Thorat & Associate's

The Bombay High Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed pointing out certain irregularities in the processes of tenders issued by the respondents in respect of some works undertaken by the Public Works Department.  The petitioner has prayed that because of the irregularities, loss has been caused to the State exchequer and accordingly respondents be directed to fix the responsibility for the said loss to the Government. Another prayer made in the PIL petition is to direct the respondents to introduce certain safeguards for avoiding any malpractices in the e-tendering process.  The petitioner has also prayed for issuing directions for recovery of the loss caused to the State exchequer on account of irregularities in the tender process. After filing of the PIL petition, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S Doctor noted that an internal committee by the State Government was appointed for assessing the flaws in tender proces

The Karnataka High Court has expressed its strong displeasure against a trial court judge for being ‘highly insensible’ and ‘lacking professionalism,’ while dealing with the evidence in the aggravated sexual assault case of an 8-year-old girl. The single-judge Bench of Justice Hanchate Sanjeevkumar noted that the POCSO Court judge who acquitted the accused in the minor sexual assault case, required some training in the Karnataka Judicial Academy on handling these types of cases. It suggested the POCSO Court judge to undergo training in the Karnataka Judicial Academy and sentenced the accused to a rigorous imprisonment of five years. The minor was sexually assaulted outside her house in February 2018. Accused Venkatesh faced trial under provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code. The trial court had acquitted the accused in December 2020 on the ground that no independent witnesses had been examined and that the doctor’s evidence

Appointment of Justice Shree Chandrashekhar as the Acting Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court has been notified by the Central government with effect from December 29, 2023. Duties of the Chief Justice will be performed by Justice Chandra Shekhar after the retirement of Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra on December 28. Justice Chandrashekhar was born on May 25, 1965 and he completed his LL.B. from the Campus Law Centre (CLC), University of Delhi, in 1993 and enrolled as an advocate in the same year. In his nearly 19 years of practice as an advocate in various courts, he handled around 3500 cases, primarily in the Supreme Court, and appeared as counsel in approximately 140 reported judgments of the apex court. He held the position of Standing Counsel for the All India Council for Technical Education and the State of Jharkhand in the Supreme Court. Additionally, he represented entities such as the Bihar State Housing Board (BSHB), Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) , Jhark

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended appointments of new Chief  Justices (CJs) for the High Courts of Allahabad, Rajasthan, Jharkhand,Gauhati and Punjab & Haryana. The Collegium under the guidance of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud along with Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice BR Gavai passed the resolutions, which were uploaded on the official website. The Collegium has recommended the following judges to take over as Chief Justices: Justice Arun Bhansali who is currently a Judge in Rajasthan High Court, has been recommended for appointment as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court. Another Judge from Rajasthan High Court Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava,, has been recommended for appointment as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court. Justice Vijay Bishnoi, Judge Rajasthan High Court, has been recommended for appointment as Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court. Justice Sheel Nagu, Judge Madhya Pradesh High Court, has been recommended for appoin

The Delhi High Court refused to urgently hear the habeas corpus plea filed by Parliament security breach case accused Neelam Azad. Appearing for Azad, Advocate Suresh Kumar mentioned the plea before the vacation bench of Justices Neena Bansal Krishna and Shalinder Kaur. Nonetheless, the Bench stated that there was no urgency in the matter. It observed that in any case, the matter will come up on January 3 and that there is no urgency. On Wednesday, Neelam Azad filed a habeas corpus plea seeking immediate release from police custody.  The accused has challenged the legality of the trial court order dated December 21 remanding her to police custody. Neelam Azad contended that she was not allowed to consult legal practitioners of her choice to defend her during the remand proceedings. In her plea, Neelam Azad claimed that it was only after the disposal of the remand application that she was asked by the Ld. court if she wanted to be represented by an advocate of her choice, which she

The Centre’s Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) has recently directed Meta to remove a fake interview of veteran journalist Karan Thappar from Facebook. It also advised the social media platform to diligently deal with public complaints.  Earlier, Facebook has turned down the request against the removal of the posts in question, mentioning that they did not violate its community guidelines. Reportedly, one of the fake interviews used Karan Thapar’s picture to promote a fraudulent money-making scheme. The Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) in its order dated December 12, considered the appeal lodged through Dua Associates against Facebook’s refusal to turn down the posts. The GAC is constituted under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The GAC mentioned that while Meta had earlier said that the posts were not in violation of its community guidelines, it later raised questions about the existence of the URL and the resolut

