Page 9 - Allahabad High Court

Counsel's refusal to examine witness due to strike constitutes contempt: HC

Taking a serious note of delay in criminal trials especially on account of non-examination of witnesses, the Allahabad High Court on Friday ruled that any act of a counsel to prevent examination of a witness or refusal to examine a witness due to a strike call constitutes professional misconduct and contempt of court. The observation was made by Justice Ajay Bhanot while hearing the third bail application moved by an accused in a criminal matter, Noor Alam on grounds that in spite of directions to conclude the trial the same is not being concluded. The status report on the case sent by the trial court was to the effect that the lawyers repeatedly struck work. The striking lawyers prevented the examination of witnesses who had appeared before the trial court on the dates fixed. Non-examination of witnesses on various dates derailed the court process and delayed the trial. Consequently the order of this Court was not complied with. "In case examination of a witness is prevented by ..

Arms licence case: Allahabad HC rejects bail plea of UP MLA Abbas Ansari

The Allahabad High Court on Monday rejected the bail plea of Uttar Pradesh MLA Abbas Ansari, the son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, in an arms licence case. In its order, the Lucknow bench of the high court stated that a large number of metal cartridges were recovered from Abbas Ansari despite it being banned in shooting. Justice Subhash Vidyarthi stated that it was a serious matter as the accused, despite being a public representative, committed this act. It was submitted on behalf of Abbas Ansari, an MLA of the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), that he was a shooter and had a valid arms licence and hence he was entitled to keep three arms and there was no illegality in it. It was also submitted that the Delhi authorities had made correspondence with the Uttar Pradesh Police regarding the transfer of his arms licence, so it cannot be said that he concealed information about it. Opposing the plea, the state's counsel said that eight arms and more than 4,000 meta

SC rejects plea against transfer of Gyanvapi case from one court to another

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee's plea challenging the Allahabad High Court chief justice's administrative decision withdraw the Gyanvapi case from a single-judge bench hearing it since 2021. The single-judge bench was hearing the plea challenging the maintainability of a suit seeking restoration of a temple at the site where the Gyanvapi mosque exists in Varanasi. Dismissed, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said after hearing the submissions of senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, who represented the mosque committee. We should not interfere with the order of the chief justice of the high court...In high courts, it is a very standard practice. This must lie in the realm of the chief justice of the high court, the bench said. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) is challenging the withdrawal of the case from one single judge bench and its assignment to some other bench by the

Allahabad HC calls live-in relationships timepass, says they lack sincerity

The petitioner, through her lawyer, told the court that she is 20-years-old and has every right to decide on her future

Allahabad HC acquits accused in Nithari case, overturns death penalty

Surendra Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher are the accused and co-accused in the infamous Nithari murders of UP's Noida

'Rapes, murders & cannibalism': A timeline of Nithari serial killings

The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted Surendra Koli in 12 cases and Moninder Singh Pandher in two cases

SC to hear Cong leader Pawan Khera's plea against HC order on Monday

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea of Congress leader Pawan Khera challenging Allahabad High Court's refusal to quash criminal proceedings against him for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra is scheduled to hear the plea. The matter was also listed on October 13 but was adjourned after Khera's counsel sought time to file some additional documents. On August 17, the high court dismissed Khera's plea saying the evidence collected by the investigating officer of the case cannot be evaluated in petition filed under section 482 of the CrPC for quashing the case. It had observed that since the top court had asked Khera to raise all the contentions before the chief judicial magistrate, Lucknow, it would be appropriate if he raises all his grievances before the said court. On March 20, the top court clubbed three FIRs lodged against Khera in Assam and Uttar Pradesh for ...

Hindu marriage not valid without 'saat pheras': Allahabad High Court

The word 'Saptapadi' or 'saat pheras' translates from Sanskrit to 'seven steps'

Lakhimpur Kheri violence: SC allows Ashish Mishra to meet ailing mother

Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, moved Supreme Court challenging Allahabad High Court which denied bail to him in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case

SC refuses to hear plea seeking scientific survey in Krishna Janambhoomi

"We do not find it a case to exercise our jurisdiction under Article 136 more so for an interim order," the court said

Gyanvapi complex case: Allahabad High Court sets next hearing on Sept 18

Chief Justice Pritinkar Diwakar on Tuesday heard the petitions filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee and Sunni Central Waqf Board

Court grants 8 more weeks to ASI to complete Gyanvapi mosque survey

A Varanasi court on Friday granted additional time of eight weeks to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to complete the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex and submit its report. District Judge A K Vishvesh dismissed the mosque management committee's objection and provided the additional time to the ASI, government counsel Rajesh Mishra said. The ASI is carrying out a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises, next to Kashi Vishwanath temple here, to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple. The survey began after the Allahabad High Court upheld a Varanasi district court order and ruled that the step is "necessary in the interest of justice" and will benefit both the Hindu and Muslim sides.

