submitted before the Delhi High Court it was submitted by Twitter that it had appointed an interim Resident Grievance Officer on May 29, but he resigned on June 21. The court expressed disappointment on Twitter's misrepresentation in its affidavit regarding appointment of a resident grievance officer mandated under the new IT rules 2021.

While hearing a petition on the applicability of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (the Act) in respect of a couple belonging to the Meena community, the Delhi High Court emphasized the need for a Uniform Civil Code stating that individuals who belong to different communities, tribes, castes or religions and solemnise their marriage “ought not be forced to struggle with issues” stemming from conflicts in various personal laws, especially with regard to marriage and divorce. The bench directed that its judgment be communicated to the Secretary of Ministry of Law & Justice “for necessary action as deemed appropriate”. “The hope expressed in Article 44 of the Constitution that the State shall secure for its citizens Uniform Civil Code ought not to remain a mere hope.” Justice Prathiba M Singh said.  The trial court while hearing a divorce petition filed by the husband agreed with the wife’s submission that though their marriage was solemnised as per Hindu rites, the Act did not apply t...

The PIL filed by one Shashank Posture was heard by a Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni on Wednesday. “We have heard the petitioner for some time and we are of the opinion that a notice is required to be issued to respondents,” the bench said. The bench issued notices to National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), Central and the State Government giving them three weeks to file reply. It was contented by the petitioner that the Truecaller app collects data of all users. It shares such data without the users' consent with its partners and dumps the liability on the users. He added that the user is left with no choice in this manipulative setup and Truecaller also registers users for UPI service without their consent. Google India, Bharati Airtel, and ICICI Bank are some of the companies which are allegedly getting benefitted from data sharing done by Truecaller. The petitioner also added that the government authorities had approved Truecaller app ...

The Supreme Court (SC) dismissed the plea filed by  Ajit Mohan, Vice President of Facebook India, seeking to quash the summons issued by the Peace and Harmony committee of the Delhi Assembly concerning the Delhi riots. However, the court noted that the Delhi Assembly cannot inquire into the matters falling under the jurisdiction of the Central Government, such as law and order/prosecution.  The court added that although the Delhi Assembly Committee has the has the power to summon anyone to appear for information gathering, Facebook officials can refuse to answer questions, which are not within the jurisdiction of the Peace and Harmony Committee of Delhi Assembly. The court also remarked that Delhi Legislative Assembly should refrain from interfering in the matters that fall under the jurisdiction of the central government. Ajit Mohan had contended before a bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy that the Peace and Harmony committee la...

In the wake of India's prolonged refusal to abide by the arbitration award according to which India has to pay $1.2 billion in damages, plus interest and costs to Cairn Energy, A French court has reportedly granted permission to Cairn to freeze a number of India-owned assets in Paris towards the settlement of the international arbitration award.   The said order of the French court entitles Cairn to take over 20 properties of the Indian government. Following India's refusal to go by the award and its appeal against the award, Cairn had moved courts in 9 countries including the US, and the UK, for enforcement of the arbitral award.  The dispute with Cairn had begun pursuant to Indian government's demand of Rs. 10,200 crore towards capital gains tax along with interest and penalty for an asset restructuring at the Cairn's India arm in 2006, ahead of the listing of its shares in 2007. On March 5, the Finance Minister had signaled that India would prefer an appeal against t...

Mamata Banerjee had mentioned Justice Kaushik Chanda's past association with the BJP in a letter to the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court on June 16. According to her letter, there was a "reasonable apprehension of bias... in favour of the respondent (Suvendu Adhikari)...", who belongs to the BJP, hence she wanted the case to be reassigned to a different court.  Before recusing from the case involving Mamata Banerjee's plea challenging the election of the BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, Justice Chanda made several angry remarks, accusing Mamata Banerjee of a "preplanned attempt to malign a judge" and of violating her constitutional duty. "Such calculative, psychological and offensive attempt to seek recusal need to be firmly repulsed and a cost of ₹ 5 lakh is imposed upon Petitioner," Justice Chanda said. According to Justice Chanda,  judges vote and have political viewpoints but Mamata Banerjee is wrong to think that judges cannot perform their dut...

