Thorat & Associate's

Famous scholar and journalist Abhijit Iyer Mitra has approached the Delhi High Court against the suspension of his Twitter account soon after he had posted a tweet regarding the Supreme Court granting bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair . In the month of July, when the Supreme Court had granted bail to Zubair, Mitra had put out a tweet stating that the son of a sitting judge of the Apex Court had participated in debates on news channel NDTV. He further alleged that the Editor of the same news channel had later furnished the bail bond for release of Zubair. The tweet also had some personal information like phone numbers, addresses of the parties in it. This was not a single tweet by Mitra. It was followed by another tweet, wherein he removed the personal information, but added that he was sure that Twitter will find some way of protecting its “resident in-house jihadist his aiders abettors.” Twitter then suspended his account as per the process and it still remains subseque

The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition filed by a physically-challenged person, seeking quashing of the FIR registered in Mumbra Police Station for the alleged offences punishable under Sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to outrage modesty), 354-D (stalking), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. According to the respondent no 3 (original complainant), the incident took place in March 2021, when she had gone to Amrut Nagar, Kausa, Mumbra for purchasing vegetables. She has alleged that the petitioner held her hand, disclosed his name. The respondent no 3 has further alleged that whenever she went out to the market, the petitioner met and stopped her. She has stated that she ignored the petitioner, however, the petitioner followed her till her house. She has stated that as she was scared, she did not disclose the incident to her family. The respondent no 3 has further alleged that in June, 2021, when she had gone to Tanwar N

The Meghalaya High Court has observed that  in a case of a boyfriend and girlfriend particularly, if both of them are still very young, the term ‘sexual assault’ as could be understood under the POCSO Act cannot be attributed to an act where, there is  mutual love and affection between them. A Single Bench of Justice  W. Diengdoh  made the above observation while quashing POCSO charged against a Minor and disposing the plea filed seeking quashing of the FIR dated and the resultant criminal proceedings  under Section 5(l)/6 of the POCSO Act pending trial before the court of the Special Judge (POCSO), Shillong. K.Ch. Gautam , Counsel for the petitioners  , submitted that the petitioner No.2 (Mother of the Victim)  had lodged an FIR before the Officer-In-Charge Pynursla PS, East Khasi Hills  in December 2020, complaining that her minor daughter was sexually assaulted by the petitioner No.1 (Minor Accused) on two occasions that is  as was narrated by her minor daughter who was found abs

The Supreme Court will hear on November 4 a petition challenging the Calcutta High Court, which directed Jitendra Narain, former chief secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, to appear before the SIT probing the gangrape allegations made by a woman against him. The matter was raised before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) U.U. Lalit, demanding an early hearing on the matter. CJI Lalit assured that the Apex Court will hear the matter on Friday. Earlier on October 28, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Andaman and Nicobar police had questioned Narain for over eight hours at the Police Lines in Port Blair. A 21-year-old woman in the Union Territory had lodged an FIR on October 1, alleging that she was called to the Chief Secretary’s residence on the pretext of a government job, where top officials, including Narain, raped her on April 14 this year. The woman further alleged that the accused repeated the crime on May 1. In her FIR, the woman had accused Labour

The Supreme Court has today prohibited the use of the Two-Finger Test in rape cases. It has also warned that the people who conduct such tests will be held guilty of misconduct. The Supreme Court said that it is regrettable that a test such like two-finger test continues to be conducted even today after so much of progress and development. A bench comprising of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli lamented while restoring the conviction in a rape case. The Court said it is very unfortunate that the court has to time and again deprecate the use of two finger test in cases alleging rape and sexual assault. The Court said that this so called test has no scientific basis, on the contrary it instead re-victimises and re-traumatises women ad thus this two finger test must not be conducted. The bench while giving judgement observed that the test is based on an incorrect assumption that a sexually active woman cannot be raped. Nothing can be further from the truth. The bench s

