Category: LEGAL NEWS

The Supreme Court today allowed the CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to make a PowerPoint presentation on the Aadhaar scheme at 2.30 pm before it. The constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra asked the petitioners opposing the Aadhaar scheme to prepare a questionnaire after the UIDAI CEO’s presentation. The constitution bench is hearing a number of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar and its enabling Act. The bench had yesterday said there are several technical aspects related to the Aadhaar scheme. These include…

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The Supreme Court was told on Tuesday that the parting of personal biometric and demographic information by transgenders and sexual minorities under the Aadhaar Act exposes them to “violence, surveillance and harassment by the State and private persons”. “Once the personal demographic details of transgenders and sexual minorities is declared, it exposes them to surveillance, violence, and discrimination including infringement of their fundamental right to life and liberty, equality, free speech and movement,” NGO Swatantra told a constitution bench. The five-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices AK Sikri,…

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The Delhi High Court today directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to file an affidavit as required under the Aircraft Rules on the safety and airworthiness of the A320 Neo planes flying in India. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said the affidavit would be signed by an officer not below the rank of joint director of the DGCA and listed the matter for further hearing on April 6. The order by the bench came after the petitioner, Yashwant Shenoy, told…

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The Supreme Court today sought the Centre’s response on a plea seeking a CBI probe into the Ballabhgarh mob lynching case in which 17-year-old Junaid Khan was stabbed to death on a train in June last year. A bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and M M Shantanagoudar also stayed the trial in the case till further orders. Junaid’s father has challenged the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s November 27 last year order, refusing a CBI probe into the matter, and sought that the accused be booked under offences of hate…

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Sexual assault cases involving child victims rose to over one lakh in 2016 across the country and only 229 of them were adjudicated upon by trial courts in that year, the Supreme Court has been informed. The figure were brought recently to the notice of a bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, which asked the Registrar Generals of high courts across the country to collect and collate data on pending cases of sexual offences against children as victims lodged under stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.…

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The Supreme Court today dismissed former GJM leader Bimal Gurung’s plea seeking protection from arrest in several cases lodged against him in West Bengal and for an independent probe into the alleged killings of Gorkhaland supporters in the state. A bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan rejected the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s plea saying it was not a fit case for relief. “It cannot be said to be a case of individual persecution by the state,” the bench said while pronouncing the order. The apex court had on…

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The CBI today told the Delhi High Court that its efforts to trace self-styled preacher Virender Dev Dixit, who had allegedly confined several women at an ashram here, have not yielded results so far. The agency has informed that Dixit “is absconding and has not joined investigation and efforts are being made to trace him in Nepal,” a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said. Officials of Dixit’s North West Delhi ashram, from where girls and women were rescued, also told the court that…

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The Supreme Court today asked a Gujarat trial court not to proceed till April 12 with the criminal defamation complaint of Jay Shah, son of BJP president Amit Shah, against news portal ‘The Wire’ and its scribes and chided especially the electronic media for projecting “whatever they feel like” against a person. A visibly irked Chief Justice Dipak Misra tongue-lashed the media, especially the TV channels and portals, and asked: “Can somebody reproduce something in official/public domain and add something ‘defamatory’ to it. Are innuendos in the realm of defence…

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The National Green Tribunal has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to submit report on the emission standards of the Anpara thermal power plant located at Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh. A bench headed by Justice Jawad Rahim reteirated its earlier direction and asked the apex pollution monitoring body to file the report by April 12. The green panel also directed the chief general manager of the power plant to be present before it after noting that there was no record of his presence on the earlier date. “We…

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the March 31 deadline for linking Aadhaar with various services till the five-judge constitution bench delivers its judgement on petitions challenging the validity of the biometric scheme and the enabling law A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had on March 7 said it may not be possible to decide by March 31 the batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act The bench, which also comprised justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and…

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