Page 3 - Court Cases

US judge lifts travel restrictions for Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil

A federal judge has lifted travel restrictions for Mahmoud Khalil, allowing the Palestinian activist to speak at rallies and other events across the US as he fights his deportation case brought by the Trump administration. Khalil, who was freed from a Louisiana immigration jail in June, had asked a federal magistrate judge to lift the restrictions that limited his travel to New York, New Jersey, Washington, DC, Louisiana and Michigan. "He wants to travel for the very significant First Amendment reasons that are at the bottom of this case," his lawyer, Alina Das, said during a virtual hearing on Thursday. "He wants to speak to issues of public concern." An attorney for the government, Aniello DeSimone, opposed the move, arguing that Khalil "has not provided enough of a reason why he could not attend these and other events telephonically". The magistrate judge, Michael Hammer, agreed on Thursday to allow Khalil to travel, noting he is not considered a flight risk and had not violated

Two jurors say they were bullied into convicting Weinstein, claim lawyers

Two jurors who voted in June to convict Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault said they regret the decision and only did so because others on the panel bullied them, the former movie mogul's lawyers said in a newly public court filing. Weinstein's lawyers are seeking to overturn his conviction for first-degree criminal sex act, arguing in papers unsealed Thursday that the guilty verdict was marred by threats, intimidation, and extraneous bias, and that the judge failed to properly deal with it at the time. In sworn affidavits included with the filing, two jurors said they felt overwhelmed and intimidated by jurors who wanted to convict Weinstein on the charge, which accused him of forcing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant and producer Miriam Haley in 2006. One juror said she was screamed at in the jury room and told, we have to get rid of you. The other juror said anyone who doubted Weinstein's guilt was grilled by other jurors and that if he could have voted by secret ...

Conversion victims can face action if they try to convert others: HC

The Gujarat High Court has said that persons claiming to be victims of religious conversion can also face legal action if they later attempt to convert others. On account of their act of "influencing, pressuring and alluring other persons to convert to Islam", a prima facie offence is made out against them, the court of Justice Nirzar Desai said on October 1, hearing a batch of petitions moved by several persons. The petitioners claimed they were originally Hindus and had been converted to Islam by other persons, and hence they were themselves victims of conversion and not accused. The court noted that they were involved in "pressuring and alluring other persons to convert to Islam," which would prima facie make out an offence against them. Several men accused of religious conversion had approached the HC, contending that they were themselves victims of religious conversion and the First Information Report (FIR) against them was misconceived. They sought the FIR lodged against the

Trump deploys California Guard to Oregon despite setback from court

The troops arrived Saturday night with no prior notice to state officials, and more troops are on the way, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said in a statement Sunday

NCLAT sets aside Future Consumer's plea for insolvency against Aussee Oats

Appellate Tribunal NCLAT has set aside an appeal by Future Consumer Ltd (FCL) seeking to initiate insolvency against Aussee Oats Ltd. A two-member NCLAT bench has upheld the orders of the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which had rejected the claims of FCL, part of the debt-ridden Future Group. FCL had claimed an amount of over Rs one crore due from Aussee Oats. It had given Rs two crore to Aussee Oats in the form of an Inter-Corporate Deposit. According to FCL, out of the total deposit, only Rs 1.35 crore has been paid, and the rest Rs 65 lakh is due, which now, along with interest, totals over Rs one crore. However, NCLT observed that the financial statement of the corporate debtor (Aussee Oats) reflected a 'set off' of the claims, and there was NIL amount payable to the Financial Creditor (FCL). Moreover, it also observed a dispute between them. This order was challenged by FCL before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), which also rej

Google asks US Supreme Court to freeze app store ruling in Epic Games case

Google in its Supreme Court filing said that the changes will have enormous consequences for more than 100 million US Android users and 500,000 developers

Amazon faces trial over allegedly tricking customers for Prime subscription

A federal trial beginning in Amazon's hometown this week is set to examine whether the online retailing giant tricked customers into signing up for its Prime service and made it difficult to cancel after they did so. The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon in U.S. District Court in Seattle two years ago and has alleged more than a decade of legal violations, including of the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act, a 2010 law designed to help ensure that people know what they're being charged for online. Jury selection began Monday, with opening statements to follow. Prime provides subscribers with perks that include faster shipping, video streaming and discounts at Whole Foods for a fee of USD 139 annually, or USD 14.99 a month. It's a key and growing part of Amazon's business, with more than 200 million members. In its latest quarterly report, the company in July reported more than USD 12 billion in net revenue for subscription services, which is a 12% increase from the same .

