Category: LEGAL NEWS

The Supreme Court today termed as very unfortunate the public statements, including those made by lawmakers, on impeachment of judges. “We are all very disturbed about it,” a bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said after the counsel appearing for the petitioner raised the issue of politicians making public statements on impeachment of judges. The apex court asked Attorney General K K Venugopal to assist it to deal with the plea, which has also sought a gag on the media from reporting such statements. The development assumes…

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The Supreme Court today asked Jay Shah, son of BJP president Amit Shah and ‘The Wire’ and its scribes, to try to amicably settle the criminal defamation case lodged by the former against the news portal and others. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra also extended its interim order that had asked the Gujarat trial court not to proceed with the defamation case against the portal and its journalists, including Rohini Singh who had authored the story which was alleged to be defamatory in nature. “Without opening the…

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The Supreme Court today dismissed a batch of pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge B H Loya, who was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. Loya had allegedly died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014 when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague’s daughter. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said attempts were made to scandalise the judiciary by levelling serious allegations against judicial…

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The Supreme Court today ordered demolition of illegal constructions at several hotels and resorts in the picturesque Himachal Pradesh town of Kasauli, saying the life of people cannot be endangered for making money. The apex court observed that the illegal constructions had put the entire city in danger, causing landslides, and ordered the demolition of such constructions. A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta also observed that some hotels and resorts were supposed to construct only two-storeyed buildings but six-storeyed ones existed there. “You just demolish it…

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The Bombay High Court has allowed an NRI woman to record her consent for a mutual divorce from her estranged husband via Skype or any other video calling technology. Justice Bharati Dangre, earlier this month, set aside an order of the city’s family court which refused to register the US-based woman’s petition seeking divorce on the ground that she was not physically present to file it. The woman had challenged the family court order’s in the high court. Justice Dangre, in her judgement, permitted the woman’s father to act as…

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The Centre today told the Supreme Court that the process to fill up the vacancy of an eminent jurist in the selection committee for appointing Lokpal was going on. Attorney General K K Venugopal told a bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi that recommendation for induction of an eminent jurist in the panel has been made and the process was underway. The bench said that it doesn’t consider necessary to pass any order at this stage but said it expects that the process of appointment of Lokpal will be made…

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A special anti-terror court here today acquitted right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand and four others in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove charges against them. A massive blast had ripped through the Mecca Masjid on May 18, 2007, during Friday prayers, killing nine people and wounding 58. Aseemanand’s counsel, J P Sharma, told reporters after the verdict by a metropolitan court for NIA cases that “The prosecution failed to prove allegations against the five accused who faced trial in the case and hence the…

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In a bid to protect retired public servants from “unnecessary harassment” in claiming reimbursements under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), the Supreme Court has asked the Centre to “expeditiously” set up a high-powered committee to disburse claims in a month. A bench of justices R K Agrawal and Ashok Bhushan also directed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to form the panel within seven days. It would comprise special directorate general, directorate general, two additional directors and one specialist in the field and shall ensure timely and hassle-…

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Concerned over fatigued pilots and cabin crew posing a risk to passenger safety, the Delhi High Court today took to task aviation regulator DGCA for allowing airlines to change stipulated flight and duty time limitations (FDTLs). A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was going against its own Aircraft Rules by allowing such changes and questioned its power to do so. “We cannot have regulations which go beyond the rules in order to cater to…

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Displeased with the State Election Commission’s (SEC) decision to cancel its own order to extend the nomination process by a day, the Calcutta High Court today stayed the ongoing panchayat election process in West Bengal till further orders. Rejecting the SEC’s contention that the writ petition of the BJP was not maintainable, the court held that the SEC is endowed with powers relating to holding of elections, but in case of any digression, it needs to be corrected by the court of law. Justice Subrata Talukdar stayed till further orders…

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