Thorat & Associate's

Dead body of a lawyer was found in the Saket Court complex parking on Monday night after he allegedly jumped from the lawyers’ chamber. The lawyer who is deceased was identified as 44-year-old Om Kumar Sharma by the Delhi Police. The police said that prima facie looks like a suicide as a note has also been found. As per the information available, deceased Om Kumar Sharma was suffering from a liver ailment and left a suicide note at the spot. Police received call around 8 pm about the incident afetr the staff at the Saket court saw an advocate jump from the lawyer’s chambers. DCP (South) Ankit Chauhan,said that the police rushed to the spot where the lawyer  was lying near the parking area.” The DCP informed that on Monday evening, the deceased went to a hospital with his wife and later came to court. He left his wife at the main gate and went inside. Around 20-30 minutes later, his wife found out about the incident. Further investigation is still on, the police added. The pos

The Delhi High Court has imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on a petitioner seeking gag orders against Hindustan Times and Dainik Jagran, stating that a gag order should be passed only when it became absolutely necessary for the fairness of a trial. The single-judge Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad observed that just because a publication was mentioning the court proceedings, it could not be concluded that it was affecting a fair trial. The court has to carefully see the nature of the publication and find out whether the content of the publication will cause prejudice to the trial or not. It said prejudice by a publication could be divided into two categories, one which threatened to impair the courts impartiality and the other which prejudiced the court’s ability to determine true facts. The single-judge Bench imposed cost of Rs 10,000 on petitioner Ajay Kumar, who sought directions against Hindustan Times and Dainik Jagran to conceal his identity while circulating news or any article

Cricketer MS Dhoni’s former business partner Mihir Diwakar and Diwakar’s wife Soumya Das have been asked by the Delhi High Court to clearly state the allegations against media houses who have defamed them after the cheating complaint against them by Dhoni. The order was passed by the bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh after ANI news agncy advocate Siddhant Kumar appeared argued that the platform only reported the fact that a complaint had been filed by Dhoni against Diwakar and Das. ANI counsel advocate Kumar further said that the defamation case filed by Diwakar and Das is not maintainable before Delhi High Court since all the events in relation to the complaint happened at Ranchi. The Court adjourned the case to April 3. The High court was approached by Diwakar and his wife Soumya Das (plaintiffs) for stopping Dhoni and people acting on his behalf from making defamatory allegations against them in relation to an alleged breach of a 2017 contract. On 18th January,the Delhi High C

The Supreme Court today extended the time for the Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar to decide the disqualification petitions lodged by the Sharad Pawar faction against the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.  A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra agreed to extend the time till February 15, 2024.  Earlier on October 30, the apex court had directed the Maharashtra Speaker to decide as per the tenth schedule of the Constitution by January 31, 2024. Two days before the expiry of the deadline, the Speaker approached the top court seeking three weeks additional time.  Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that since the Speaker was occupied with deciding the disqualification petition filed over the Shiv Sena rift, he is not in a position to comply with the given timeline. The Solicitor General said that the proceedings are otherwise over and the Speaker realistically requires three more weeks to dictate the orde

Taking suo motu cognisance of the clash between two sitting judges of the Calcutta High Court over the case relating to the caste certificate scam, the Supreme Court on Monday transferred all proceedings concerning the case from the High Court to itself. The order was passed by the Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Aniruddha Bose. Without commenting on the rift between Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay and Justice Soumen Sen of the Calcutta High Court, the Apex Court observed that any such comment would affect the dignity of the High Court’s proceedings. The Bench directed transfer of all proceedings in the writ petition filed under Article 226 and the letters patent appeal to the Supreme Court, stating that it would deal with the case now. Various senior counsels, who were present in the Court, raised incidental concerns before the bench. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the State of West

Shelly Oberoi, mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has moved a petition before the Supreme Court seeking directions to ensure that the functioning of MCD Standing Committee is permitted to be exercised by the MCD corporation, till the committee can be properly and legally constituted.  In the petition, Shelly Oberoi mentioned that the Supreme Court on May 17, 2023 reserved its judgement on whether the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi can nominate aldermen to the MCD without the aid and advice of Delhi government.  The petition noted that under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act (DMC Act), the ten nominated persons (aldermen) are entitled to vote in elections for the appointment of twelve out of eighteen seats in the Standing Committee. Hence, on account of the pendency of the decision on the legality of the aldermen nominations, the Standing Committee could not be constituted. Shelly Oberoi further contended that such case pendency before the Supreme Court has broug

