Thorat & Associate's

The Supreme Court recently said that the statutory provisions governing the grant or non-grant of State aid to educational institutions have to be applied uniformly, regardless of whether it is a minority-run or a majority-run institution. A division bench comprising of Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Bela M Trivedi have said that the rights of minority institutions under Article 30 which speaks of the rights of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions under the Constitution of India are neither absolute, nor above the law. The Court said that the right under Article 30(1) is not an absolute right above the law. It also said that the provisions for the grant or non-grant in aid to the educational institutions, whether it is majority-run institution or a minority-run institution, have to be uniformly applied. The observations were made by the Court   while ruling against the payment of grant-in-aid to a Jain-run minority secondary school in Gujarat that had kep

Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud will inaugurate the American Bar Association (ABA) India Conference 2023 on ‘Law in the Age of Glocalisation: Convergence of India and the West’ in New Delhi on March 3. Besides inaugurating the three-day international conference, the CJI will also deliver the keynote address on the occasion, in the presence of Attorney General R. Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, President of the Law Society of England and Wales Lubna Shuja and Chair of the ABA International Law Section Marcos Rios. Pratibha Jain, Chair, India Committee, ABA; Head of Strategy & Group General Counsel, Everstone Group, said the legal profession has come together in an unprecedented manner to curate this conference. Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud will inaugurate the American Bar Association (ABA) India Conference 2023 on ‘Law in the Age of Glocalisation: Convergence of India and the West’ in New Delhi on March 3.  Besides inaugurating the

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, challenging his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over his alleged involvement in irregularities related to the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy. The Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha told Sisodia that he had alternative remedies available before the High Court, which he should have pursued, instead of directly invoking the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution. The CJI told Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Sisodia, that the petitioner was challenging an FIR, challenging remand and seeking bail, all under Article 32 of the Constitution.  The CJI observed that if it decided to take up this petition, the Apex Court would be asked to interfere in every such case. He added that the top court of the country could not intervene in this. Justice Narasimha said that t

The Bombay High Court has granted anticipatory bail to a rickshaw driver on the grounds that expressing liking for a minor girl by holding her hand did not amount to outraging the modesty of the girl. The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Bharati Dangre noted on February 10 that accused Dhanraj Babusingh Rathod did not have any sexual intent to either outrage the modesty of the minor girl or to sexually harass her and thus, no case was prima facie made out. The Bench further observed that the applicant deserved protection from arrest, as his custody was not needed for any purpose. As per the first information report (FIR) lodged by the father of the victim on November 1, 2022, accused Dhanraj attempted to sexually harass his 17-year-old daughter and even outraged her modesty by holding her hand.  The father said the applicant was known to the victim and her family as he lived in their vicinity. He used to drive an auto rickshaw and the victim had at times travelled in the same, to rea

The Delhi High Court has today decided to hear on March 24, a petition filed by Ishfaq Ahmad Bhat, who has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Jaish-E-Mohamad Conspiracy Case by the NIA Court in Delhi. The life imprisonment has been given to Ishfaq for various offences under IPC and UAPA. In the hearing today, the Counsel for Ishfaq said that the present matter was based on the same First Information Report (FIR), same RC, and same order which was passed by the bench in other connected appeals. He requested for the matter to be de-notified. The Division Bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh re-notified the matter for March 24 along with the connected appeal matters, after noting all the points made by the Counsel. The NIA Court in November 2022, had sentenced Ishfaq to life imprisonment, rigorous imprisonment, and fine. He was sentenced under Sections 121A, and 120B of IPC and Sections 18, 19, 38, and 39 of the UAPA. The division bench h

Activist Gautam Navlakha’s lawyer has apprised the Bombay High Court that the Communist Party of India (Maoist) had suspected the senior journalist of being a government ‘agent,’ who could negatively impact their movement. Seeking bail for Navlakha in the Elgar Parishad Maoist Links case, Advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry apprised the Bench of Justice A.S. Gadkari and Justice P.D. Naik that the charges levelled by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against Navlakha under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were diametrically opposite to CPI’s condescension against Navlakha. NIA had accused Navlakha of having ‘deep involvement’ in the activities of the CPI(Maoist) party, besides having connections with Pakistan intelligence agency ISI and the separatist movement of Kashmir.  Chaudhry cited a document seized from co-accused researcher Rona Wilson’s laptop to validate his arguments. Stating that one of the surest signs of independence was being criticised and attacked by both side

