Thorat & Associate's

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today issued notice on a plea challenging the election of Delhi’s health minister Satyendra Jain of AAP. The bench headed by Justice Mukta Gupta was hearing an election petition file by BJP leader SC Vats, praying that the election of Jain as a Member of Legislative Assembly from Shakur Basti Assembly Constituency in Delhi be declared to be void and set aside with a further prayer for  reclamation of the petitioner as a returned candidate for having stood runner-up in the said elections on the grounds of corrupt practices by Jain, his election agent and other gazetted officers of the department of which Jain was heading up to the declaration of the 2020 election results. Vats has sought directions to the returning officer calling for the records pertaining to the elections held in Shakur Basti and non-compliance to the guidelines complained of in the petition. The petition has also sought to restrain Jain from attending the Legislative Assembly and

  The post SASFL’s Expert Class on Identity Politics in India: Understanding Gender Biases in India [September 5, 2 PM]: Registration Open appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/3lzk9Mw

  The post Call for Blogs: HNLU’s Progressive Constitutional Law Society: Submission on Rolling Basis appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/2ESGJ1r

  The post Call for Chapters: ICFAI’s Book on Cyber Law and Emerging Trends in Information Technology: Submit by Sep 25 appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/3baidFr

  The post XpertUs: TEDxTIET’s Workshop Series [Sep 5, 6 and 12]: Register Now! appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/3lD2HH0

  The post Call for Blogs: RGNUL’s International Humanitarian Law and Conflict Studies [RIHLCS]: Rolling Submissions appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/2YSCwCm

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today allowed Kyrgyz national Aida Askerbekova to visit her country for surgery of her child. Aida is facing prosecution in a gold smuggling case. In allowing Aida Askerbekova to travel her country, the Kyrgyz Republic, Justice Anu Malhotra ordered her to deposit Rs 10 lakh as bond in the form of an FDR in the Court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi, for a period of 45 days and return to India on the 46th day. The judge also requested the Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic in New Delhi, to ensure that she does return to India. The High Court dismissed the request of Begaim Akynova (petitioner 2) to visit her country. She had claimed that she wanted to visit her spouse, who is suffering from COVID-19. Aida Askerbekova (petitioner -1) and Begaim Akynova from Kyrgyz Republic were arrested at the IGI Airport, New Delhi on September 13, 2019 and while 3,150 gms of gold was recovered from Aida, 1,875 gms were recovered from Begaim. The total value

New Delhi: The High Court of Delhi today issued notice to the Central Government on an application seeking extension of time for public comments on new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) draft notification. The bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan was hearing an application filed by environmentalist Vikrant Tongad, seeking to extend the time for public comments on the draft EIA Notification 2020 , by a period of 60 days from the date of uploading the translated versions of the draft notification in all the languages mentioned in Schedule VIII in the websites of the respective State Pollution Control Boards as directed by the High Court in the Judgment of June 30. The applicant has submitted that the non-compliance with the directions and the timelines set down by the Court has hampered the public consultation process. As the deadline for receiving public comments lapsed on August 11, an anomalous situation has been created throughout the country wherein spea

  The post Call for Papers: NMIMS Student Law Review [Volume 3]: Submit by October 4 appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/3hJD5pb

The Supreme Court has issued the Standard Operating Procedure for hearing of matters through physical appearance before Hon’ble Court w.e.f 01/09/2020. The circular reads, “In continuation of directions already notified regarding functioning of the Supreme Court of India, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, more particularly through Circulars dated 14.03.2020 and 23.03.2020, and on consideration of the requests received from the Bar Associations, the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India has been pleased to direct as follows:” On an experimental basis, and as a pilot scheme, physical hearing of matters may initially commence in three [3] Court-rooms; eventually, number of matters or the number of Court-rooms may be increased or reduced, as the situation may warrant or permit; Despite consent by the Ld. Advocates/Parties-in-Person, only such number of Counsels/parties may be permitted to appear during physical hearing inside Courtrooms, so that the total number does not exceed the workin