The Punjab High Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeking direction to the respondents to prevent and stop the illegal practice of selling of lottery tickets in bundles as the same leads to evasion of taxes by the distributor thereby causing huge loss to public exchequer. The PIL has been filed by Samaj Sudhar Society. It is further prayed  for issuance of directions to the respondents to decide the representation of the petitioner dated 19.10.202. The counsel for the State, on instructions, has informed the Court that the tender of Rs. 48 Crores has been floated now and in the year 2022- 23 the net revenue earned was Rs. 10.49 Crores. She has also given details to the Court of the tenders floated w.e.f. 2007 and there has been down fall since then.   Keeping in view the instructions received by the State counsel, the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Nidhi Gupta disposed of the Petition by giving directions to respondents to lo

The Bombay High Court ordered the Regional Passport Officer, Mumbai to renew the passports of a woman and her two sons, which were previously denied by the Passport authority owing to objections raised by the woman’s brother-in-law over the address mentioned by them in the passport application.  A bench comprising Justice AS Chandurkar and Justice Firdosh P. Pooniwalla stated that a person cannot be deprived of his/her fundamental right to travel abroad on the ground that there is a dispute in respect of the property which is mentioned in the address given by the applicant for the purposes of including it in the passport. The Bombay High Court clarified that the petitioner’s address in the passport would not by itself confer on them any right in respect of the said property so as to prejudice the brother-in-law in any way. The High Court further observed that the right to travel abroad is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Hence, no person can be de

The Supreme Court seven-judge Constitution benches will hear a series of important cases from January 9, 2024.  The cases include the passage of laws as Money Bills, validity of sub-classification with Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the interplay between breach of privilege and fundamental rights, whether state can make law on imposing surcharge on sales tax, whether central universities like Aligarh Muslim University can have minority status and whether the Speaker can adjudicate on disqualification petitions when they face such a petition. Among the aforementioned six cases, four would be heard by a seven-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud in January 2024. A circular issued by the Supreme Court last week stated that six seven-judge bench matters and four nine-judge bench matters will be listed before the appropriate benches in the next three months. While the first batch of seven-judge bench matters will be taken up from January 9, the four nine-judge

A Delhi Court has been approached by the NewsClick’s human resources department head Amit Chakraborty asking permission to turn a government approver in the anti-terror case registered under UAPA. The NewsClick founder and HR have been accused of news portal receiving money to spread pro-China propaganda as per media sources.. Last week, an application was moved before the Special Judge Hardeep Kaur where Amit Chakraborty(HR head) sought pardon in the case. HR head Amit Chakraborty claimed to have information and material, that could come handy to the Delhi Police, which is investigating the matter. He was willing to share this and turn an approver. Media agencies were informed by the police that the agency will take a decision on whether to support his application before the court after going through his statement. It is however, important to note that the judge has posted the matter before a magisterial court for recording the HR head’s statement. Chakraborty and news portal’s

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday gave her assent to the three criminal law bills namely Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita replacing Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Indian Evidence Act respectively.  The three criminal law bills were cleared by the Lok Sabha on December 20 and Rajya Sabha on December 21. The bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha through a voice vote after being moved by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In the concluding remark, chairman Jagdeep Dhankar said that these three bills which create history have been passed unanimously. He added that the bills unshackled the colonial legacy of criminal jurisprudence that was hurtful to citizens of the country and favoured alien rulers.  The bills were passed in the lower house of the Parliament on December 20, amidst suspension of 141 opposition MPs from both houses. The criminal bills have been under scrutiny with concerns raised by

NewsClick Human Resources Department head Amit Chakraborty has moved an application before the Patiala House Court, seeking permission to become an approver in a case filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against the news portal. Delhi Police had arrested Founder of the news portal, Prabir Purkayastha and Chakraborty on October 3 following a series of raids on the team behind NewsClick as well as its contributors, including independent journalists, over the allegations that they received money for promoting Chinese propaganda. After the raids, police sealed the NewsClick’s Delhi office. The accused were remanded to police custody for seven days on the night of October 3, after they were produced at the judge’s residence. A total of 46 people were interrogated in connection with the charges. Police took away their digital devices, including laptops and mobile phones, along with certain documents, for examination. Those questioned included senior journalists Urm

On the auspicious occasion of Christmas, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud took part in a function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association. The Chief Justice was accompanied by Supreme Court judges Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah. The function took place in the Supreme Court premises.  In the Christmas function, CJI DY Chandrachud extended his greeting on the occasion and sang carols. He started by singing one of his favourite Christmas carols, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He then sang, We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Speaking at the function, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that they are very lucky that they are safe here and are celebrating. He added that the soldiers deployed on the border are also the reason behind this happiness. He expressed that they should also remember them during the time of these festivities.  Referring to the recent Poonch attack, CJI DY Chandrachud said that the country just lost four