The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the defamation criminal defamation complaint filed against founder-director of India Today Aroon Purie over a news article published in India Today magazine in 2007 against the then Indian deputy consul general in Edinburgh, O.P. Bhola. The Bench of Chief Justice U.U. Lalit, Justice Ravindra Bhat and Justice Bela M. Trivedi granted relief to Purie, but refused to quash the case against the author of news article ‘Mission Misconduct’. Appearing for Purie, Senior Advocate K.V. Vishwanathan contended that he was the Editor-in-Chief at the time of publication and could not be held liable considering the decision in the case of KM Mathew vs State Of Kerala. CJI Lalit then observed that the government officials and the Editor may be granted relief, however, it refused to give the same to the correspondent. Earlier, the Delhi High Court had rejected Purie’s petition on the matter. Purie had contended before the High Court that at the time of the public

The Central government has told the Supreme Court that the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) does not affect the legal, democratic or secular rights of any of the Indian citizens. In its latest affidavit filed by the government centre informed that the existing regime for obtaining citizenship of India by foreigners continues to remains untouched by the CAA . It also added that the legal migration on the basis of valid documents and visa, continues to be permissible from all countries of the world including from the three countries specified in the CAA The affidavit clearly mentions that the CAA is merely a limited legislative measure, circumscribed in its application which does not affect the existing legal rights or regime concerning citizenship [falling outside the purview of specialized measure] in any manner. The Centre has questioned the locus of the petitioners, informing that the matters pertaining to immigration policy, citizenship and exclusion of immigrants lies with

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court directed the Petitioner to approach the competent authority for recognition of Hindi language as the official language in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking recognition of Hindi language as the official language in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir as well as in the Union Territory of Ladakh in tune with the mandate of Articles 343 and 251 of the Constitution of India. It is observed by the Court that that the subject of the PIL squarely comes within the domain and powers of the executive. Therefore the Court disposed of the PIL with direction to the Petitioner to approach the competent authority/ forum for seeking the relief as claimed. It is pertinent to note that the PIL is filed by one Jagdev Singh. The post Jammu and Kashmir High Court rejects PIL seeking recognition of Hindi as official

A Delhi court on Saturday issued directions for DNA analysis of blood found on the lathis (sticks) in Tihar jail, to check whether it belonged to gangster Ankit Gujjar, who was murdered in custody on August 4 last year.  Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Anjali Mahajan at the Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi passed the order after CBI told the court that seven polycarbonate sticks have been recovered from jail number three in Tihar prison, with two of them having blood stains.  The national agency said there was an apprehension that these blood stains could belong to the 29-year-old slain gangster.  After perusing the charge sheet and attached documents filed by CBI, which is probing the murder of Ankit Gurjar, the court observed that there was sufficient evidence to prove the charge. A case was registered against six people in the murder case of Ankit, including former Deputy Superintendent of Tihar Jail III Narendra Meena, along with jail staff Ram Avtar Meena, Dinesh Chikara, Harphool M

The Gauhati High Court directed the State respondents to ensure that no agency or 3rd party collects the charges for High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) from the customers except the manufacturers/dealers in accordance with the provisions of the Motor Vehicles (High Security Registration Plates) Order, 2018. The Kohima Division Bench of Justice Songkhupchung Serto and Justice Kakheto Sema disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL)  filed by a public spirited person with an effort to espose public interest in connection with order 4(c) of the Motor Vehicles(High Security Registration Plate) Order, 2018 notified vide Notification No.S.O.6052(E) dated 6th December, 2018 by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. S. Dutta, Senior Counsel for the Petitioner by drawing attention of the High Court  to the provisions of the order mentioned above submitted that as per the provision of this order, beginning from 1st of April 2019 Motor Vehicles buyers are no longer required to p

The Union government has issued a notification on amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules of 2021, making significant changes to the grievance redressal mechanism, including setting up of a committee for the purpose. The Central government published the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022 in the official gazette on Friday, introducing Rule 3A, which provides for setting up of a Grievance Appellate Committee. The newly-introduced Rule 3A mandated the Union of India to establish one or more Grievance Appellate Committees within three months from the date of commencement of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2022. Each Grievance Appellate Committee shall consist of a Chairperson and two whole time members appointed by the Central government, of which one shall be a member ex-officio and two shal