New Delhi: A PIL has been filed before the Supreme Court , seeking removal of anomalies in the grounds of adoption and guardianship and making them uniform for all citizens. The plea says adoption laws should be gender neutral and religion neutral. The plea has also sought directions to the Law Commission to consider the best practices of laws and international conventions and prepare a report on ‘Uniform Grounds of Adoption & Guardianship’ within three months. The plea has been filed by Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay and through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey seeking directions for the formation of uniform guidelines for adoption guardianship for all citizens and declaring that the discriminatory grounds of adoption and guardianship are violative of Articles 14, 15, 21 of the Constitution. According to the public interest petition, there is discrimination in the current practice of adoption, because while Hindus have a codified law regarding the same, Muslims, Christians, and Parsis

  The post Subharti Law College’s BA LLB, LLM and PG Diploma Courses: Applications Open appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/3eOdfOC

New Delhi: With Tihar jail authorities agreeing to introduce a common room as well as for provision for a television by end-September 2020, the Delhi High court today disposed of a petition seeking facilities for high security ward prisoners, saying there was no further need for monitoring of the situation. On the last date, the court had directed the Tihar Jail authorities to take instructions for providing facilities and provision of TV to the High Security ward prisoners in Tihar. The petition was filed by Advocate Harpreet Singh Hora and Aekta Vats in the year 2018 and alleged that prisoners in High security ward and in general ward are being discriminated against. The lawyers argued for the petitioner DSGMC stating that a letter was received from several prisoners of Tihar Jail in 2018 wherein the prisoners had raised grievances about discrimination between prisoners lodged in High Security ward and General ward of Tihar Jail. The petitioners argued that the discrimination is

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today issued notice on a plea filed by Vedanta, challenging the Madras High Court order which dismissed its plea to reopen the Sterlite Copper’s smelter unit at Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. The bench comprising Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee was hearing a plea against the Madras High Court order of August 18 which dismissed the plea by Vedanta Limited challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s closure of its Sterlite Copper plant at Thoothukudi. The court had reserved its judgment on January 8. The plant was ordered shut by the Tamil Nadu government on May 28, 2018, after police firing killed 13 people protesting the polluting plant in their locality. Sterlite Copper is India’s second largest copper smelter. The plant’s licence was not renewed. The protest started among locals and environmental activists, who said that the air was becoming polluted and so was the water. The management of the plant, which used to produce over

New Delhi: The Supreme Court bench led by Justice Arun Mishra today fined advocate Prashant Bhushan a symbolic Re 1 for contempt of court. The bench said he refused to apologise despite given the opportunity and also released his statement to the media, causing further publicity. Prashant Bhushan has been asked to pay the fine by September 15, failing which he will be sentenced to three months in jail and to be barred from practicing for 3 years. A three- judge Bench of Justices Arun Mishra, B. R. Gavai and Krishna Murari had reserved its judgment on the quantum of punishment to Bhushan, after he refused to apologise.  The Apex Court had found Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt on August 14, for his two tweets against the Chief Justice of India and the Judiciary. While one tweet his comment the current CJI SA Bobde’s picture, the second tweet was his criticism on the role of last four CJIs in India. The Court was scheduled to determine the quantum of punishment for Bhushan on Augu

  The post JOB POST: Associate Lawyer at Office of Advocate Depaish Tangoriya, Hyderabad/Kolkata: Applications Open appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/3gEvXsV

  The post Suraina by National Service Scheme & Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University: Registrations Open! appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/31HScKn

New Delhi: The Supreme Court’s 5-Judge Constitution bench today ruled that it cannot be held as a general proposition that an accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, Act, 1985 (NDPS) is entitled to acquittal merely because the complainant is also the investigating officer (IO). The bench, comprising Justices Arun Mishra, Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, M R Shah and S. Ravindra Bhat observed: “Merely because the informant and the investigating officer is the same, it cannot be said that the investigation is biased and the trial is vitiated.” The Constitution Bench clarified that it depends on the facts and circumstances of each case if the investigation has become tainted because the informant and the investigation officer were the same. It cannot be held as a blanket rule. The bench said that the acquittal already given by the Supreme Court on the ground that the investigating officer and the complainant was the same will apply to the facts of those cases only a