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Supreme Court has strengthened the vibrant democracy of Bharat in the past 75 years by protecting the individual rights of citizens and their freedom of speech, giving a new direction to the socio-political scenario of the country. Attending the Diamond Jubilee celebrations at the Additional Building Complex of the Apex Court, the Prime Minister said that every organisation of the country was working with the aim of developing itself in the next 25 years, when Bharat will complete 100 years of independence. Mr Modi said today’s economic policies will form the basis of a bright future for India and today’s laws will strengthen the future of the country, adding that the judgements delivered by the top court of the country in the next 25 years will play a crucial role in India’s transformation by 2047. He said the whole world was looking at India, it was important for India to take advantage of every opportunity, adding that major reform

The Patna High Court rejected  a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed  seeking a direction to Respondent No. 1 (Chancellor of University) to consider his (Petitioner’s) representation seeking an exemption sought from attending the classes for the LLB course, since he is employed in the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya.  The representation  demand that the Chancellor pass an order on his request for exemption after which he will seek admission to a college in any of the Universities within the State of Bihar for admission to the LLB course. The petitioner is a Science Teacher in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, District Garhwa, State of Jharkhand. The Division Bench of Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice Rajiv Roy said that the representation is misguided and there can be no consideration of the same. The further arguments are with respect to an R.T.I. application, which again cannot be sought to be agitated in a public interest litigation.  The Court pertinently observed that there

A journalist who filmed an illegal sand mining act in West Bengal had a criminal case lodged against him by the police, threatening arrest. The Calcutta High Court saw through this police-politician nexus and allowed the journalist’s anticipatory bail plea. The media needs such backing to be able to report on critical issues By Sujit Bhar Governments across the country have throttled the voice of the media in many ways. And in every such matter that has ever come up before courts or other law enforcement agencies, there has always been a political angle. National media today—especially the leading electronic media houses—all toe the government line, displaying an almost surprising show of obeisance. It has happened at state levels as well, and state governments have employed all methods available to them to bring media houses to heel. If the media falls out of line, swift penalties follow.   The only saving grace has been the fact that, sometimes, the tottering justice system of th

The Patna High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed with a prayer to direct the respondent, District Magistrate, Jamui, to send proposal for identifying the sufficient land available in village-Gokhula, within Panchayat Raj, Gokhula, Fatehpur under Sikandra block in the district of Jamui. Further, the petitioner wants the State Government to carry out the construction of the said Panchayat Bhawan on the land so identified. The contention of the petitioner is that both the ‘Mukhiya’ and the Circle Officer, Sikandra, Jamui have marked a place under mauja Gokhula, Fatehpur which is not good for Panchayat Raj Bhawan. In sum and substance, the petitioner has tried to convince the Court that the land chosen by the Circle Officer, Sikandra, Jamui as also the ‘Mukhiya’ for construction of Panchayat Bhawan is not suitable for the common people. The Circle Officer, Sikandra earmarked a land for the construction of Panchayat Bhawan which ultimately would have been approved

The Allahabad High Court while dismissing the petition said that the application u/s 156 (3) CrPC must be supported by an affidavit. A Single Bench of Justice Surendra Singh passed this order while hearing a Criminal Revision filed by Bharat Singh Kushawaha. The criminal revision has been filed against order dated 22.03.2023 passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jalaun at Orai in Criminal Misc Case (Bharat Singh Kushwaha Vs Smt Vijay Lakshmi @ Bulbul), Police Station- Kotwali Orai, District- Jalaun. By the impugned order, the Magistrate rejected the application u/s 156 (3) Cr.P.C filed by the revisionist. The revisionist/applicant, Bharat Singh Kushwaha, had filed application u/s 156 (3) Cr.P.C on 17.01.2023 contending that his son, Gopal Krishna alias Rinku aged 32 years, was living from long duration separately from him with his wife Smt Vijay Lakshmi @ Bulbul and his children. On 04.09.2022, Gopal Krishna alias Rinku, after working as electrician, returned to his house at 10.30

The Supreme Court on Saturday stayed all proceedings in a case arising from a judicial order passed by the single-judge Bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay to ignore a Division Bench stay order of of the Calcutta High Court related to former Trinamool Congress Abhishek Banerjee. The order was passed by a five-judge Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Aniruddha Bose in a special Saturday sitting. Taking suo motu cognisance of the events transpiring before the Calcutta High Court in the past few days, the Supreme Court on Friday decided to hear the matter on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. The matter pertained to a petition filed in the Calcutta High Court alleging that the issuance of fake caste certificates was rampant in the State of West Bengal and that several persons have obtained such certificates to get admission to medical courses. On January 24, Justice Gangopadhyay passed an order asking the West

