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The Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the acquittal of the 22 accused in the 2005 case of the alleged fake encounter of gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati. A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad dismissed the appeals filed by Shaikh's brothers, Rubabuddin and Nayabuddin, challenging the December 2018 judgment of a special court acquitting all the accused in the case. Among the 22 accused acquitted, 21 were junior-level officers from Gujarat and Rajasthan police, who were allegedly part of the teams that abducted the three and later killed them in staged encounters. The remaining one accused was the owner of a farmhouse in Gujarat, where Shaikh and Kausar Bi were allegedly illegally detained before they were killed. A detailed copy of the judgment would be made available later. The special court, while acquitting the accused, had observed that the prosecution failed to establish a cogent case to sugges
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition against the ongoing demolition drive in Gurugram, and asked the petitioners to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi disposed of the plea, granting liberty to the petitioners to make an urgent mentioning before the high court during the course of the day. The bench requested the high court's chief justice to entertain the mentioning either at 1 PM or immediately after lunch at 1.45 pm. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, argued before the bench that the local authorities have been carrying out the demolition drive without issuing show-cause notices to the residents by misconstruing an interim order of the high court. The bench observed that if the high court's interim order was allegedly being misconstrued by the authorities, then the petitioners should approach the high court. "If the high court, in its constitutional
Two senior IPS officers of the Uttarakhand cadre filed a petition in the high court challenging their deputation to posts allegedly lower than their current rank in central forces. A division bench of Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay, hearing the petition, sought a response from the government on the matter. According to the petition, through an order by the Union Home Ministry, Garg, a 2005-batch IPS officer, was posted as deputy inspector general (DIG) in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), while Joshi, a 2006-batch IPS officer, was appointed as DIG in the Border Security Force (BSF). Both officers are currently serving as inspector generals of police in the Uttarakhand Police and have challenged their deputation on the grounds that they have neither applied for central deputation, nor consented to it. The petitioners said that being transferred to the lower rank of DIG is also against service rules. The petition further states that the officers ha
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine the Centre's plea challenging a Bombay High Court verdict that struck down amendments to Information Technology Rules aimed at regulating fake and false content posted on social media against the government. The top court did not stay the 2024 High Court verdict, which struck down the amended Information Technology Rules and termed them "unconstitutional", even as a three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi issued notices to the original petitioners, including stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India, and the Association of Indian Magazines. The High Court struck down the rules amended in 2023 to empower the central government to establish a Fact-Check Unit (FCU) to identify "fake, false, or misleading" information regarding "government business" on social media. If the FCU flagged content under those rules, social media intermediaries such as X, Facebook, or ...
The Allahabad High Court on Monday observed that the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 neither prohibits interfaith marriages nor bars such couples from living together in a live-in relationship. Justice Vivek Kumar Singh said that courts do not see such couples as Hindu and Muslim, rather as two grown-up individuals who out of their own free will and choice are living together peacefully and happily for a considerable time. Allowing a writ petition filed by one Noori and 11 other connected petitions, Justice Singh granted relief to the couples that they are at liberty to approach the police for redressal of their grievances. Upon receipt of such application, the police authorities shall examine the matter and age of the petitioners and if they find any substance in the allegations of the petitioners, they will act in accordance with law for protection of life, limb and liberty of the petitioners, the court ordered. "Right to live with a person
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant expressed surprise at the opposition by members of the Gauhati High Court Bar Association to the new integrated Judicial Court Complex in Assam's North Guwahati area, the foundation for which he laid on Sunday. He maintained that "personal vested interest should not be valid grounds" for resisting the development of new infrastructure. The integrated Judicial Court Complex is envisaged to match aspirations of the future, the CJI said after laying the foundation stone for the facility at Rangmahal in North Guwahati. As the head of the country's judiciary, Justice Kant stressed that he is bound to cater to the needs of those coming into the profession. The chief justice of India said that he was surprised when he learnt that the Gauhati High Court Bar Association (GHCBA) is opposing the new integrated court complex, which will also house the Gauhati High Court. Those opposing the new court complex are either ill-informed or not realising the needs o
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Saturday said it has taken suo motu action against 27 restaurants for mandatory levying of service charges in violation of the law. These restaurants have been fined up to Rs 50,000, and were asked to refund the service charge amount to customers and also modify their billing system, as the mandatory levy of service charge has been declared as an unfair trade practice. The CCPA took action based on consumer complaints on the government helpline number. According to an official statement by the Department of Consumer Affairs, the CCPA has taken "suo motu cognizance against 27 restaurants located across the country for violation of consumer rights and adoption of unfair trade practices under Section 2(47) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, relating to the mandatory levy of service charge". Investigations revealed that several restaurants, including Caf Blue Bottle, Patna, and China Gate Restaurant Pvt Ltd (Bora Bora), Mumbai, wer