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today dismissed fugitive Indian liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya’s review petition against a May 2017 judgment of the apex court. That order had held him guilty of contempt of court for violating its orders and those of the Karnataka High Court. A bench of Justices UU Lalit and Ashok Bhushan while refusing to re-examine its verdict to convict Vijay Mallya for contempt of court and dismissing his plea has said that his petition has no merit. The Court on August 27 had reserved its judgment in a review petition filed by fugitive Vijay Mallya against his conviction in a 2017 contempt of court case. The apex court in May 2017 had found Mallya guilty of contempt of court in a plea filed by a consortium of creditors led by State Bank of India (SBI). The plea alleged that Mallya had disobeyed the court’s orders by making “vague and unclear disclosure of his assets” by transferring a $40 million from Diageo Plc. to his his son Siddharth and daughters Leanna and Tanya

SC also rules docs must sign bonds to serve in rural/remote areas for 5 years New Delhi: A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court today held that the Medical Council of India (MCI) has no power to either provide or not provide reservation for in-service doctors in the admission process for post-graduation courses. The bench’s verdict came after it considered constitutional principles and MCI Act. A constitution bench of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Indra Banerjee, Justice Vineet Saran, Justice M. R. Shah & Justice Aniruddha Bose has held that the MCI regulation allowing in-service reservation is unconstitutional. That power belongs to the state. The Medical Council of India Act is referable to Entry 66, List 1, which is a limited source of power to lay down standards. The MCI is a statutory body, and has no power to make provisions for reservations, the bench ruled. Only states have legislative competence to make special provisions for reservations. The bench also a

  The post Online Internship Experience at Biswajit Sarkar Advocates, Kolkata: Article & News Writing, IPR Research and Drafting Work appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/32UpV2P

  The post Call for Blogs: RMLNLU’s Society for Excellence in Constitutional Law and Public Policy [SECLPP]: Rolling Submissions appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/3jvkL3S

  The post Bishop Cotton Women’s Christian Law College’s Workshop on IPR and Innovations [Sep 1-5]: Register by Aug 31 appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/34L3FLa

  The post How to Submit a Post on Lawctopus? Opportunities & Events, Internships & Jobs, Internship Experiences appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/3jvEfFg

New Delhi: While a division bench of the Delhi High Court, comprising Chief Justice D. N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan was hearing arguments on a bunch of petitions seeking investigation into police brutality on students of Jamia Milia University, Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi, the police counsel, said that Delhi Police’s action was justified and at par with the threat to life faced by the police. The applications have also sought compensation for students who sustained severe injuries during the police attack. Lekhi told the court that “even after repeated warnings, they continued to reach Mathura road through a parallel road.” He said that action taken by police was as per the standard operating procedure. “We warned them, they were not exercising restraint because of which mob was declared unlawful. Unlawful, not because they were protesting against CAA, but because they indulged in acts of arson,” Lekhi added. Lekhi also said: “We made a demand for more force becaus

New Delhi: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has refused to quash criminal proceedings against a man who was accused of inducing religious conversion through financial allure in 2017. Justice Rajendra Kumar Srivastava passed the order, even after the original complainant, Dharmendra Dohar, said that he had no objection to the complaint being quashed. The court said: “Complainant Dharmendra Dohar has no objection in quashing the proceeding, but looking to the fact that the offence is relating to religion and significant to maintaining public tranquility, the Adhiniyam, 1968 [Section 3/4 of the M.P. Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam, 1968] clearly provides for the maintenance of public order, hence, under inherent jurisdiction, I do not think fit to give it overemphasized. Therefore, considering the allegations made in the FIR as well as 161 Statements, I am not inclined to quash the proceeding in respect of offence under Section 3/4 of Adhiniyam, 1968.” According to case, on the basis of compl

