Thorat & Associate's

The Delhi High Court has asked for a response from Enforcement Directorate (ED) on bail plea of the Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain in the money laundering case filed against him by the agency. The Single-judge Justice bench of Dinesh Kumar Sharma has instructed the agency to file its response in two weeks. The Court has also listed this matter for further hearing on December 20. The former minister Jain had approached Delhi High Court challenging a trial court order of November 17 that denied him bail. Satyender Jain was arrested by the ED in May 2022 on allegations of money laundering. Jain in his bail plea, had told that even the special judge gave a finding in his favour that he never had one-third shareholding in companies involved in transactions. This demolished the entire case of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case which is the predicate case for the ED The counsel of Jain also argued on the point that even if allegations are considered the notional amount attr

The Supreme Court has put a stay on notice issued by the Income Tax Department for reassessment proceedings against spiritual organisation Radha Soami Satsang Beas. A bench comprising of Justice AS Bopanna and  Justice S Ravindra Bhat have asked for the response of the Income Tax Department (ITD) in the plea which Punjab-based body has challenged the order of Punjab & Haryana High Court order that denied similar relief. The judges stated that notice has been issued to the respondent and that there shall be interim stay of further proceedings pursuant to the impugned notice dated 29.03.2022.The case is likely to be heard next on January 13, 2023. The Punjab and Haryana High Court High Court, in May had dismissed plea in the present appeal stating that alternative statutory remedies were not exhausted. The petitioner counsel has argued that as per the Section 12 of the Income Tax Act, provisions in the reassessment notice for the year 2018-19 cannot be applicable to a religious

The Delhi High Court has passed an interim order today directing the social media platforms for blocking and stop the circulating the judicial officer video which allegedly shows him in a compromising position with a woman from his staff. Justice Yashwant Varma while giving the order said that the video is explicit and is sure to cause imminent, grave and and irreparable harm to the privacy rights of the persons in the video. The Court in its order says that keeping in mind the content of video which is sexually explicit in nature it is likely to harm the privacy rights of the plaintiff an ad interim ex parte injunction is clearly warranted. The Court has said that the defendant shall take all permissible steps to ensure that the further sharing, distribution, forwarding or posting of the offending video is stopped. The order was passed when the lady who was in the video stated that it was sfabrticated.It was told that a short video clip had gone viral on social media where a judi

The Karnataka High Court has dismissed the plea challenging the ban on Popular Front of India (PFI) being made operational with immediate effect. Justice M Nagaprasanna pronounced the verdict today, however the details of the order will be made available soon. The judgment was given in a plea that was filed by the President of PFI Karnataka State Unit which challenged the order by the Central government on banning the PFI on the allegation that it involved in anti-national activities through its links with terrorist organisations. On September 27, the Union government had imposed a ban for five years on PFI, Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CF), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO), National Women’s Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and the Rehab Foundation, Kerala under UAPA. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs had issued a notification on the night of September 27, stating that PFI and its affi

The Bombay High Court has held that the Society that runs the school can very well take up its cause with the authorities and even before the quasi judicial and judicial forum. The Division Bench of Justice  S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice S.G. Dige disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a social worker at the behest of a High School. According to the petitioner, the personnel of the school approached the petitioner to help them as the premises allotted to the school in redevelopment was not viable and the same would not be in accordance with Regulation 38 of the Development Control and Promotion Regulation (DCR 2034). On each floor, that is from second to seventh floor, one flat is allotted. There is no separate entrance to the school. Playground is not provided. The Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the Respondents were duty bound to provide the premises and facilities as per Regulation 38 of DCR 2034. “The school is run by the Society. It is not the case

Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has moved the Supreme Court against the Gujarat High Court conducting regular hearing on his appeal challenging his conviction in a custodial death case, without awaiting the order of another petition filed by him in the Apex Court, seeking to adduce additional evidence in the case. The case dated back to June 20, 2019, when the Sessions Court at Jamnagar in Gujarat had sentenced Bhatt to life imprisonment after finding him guilty for the custodial death of one Prabhudas Madhavji Vaishnani in 1990. The former IPS officer had filed an application before the Trial Court to produce expert evidence of one doctor to support his argument that the death of Prabhudas was not due to the alleged sit ups he was made to do forcefully by the police, but the Trial Court rejected his application. Bhatt then moved the Gujarat High Court, filing an application under Section 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, the application seeking to adduce the expert e

The State Government of Assam has apprised the Gauhati High Court that steps have been taken in order to mitigate the risk involved in giving the benefits under  Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PMKSN) scheme to genuine and eligible farmers. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Rashmin Manharbhai Chhaya and Justice Soumitra Saikia closed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed raising a contention that the PMKSN’ Scheme, which is meant for the benefit of small and marginal land holder farmer families, has not been effectively implemented and poor genuine farmers who are the great resource of socio economic development of the country, have been deprived of their right to obtain financial assistance of PMKSN scheme launched by the Central Government in the year 2019.  The petitioner has based the petition on the guidelines of the scheme and the information that was derived from the office of the District Agriculture Officers of Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat and Charaideo district thro