The Delhi High court today condemned the act of Juhi Chawla and other plaintiffs of filing a plea against the Rs. 20 Lakh fine for a petition filed by them over the introduction of 5G technology. “This court took a lenient view when it did not issue contempt notice to Juhi Chawla. Otherwise, the case was made out. I am shocked with the conduct of the plaintiffs,” Justice J R Midha said.  The original plea filed by them asserted that 5G wireless technology can harm human health and permanently damage the environment. While dismissing the plea filed by Juhi and other plaintiffs against the testing and implementation of 5G networks in India the court had imposed fine on them. The court  said that the plea was "defective and dismissed it on technical grounds." “The plaintiffs have abused and misused the process of law which has resulted in waste of judicial time. The cost of Rs 20 lakh is imposed on the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs are directed to deposit the cost of Rs 20 lakh wit...

Yesterday, the Bombay HC was hearing a suo motu PIL which was initiated in September 2020 because of the collapse of a building in Thane’s Bhiwandi which had claimed 40 lives. The bench also took cognizance of the recent building collapses due to “rampant” illegal constructions in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), including the Malwani incident. The division bench comprising Chief Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice Girish S Kulkarni pulled up the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for allowing illegal constructions to be built "blatantly" without following existing laws. The Advocate General for Government of Maharashtra submitted that that structures of slum dwellers holding valid photo passes were protected Maharashtra government’s slum rehabilitation policies granting statutory protection against the demolition of structures constructed before January 1, 2000, and not higher than 14 feet, hence could not be demolished. “…it seems li...

On Monday, Twitter was accused by the Centre of not complying with the IT rules, 2021. The Centre has stated in its affidavit that Twitter Inc, despite being granted three months' time to comply with the IT Rules, 2021, has failed to adhere to them. Senior Advocate, Sajjan Poovaya, appearing for Twitter said that the difference in time zones prevented him from contacting company officials in San Francisco. As a result, the court gave Twitter a deadline of Thursday to inform when the grievance officers could be appointed. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday expressed disappointment over non-compliance of Twitter with the new guidelines on information and technology. "If Twitter thinks that it can take as much time as it wants in our country, then I will not permit that. You should have taken some firm steps to appoint the officer" Justice Rekha Palli said. Twitter had submitted an affidavit that said it appointed an interim Resident Grievance Officer on May 29, but he resigned...

In all other parts of the State, except for Puri, the celebrations of the festival of Lord Jagannath have already been banned by the Odisha government. The Covid protocol for this year's Rath Yatra is strictly laid down by the state government. However, the state has permitted the performance of these rituals inside temples in compliance with Covid guidelines.  Due to the second wave of the Covid pandemic, the Supreme Court of India today scrapped all petitions seeking Rath Yatra celebrations in other parts of Odisha this year. "I also feel bad but we can't do anything about it. Hope god will allow next Rath Yatra," Chief Justice of India (CJI) said. 

Today, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea seeking a probe by the National Investigation Agency into the alleged Congress toolkit case. The bench ruled that the toolkit should be ignored if someone doesn't like it. According to the bench, the petitioner has to avail a remedy other than that provided under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. If the allegations are confirmed in the investigation, the petitioner requested the cancellation of the registration of the Congress party. However, the bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah raised concern regarding the maintainability of a petition under Article 32 against political propaganda. According to NDTV, expressing displeasure over the petition, Justice DY Chandrachud said such frivolous petitions "cannot be heard". "The time has come that the Supreme Court does something about such petitions" he added. Thereafter, the petitioner sought permission from the court to withdraw the petition. The BJ...

Picture Credits: mid-day.com In a letter to ED’s Mumbai-based assistant director Tassine Sultan, the former minister said: “A series of events has given rise to apprehensions in my mind that neither procedure of law is being followed nor any objective investigations are being carried out.” Pursuant to issuance of fresh summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to Anil Deshmukh, former home minister of Maharashtra, seeking his appearance on July 5, a plea seeking protection from any coercive action in the money laundering case was filed by him in the Supreme Court. The former home minister has been issued three notices so far by the ED, asking him to appear at their office in south Mumbai Today to record his statement. ED had issued fresh summons in relation to the bribery-cum-extortion case registered against Deshmukh under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) that resulted in his resignation in April this year. The former home minister cited his "vulnerability" t...