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a petition filed by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, challenging his arrest and the probe conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation in the liquor scam case. The matter was mentioned this morning before the Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha for urgent listing. During the mentioning, the CJI observed that Sisodia could avail other remedies available before the High Court under Section 482 CrPC. Justice Chandrachud pointed out that the Court interfered last week in Pawan Khera’s case as there was a prayer to consolidate FIRs filed in multiple states.   Appearing for Sisodia, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi replied that it was an extraordinary case, which warranted interference under Article 32 and cited the judgment in the Vinod Dua case.  The CJI then agreed to hear the matter this afternoon, after the Constitution Bench hearing. Earlier on Mon

The Kerala High Court disposed of a petition seeking a direction to the respondents to issue stop memo forthwith to all quarry operators extracting mineral under it, who are issued with/renewed the quarry lease without having the environmental clearance as envisaged under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2006. The petition filed by one Subramanyan E.K. sought the following reliefs: (i) Issue a Writ of Mandamus or appropriate writ, order or direction, directing the respondents to implement the provisions of EIA Notification, 2006, strictly and in accordance with directions contained in the judgment of the Apex Court in Deepak Kumar and others v. State of Haryana reported in (2012) 4 SCC 629 and the subsequent judgment of the High Court in All Kerala River Protection Council v. State of Kerala [2015 (3) KLT 78] and The Paristhithy Samrakshana Janakeeya Samithy and another v. State of Kerala and others. (ii) Issue a Writ of Mandamus or appropriate writ, order or directio

The Supreme Court has reiterated that the time served by a judicial officer as an ad-hoc judge shall not be considered for determining the seniority and, later on their elevation to High Court. A bench comprising Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Bela M Trivedi noted that the Supreme Court has settled the matter in its earlier decision. The Supreme Court had held that the benefit of seniority from the date of their initial appointment as ad hoc judges cannot be claimed by the judicial officers. The Supreme Court also observed that that service as ad hoc judges would only be considered for the purpose of pensionary and other retiral benefits. Justices Rastogi and Trivedi dismissed a plea by nine judicial officers who were aggrieved by the non-consideration of their service as ad-hoc judges in deciding on elevations of judges to the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The judicial officers (petitioners) had been appointed initially as ad-hoc Judges for Fast Track Trial Courts in 2003. They w

Supreme Court judge Justice MR Shah has informed that he would not recuse from hearing a plea filed by former Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt. The former IPS officer Bhatt had sought permission for producing an additional evidence before the Gujarat High Court in his appeal against conviction in a custodial death case. In his plea, Bhatt had asked for recusal of Justice Shah from hearing the case, citing that Justice Shah had been part of the Bench that heard the matters pertaining to the former IPS, which arose from the first information report (FIR) on the basis of which Bhatt was convicted. The Bench of Justice MR Shah and Justice CT Ravikumar had rejected the request by Bhatt for recusal of Justice Shah. The Bench said that this was no ground for which Justice Shah should recuse, while stating that hearing on merits of the case will continue later today. In the year 2019, a Sessions court in Jamnagar, Gujarat had convicted the ex-IPS officer in connection with a 1990 c

Justice V Lakshminarayanan has sworn in as additional judge of the Madras High Court today. He was administered oath by Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice T. Raja. The Central Government on February 23, 2023, had notified the appointment of Advocate Venkatachari Lakshminarayanan as an additional judge of the Madras High Court. It was on January 17, 2023 that the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the name of Lakshminarayan. The Collegium in its meeting had also recommended the name of (now) Justice Victoria Gowri. In total, the Collegium had recommended names of five advocates for elevation. Advocate Lakshminarayan has been appointed as an Additional Judge for a period of two years from the date he assumes charge of office. The post Justice V Lakshminarayanan sworn as additional judge of the Madras High Court appeared first on India Legal . from India Legal https://ift.tt/exXdNij

The High Court of Delhi on Monday upheld the constitutional validity of the Agnipath scheme, which was introduced by the Central government in June last year, for recruitment in Indian Armed Forces. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad dismissed a bunch of petitions challenging the Central scheme on the grounds that it was introduced in national interest, to ensure that the armed forces of the country were better equipped to meet any eventuality. The High Court dismissed the five petitions challenging the recruitment scheme, observing that the advertisements regarding the Agnipath scheme did not create any legitimate expectation for recruitment Total 23 petitions were filed in the High Court against the Agnipath scheme. The other 18 pleas, which sought halt on recruitment processes and appointment as per previous recruitment scheme, have also been dismissed. The petitioners were represented by Advocates Prashant Bhushan, Ankur Ch