Phone recording, even made illegally, permissible evidence: Allahabad HC

The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court has held that recorded phone conversation is an admissible piece of evidence and it cannot be discarded even if obtained illegally. "The communication between the mobile phones of two accused persons when recorded on a digital voice recorder after putting the call on speaker, will not amount to interception," the bench said on Wednesday. A bench of justice Subhash Vidyarthi made the observation, passing an order on a revision plea moved by Mahant Prasad Ram Tripathi, a former CEO of Fatehgarh Cantonment Board. The petitioner had approached the HC against the trial court's order which rejected his discharge application seeking clean chit in a bribery case. The petitioner had challenged the proceedings of trial court on the ground that the entire case was based on recording of phone conversation which was obtained in an illegal manner and as such since this evidence cannot be admissible, the proceedings before the trial court was a futile ...

Changing partners every season not hallmark of stable society: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court held that people who do not have a good relationship with their family cannot contribute to the country's progress

Gyanvapi case: Proceedings transferred to new bench of Allahabad High Court

The proceedings in the Gyanvapi case were moved to a new bench of the Allahabad High Court; the case had been reserved for a verdict set to be announced on Monday

SC to pass guidelines on summoning of officials in courts across nation

The Supreme Court on Monday said it will lay down broad guidelines for courts across the country to deal with the issue of summoning officials in cases involving the government and their officials. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said there must be different set of procedures to deal with contempt proceedings arising out of non-compliance of final judgements and the interim orders passed in pending cases. In pending cases, the affidavits of officials may serve the purpose and in contempt cases, arising out of non-compliance of court orders, the presence of government officials concerned may be necessary, the bench said. "We will lay down some guidelines for summoning of government officers. There must be bifurcation of matters pending and the ones in which adjudication is complete. For pending (cases), summoning officers is not needed but once adjudication is complete then contempt steps in, it said. The court was hearing

HC gives 4 weeks to UP govt, LDA to respond on stalled JP project

The Allahabad High Court has granted four weeks to the state government and the Lucknow Development Authority to file their counter-affidavits on a plea over the alleged delay in completing the construction of Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre in Gomti Nagar. The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court directed the matter to be listed after four weeks. A bench of chief justice Printikar Diwakar and justice Rajan Roy passed the order on Friday on the PIL filed by Sanjay Sharma. The petitioner has alleged that the construction of the center was started in 2015 but the work did not progress after a change in government, causing an escalation of cost. Located in the heart of the state capital, the centre was a dream project of the Samajwadi Party.

HC admits Mukhtar Ansari's appeal against life term awarded by lower court

The Allahabad High Court has admitted mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari's appeal against life term awarded to him by the Varanasi sessions court in the 1991 Awadhesh Rai murder case. A division bench comprising Justice K J Thaker and Justice U C Sharma summoned the lower court record and fixed September 13 as the next date of hearing. In the court proceedings on last Thursday, Mukhtar Ansari's counsel Upendra Upadhya had pleaded on his behalf but the state counsel opposed his appeal. Ansari was on June 5 awarded life imprisonment by the court of special judge (MP-MLA) for the murder of Awadhesh Rai in Varanasi in 1991. The court also slapped a penalty of Rs 1.20 lakh on him. This was Ansari's fifth conviction since September 21, 2022, and the biggest so far in terms of quantum of the sentence. Mukhtar had appeared before the court from the Banda jail through video-conferencing.

PIL seeking sealing of Gyanvapi premises dismissed as withdrawn by HC

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday dismissed as withdrawn a PIL seeking a direction to the Uttar Pradesh government to seal the entire Gyanvapi premises without affecting the ASI survey order of the Varanasi court. The court dismissed the petition as withdrawn when petitioner counsel made a prayer to approach the appropriate forum as per law and file an application for the reliefs claimed in the PIL A bench comprising Chief Justice Pritinker Diwakar and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava passed the order. The PIL was filed on Wednesday last before the the court seeking directions to the state government and district administration to seal the entire Gyanvapi mosque without affecting the ASI survey. The petition was filed by Jitender Singh Visen, Rakhi Singh and others.

ASI conducts scientific survey of Gyanvapi for 2nd day, to continue on Sun

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Saturday examined the central hall of the Gyanvapi mosque on the second day of the scientific survey to determine if the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple. Five members from the Muslim side were also present during the survey, after having stayed away on Friday. Government counsel Rajesh Mishra, who was with the ASI survey team a day before as well, on Saturday said the team started work in the morning and completed it by 5 pm. The survey work was stopped between 1 pm to 3 pm for lunch. ASI officials told PTI that the survey work will resume again at 8 am on Sunday. According to ASI officials, the team examined the central hall of the mosque where Namaz is offered. The team also surveyed a few basement areas in the complex. Advocate Tauheed Khan for the Muslim side said two lawyers of the Intezamia Masjid Committee accompanied the survey team. A lawyer for the Hindu side Sudhir Tripathi