The Supreme Court has given explanation regarding it’s judgement of April 19, 2022, in which death sentence awarded to a man convicted for raping and murdering a four-year-old girl was commuted to life imprisonment for 20 years. The Apex Court noted that in the said judgement, the Court had commuted the death sentence imposed for the offence of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code as life imprisonment. It also modified the sentence of life imprisonment for the remainder of life, imposed for the offence under Section 376A IPC(punishment for causing death of rape victim), as life imprisonment for 20 years. The convict, who was also sentenced for offences punishable under Section 376(2)(i) (rape of a women aged below 16 years), Section 376(2)(m) (endangering life of woman while committing rape) of IPC, Section 5(i) (penetrative sexual assault causing grave injury to child) and Section 5(m) (penetrative sexual assault of girl aged below 12 years) of the POCSO Act, had fill

By Shivanand Pandit In an attempt to expand financial inclusion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) in 75 districts on October 16. The DBUs are being set up to guarantee the gains of digital banking in every nook and corner of India.  According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), DBUs will be brick-and-mortar outlets and offer a wide range of digital banking services. They will check balances, open savings accounts, print bank passbooks, transfer funds, invest money in fixed deposits, move loan applications, credit and debit cards, pay tax and bills and register nominations. The PMO also stated that DBUs will empower customers to have cost-effective, expedient access and a greater digital experience of banking products and services throughout the year. Modi said digital banking had helped to attain transparency in the working of the banking system. He insisted that banks fix goals to bring as many people as possible into digital banking and u

Gurgaon, October 28:  India’s leading legal edtech brand  LawSikho  has recently hired Resham Rana, a PGCET LLM exam 2019 topper. Resham appeared for the Delhi Judicial Services and secured an all-India rank of 59 in the same year, emerging as the third top scorer in the interview on her very first attempt. She would be reporting to Shweta Kumar Devgan, Director of Testprep at LawSikho and would be focusing on mentoring judiciary aspirants. About her new journey with LawSikho, she says, “I am ecstatic to be a part of Lawsikho, a name which as students of law, we have heard, referred to and looked up to! I have joined as the Course Anchor for Judiciary, and I feel privileged to have a platform where I can connect with students from all over India, and help them in attaining their ultimate goal of becoming judicial officers. I have always strived for excellence, and together, we will bring out the best in students, and scale greater heights.” One quality that has helped her achieve e

Shiksha Mitra turned teachers have filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court seeking benefits of the old pension scheme. A Single Bench of Justice Ashutosh Srivastava heard the petition filed by Gurucharan and 7 Others. By means of the writ petition, the petitioners pray for issuance of a writ of mandamus commanding the respondent authorities to take into account the previous services of the petitioners rendered by them on the post of Shiksha Mitra in different primary schools of the State of U.P, for the purpose of computation of pension benefits under the old pension scheme as they have been initially appointed on the post of Shiksha Mitra before the year 2005. Considering the nature of the issue involved in the writ petition and the relief sought by the petitioners the Court is of the opinion that the same can be adjudicated only after calling for a counter affidavit. The Court has granted four weeks time to the respondents to file counter affidavit and one week time to file

The Delhi High Court will hear public interest litigation (PIL) pertaining to objections in the appointment of people holding important positions in political parties as public servants at various government posts. The petition was filed by a lawyer Sonali Tiwary, who said that the principle of political neutrality of public servants prohibits them from taking part in political activities but there is a non-conformance to the above principle which propagating the beliefs of the political parties along with being a burden to the exchequer. The PIL is listed before bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad for a hearing today. The petitioner has given example of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra, who is also holding the post of the chairman of India Tourism Department Corporation, another example given was of BJP Parliamentary Board member Iqbal Singh Lalpura, who also is the chairperson of the National Minorities Commission. Th