Need to curb avoidable service-related appeals in HCs: Jitendra Singh

Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh on Saturday said there is a need to find ways to avoid avoidable appeals filed in high courts in service matters related to government employees. Addressing an event, he urged all concerned to help ensure that the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) fulfils its basic original mandate of reducing the backlog of service-related cases in higher courts. The CAT adjudicates on government employees' service matters. Singh emphasised the need to find ways of avoiding avoidable appeals in high courts, noting that the very purpose of the CAT is to provide finality at the tribunal level for ease of justice to employees and streamline judicial procedures. Speaking at the 10th all-India conference of the CAT at Bharat Mandapam here, the minister urged the members of the judiciary to voluntarily come forward to take up assignments in the tribunal "in the interest of administration of justice and in the service of the nation". He observed t

Judge rules Trump admin illegally fired thousands of probationary workers

The Trump administration's central human resources office acted illegally when it directed the mass firings of probationary workers as part of President Donald Trump's efforts to downsize the federal workforce, a judge has ruled. US District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco said Friday in awarding judgment to a coalition of labour unions and nonprofits that the US Office of Personnel Management "unlawfully exceeded its own powers and usurped and exercised powers reserved by Congress to each individual" federal agency to hire and fire its own workers. He said the government "disagrees but does not persuade" in its defence that the office did not direct employment decisions, but merely offered guidance to other agencies. "Judge Alsup's decision makes clear that thousands of probationary workers were wrongfully fired, exposes the sham record the government relied upon, and requires the government to tell the wrongly terminated employees that OPM's reasoning for firing them was ...

Dispose of bail pleas within two months: SC tells HCs, district courts

The Court noted that while heavy case loads remain a challenge, matters affecting liberty must be given priority

Supreme Court to give interim order on Waqf Act issues on September 15

These include the power to denotify properties declared as "waqf by courts, waqf-by-user or waqf by deed."

Road blockade case: Congress leader Pradeep Jain, 13 others get 2 yrs jail

A court here on Friday sentenced senior Congress leader and former Union minister of state Pradeep Jain Aditya and 13 others to two years' imprisonment in connection with a 2013 road blockade held to protest power cuts, a case lawyer said. However, all of them were released on a personal bond and granted a month to appeal the verdict, he said. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM-I) and Special MP-MLA Court Judge Anil Kumar Saptam convicted Aditya and others under various sections of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, a case lawyer said. He said the case pertains to a June 11, 2013, protest by the Congress near Parichha Thermal Power Plant over electricity issues, where party workers allegedly blocked the Jhansi-Kanpur highway at the call of Jain, causing a massive traffic jam. All convicts were released on a personal bond. They have been granted a month's time to appeal against the verdict, he added. Jain appeared emotional after the sentenc

Delhi riots case: SC defers bail pleas of Umar Khalid, others to Sept 19

The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned to September 19 bail pleas of activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima and Meeran Haider in the UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the February 2020 riots in the national capital. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria said it received the files very late. The activists have challenged the September 2 Delhi High Court order which denied bail to nine persons, including Khalid and Imam, saying "conspiratorial" violence under the garb of demonstrations or protests by citizens couldn't be allowed. Those who faced bail rejection include Khalid, Imam, Fatima, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa Ur Rehman, Athar Khan, Meeran Haider, Abdul Khalid Saifi and Shadab Ahmed. The bail plea of another accused Tasleem Ahmed was rejected by a different high court bench on September 2. The high court said the Constitution affords citizens the right to protest and carry out demonstrations or agitations, provided they are orderly, peac

Judge blocks Trump policy barring undocumented people from 'Head Start'

A federal judge has issued a nationwide block on a Trump administration directive that prevented children in the US illegally from enrolling in Head Start, a federally funded preschool programme. Head Start associations in several states filed suit against the policy change by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The ruling by a federal judge in Washington state on Thursday comes after a coalition of 21 Democratic attorney generals succeeded in temporarily halting the policy's implementation within their own states. With the new ruling, the policy is now on hold across the country. In July, HHS proposed a rule reinterpretation to disallow immigrants in the country illegally from receiving certain social services, including Head Start and other community health programmes. Those programs were previously made accessible by a federal law in President Bill Clinton's administration. The change was part of a broader Trump administration effort to exclude people without legal .