Attorney General for India R Venkataramani has received a letter from an advocate asking for his consent to initiate criminal contempt of court proceedings against an Information Commissioner (IC).The advocate wants to initiate the proceedings against IC for making scandalous observations against   the Supreme Court. The letter was written by Advocate-on-Record Aldanish Rein who said that the IC Uday Mahurkar of the Central Information Commission, on November 25, 2022, observed that the Supreme Court’s 1993 judgment in All India Imam Organisation & Ors v. Union Of India & Ors   was violation of Article 27, which says that the taxpayers’ money will not be used to favour any particular religion. IC had said that the apex court had called for emoluments to be paid to imams throughout the country. These observations were made by the IC while hearing a matter in which a Right to Information (RTI) applicant had sought details on salaries and other benefits given to imams by the D

The Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta received in writing a letter by Senior Advocate Indira Jaising requesting for deletion of a rule requiring advocates to get recommendations from already designated seniors whenever applying for the senior designations. Jaising marked that the reason behind her filing the petition in the Apex COurt pertaining to senior designations in the Supreme Court was to avoid such getaways to justice which do not allow people be designated for the posts. .In her letter Jaising wrote that it is a very well known fact that strong networks thrive in legal profession. The senior advocate added that many deserving candidates cannot make it to designated points (specially belonging to marginalised communities) because they are not a part of the traditional old boys’ club of designated seniors. The designations are usually judged on two systems: the first is a point-based system in which the applicant is judged on the merits of his career; the second

The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition filed against the lower court order refusing to register an FIR against UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya in a fake degree case. A Single Bench of Justice Samit Gopal passed this order while hearing an application under section 482 CrPC filed by Diwakar Nath Tripathi. The applicant under Section 482 CrPC has been filed by the applicant with the following prayer:- “It is, therefore, most respectfully prayed that the Court may most graciously be pleased to allow this application to quash/set aside the order dated 04.09.2021 passed by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Allahabad and also stay the operation of order dated 04.09.2021 and further direct to the Magistrate to exercise their power under Section 156(3) CrPC and direct to lodge the first information report, during the pendency of the application Under Section 482 CrPC before the Court, otherwise the applicants shall suffer grave irreparable loss and injury.” The applicant

By Sanjay Raman Sinha The guiding and governing principles of the Indian republic are enshrined in the Constitution. It is a living, organic document which has evolved with the passage of time, facing tough social and political challenges. Seventy-five years of Independence and 72 years of constitutional culture are a testimony to the spirit of India. Justice MN Venkatachaliah, former chief justice of India and patron-in-chief of India Legal, reminisced: “I had the blessing and good fortune to stand witness to the great events related to the birth of our republic and its inspiring journey of 75 years. Today, India has a place of pride in the comity of nations. When our great leaders decided to make India a parliamentary democracy on the republican model with universal adult franchise, the western press was almost derisive and cynical about its success. How can 330 million people without education manage the sophistication of modern parliamentary democracy? For this, the credit must

The Bombay High Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation filed seeking direction that the installation of musical fountain and associated machinery inside the body of the Futala Tank is illegal and against the principle of public trust. The petitioner further seeks declaration that the construction of Viewer’s Gallery on the bank of Futala Tank is illegal and seeks removal of musical fountain and associated machinery installed inside the body of the tank and further seeks direction to restore the tank to its original natural state.   It is submitted by the respondents that the Futala Tank is situated at Nagpur and no part of cause of action has arisen within the territorial jurisdiction of the High Court. According to the petitioner, the Court is seized with a PIL  of 2013 and the High  Court has been monitoring the said petition since 2013. All the departments as well as authorities concerned have been made answerable to the High  Court at its principal seat. The  Court also

India Legal : The judiciary is criticised for judicial overreach. However, Article 142 provides discretionary power to the Supreme Court to do complete justice, and hence judicial activism maybe held valid. Yet under the doctrine of separation of powers, judicial initiative in policy matters is a breach into the Executive’s arena. How do you reconcile this inherent conflict? Prof (Dr) Ranbir Singh: The debate on judicial activism versus judicial adventurism has been in vogue in India for the better part of nearly five decades now. On the one hand, the Supreme Court is today hailed as a protector of liberties and guarantor of freedom while on the other, the Supreme Court is criticised for venturing into the domain exclusively reserved, under our constitutional scheme, for the Executive. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has long affirmed the view that separation of powers forms a part of the basic structure of our Constitution. The line separating judicial activism from adventurism is

The Supreme Court issued notice to the Union government and others on Monday on a petition filed by the Andhra Pradesh government, challenging the March 3 verdict of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which declared Amaravati as the only capital of the state. The order was passed by the Bench of Justice K.M. Joseph and Justice B.V. Nagarathna on a petition filed by the state government, seeking revival of its plan to have three capitals in Andhra Pradesh. The Apex Court further stayed directions 3-7 of the High Court order, which had ordered the state government to fully construct and develop Amaravati capital city and capital region of Andhra Pradesh within six months. Observing that not staying the High Court directions would be as good as rejecting the plea, the Supreme Court listed the matter to January 31 for further hearing. The Andhra Pradesh government, led by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, had decided to make three capitals in different cities, in order to ensure development in all