The Central Government has apprised the Supreme Court of India that the petition against extension of tenure Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) Sanjay Kumar Mishra has been filed with an intention of protecting Congress leaders who have been facing money laundering charges. On February 24th, a counter affidavit was filed that claimed the plea filed by Congress leader Dr. Jaya Thakur was with the purpose to garner political advantage as several Congress leaders are under the ED scanner. The advocate Varinder Kumar Sharma filed the  plea for Thakur, that challenged the third extension granted to Mishra. Thakur submitted that it was in violation of the top court’s orders and is destroying the democratic process of our country. Mishra was first appointed as the ED Director for a two-year term in November 2018. The two-year term expired in November 2020. In May 2020, he had reached the retirement age of 60. The Central Government however, issued an office order on November 13, 2

Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia was on Sunday arrested in connection with the liquor policy scam. Earlier in the day, Sisodia had reached the CBI office for questioning into the Delhi Excise Policy case. Ahead of his questioning by the Central agency, security personnel were deployed outside Sisodia’s residence as many Aam Aadmi Party supporters had gathered outside the house of the Delhi’s Deputy CM. Sisodia held a road show along with his supporters and even visited Rajghat before heading to the CBI headquarters. Several AAP leaders alleged that they were put under house arrest till Sisodia’s questioning was completed. The post Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia arrested in Delhi Excise Policy case appeared first on India Legal . from India Legal https://ift.tt/gaKndJb

Lead Visual: Shantanu Mitra The post March 6, 2023 appeared first on India Legal . from India Legal https://ift.tt/nar1Y9y

The High Court of Delhi on Saturday stayed the notice issued by newly-elected Mayor Shelly Oberoi for re-election of six members to the Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The Single-judge Bench of Justice Gaurang Kanth, during a special hearing today, observed that prima facie the Returning Officer or the Mayor had decided to hold re-elections without declaring the results of the polls conducted on February 24, which was in violation of Regulation 51 of the New Delhi Municipal Council (Procedure and Conduct of Business) Regulations, 1997. The Bench noted that Regulation 51 did not give the Returning Officer or the Mayor the authority to declare an election of the Standing Committee as null and void.  It further held that the counting of votes and declaration of result to the February 24 elections would only be considered as the final result of MCD elections. The High Court observed that conducting a fresh election on February 27 would not serve any pur

The Bombay High Court has said that at least some portion of the money which is lying in the account of Collector, Nagpur can be directed to be made over to PWD (Electrical), Nagpur to immediately start work relating to installation of fire safety equipment at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Nagpur. The Nagpur Division Bench of Justice Sunil B. Shukre and Justice Vrushali V. Joshi heard a number of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) including a Suo Motu PIL related to the issue of medical condition during the Covid 19 Pandemic. S.P. Bhandarkar, amicus curiae and Additional Government Pleader, submitted before the Court that a substantial amount of funds collected from and out of the CSR funds of various companies and corporations is lying in balance and therefore, a portion of it can be spent for taking forward the cause of the patients in Vidarbha region. The Amicus Curiae further submitted that installation of fire safety mechanism at IGMC is pending since long and if the f

The Supreme Court has directed the implementation of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 and the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. A Bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta have appointed Advocate K Parameshwar as the Amicus Curiae in the matter. The Central Government was told that incase of respondents it shall place have to keep a record of the steps taken after the judgment of this Court, viz.-a-viz. It was also instructed to keep record of the Status of implementation of the 2013 Act i.e. Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, including the steps towards rehabilitation of such persons falling within the definition of ‘Manual Scavengers’. The order also asked for record of steps that have been taken towards abolition/demolition of Dry Latrines, in different states along with the details of status of Dry Latrines and Safai K

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition on Friday, which sought transfer of a defamation suit filed by a former judge of the Supreme Court against a woman alleging sexual abuse at his hands, from the Delhi High Court.  The Bench led by Justice K.M. Joseph on Friday listed the transfer petition filed by the woman in 2014, for hearing on March 3.  The woman had earlier alleged that she was sexually harassed by a former Supreme Court judge, while she was working as a law intern in the Delhi High Court. The Apex Court judge then filed a defamation suit against the woman. Certain media reporters were also named as defendants in the suit. Appearing for the former judge, Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra said on Friday they were trying to work things out and requested the top court of the country to take up the matter in the coming week. The Apex Court agreed to the request and listed the matter for hearing on Friday. Advocate Vrinda Grover appeared for the transfer petitioner.  O

