Thorat & Associate's

Former journalist and human rights activist Teesta Setalvad has filed a petition in the Gujarat High Court seeking to quash the case lodged against her on alleged charges of fabricating documents to file cases in connection with the Gujarat riots of 2002. Filed by Senior Advocate Mihir Thakore on Monday, the plea sought quashing of the case registered by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) against Setalvad, who is also the Secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace, an organisation formed to fight for the victims of 2002 Gujarat riots. On July 1, the Supreme Court had granted interim bail to Setalvad. The three-Judge Vacation Bench of Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice Dipankar Datta stayed the Gujarat High Court order, which directed Setalvad to surrender immediately before the Gujarat Police and listed the matter for hearing before a regular Bench of the Apex Court. Earlier on July 1, the High Court of Gujarat had refused to grant bail to Setalvad. The order w

The Allahabad High Court while allowing the petition said that the election petition has to be tried in the same manner as a civil suit is tried by the civil court. The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Manju Rani Chauhan said that apart from the pleadings of the parties, issues have to be framed, documentary evidence has to be laid, statements of witnesses have to be recorded, they have to be cross-examined. Only thereafter, after recording findings on all the issues, either separately or jointly, the election petition can be decided, noted the Single-Judge Bench. The High Court passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Rookame Alam. The petition has been filed by the petitioner with a prayer to quash the order dated 20.06.2023 passed by the Prescribed Authority/Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Bilari in Election Petition (Javed vs Rookame Alam and others), under Sections 13-C of Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 whereby it was ordered for recounting of votes in the election held in 2021 o

While observing that the caused raised in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is redressed, the Bombay High Court deferred the hearing of the PIL petition to 8 November 2023, seeking direction to the Respondent No.1 (Adani Airport Holdings Ltd) to display banner/hoarding/sign boarding using Marathi and Hindi Language Script at par with the English language in equal font size & prominence. The affidavit is tendered on behalf of the Respondent No.2- Mumbai International Airport Limited, wherein it is stated on oath as under: – “8. I say that all the display boards, information boards and sign boards at the Mumbai Airport have the information written in (i) Hindi, (ii) regional language i.e., Marathi and (iii) global language i.e., English. I say that MIAL has so far not received any complaints from passengers about the non-visibility of any of the fonts. I say that it is not the case of the Petitioner that the display and information boards do not contain information in regional

The High Court of Delhi on Monday upheld the arbitration tribunal order, which ordered Spicejet Airlines and its Chairman & Managing Director Ajay Singh to refund Rs 579 crore plus interest to former promoter of airlines and Sun Group Chairman Kalanithi Maran. The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh further rejected the petitions filed by Spicejet and its current promoter Ajay Singh against the arbitration award passed in 2018. However, the High Court also rejected the claim made by Maran seeking Rs 1323 crore damages from Spicejet for not issuing convertible warrants and preference shares to him. In July 2018, a three-member arbitration tribunal had rejected Maran’s claim holding that there was no breach of a share sale and purchase agreement reached between Maran and Spicejet’s current promoter Ajay Singh. The tribunal had, however, ordered Spicejet and Ajay Singh to refund Rs 579 crore plus interest to Maran. Earlier on July 24, the High Court had directed Ma

The Supreme Court has ordered interim stay on Delhi High Court order sentencing three months of simple imprisonment for contempt of court to the son of founder and chairperson of the Max Group conglomerate, Analjit Singh. A bench compising Justice BR Gavai, Justice CT Ravikumar and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar admitted Veer Singh’s appeal and directed a stay on the imprisonment sentence as well as a look-out circular issued against him. Singh was represented by Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, whereas senior Advocate Pinky Anand appeared for Kinri Dhar before the top court today. The bench was hearing an appeal of a Delhi High Court passed earlier this month. The High Court had sentenced Veer Singh to three months of simple imprisonment for contempt of court.  A division bench comprising Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna had ordered the local Station House Officer (SHO) to issue arrest warrants against Singh and to get a Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against him.