First female judge of the Supreme Court of India, Justice M. Fathima Beevi, was conferred with Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour in the country, on the eve of the 75th Republic Day. Justice Beevi passed away on November 23 at the age of 96. In her long and decorated career, she served as a role model and icon for women across the country. She even left her mark on the political arena by being appointed as the Governor of Tamil Nadu after her superannuation as a Supreme Court judge. She was born in Pandalam of Kerala in 1927 and completed her schooling at the Catholicate High School in Pathanamthitta. She finished her Bachelor of Science from University College, Trivandrum and obtained her Bachelor of Law Degree from the Government Law College. Justice Beevi’s father encouraged her to study law. She topped the Bar Council exam in 1950, becoming the first woman to receive a Bar Council gold medal. She enrolled as an Advocate on November 14, 1950. Her career spanned ove

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court has passed a judicial order, alleging that Justice Soumen Sen directed Justice Amrita Sinha not to pass adverse orders against Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee. Justice Gangopadhyay claimed in the order passed on Thursday night that Justice Sinha had informed him on a phone call that Justice Sen asked her to come to his chamber before the winter vacation. As per the order, Justice Sinha informed Justice Gangopadhyay that Justice Sen called her in his chamber on the last day before vacation and like a political leader, he dictated Justice Sinha three things:- i) Mr. Avishek Banerjee has a political future, he should not be disturbed. ii) Live-streaming shall be stopped in Justice Amrita Sinha’s court. iii) The two writ petitions before Justice Amrita Sinha, where the name of Mr. Avishek Banerjee is involved, are to be dismissed, it added. Justice Sinha informed the Chief Justice of the High Court about this, who i

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which conducted survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque Complex on the orders of the Allahabad High Court, has claimed that there existed a large Hindu Temple before the construction of the existing structure (Gyanvapi Mosque). The report further said that parts of the pre-existing temple including pillars were used in the construction of existing structure (Gyanvapi Mosque). As per the ASI report, based on the study of architectural remains, exposed features, artefacts, inscriptions, art and sculptures, it can be said that there existed a Hindu temple prior to the construction of the existing structure (Gyanvapi Mosque). The national agency said that 34 inscriptions were discovered during its survey, with a significant number found on the stones of the pre-existing Hindu temple. These stones were subsequently reused in the construction/repair of the current structure. The sculptures of Hindu deities and carved architectural structures were found bu

The Supreme Court has issued directions for sharing of digitised copies of paper books with Advocates-on-Record (AoRs), in order to facilitate the lawyers and judges during court hearings. On January 25,the project will commence on a pilot basis from the Chief Justice of India’s courtroom. The reason for taking this step was taken as the paper books being used for court hearings were not uniform, leading to inconveniences and loss of time. A notice issued by the Court’s Registrar reads that issue pertaining to variation in reference to page numbers of the scanned and digitized paper books during court proceedings is important. The Court Registrar stated variation often cause grave inconvenience and loss of invaluable time of the Court and the members of the bar. The best way to address the concern is sharing of digitised pleadings which would act as a remedial measure to address these concerns. The digitally circulated paper books would be segregated into three separate portable

Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, Justice Prasanna B Varale, was on Thursday sworn-in as a judge of the Supreme Court. Justice Varale is the senior-most Judge belonging to a Scheduled Caste and the only Chief Justice of a High Court in the country belonging to a Scheduled Caste. The Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, had last week recommended the elevation of Justice Parale. The recommendation was made towards the vacancy which arose in the Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul last month. Other members of the Supreme Court Collegium included Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Aniruddha Bose. There are currently 34 judges (including the Chief Justice) who comprise the Supreme Court of India, the highest court in the country. The maximum possible strength is 34. According to the Constitution of India, the judges of the Supreme Court must retire at the age of 65. The

The Union government has apprised the Supreme Court that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) had surrendered its denominational character at the time of its establishment by an Act of the British Parliament in 1920 and hence, it could not claim the minority status now. A seven-judge Constitution bench, presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, is hearing a reference made to it by a three-judge bench in February 2019. During the day-long hearing, Justice Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is representing the Centre, about the status of AMU under the 1920 legislation and on the eve of the adoption of the Constitution. The CJI asked, “What are the indicia to indicate that when it was conferred with a university status, that it surrendered its minority status? The mere fact that it is given university status does not amount to a surrender of minority status or denominational status prior to Independence. We have to independently see whether by the 1920 Act, AMU