The Calcutta High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeks for rejecting the tender which was called for by the West Bengal State Beverages Corporation Limited dated 18.8.2023. The Division Bench of Chief Justice T. S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya noted from the notice inviting tender the tender process had commenced on 21.8.2023 and the date and time for opening the technical bid was fixed on 18.9.2023. “At this distance of time the question of quashing a tender notification which has already been worked itself out does not arise.” Therefore, the prayer sought for in the writ petition to quash the notice inviting tender dated 18.8.2023 cannot be granted and, therefore, such prayer  stands rejected by the High Court. The Bench took note of the submissions by the  advocate for the petitioners, submitting that endeavour of the State is to protect the health of the citizens and indiscriminate opening of such retail outlets will be against the Co

The Central government has requested the Supreme Court to give it permission for the eviction of over 4000 families living on encroached government land adjoining Haldwani Railway Station, commonly called as Gaffur Basti, on the grounds of railway track expansion and soil erosion. The Ministry of Railways filed an affidavit in the Apex Court, saying that keeping in view the space constraint at Kathgodam terminal station and the importance of Haldwani for the Kumaon region, the Haldwani Railway Station is the only option available for the expansion of the station and augmenting facilities like additional railway lines, platforms, washing pit, sick line shed, stabling lines and rate handling platform, etc. The said facilities are a prerequisite for originating long distance trains and special trains such as the Vande Bharat in the Kumaon region from the Haldwani Station. It further said that there was a strong apprehension that a situation may arise in future where the Haldwani Railw

A committee has been constituted by the Delhi High Court headed by the Delhi health secretary to suggest ways for  improving the healthcare facilities in Delhi’s prisons. The other members of the committee include the Director General (Prisons), Chief Medical Officer of Delhi Prisons, two senior jail visiting judges of district courts, Secretary of the Delhi State Legal Services Authority as well as advocates Sanjay Dewan and Gayatri Puri. The Court said that the committee comprising the best in the field will give suggestions, regarding improving the health care facilities in the prisons and ways to promote equal health care to all prisoners within a period of one month to this Court.  The committee has also been asked to clearly inform the Court id the facilities are available in the jail hospital to deal with emergency situations such as cardiac arrest, haemorrhages etc. as the first few minutes in such eventuality are crucial to save the life of a prisoner. The bench of Justic

A Mumbai court has granted bail to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor in a money laundering case in which he was arrested. The relief was granted to Kapoor by the special court under Section 436A of the Criminal Procedure Code of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Section 436A of Criminal Procedure Code of Money Laundering Act provides the maximum period for which an undertrial prisoner can be detained. The section states how no person can be detained for more than half the maximum period of imprisonment provided for the offence in law. On Deceber 21, the Special judge MG Deshpande observed that Kapoor had been detained for three years and nine months. The Bench fond that this is more than half of the maximum imprisonment (seven years) that can be awarded to Kapoor for his alleged offence. The Court took pulled up ED for opposing the bail application despite not having started the trial for more than three years incarceration of Kapoor. Kapoor, who was arrested in March 2020, has since

Rahul Gandhi says will take down tweet disclosing identity of minor rape victim, Delhi High Court seeks status report from Police on probe against Congress leader Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has apprised the Delhi High Court that he would take down the post from X (formerly Twitter), in which he allegedly disclosed the identity of a minor girl, who was raped and murdered in 2021. The Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna on Thursday refused to pass a judicial order directing Gandhi to take down the tweet. As per reports, a nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by a priest inside a crematorium at Delhi Cantonment area in 2021 The Congress leader had met the family of the victim and posted a picture on X. The Division Bench asked Advocate Santosh Kumar Tripathi, appearing for Delhi Police, about the status of prayer regarding registration of FIR against Gandhi. The counsel said he has already submitted a report regarding details

The Allahabad High Court while allowing an appeal observed that an offence under SC/ST Act, 1989 would be made out when a member of the vulnerable section of the society is subjected to indignities, humiliations and harassment in any place within the public view. A Single Bench of Justice Shamim Ahmed passed this order while hearing a Criminal Appeal filed by Bhaiya Lal Singh. The Criminal Appeal under Section 14-A(1) of  the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 has been filed by the appellant, namely, Bhaiya Lal Singh with a prayer to set aside the proceedings of the Special Sessions Trial (State Vs Manager B.L Singh and Others) arising out of Case at Police Station-Kotwali, District-Rae Bareli, under Section 143 and 506 I.P.C as well as under Section 3(1)(Dha) of S.C/S.T Act, 1989, pending in the Court of learned Special Judge, S.C/S.T Act, Rae Bareli. Further prayer is to set aside the impugned cognizance as well as summoning order dated 07.