The bill that was set to replace the Delhi Services Ordinance has come up with major changes including a contentious provision that was apparently inserted to overcome the effect of the May 11, 2023 judgment of the Supreme Court. The judgement will take away the power of the Delhi government, for changing the manner in which tribunals’ heads are to be appointed in the national capital. The National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was introduced in Lok Sabha today by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who has dropped Section 3A of the May 19 ordinance, placed in to take “services” out of the purview of the elected government in Delhi. As per Section 3A, notwithstanding anything contained in any judgement, order or decree of any Court, the Legislative Assembly shall have the power to make laws as per Article 239AA except with respect to any matter enumerated in Entry 41 of List II of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India or any matter connected therewith or

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Karnataka High Court order, which granted an interim stay on probe against Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a disproportionate assets case.  The Bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai refused to entertain the petition filed by the investigating agency against the High Court verdict on the grounds that the present SLP arose purely out of an interlocutory order. However, the Apex Court kept all the questions available to the parties open and granted liberty to the petitioner to approach the High Court for expeditious disposal of the case. The top court of the country further directed the High Court to consider the matter on its merits. On February 10, the High Court of Karnataka stayed the CBI investigation in a case registered against Shivakumar under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act. The High Court had extended the stay repeatedly on different dates. The case pertain

The Supreme Court has sought response from the Reserve Bank of India on a petition challenging the Kerala High Court order, which had lifted the loan restrictions imposed by RBI on Thiruvalla East Co-Operative Bank Ltd. The notice was received by Attorney General R. Venkataramani, who appeared for RBI before the Division Bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia on Friday. The AG contended that RBI had conducted an inspection at the headquarters and various branches of the cooperative bank before issuing a prohibitory order. As per the Central Bank, the inspection report revealed some deficiencies in banking practice, including some loan advance schemes that were susceptible to foul play. The AG further said that RBI imposed restrictions on the cooperative bank based on this inspection report. Earlier, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court had upheld the order of a Single-Judge Bench that lifted the restriction placed on the Co-Operative Bank by RBI to

The Allahabad High Court has stayed the order of Basic Education Officer Auraiya to stop an annual increment of an assistant teacher working in the U.P. Basic Education Board. A Single Bench of Justice Manjive Shukla passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Puneet Awasthi. Counsel for the petitioner has submitted that major penalty has been imposed against the petitioner by District Basic Education Officer, Auraiya vide order dated 04.05.2023 which is impugned in the petition. Counsel for the petitioner has invited attention of the Court that the major penalty against the Assistant Teacher working in the Primary School run by U.P. Basic Education Board can be imposed only after following procedure prescribed under Rule 7 of the U.P. Government Servant (Disciplinary and Appeal) Rules, 1999. It has been further submitted that under Rule 7 of the Rules of 1999 there is procedure that the charge sheet will be issued, thereafter reply of the employee shall be taken and a ful

A Mumbai court has acquitted underworld don Chhota Rajan in the murder case of doctor-turned-politician Datta Samant, who was shot dead by bike-borne miscreants on January 16, 1997. Special Judge, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) A.M. Patil observed on Friday that it was acquitting Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan of all charges related to the murder of Samant for want of ‘cogent’ evidence. According to the prosecution, the trade union leader was proceeding in his jeep from Powai to Pant Nagar in Ghatkopar on January 16, 1997, when he was attacked by four assailants near Naresh General Store on Padmavati Road. Four men on motorcycles intercepted Samant’s jeep and fired at least 17 bullets at him. The politician was immediately rushed to the nearby Aniket Nursing Home, where he was declared brought dead. Samant’s driver, Bhimrao Sonkamble, who too sustained injuries to his face and neck in the attack, filed a complaint in Sakinaka police station. A case was regis

