Category: LEGAL NEWS

Groping a minor’s breast without “skin to skin contact” cannot be termed as sexual assault as defined under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Bombay High Court has said. Justice Pushpa Ganediwala of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, in a judgement passed on January 19, the detailed copy of which was made available now, held that there must be “skin to skin contact with sexual intent” for an act to be considered sexual assault. She said in her verdict that mere groping will…

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Former union minister M J Akbar on Saturday reiterated before a Delhi court that the allegations of sexual misconduct made by journalist Priya Ramani against him were “fabricated and false”. Akbar made the submission before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar through senior advocate Geeta Luthra during the final hearing in a criminal complaint filed by him against Ramani for allegedly defaming him by accusing him of sexual misconduct decades ago. Ramani had made the allegation of sexual misconduct against Akbar in 2018 during the #MeToo movement. Luthra said that…

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The Delhi High Court Friday directed the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (SPCA) to immediately take the 9-year-old hippopotamus who has been illegally kept by the Asiad Circus management and place it in the zoo. The high court also issued non-bailable warrants against the proprietor of Asiad Circus, whose licence had been revoked by the authorities in 2017, to ensure his presence at the next hearing on April 15. Justice Prathiba M Singh noted that despite repeated directions, the proprietor of the circus Riazuddin Khan has failed to…

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 The Supreme Court Thursday sought responses from the Centre, Amazon Prime Video and Excel Entertainment Pvt Ltd on a plea which has alleged that web series Mirzapur’ has completely tarnished the historical and cultural image of the place by showing it as a city of goons . A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde issued notices on the plea which alleged that showing shameless things in the name of Mirzapur is an insult to the rich culture of the city. The petitioner, Mirzapur-resident Sujeet Kumar Singh, said he…

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The Supreme Court told the Centre on Monday that the proposed tractor rally on the Republic Day by farmers protesting against the new farm laws is a law and order matter and Delhi Police is the first authority to decide who should be allowed to enter the national capital. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, while hearing the Centre’s application seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor or trolley march or any other kind of protest which seeks to disrupt the gathering and celebrations on January 26,…

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The Delhi High Court on Monday said accepting the new privacy policy of social messaging app WhatsApp was a “voluntary” thing and one can choose not to use or join that platform if one did not agree with its terms and conditions. “It is a private app. Don’t join it. It is a voluntary thing, don’t accept it. Use some other app,” Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said to the petitioner, a lawyer, who has challenged WhatsApp’s new privacy policy which was slated to come into effect in February but has been…

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All the three members of the election committee, set up to conduct the polls for the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) this year, have resigned. The chairman of the Election Committee for the SCBA Elections 2020-2021 was senior advocate Jaideep Gupta and the other two members were Harin P Raval and Nakul Dewan. In a joint letter to SCBA Acting Secretary Rohit Pandey, the election committee members said they had decided to hold the election on a digital platform and entered into discussions with NSDL, a digital firm, to conduct…

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The Supreme Court has sought responses from the Centre and 61 iron exporting firms including Essar Steel and Jindal Steel & Power on a PIL seeking a direction to the CBI to register an FIR and probe the alleged duty evasion by them in exporting iron ore to China since 2015. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde took note of the submissions of lawyer and PIL petitioner M L Sharma that the companies be prosecuted for alleged evasion of export duty by declaring wrong tariff code to…

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 The National Green Tribunal has held that plastic pens are covered under Plastic Waste Management Rules and directed the environment ministry to finalise the Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) regime for management of waste. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also asked the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to coordinate with the state PCBs and State Level Monitoring Committees on EPR. “Even though pen is not specifically mentioned under the rules, the same is certainly covered by definition of ‘plastic’ under Rule 3 (o) of the Plastic…

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The Supreme Court Tuesday sought cooperation of protesting farmers at Delhi borders and said no power can prevent it from setting up a committee to resolve the impasse over controversial farm laws. The observation of the bench asking protesting farmers bodies to cooperate assume significance in view of reports that they would not go to any apex court-appointed panel for resolution of disputes and wanted repeal of laws only. Before pronouncing the order, the bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde commenced the hearing and urged the farmers’ unions…

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