By Inderjit Badhwar India Legal magazine, ever since its inception, has never been a bandwagon jumper. We do not leap blindly into taking positions on national issues just because other publications and the electronic media, political leaders and intellectuals are speaking in the same voice. We do not follow the brand of investigative journalism in which a newspaper or magazine first targets an editorially agreed upon individual or an institution, pursues its quarry for several months and then lets loose a barrage at an opportune moment, using the time spent on the story to solicit advertising and revenue support from vested interests seeking either protection from the hunt or having an interest in the outcome. We do not follow the leader, so to speak. But we do follow the cardinal tenet on which India Legal was founded. We protect, perhaps overprotect, the judiciary for reasons I will state below. And they remain unchanged since the time they were articulated in this very space an

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed two members of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to go on leave until a law member is appointed to the commission. As per rule, the law member should have been appointed before any other member was. The order has been passed by a bench comprising Justices S.K. Kaul, Ajay Rastogi and Aniruddha Bose in a contempt petition filed by KK Agarwal, against non-appointment of a law member to the Commission. The plea was moved seeking enforcement of a 2018 verdict of the Supreme Court wherein the apex court ruled that it was mandatory to appoint a person of law as a member of the Commission. That particular position requires a person, who is, or has been holding a judicial office or is a person possessing professional qualifications with substantial experience in the practice of law, who has the requisite qualifications to have been appointed as a judge of the High Court or a District Judge. As per the Commission’s website, it curre

The Supreme Court has held that the Police Officer cannot prosecute offenders in regard to cognizable offences under Chapter IV of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, in view of Section 32 of the Act and the scheme of the CrPC. Police Officers, therefore do not have power to arrest in respect of cognizable offences under Chapter IV of the Act, and this direction will operate with effect from the date of this Judgment. A division bench of Justices S.K. Kaul and K.M. Joseph issued their judgement in an appeal against order of the High Court that allowed quashing of FIR for offences committed under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.  Facts : the Dispute involves an online complaint filed, post which an inquiry was directed by the Commissioner (Food Protection and Drugs) and an inspection was conducted by the Drug Inspector at the Clinic and the Pharmacy. The first respondent stated that he did not have any license though he was the owner of the medical store and that he had stored the me

The Supreme Court case relating to dues by  telecom operators shows that a  proactive government machinery has realised the need to support jobs and livelihoods and let the telecom industry survive By Sujit Bhar In a Harvard Law Review study on “Government Counsel and their Obligations”, the author starts with a rather interesting anecdote. It goes as follows: “Shortly after being sworn in as the seventy-ninth Attorney General of the United States, John Ashcroft was asked whether he saw his role as being an ‘attorney for the president or the country.’ ‘Yes,’ was his cryptic reply. Although he gave his answer in jest, the new Attorney General could be forgiven for any confusion he might have had. “The question of the identity of the government lawyer’s client has long been controversial. One scholar, writing in the early 1990s, described the issue as one that had ‘vexed decision-makers and commentators for many years.’ Despite attempts to answer the question, it remains far from set

  The post The Law Street’s 1st Shri Pushkar Singh Baghel Memorial National Online Memorial Writing Competition: Register by Sep 15 appeared first on Lawctopus . from Lawctopus https://ift.tt/322ZM15

Despite the clamour to postpone the polls, the Election Commission will go ahead with them and has issued well-thought-out norms to be followed in Covid times. But the moot question is whether the polls will be free and fair By MG Devasahayam With the issuance of elaborate guidelines on August 21, 2020, the Election Commission (EC) has green-flagged the electoral process in Bihar. It will be the first state where assembly elections will be held amid the Covid-19 pandemic. There are several distinct features in the guidelines issued. The EC has revised the norms of the number of persons accompanying a candidate and the number of vehicles at the time of nomination. It has also created an optional facility to fill the nomination form and the affidavit online and submission of the same after taking a print before the Returning Officer. For the first time, candidates will have the option to deposit the security amount for contesting the elections online. Keeping the Covid containment gui