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on a petition filed by a Communist Party of India candidate, seeking recounting of elections to the Madurai Corporation in 2022. The Bench of Justice Aniruddh Bose and Justice Bela M. Trivedi passed the order on a petition filed by CPI candidate K. Muthu Sumathi, a candidate of Communist Party of India against the victory of AIADMK candidate K. Chokkayee by four votes as a Councillor in Madurai Corporation in 2022. The petitioner alleged irregularities by erring officials, pointing out that the officials had declared AIADMK candidate as winner by four votes. As per the petitioner, the Election Rules mandated two key obligations- handing over data which contained vote details to the candidate and providing a reasonable opportunity for raising grievances and requesting a recount of votes. The petitioner contended that these obligations were not fulfilled. The post Supreme Court issues notice on CPI plea seeking recount of Madurai Council vo

The Allahabad High Court has directed SP leader Azam Khan to record his voice sample in connection with his provocative and objectionable speech during the 2007 Assembly elections. A Single Bench of Justice Rajeev Misra passed this order while hearing an application under Section 482 filed by Mohd Azam Khan. The application under Section 482 Cr.P.C has been filed by accused-applicant Mohd Azam Khan challenging the order dated 29.10.2022, passed by the Additional Sessions Judge/Special Judge (M.P/MLA), Rampur in Special Sessions Trial, under Sections 504 and 171(G) IPC, Section 125 Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 and Section 3(1)(X) SC/ST Act, police station Tanda, district Rampur, whereby a direction has been issued to the accused-applicant to give his voice sample so that the Director F.S.L, Moradabad could examine the voice of the audio cassette to ascertain as to whether the inflammatory/derogatory speech recorded in the audio cassette is that of the accused-applicant and the

The Punjab and Haryana High Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the petitioner praying for a direction to the respondent-Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. (PSPCL) to release electricity cess @ 2% collected by them on behalf of Municipal Corporations. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli noted that the petitioner, who is a Deputy Mayor of Municipal Corporation, SAS Nagar, Mohali, has wrongly approached the High Court in view of the fact that the dispute is between the two bodies of the State Government i.e. Municipal Corporation, Mohali and the respondent No.5-PSPCL, in which the petitioner has no role to play. Further the Bench noted that the Municipal Commissioner, SAS Nagar, Mohali has approached the Principal Secretary, Department of Local Government, Punjab in this regard and it is informed by the Deputy Advocate General appearing on behalf of the respondent-State of Punjab that the matter is pending before the c

The Supreme Court will now hear on July 31, a petition filed by Professor Kham Khan Suan Hausing challenging the summons issued against him by a Manipur court over his remarks allegedly defaming the Meitei community. The petition was to be heard today by a Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud. However, as the CJI fell ill and could not attend the court today, the matter was listed for hearing on Monday. Appearing for Prof Hausing, Senior Advocate Anand Grover sought urgent listing of the matter before the Bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia. The counsel contended that the Chief Justice had listed the petition by the professor in Hyderabad from Manipur for hearing today. He apprised the Bench that there was an identical matter, in which an order has been passed. The Senior Advocate urged the Apex Court to either take up the matter today or keep it on Monday before the Chief Justice. The top court of the country decided to list the mat

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Chandrachud will not be able to take up any case in the Supreme Court today as he has fallen ill. This information was given in a statement issued by the Supreme Court, which said that since the CJI was not keeping well, he would not be able to take up the scheduled matters in the court on Friday. It further said that following this development, the Bench comprising the Chief Justice and Justice Manoj Misra in Court No.1 has been cancelled. The matters listed before this Bench have been adjourned, it added. The statement further said that Justice Manoj Misra will handle now hear the chamber matters alongside a Single-Judge Bench in Court no. 10. The matters to be taken up by Justice Misra along with a Single-Judge Bench include transfer petitions and other cases related to Chamber. The CJI-led was set to hear today a batch of pleas related to Manipur ethnic violence, including a case on the viral video of two women being paraded naked. The

The Union government on Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the video related to two women, who were paraded naked and subjected to sexual violence in ethnic violence-hit state of Manipur. As per the Centre, the government of Manipur had given it’s approval to the decision. The Union of India had recently filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, requesting the Apex Court to transfer the trial out of Manipur to any other state. It further sought direction from the top court of the country to complete the trial within six months of filing the charge sheet. Filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the affidavit said that the Central government has taken several remedial measures to support the victims. Claiming that it had ‘zero tolerance’ towards crimes against women, the Centre claimed in the affidavit that seven persons have been arrested in connection with the incident. The government of Manipur had recommended a CBI probe into the incident ea