The Allahabad High Court has directed the Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh to file a personal affidavit in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea highlighting conditions of primary schools in District Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Kshitij Shailendra passed this order while hearing a PIL filed by Chandra Kala. The issue raised in PIL, although of great public importance, appears to have no significance for the respondents. Admittedly, a major part of the building of Primary School, Jharsa, Gram Panchayat Jaswantpur, Block & Tehsil Powayan, District Shahjahanpur had fallen because of lack of regular upkeep and maintenance. The Court noted that, The instructions furnished by Basic Shiksha Adhikari to the standing counsel reveals that an inspection was made by a Committee on 19.09.2020 in which the present institution along with thirty other institutions were found to be in dilapidated condition a

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeking direction to the respondents to ensure the completion of project of construction to Artificial Lake in River Tawi with clean, hygienic and healthy environment to the public at large. The PIL filed by one  Inderjeet Khajuria further prayed for the following reliefs:- -directing the respondents to undertake the laying down of Gandola Project from Mubarakh Mandi Complex to Bahu Fort in order to attract the tourists;  -directing the respondents to beautify the areas being used by the morning/evening walkers and ensure that nobody is allowed to dump waste/garbage which ultimately pollutes and contaminates the water of River Tawi;  -directing the respondents to make accountable the concerned officials who are negligent in performance of their official duties to ensure not to allow the miscreants to dump garbage/waste on the road side which is used by the morning/evening walkers including the ar

The Madras High Court has sentenced three years of simple imprisonment to the Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi and his wife Visalatchi to three in a disproportionate assets case. The Sentence was peonounced by Justice G Jayachandran after having convicted the duo on December 19. A fine to the tune of ₹50 lakh in addition to their jail sentence was imposed on Ponmudi and his wife. Earlier the trial court had decided to acquit the couple in the corruption case but it was overturned by Justice Jayachandran earlier this week, after which they were directed to appear before the Court for the imposition of punishment. Ponmudi and his wife were present in the courtroom today when the sentence was pronounced. They requested the Court to show some leniency, considering their age and since it was an old case. In April 2016, T Sundaramoorthy, a special Judge for cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, had acquitted Ponmudi and Visalatchi saying that the prosecution, who

The Delhi High Court has reserved its verdict in Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra’s plea for interim relief against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey and Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey and Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai alleged that for asking questions in Parliament, the TMC leader Mahua Moitra accepted bribes from businessman Darshan Hiranandani. The bench of Justice Sachin Datta questioned MP Nishikant Dubey(BJP) and Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai if there was more to it, like any quid pro quo between Moitra and businessman Hiranandani. The Court was hearing a defamation suit by Moitra against Dubey and Dehadrai. Dubey and Dehadrai had claimed that Moitra accepted bribes to ask questions in Parliament. The BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker stating how Moitra had put forth questions in Parliament on behalf of business tycoon Darshan Hiranandani, in exchange for cash and gifts. It

The Manipur High Court closed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed raising grievance  that the State of Manipur and the National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) have not complied with the directions issued vide notification dated 24-03-2009 by the Chief Engineer (S&R) B for Director General (Road Development) & S.S, Government of India, Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways (Department of Road Transport & Highways). The PIL has been filed by Manipur Driver Association. The Counsel on behalf of the respective parties  invite the  attention of the Court to Ministry of Road Transport & Highway (MORTH) affidavit and the pictures, to urge that all necessary steps as are warranted in terms of the above said notification dated 24-03-2009 issued by the Chief Engineer (S&R) B for Director General (Road Development) & S.S, Government of India, Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways (Department of Road Trans

The Punjab and Haryana High Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeking direction to the respondents to initiate investigation into the matter of illegal cutting and root uprooting of Khair trees falling in the Siswan Forest Range area. The counsel for the State has referred to an affidavit dated 12.11.2020 filed by the petitioner annexed with the Status report dated 17.12.2021, filed by way of short affidavit of Divisional Forest Officer, SAS Nagar (respondent No.4), wherein he has stated that he has agreed with the enquiry conducted by the officers/officials of the Forest Department. The cutting of the trees was done in the Forest area of Village Siswan, on the land, belonging to the land owners. The State counsel further referred to the decision dated 02.02.2018 , whereby the guidelines have been laid down under the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900 in the villages, which deals with prohibition of cutting of trees and as per this policy, the land belongin

The Delhi High Court has refused to pass any order on Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra’s plea to challenge the order by the Government of India for evicting her from her government allotted residence in wake of her recent expulsion from the Lok Sabha. The Government has asked Moitra to vacate her house by January 7, 2024. Justice Subramonium Prasad  who was lokig into the matter noted that TMC leader Moitra has already challenged her expulsion from Lok Sabha before the Supreme Court by a separate plea. The Court noted that passing of any order by the High Court can make impact on the proceedings before the Supreme Court. Justice Prasad said that the leader has challenged the order by filing a writ petition. The judge further added that if the Supreme Court grants a stay in favour, the suspension will be stayed but if High Court adjudicates on this, it will be directly impinging on the SC proceedings. The Court,has now kept the matter for hearing on January 4 after no