The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition seeking removal of an 11-feet statue of Manu, considered as the first man and lawmaker of Hinduism, from the premises of the Jaipur Bench of the Rajasthan High Court. The Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice M.M. Sundresh dismissed the public interest litigation filed by one Ramji Lal Bairwa on the grounds that a similar plea was already pending before the Rajasthan High Court. The Apex Court further directed the petitioner to approach the High Court in the matter. The petition contended that the statue was installed secretly in 1989 as Manu was not a popular figure, but rather someone who propagated the caste system of social hierarchy. A full-court meeting in 1989 had decided to remove the statue. However, the decision was challenged in a petition, which was still pending before a full-bench of the High Court. The petitioner said that Manu was the author of Manusmriti, which was against the very ‘concept’ of justice, liberty, equal

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Union government to look into the petition filed by seven Patna High Court judges, stating that their General Provident Fund (GPF) accounts had been closed by the government of Bihar. The Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice J.B. Pardiwala issued notices to the Union of India and the State of Bihar on the matter.  The top court of the country directed Additional Solicitor General (ASG) K.M. Natraj, appearing for the Centre, to look into the petition and take instructions on the same. Seven Patna High Court judges – Justice Shailendra Singh, Justice Arun Kumar Jha, Justice Jitendra Kumar, Justice Alok Kumar, Justice Sunil Dutta Mishra, Justice Chandra Prakash Singh and Justice Chandra Shekhar Jha had approached the Supreme Court on February 21, stating that their GPF accounts had been closed. The matter was mentioned before the CJI on Tuesday. The CJI queried, whose GPF account was stoppe

The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to former MLA Vijay Mishra in a criminal case registered at Gopiganj police station in district Bhadohi for criminal conspiracy and demanding money for murder. A single-judge bench of Justice Ajay Bhanot passed this order while hearing a Criminal Misc Bail Application filed by Vijay Mishra. By means of the bail application, the applicant has prayed to be enlarged on bail in Case at Police Station Gopiganj, District Sant Ravidas Nagar (Bhadohi) under Sections 115, 120-B IPC. The applicant is in jail since 14.08.2020. The bail application of the applicant was rejected by the trial court on 30.11.2022. The following arguments made by G.S Chaturvedi, Senior Counsel, assisted by Saurabh Raj Srivastava, counsel on behalf of the applicant, which could not be satisfactorily refuted by Paritosh Kumar Malviya, AGA-I for the State from the record and Abhishek Kumar Yadav, counsel for the informant, entitle the applicant for grant of bail: The FIR is

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition that sought seeking the introduction of menstrual pain leave or period leave for female students and working women throughout India. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud dismissed the petition, observing that since the matter pertained to policy issues, it would be appropriate if the petitioner approached the Ministry of Women and Child Development.  The Apex Court further noted a point in the petition, which said that forcing the employers to grant menstrual leave to female employees may disincentivise them from hiring women. A PIL was filed by Advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi before the Apex Court in January this year. contending that knowingly and unknowingly, people have always had a taboo on the approach of such subjects and the legislatives have taken up these issues. The petitioner cited examples of companies like Ivipanan, Zomato, Byju’s, Swiggy, Mathrubhumi, Magzter, Industry, ARC, FlyMyB

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition that sought ban on the media from reporting on the Adani-Hindenburg issue until the court pronounced its order. The Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud observed that it would not issue any injunction ever against the media. The Apex Court further told petitionber and Advocate M.L. Sharma to make a ‘reasonable’ argument, not for injunction against the media. The top court of the country further said that it would pass the orders on the matter shortly. Advocate Sharma urged the court to consider the request, as the media was creating a sensation on the issue. However, the court refused to accept his demand. The PIL filed by Sharma sought to declare ‘short-selling’ as an offence of fraud. This plea urged the Apex Court to direct probe against Nathan Anderson, founder of US-based short-selling company Hindenburg Research, for ‘exploiting’ innocent investors via short selling under the ‘garb’ of artifici

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal has concluded his arguments in the Supreme Court regarding the Constitutional crisis arising in Maharashtra after the regime change in July, 2022. Appearing for the Uddhav Thackeray camp before the Constitution Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice MR Shah, Justice Krishna Murari, Justice Hima Kohli and Justice P.S. Narasimha, Sibal said in order to maintain the institutional integrity, it was important that constitutional processes survived in the country. He argued that the Governor’s actions in the political crisis have been unconstitutional. Sibal said if the Apex Court upheld this, it would be the death knell of what has been upheld since the 1950s. The Senior Advocate argued that the Governor was not empowered in law to recognise rebel MLAs of a political party and legitimise their actions as the power to recognise who represented a political party fell within the domain of the Election Commission. He contended that the