The Delhi High Court has directed the Railways administration not to take any action on the notices issued against two mosques in Delhi for the removal of unauthorized structures and encroachment allegedly built on the railway land. The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Prateek Jalan directed the Union government to take necessary instructions in the plea moved by Delhi Waqf Board challenging the two notices pasted on walls of Masjid Takia Babbar Shah and Bengali Market Mosque situated near Railway Bridge and Babar Road railway line respectively. It is the Board’s case that the two mosques are waqf properties and that neither the land underneath the mosques belongs to the Railways nor the mosques are unauthorized structures. “The said notices are unsigned, undated and do not bear out the authority under which they are issued. For the moment, no action will be taken pursuant to these notices,” the court said. The Board, in its plea, has submitted that the impugned notices are generic,

The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to Afzal Ansari, convicted in the gangster case. However, there is no stay on his sentence. Due to which his membership of Parliament will not be restored. A Single Bench of Justice Raj Beer Singh passed this order while hearing a Criminal Appeal filed by Afzal Ansari. The application has been filed by the appellant under section 389(1) Code of Criminal Procedure, seeking following prayer:- “It is, therefore, Most Respectfully Prayed that the Court may graciously be pleased to allow the application and suspend the sentence awarded by the order dated 29.04.2023 passed by Additional Sessions Judge/Special Judge, M.P/M.L.A Court, Ghazipur in Special case under Section 3(1) of The Uttar Pradesh Gangsters & Anti Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, arising out of case under Section 3(1) of The Uttar Pradesh Gangsters & Anti Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, Police Station Mohammadabad, District Ghazipur and further be please

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently directed the Haryana State Pollution Control Board to immediately take remedial action and to stop mining activity and to realize the environmental compensation according to rules and to submit the report within four weeks. The Principal Bench of Acting Chairperson Sheo Kumar Singh, Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, Dr. A. Senthil Vel heard an application raising Issue of illegal mining by a Group, Tehsil Gannaur, District Sonipat, Haryana. It is further contended that the unit is extracting sand from Yamuna beyond permissible quantity and without consent to operate in violation of section 33 (A) of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and in violation of EC conditions. The report submitted by the Pollution Control Board reveals that (i) Unit was operating without valid CTO under Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981 from the Board, thus violating the condition of environmental clearance. (ii) Not submitted six monthly compliance

A Delhi court on Wednesday summoned Congress leader Jagdish Tytler to appear before it on August 5 in connection with the killings that took place at Pul Bangash area of Delhi during the anti-Sikh riots in 1984. Taking cognisance of a charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand of Rouse Avenue Courts passed the order today. The national agency had filed the charge sheet in the case on May 20 against Tytler in the anti-Sikh riots case of 1984, alleging that he “incited, instigated and provoked the mob” that assembled at the Delhi’s Pul Bangash area on November 1, 1984, leading to the killing of three Sikhs. Filing the charge sheet before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at the Rouse Avenue District Court, the national agency said it had registered an instant case on November 22, 2005 over the Pul Bangash violence, which led to burning of the Gurudwara Pul Bangash at Azad Market in Bara Hindu Rao area of

The Supreme Court has been approached by the Central government for the  extension of tenure of incumbent Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) Sanjay Kumar Mishra who has been asked by the top court to demit office by July 31. The matter was mentioned before Justice BR Gavai-led bench by the Solicitor General of India seeking urgent listing. The Court agreed to the request and agreed to hear the plea on Thursday at 3.30 pm. A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol had, on July 11 this year, struck down the earlier extension granted to Mishra on the ground that the same was in violation of the Supreme Court’s 2021 judgment. In that judgment, the top court had directed that Mishra cannot be given any extension beyond November 2021. 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 Cent