Category: LEGAL NEWS

The National Green Tribunal Monday refused to entertain a plea seeking implementation of the Centre’s contingency plan to combat the looming locust attack saying there was nothing to show in the petition that no action is being taken by the concerned authorities in the matter. “The applicants acknowledge that there is a contingency plan. There is nothing to show that no action is being taken by the concerned authorities in the matter. On this material, we do not find any ground to pass any order on an assumption that the…

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The Delhi High Court Monday suspended for 12 weeks the life imprisonment sentence awarded to one of the convicts in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case as he was suffering from chronic kidney ailment and was highly vulnerable to a contagious disease like COVID-19. A bench of Justices Manmohan and Sanjeev Narula, noted, while conducted the hearing through video conferencing, that Naresh Sehrawat was admitted to the medicine ward of the Central Jail Hospital, Tihar. Since the petitioner (Sehrawat) is a chronic kidney disease, stage-IV patient and is admitted in the…

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COVID-19 is a humanitarian crisis and not a political one, and merely criticising the government is not going to magically cure people or make the dead come back to life, the Gujarat High Court said in its latest order on a suo motu PIL related to the outbreak. It also called for “cooperation, understanding and constructive criticism” to help the state government fight the pandemic. The division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice JB Pardiwala expressed anguish that its recent observations on the government’s dealing of the pandemic…

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Is a divorced woman entitled to her freedom fighter father’s family pension like an unmarried or widowed daughter? A high court said “yes”, while another ruled: “No. It is not a bounty.” The Supreme Court has now agreed to settle the question. The matter was brought before the top court by Himachal Pradesh-resident Tulsi Devi (56), who has challenged a high court verdict of last year dismissing her plea for grant of freedom fighter family pension on the ground that there was no provision made in the rules. A bench…

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The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Air India to keep the middle seats occupied while operating its non-scheduled flights to bring back Indians stranded abroad up to June 6 while observing that the government should be more worried about the health of citizens rather than the health of commercial airlines.   The top court said that after June 6, Air India will operate its non-scheduled flights in accordance with the interim order to be passed by the Bombay High Court. The Centre and Air India had moved the apex court…

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The Bombay High Court has disposed of a petition raising concerns over enforcement of the lockdown by the police in Maharashtra noting that even educated citizens are not following the required norms. The petition was filed by a Nagpur resident Sandip Nair raising concerns over the ‘humiliating’ manner in which the police are punishing violators. The petition contended that while thepoliceforce is, by and large, discharging its duties in an exemplary manner, there are several instances which would be a blot on the police machinery. The petitioner pointed out instances…

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A city court on Saturday granted interim bail till June 1 to DMK organisation secretary and Rajya Sabha member R S Bharathi, who was arrested for his alleged disparaging remarks made against the Scheduled Caste community a few months ago. A battery of DMK lawyers, including senior counsel P Wilson and N R Elango, who are Rajya Sabha members of the party, rushed to Principal Sessions judge Selvakumars residence to pre-empt remanding of Bharathi in judicial custody. Acceding to their plea for a reprieve in the meantime, the judge granted…

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The National Green Tribunal Thursday directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to issue guidelines within a month for checking pollution and monitoring of environmental norms by dairies throughout the country.   A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said that at least the minimum distance of dairies and gaushalas from habitations, water bodies must be specified, consistent with the carrying capacity of the area. “Any violation of environment norms under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution)…

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The Bombay High Court directed the Maharashtra government and civic authorities to ensure that food and basic necessities reach the tribal community across the state amid the COVID-19 lockdown. A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Amjad Sayed was hearing a petition filed by one Vivek Pandit highlighting the plight of tribals in the state during the lockdown, which was enforced to contain the spread of coronavirus. The petitioner sought a direction to the government and civic authorities to provide essentials to tribals in Thane, Palghar, Raigad,…

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