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Bombay HC
The Bombay High Court on Friday received a bomb threat email, the second in a week, which turned out to be a hoax after a thorough search, an official said. An email about a bomb blast in the court premises in south Mumbai was received on the official ID early in the morning, he said. Teams from the bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS) and dog squad carried out a complete search, but nothing suspicious was found, the official said. The court began functioning according to its regular timing, he said. The high court had received a similar threat email on September 12, which led to the suspension of hearings for a few hours. The police had registered a case against unidentified persons at the time.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea against Akshay Kumar and Arshad Warsi's courtroom drama "Jolly LLB 3" alleging mockery of judges and lawyers, noting the court was used to such mockery. "Don't worry about us," the HC said. The petition filed by the Association for Aiding Justice through advocate Chandrakant Gaikwad sought a stay on the release of the movie and also deletion of the song, 'Bhai Vakeel Hai', which it claimed was derogatory towards the legal profession. The petitioner's lawyer, Dipesh Siroya, said the movie and song make a mockery of not just lawyers but also judges, as in a scene, the judges are referred to as "mamu", a slang he said was derogatory and insulting to the judiciary. A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad appeared amused and said it was not worried about the same. "We have been facing mockery since day one. Don't worry about us," the court said, dismissing the plea. The filmmakers informed the bench th
Mumbai police have registered a case against unidentified persons in connection with the bomb threat email sent to the Bombay High Court, an official said on Saturday. A case has been registered at Azad Maidan police station under section 353 (1) (whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, false information, rumour, or report, including through electronic means) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the official said. He said that the police were trying to trace the sender's IP address and location. The High Court administration received a bomb threat email on Friday afternoon, which led to the suspension of hearings for nearly two hours. However, it turned out to be a hoax as nothing suspicious was found on the premises. In the email, the sender mentioned a bomb blast in the building. After a thorough search, people were allowed entry, and the court resumed its functioning.
The Bombay High Court has granted bail to an accused in the 2012 Pune blasts case, citing long incarceration and delay in the trial. Farooq Bagwan, the applicant, has been in jail for more than 12 years and the possibility of the trial completing in the near future is remote, said a bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Rajesh Patil in the order passed on Tuesday. At present only 27 out of 170 witnesses have been examined by the trial court, the HC noted. Further, apart from the present offence, Bagwan has no other criminal antecedents, it said. "It is clear that the possibility of trial concluding in the near future appears to be remote. It is by now well settled principle of law that the right to speedy trial of an accused is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India," the court said. The bench granted bail to Bagwan on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. Five low-intensity blasts took place on the busy Junglee Maharaj Road in Pune on August 1, 2012, injuring one
The Supreme Court on Monday decided to hear on September 15 the bail plea of Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case accused Mahesh Raut on medical grounds. A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma was hearing Raut's petition challenging his incarceration despite being granted bail by the Bombay High Court. The high court allowed Raut's bail plea but stayed its own order for a week on the request of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The top court subsequently extended the stay on his release in the case. On Monday, Raut's counsel said the activist was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and required specialised medical care unavailable in prison or at JJ Hospital, where he has been examined. If the prison hospital can file a status report, and we can take him for a medical examination JJ hospital doesn't have the facilities for this, the lawyer said. The bench said if the authorities wish to file an affidavit, they may do so. If the ailment is so serious that
Mumbai Police on Tuesday issued a notice to activist Manoj Jarange and his team, asking them to vacate Azad Maidan at the earliest, as his hunger strike over the Maratha quota demand entered its fifth day, officials said. Though permission was granted earlier for a gathering of 5,000 protesters at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, more than 40,000 agitators arrived from various parts of Maharashtra, the police said in the notice. The protesters blocked roads in south Mumbai over the last few days by gathering in large numbers and also parked more than 5,000 vehicles on roads connecting to the Azad Maidan and nearby areas, which led to heavy traffic congestion, they said. The protesters cooked food on roads, took bath, danced and played cricket in the public areas, violating the conditions laid down earlier for the quota agitation, the police noted. Civic personnel on Monday night washed the square outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), located just a few metres away from A
The Supreme Court on Monday asked a petitioner to move the Bombay High Court with his plea accusing Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray of hate speech and inciting violence against the north Indian community. A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran asked Sunil Shukla, national president of the Uttar Bhartiya Vikas Sena, the reason of not moving the high court with his grievances. Is the Bombay High Court on vacation? the CJI asked, prompting Shukla's lawyer to withdraw the plea. The bench, without expressing any opinion on the merits, allowed the petitioner to withdraw the plea and move the high court. Shukla's plea alleged the Maharashtra government and the police didn't respond to his repeated requests to register criminal cases against MNS cadres who have resorted to violence, threats to life and harassment against him, in the past. His advocacy for the rights of north Indians had made him a target for threats, harassment, an
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea of legendary music composer Ilaiyaraaja seeking to transfer a copyright dispute involving over 500 of his musical compositions from the Bombay High Court to the Madras High Court. A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria did not agree to the submissions of senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the musician, that the case be transferred to the Madras High Court. At the outset, the counsel for Sony Music Entertainment told the bench that the case by the firm was filed in the Bombay High Court when no case was pending in the Madras High Court. The plea is dismissed, the bench said. The legal case started from a lawsuit initiated by Sony Music Entertainment India in 2022 before the Bombay High Court. Sony has sought an injunction to restrain Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd (IMMPL) from using 536 musical works. The company claims it acquired the rights to these works throu
The Bombay High Court on Thursday ordered immersion of all idols of up to six feet height in artificial tanks starting from the 10-day Ganesh festival being celebrated from August 27 this year. The order will be effective till March next year for the festivals that require immersion of idols of deities, including those made of Plaster of Paris (PoP). "The court has to make an endeavour that the impact of immersion of idols is bare minimum on the environment. Therefore, idols up to 6 feet should compulsorily be immersed in artificial water tanks," a bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne said. The high court further asked the state government to ensure implementation of its policy regarding immersion of idols in "letter and spirit". All the local bodies must ensure that the idols, up to six feet in height, are immersed in artificial water bodies, the bench said. The high court also asked the government to form an expert committee for suggesting measures to ...