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has dismissed a contempt petition filed by an NGO, Nayee Soch Society, which had claimed that the Delhi government had not served free meals as the court had ordered. The number of people thus affected was 8 lakh, the petition claimed. Justice Sanjiv Sachdeva was informed by the government that it was indeed making rations available easily to all eligible persons. The eligibility was possession of Aadhaar cards, Voter ID cards, etc. The food grains were distributed from the nearest available Fair Price Shops, the government said in its report to the court. In an earlier case the court had directed that: ·        “We expect from the respondents that they shall also keep in mind to simplify the procedure for getting ration instead of going on the website, etc. by the poor and the needy people; ·        “If there is any need for change in the policy decision, the same shall be simplified by the respondents looking to the need of the people at large; · 

A judge of the Orissa High Court has ordered medical practitioners to write “legible” prescriptions, preferably in capital letters By Dr KK Aggarwal It is an order that would bring relief to many patients. On August 14, 2020, there was news that the Orissa High Court had directed the state’s doctors to write “legible” prescriptions, preferably in capital letters. The judge stated that a medical prescription should not leave any room for uncertainty or interpretation. The order came after the judge found it difficult to read a prescription submitted by a prisoner seeking interim bail to take care of his ailing wife. The Court also noted that illegible handwriting in prescriptions not only creates confusion for patients but also for pharmacists, other doctors, police, prosecutors and judges who may have to go through such documents during the course of a hearing. Justice SK Panigrahi made the observation while disposing of a bail application of Krushna Pada Mandal, who was accused in

In all the analyses of the policy recently approved by the Union cabinet, one element that has not been highlighted enough is its focus on the promotion of Indian languages, arts and culture. By Devender Singh Aswal IT is language what distinguishes us and makes the growth of a civilisation possible. In the words of Noam Chomsky, an acclaimed linguist, “a language is not just words. It’s a culture, a tradition, a unification of a community, a whole history that creates what a community is. It’s all embodied in a language”. The National Education Policy (NEP) makes an allusion to 64 kalas, mentioned in the Kadambini of Vanbhatt, to underline India’s rich art heritage. Language is closely and inextricably intertwined with    arts and culture. Culture is likened to a house and the language the door. India has lost 220 languages in the last 50 years alone and UNESCO has declared 197 Indian languages as “endangered”. The 22 languages of the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India a

New Delhi: The Chennai bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has said that it does not wish to interfere in the Rs 37.2 lakh fine imposed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Nutra Specialities Pvt. Ltd. The NGT disposed off the appeal by the company which has been deemed polluting. The company had appealed to the NGT against the CPCB order. The NGT said in its order: “We do not find any reason to interfere with the order passed by first respondent (Central Pollution Control Board) imposing environmental compensation of Rs 37.20 lakh against appellant, especially when appellant is one of the 17 categories of most polluting industries and dealing with pharmaceutical items and continuing operation illegally inspite of the ‘closure’ direction issued by first respondent.” The case of the appellant Company is that a show-cause notice dated 27.5.2015 issued on account of non-installation of on-line emission effluent monitoring system and appellant took steps for the compl

The professionalism and ethics of the media are constantly brought into question when it takes sides in a case and pronounces the accused guilty even before the court begins trial By Abhilash Kumar Singh The media plays a key role in shaping and changing the opinions of society. However, it is pertinent to look at its professionalism and ethics considering that media trials are often conducted in various mediums. There have been many cases where the media had taken cases into its own hands and declared an accused guilty even before the court has given its decision. The Sushant Singh Rajput case is one of them. #Sorrybabu was trending last week on Twitter. The context was that someone from the Karni Sena organisation heard Sushant’s alleged girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty saying, “Sorry Babu” when she went to the mortuary to see his dead body. And people decided that she was apologising for murdering him. A few days back, some news channels decided that Sushant was not in depression bec