The Supreme Court has issued a non-bailable warrant against a litigant who called the notice of contempt proceedings useless and disrespectful. A bench comprising of Justice CT Ravikumar and Justice Rajesh Bindal  said that they object to the language that was used The bench also instructed the SP Balasore district to ensure that the litigant is produced before the Court on February 13. The bench passed the order after it read the response of the litigant to the notice of the contempt proceedings against him. During the matter, Justice Ravikumar noted that the contemnor had written that he declines to appear in Court because it is useless notice. The Bench said that contempt was shown again in reply to notice also. The Court said that despite notice of bailable warrant, the alleged contemnor has made a communication. The Court has issued a non-Bailable Warrant to be executed through District Superintendent of Police, Balasore, Odisha, so as to ensure contemnor is present in cou

The Supreme Court today cancelled the bail granted to former DHFL promoters Kapil Wadhawan and his brother Dheeraj Wadhawan in the multi-crore rupees bank loan scam case. A bench comprising Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice S C Sharma said the high court and the trial court committed error in granting bail to them. The bench remarked that they have no hesitation that the charge sheet having been filed and cognisance being taken in due time, respondents could not have claimed statutory bail as a right.  Notably, under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), an accused becomes entitled for grant of statutory bail if the probe agency fails to file the charge sheet on conclusion of the investigation in a criminal case within 60 or 90 days period. In this particular case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed the charge sheet on the 88th day after registration of the FIR and the trial court granted default bail to the accused and the Delhi High Court upheld the order. Kapil W

The Supreme Court has observed that the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) cannot be decided today on the basis of political alignment of AMU founders during the British Raj, noting that the same will not have any bearing on the case. The observations were made by the Constitution Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Surya Kant, Justice JB Pardiwala, Justice Dipankar Datta, Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma on a batch of petitions concerning the minority status of AMU. The Constitution Bench observed that the founders could have aligned with either Mahatma Gandhi or Khilafat, but the same will not have any bearing on the minority status of the institute. The Apex Court made such observations after Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, representing the Central government, submitted that every historian has described the founders of AMU as loyal to the British. The CJI said that assuming there were two fact

The appointment of judicial officer Arvind Kumar Verma as the judge of Chhattisgarh High Court has been notified by the Central government. The current Union Minister of State with independent charge of the Law and Justice Ministry Arjun Ram Meghwal tweeted the development theough the social media. On January 4, the Supreme Court Collegium had on January 4 recommended Verma’s name for appointment as a High Court judge. The name of Verma as Judge was recommended for elevation in August last year by the Chhattisgarh High Court collegium. The fellow judges who were well versed with the Chhatisgarh High Court were consulted by the Supreme Court. All the material placed on record, including the report of the Judgment Assessment Committee was put to scrutiny before the appointments were confirmed. It was also stated that the Chief Minister and the Governor of the State of Chhattisgarh also concurred with the recommendation. The resolution said that keeping in mind the views of the co

The appointment of two additional judges of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court as permanent judges has been cleared by the Central government. Arjun Ram Meghwal who is the Union Minister of State with independent charge of the Law and Justice Ministry,shared this development through social media platform, X (Twitter). The additional judges who have been made permanent are Justice Rahul Bharti and Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi  On January 4, the Supreme Court collegium had recommended that the two additional judgesto be made permanent. it was way back on March 2023, when Justice Bharti and Justice Kazmi were appointed as additional judges. The post Jammu & Kashmir High Court:Central government clears appointment of two additional judges as permanent judges appeared first on India Legal . from India Legal https://ift.tt/BuWM6bO

The Delhi High Court has put aside the order of the order by the Central Information Commission (CIC) for directing the Income Tax department to provide information and copies of documents submitted by the PM Cares Fund while applying for exemption under the Income Tax Act was set aside by the Delhi High Court. The bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad clarified that under Section 138 of the Income Tax Act, the CIC does not have the jurisdiction to direct furnishing of information. The Court said in the current case, the question is whether Section 138(2) of the IT Act which also contains a nonobstante clause would override Section 22 of the RTI Act or not. The Court said that under Section 138(1)(b) of the IT Act any nformation relating to an assessee can only be supplied subject to the satisfaction of Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner, as the case. The Court also said that even if the CIC had the jurisdiction to direct the

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has declared that January 22, the day of consecration of Ram Mandir,it shall observe half-day. An office order by the NGT, dated January 20, declares that all benches, offices, and registries of the tribunal will remain closed until 2:30 pm on January 22. The NGT in its order stated that any fresh admission matters listed for the day would be taken up 3pm onwards and that matters already listed for hearing would be taken up on January 25. The notice comes pursuant to a memorandum issued by the Ministry of Personnel Public Grievances and Pensions calling for Central government offices across the country to be closed till 2:30 PM on that day. The post NGT observes half day on consecration of Ram Mandir on January 22 appeared first on India Legal . from India Legal https://ift.tt/2zDy7Uo