  A bench of Justices RF Nariman, KM Joseph and BR Gavai issued notice in a plea by an NGO - the People Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) - seeking directions to the centre to advise all police stations against registering FIRs under this law, as more than 1,000 cases have been filed invoking Section 66A of the IT Act despite it being struck down seven years ago. "It is shocking. We will issue notice," the bench said. "Amazing. What is going on is terrible.” Justice Nariman added. Section 66A of Information Technology Act that allowed authorities to arrest individuals for posting "offensive" content online was struck down by the Supreme Court in March 2015. There have been many instances in which police have used this section to arrest people for posting critical comments on social networking sites about social and political issues and political leaders. Sanjay Parikh, senior advocate for PUCL, stated that 687 cases were filed under Section 66A before it was str...

  On Saturday, the Bombay High Court ruled that even homeless people and beggars must work for the country since they cannot expect the state to provide everything for them. This was stated by a division bench comprising of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni while dealing with a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by one Brijesh Aarya, requesting the court for directing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to provide nutritious meals thrice a day, potable water, shelter and clean public toilets for beggars, homeless persons, and poor people in the city. According to the submissions made by the BMC before the court, the BMC with the help of NGOs, has been distributing food packets to such people all over Mumbai, and women from this section of the society were being provided sanitary napkins. The bench while accepting this submission of BMC observed that, "They (homeless persons) should also work for the country. Everyone is working. Everything cannot b...

It has been decided by the Bombay High Court that lawyers cannot travel by local trains at least until the end of July as the Maharashtra State COVID-19 Task Force has apprehended a third wave of the pandemic. Public transport is currently limited to only the officials of the state government and public administration. While hearing a petition filed by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa against the exclusion of lawyers from travelling in local trains in Mumbai, a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni ruled that, through a judicial order, the court cannot override the medical experts' opinion. "At least till the end of July, it may not be possible (to allow lawyers to commute by trains). The State COVID Task Force feels that the third wave may start if trains are opened to all. You (lawyers) will have to wait for one more month," the court said. It was noted by the bench that the task force officials had informed the bench in an admini...

  A bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Ravindra Bhat  refused to stay National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru’s 25% reservation for Karnataka students. Government of Karnataka had challenged the Karnataka High Court judgment striking down 25% domicile reservation implemented at NLSIU. Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for a petitioner, prayed for a stay on the NLSIU notification giving effect to the said reservation policy. In furtherance of its inclusion and expansion plan which was approved in April/May this year, the university announced earlier this week the implementation of domicile reservations from the academic year 2021-22. Last year, the Karnataka High Court struck down the NLSIU Amendment Act, 2020, which introduced 25% reservation for students domiciled in the state, owing to excess of authority and breach of provisions of the NLSIU Act. According to the High Court, introduction of domicile reservation is not within the ...

  A PIL seeking a President's Rule in West Bengal was heard by the Supreme Court on Thursday and notices were issued to the Centre, the West Bengal government, and the Election Commission of India (ECI). However notice was not issued to Mamata Banerjee, president of the Trinamool Congress Party (TMC), by the bench comprising of justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshwari. The petitioners, Ranjana Agnihotri (Uttar Pradesh based advocate) and Jitender Singh (social worker) also prayed for directions to deploy armed paramilitary forces in order to bring normalcy in the West Bengal and  for setting up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the causes and reasons behind post-poll violence in the state. It was contented in the plea that the PIL has been filed in extraordinary circumstances as numerous residents of the West Bengal are being terrorized, penalised and tortured by the supporters of TMC for supporting Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) during the assembly polls. ...

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the removal of Union Minister VK Singh over alleged anti-army statements he made on February 7 has been dismissed by the Supreme Court. The statements referenced the border stand-off with China along the LAC. While speaking to the media on February 7, a news publication quoted Mr. VK Singh as saying, "None of you come to know how many times we have transgressed as per our perception. We don’t announce it. Chinese media does not cover it… Let me assure you, if China has transgressed 10 times, we must have done it at least 50 times, as per our perception". In response, China declared that "India's transgressions" were to blame for tensions at the Line of Actual Control which is the de facto border between the two countries. In addition to violating his ministerial oath by Mr. VK Singh, petitioner Chandrasekaran Ramaswamy claimed that his comment offered China justification for its transgressions. His statement stated that...