The Madras High Court said that neither of the two factions of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) – one led by O Panneerselvam (OPS) and the other by Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) can have access to the gold armour that the party uses each year to adorn the statute of late socialist Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar to commemorate his birth anniversary. An order passed on October 26by Justice V Bhavani Subbaroyan of the Madurai Bench who said that the Thevar gold armour will be in the possession of the Ramanathapuram district revenue officer for the ‘Muthuramalinga Thevar Jayanti ‘  that is to be observed between October 27 and October 30. The local Superintendent of Police has been ordered by the court to make adequate security arrangements for the event. A petition has been filed in the High Court by EPS faction leader Dindigul C Sreenivasan seeking custody of the 13 kilogram gold armour that was purchased in 2014 by the late AIADMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minst

Rampur’s MP / MLA court convicted Azam Khan in the inflammatory speech case …. sentenced to three years in jail …. Now Azam Khan will be legislature Supreme Court quashes petition challenging ED’s order of attachment of Amnesty’s bank accounts…. Special leave petition dismissed while reserving Amnesty’s right to challenge provisional attachment order Challenging the order to vacate the government bungalow, Subramanian Swamy filed a petition in the Delhi High Court …. Court accepted the demand for early hearing Aurangabad Bench of Bombay High Court said that asking a married woman to do housework is not cruelty… the desire not to do housework should be expressed before marriage The post Video: Supreme Court quashes petition challenging ED’s order of attachment of Amnesty’s bank accounts appeared first on India Legal . from India Legal https://ift.tt/UrQqHV0

The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court has observed that a married woman being asked to do household work for the family cannot claim that she has been treated like a maid servant, and that the same does not amount to cruelty towards her. The Division Bench of Justice Vibha Kankanwadi and Justice Rajesh S. Patil noted that if the woman did not wish to do household activities, she should have told the groom’s side before the marriage, so that they could rethink about the wedding itself or if it was after marriage, then such problem should have been sorted out earlier. Quashing the first information report (FIR) registered against the husband and in-laws for cruelty under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the High Court observed that mere use of the word harassment ‘mentally and physically’ was not sufficient to attract ingredients of Section 498-A of IPC.  It said the collection of evidence with regards to the allegations was not sufficient even at this prima facie

The former Member of Parliament from Rajya Sabha Dr. Subramanian Swamy has moved the Delhi High Court claiming that the Centre has failed to ensure adequate security arrangements at his private accommodation. Dr. Swamy has recently been directed to hand over possession of his government accommodation in New Delhi to the authorities. The petition was put before the division bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma who has allowed it to be listed on Monday. The Senior Advocate Jayant Mehta submitted that Swamy had agreed to leave the government accommodation by October 26 after an undertaking was given by the Centre before court that it will ensure that all adequate security arrangements are done at his private accommodation. He did not however left the place as no that no such arrangement were done. Swamy, had been provided with Z category protection by the Centre, and was allotted government accommodation on 15th January 2016 for a period of five years The bungalow in

The Meghalaya High Court has issued a suo motu contempt notice to the Secretary in the Home Department of the state for deliberately disregarding an order of the High Court, seeking report on action taken against misuse of official vehicles by the Police Department and embezzlement of funds over their purchase. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W. Diengdoh issued the notice on a PIL filed by Riewad Vicharwant Warjri and another. The notice was returnable on November 2, noted the Court, while stating that the state government had tried to obfuscate the issue and stand as an impediment to a fact-finding exercise in the matter of defalcation of public funds. The High Court noted that the petition was not filed immediately upon the publication of the articles. Considerable time had elapsed between the initial publication and the filing of the petition. It has been evident that the petitioners waited for some action to be taken by the appropriate authoritie

The Allahabad High Court has dismissed bail petition of a Juvenile, after observing that the court can refuse bail in a case, where his release is likely to defeat the ends of justice. The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Jyotsna Sharma directed the Juvenile Justice Board to expedite the hearing and conclude the same at the earliest. The order was passed on a Criminal Revision filed by a minor under Section 102 of the Juvenile Justice Act, challenging the order dated December 6, 2021 passed by the Juvenile Justice Board, Mainpuri. The petition further challenged the February 10, 2022 order passed by the Special Judge (POCSO Act), Mainpuri in Criminal Appeal affirming the order of the Juvenile Justice Board and declining bail to the juvenile in a matter arising out of case under Section 376AB of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 5M/6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, registered at Police Station Elau in Mainpuri district. The petitioner contended that t