The Bombay High Court on Monday quashed the conviction of 12 persons in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case and acquitted them, noting the prosecution has "utterly failed" to prove the case against them. The judgment comes 19 years after the terror attack that shook the city's Western Railway network, resulting in the loss of over 180 lives and leaving several others injured. A special bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak said the evidence relied by the prosecution was not conclusive to convict the accused persons. "The prosecution has utterly failed to prove the case against the accused. It is hard to believe that the accused committed the crime. Hence their conviction is quashed and set aside," the HC said. The bench said it refuses to confirm the death penalty imposed on five of the convicts and also the life imprisonment on the remaining seven, and acquitted them. The court said the accused shall be released from jail forthwith if not wanted in any other case. A speci
An Indian does not have the fundamental right to adopt a child of American nationality even from among relatives when the child is neither "in need of care and protection" nor in "conflict with law", the Bombay High Court has said. A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale on Wednesday refused an Indian couple's plea to adopt their relative's son, who is a US citizen by birth. The child in the present case does not fall within the definition of either a 'child in need of care and protection' or a 'child in conflict with law' as per provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and Adoption Regulations, the HC said. "There is no provision in the Juvenile Justice Act nor the Adoption Regulations providing for adoption of a child of foreign citizenship even between relatives unless the 'child is in need of care and protection' or a 'child is in conflict with law'," it stated. The bench also refused to exercise its extraordinary ...
Marriages considered sacrosanct by Hindus are at stake now because of small and trivial issues between couples, the Bombay High Court remarked while quashing a dowry harassment case against a man and his family members. The Nagpur bench of Justices Nitin Sambre and M M Nerlikar, in an order dated July 8, held that in matrimonial disputes, if a reunion is not possible, the same should be ended immediately to ensure the lives of the parties involved are not ruined. The bench was hearing a petition filed by a man and his family members seeking to quash a dowry harassment case registered against them by his estranged wife in December 2023. The estranged couple informed the court that they had settled their dispute and had been granted a divorce by mutual consent. The woman informed the court that she had no objection if the case was quashed, as she wished to move on with her life. The court, while quashing the case, said though the provisions pertaining to dowry harassment and unnatur
The Supreme Court on Monday deferred to July 18 the hearing on a plea of legendary music composer Ilaiyaraaja seeking to transfer a copyright dispute involving over 500 of his musical compositions from the Bombay High Court to the Madras High Court. The plea was listed on Monday before a bench comprising Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria. The legal case started from a lawsuit initiated by Sony Music Entertainment India in 2022 before the Bombay High Court. Sony has sought an injunction to restrain Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd (IMMPL) from using 536 musical works. The company claims it acquired rights to these works through Oriental Records and Echo Recording, the entity with which Ilaiyaraaja has long been embroiled in litigation. The IMMPL, however, alleged that 310 of the 536 disputed works are already under judicial scrutiny in a parallel case before the Madras High Court. That case, originally filed by Ilaiyaraaja in 2014 against Echo Recording, challenges the
Several benches of the Bombay High Court have recused from hearing HDFC Bank CEO and MD Sashidhar Jagdishan's plea to quash an FIR of cheating and fraud registered against him on a complaint filed by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust. While some judges cited having worked with either the Trust or the lawyers appearing for it, one judge on Thursday voluntarily disclosed that he held few shares of the HDFC Bank. Senior counsel Amit Desai appearing for Jagdishan said they do not have an objection with the same but counsel Niteen Pradhan appearing for the Trust took an objection. Pursuant to this, the bench of Justices M S Sonak and Jitendra Jain recused and said the matter shall be placed before another bench. According to the complaint filed by the Trust, which owns and manages the prominent Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, Jagdishan allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs 2.05 crore in exchange for providing financial advice to help the Chetan Mehta Group retain illegal and undue ...
The Bombay High Court on Friday expressed concern over deaths of commuters on Mumbai local trains, describing the situation as "alarming," an observation coming days after five people lost their lives post-falling off a packed suburban service. The court suggested installing automatic door-closing mechanisms in Mumbai local trains to prevent commuters from falling off, but insisted this was an advice purely from a "layman" perspective and Railway expert views were needed on the issue. A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne urged authorities to take measures to ensure tragic incidents don't occur on the Mumbai suburban network in the future. Citing an affidavit filed by the Railways, the court noted that in 2024 alone over 3,588 fatalities happened on local trains (due to various accidents on the suburban network), which means on an average ten Mumbaikars die everyday. "This is an alarming situation. Though you have projected that there ..
In a relief to Japanese automobile company Yamaha, the Bombay High Court has set aside an order refusing it a trademark similar to one already registered by Honda Motor Company and directed the registrar, Trade Marks, to adjudicate the issue afresh. A bench of Justice Manish Pitale on June 13 said while a bare perusal of the two trademarks Yamaha's WR and Honda's WR-V may cause confusion in the minds of the public, the authority ought to have considered the case as exceptional circumstances and issued an advertisement seeking objections from the public before rejecting Yamaha's application. The court stated the authority, in its "cryptic" order, completely ignored the claim of Yamaha's international reputation while refusing the application and the fact that the company has been using the WR trademark internationally since 1990. Justice Pitale said the authority could have passed a "detailed and well-reasoned order". Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha had moved the high court, ...