Road accidents are an unavoidable part of using vehicles. According to reports published by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH), there were more than 3.66 lakh road accidents in 2020. In these accidents, more than 1.31 lakh lives were lost, while more than 3.48 lakh individuals suffered injuries. (Source: https://morth.nic.in/sites/default/files/RA_2020.pdf).  Though the incidents of accidents reduced by 18.46% in 2020 compared to 2019 (Source: https://ift.tt/Mn5QZaC), they were still prevalent. So, if you own a car, you face a constant risk of accidents when driving the car in India, even when you are a careful driver.  Though accidents can prove to be unavoidable, how you respond to them is what makes a difference. So, here are some crucial things that you should do after a car accident – Avoid fleeing the accident site This is the first and the most responsible thing to do. Do not run away from the scene of the accident. Stay at the scene and review the damage

The Supreme Court in its order on Monday stayed till February 9, next year, the 2019’s Bombay High Court’s order directing for demolition of 114-year-old National Insurance Building situated at Worli in Mumbai. The Supreme Court bench, headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chadrachud passed the order, after hearing from the Attorney General (AG) of India, R Venkataramani, who today mentioned the matter before it and sought some interim measures on the Bombay High Court’s 2019 order. “We stay the order till February 09, 2023, of the Bombay High Court, which directed the BMC to demolish the National Insurance Building. We will hear the matter next in February 09,” the bench led by CJI Chandrachud said.. The post Supreme Court stays High Court of Mumbai order for demolishing 114-year-old National Insurance building in Mumbai appeared first on India Legal . from India Legal https://ift.tt/1ufagT0

The Allahabad High Court has allowed the bail application of Ajit Kumar, accused of kidnapping and raping a minor girl. A Single Bench of Justice Rahul Chaturvedi passed this order while hearing a Criminal Misc Bail Application filed by Ajit Kumar. By means of the bail application the applicant, who is facing prosecution in connection with Case under Sections 363, 366, 323, 504, 506, 376-D IPC and Section 3/4 POCSO Act and Section 3(2)(V) SC/ST Act, police station Soraon, district Prayagraj, is seeking his enlargement on bail during trial. The applicant has been in jail since 24.4.2022. Contention raised by the counsel for the applicant is that on 31.3.2022 the father of the victim has lodged the FIR against the sole named accused Ajeet Kumar with the allegation that in the intervening night of 29.3.200 at about 11.00 in the night his daughter (17 years of age) was enticed away by the applicant and when he woke up than the informant found her daughter was not present in the room, a

Coming down heavily on Supreme Court Judges’ remark that the Centre was ‘sitting’ over the recommendations made by the Collegium, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has said that  the Judges’ body cannot expect the government to simply approve of all the recommendations made by it. Speaking during the Times Now Summit on the topic ‘Shaping Indian Judiciary For India,’ the Minister said on Friday that the Union government has the apparatus to find out the background of a person and whether he or she was qualified for the Judge’s job. Calling the Collegium system of appointing judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts as ‘alien’ to the Constitution of India, Rijiju alleged that there are loopholes in the Collegium and thus, people were raising voices against it. He further said that the Collegium system was not transparent, there was a bit of opacity and no accountability.  As per Rijiju, when the Collegium system was introduced for the appointment of Judges, the government of the day

Senior Advocate Pravin H. Parekh, also a six-time Vice President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, is bereaved. His wife, Usha Parekh, breathed her last on Saturday. She was 78. A source of strength and inspiration for Mr Parekh, her demise has left the family heartbroken. Usha Parekh was born in Gujarat and did her graduation from the state. She is survived by two sons, Sameer and Sandeep Parekh. Pravin Parekh, a Padma Shri, is currently President of the Indian Society of International Law. The post Senior Advocate Pravin Parekh’s wife Usha passes away, she was 78 appeared first on India Legal . from India Legal https://ift.tt/E07j5UO

The Allahabad High Court, while noting that the order sheet reflects that the District Judge, Varanasi is in the habit of committing impropriety in discharge of his judicial function, has directed the District Judge of Varanasi to appear before the Court, along with the original record of a case. The Single-Justice Bench of Justice Ajit Kumar passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Asheem Kumar Das. The miscellaneous petition is directed against the order passed by the District Judge, Varanasi dated 12.10.2022 and 1.11.2022 in a defective revision, being barred by time, registered as Misc Case. It is submitted by the counsel for the petitioner that while the summons were still not served and the revision-applicant was directed to do pairvi order dated 22.8.2022 and on 26.8.2022 which was the next date fixed the matter could not be taken up as the lawyers were abstaining from work and on 7.9.2022, the next date, the presiding officer himself was busy in some administrati