Umar Khalid calls 2020 riots FIR a 'joke', alleges evidence fabrication

Activist Umar Khalid on Thursday opposed the framing of charges in the 2020 Delhi riots "larger conspiracy" case and told a Delhi court that he has spent five years in custody in this "joke of an FIR". He alleged that evidence was fabricated to implicate him. The arguments on framing of charges were being held before Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai. Khalid's counsel, senior advocate Trideep Pais, said, "I have spent five years in custody in this joke of an FIR. This FIR doesn't have the sanctity of law." The case is being investigated by Delhi Police's Special Cell. Pais said the FIR, in which the prosecution claimed that 51 innocent people died, was unnecessary as these deaths are being probed separately. "The deaths of those people are being investigated by 751 different FIRs," the senior counsel said. He alleged that the prosecution initially decided to implicate a person and then targeted him by fabricating documents and filing the chargesheet. "You first decide 'is

Azure Power pays $23 mn to settle US court case over alleged bribery

Solar energy producer Azure Power has paid USD 23 million to settle a case in a US district court over alleged bribery and other irregularities, the company said on Tuesday. Azure, whose shares were listed for US trading on the NY Stock Exchange, said the resolution will enable it to move forward. An indictment a New York district court had charged the company and its former executives Ranjit Gupta, Murali Subramanian, and Pawan Kumar Agrawal of misrepresenting data about the company and allegedly paying bribes to win new projects. They were charged with making "false and misleading" statements on compliance with anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws and causing damage to investors who had acquired Azure equity shares at "artificially inflated prices due to the misrepresentation and omission" of facts. "On April 11,2025, the company and the court-appointed lead plaintiff, acting on behalf of all members of the settlement class, agreed, subject to court approval, to a full and final

US appeals court blocks Trump from withholding billions in foreign aid

A 2-1 ruling by a three-judge appeals panel on Friday dealt Trump another setback in his effort to block spending of billions in foreign aid already approved by Congress for global programmes

US court blocks Trump's use of Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gangs

A federal appeals court panel ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump cannot use an 18th century wartime law to speed the deportations of people his administration accuses of membership in a Venezuelan gang, blocking a signature administration push that is destined for a final showdown at the US Supreme Court. A three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative federal appeals courts in the country, in a 2-1 decision agreed with immigrant rights lawyers and lower court judges who argued the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 was not intended to be used against gangs like Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan group Trump targeted in his March invocation. The administration deported people designated as Tren de Aragua members to a notorious prison in El Salvador where, it argued, US courts could not order them freed.

What happens to Trump's tariffs now that US appeals court calls it illegal?

President Donald Trump has audaciously claimed virtually unlimited power to bypass Congress and impose sweeping taxes on foreign products. Now a federal appeals court has thrown a roadblock in his path. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Friday that Trump went too far when he declared national emergencies to justify imposing sweeping import taxes on almost every country on earth. The ruling largely upheld a May decision by a specialised federal trade court in New York. But the 7-4 appeals court decision tossed out a part of that ruling striking down the tariffs immediately, allowing his administration time to appeal to the US Supreme Court. The ruling was a big setback for Trump, whose erratic trade policies have rocked financial markets, paralysed businesses with uncertainty and raised fears of higher prices and slower economic growth. Which tariffs did the court knock down? The court's decision centres on the tariffs Trump slapped in April on almost all US tr

US court finds Trump's tariffs 'illegal', but levies in place for now

Federal judges ruled Trump exceeded authority by invoking emergency law, but tariffs remain in place pending further appeals to the Supreme Court