Page 4 - Court Cases

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

US appeals court rules Trump's tariffs illegal, but keeps them in place

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump had no legal right to impose sweeping tariffs on almost every country on earth but left in place for now his effort to build a protectionist wall around the American economy. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Trump wasn't legally allowed to declare national emergencies and impose import taxes on almost every country on earth, a ruling that largely upheld a May decision by a specialised federal trade court in New York. It seems unlikely that Congress intended to ... grant the President unlimited authority to impose tariffs, the judges wrote in a 7-4 ruling. But they did not strike down the tariffs immediately, allowing his administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court. The president vowed to do just that. If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America, Trump wrote on his social medial platform. White House spokesman Kush Desai said Trump had acted lawfu

Delhi govt notifies rules for e-delivery of court summons, warrants

The Delhi BNSS (Service of Summons and Warrants) Rules, 2025, have been notified by the city government, paving the way for electronic delivery of court summons and warrants through WhatsApp and e-mail, officials said on Saturday. The move will save time and ensure prompt delivery of the summons, they said. The notification, issued by the home department of Delhi government, was earlier approved by Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, officials said. The provision of electronic delivery will free the police force from paperwork and clerical duties, thereby strengthening their policing activities and investigations, said a senior government official. Now, the summons issued by the courts will be generated electronically and carry the digital seal and signature of the judge concerned. Police will then communicate it to the person concerned through e-mail or WhatsApp. According to the Rules, the courts may direct for physical delivery of the summons if the electronic delivery fails or the

Australian lawyer apologises for AI-generated errors in murder case

A senior lawyer in Australia has apologised to a judge for filing submissions in a murder case that included fake quotes and non-existent case judgments generated by artificial intelligence. The blunder in the Supreme Court of Victoria state is another in a litany of mishaps AI has caused in justice systems around the world. Defence lawyer Rishi Nathwani, who holds the prestigious legal title of King's Counsel, took full responsibility for filing incorrect information in submissions in the case of a teenager charged with murder, according to court documents seen by The Associated Press on Friday. We are deeply sorry and embarrassed for what occurred, Nathwani told Justice James Elliott on Wednesday, on behalf of the defence team. The AI-generated errors caused a 24-hour delay in resolving a case that Elliott had hoped to conclude on Wednesday. Elliott ruled on Thursday that Nathwani's client, who cannot be identified because he is a minor, was not guilty of murder because of mental

Court rejects Musk's bid to dismiss OpenAI's harassment allegations

The ruling marks the latest turn in dispute that began when Musk accused OpenAI of abandoning its nonprofit roots by taking billions from Microsoft in 2019, a year after he left

Epstein victims oppose Trump-era push to unseal grand jury documents

The request comes amid a controversy sparked by the Trump administration's decision last month not to release documents that could reveal some of Epstein's clients

Colombian ex-President Uribe sentenced to 12 yrs house arrest for bribery

Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe was sentenced Friday to 12 years of house arrest for witness tampering and bribery in a historic case that gripped the South American nation and tarnished the conservative strongman's legacy. The sentence, which Uribe said will be appealed, followed a nearly six-month trial in which prosecutors presented evidence that he attempted to influence witnesses who accused the law-and-order leader of having links to a paramilitary group in the 1990s. Uribe, 73, faced up to 12 years in prison after being convicted on Monday. He has denied any wrongdoing and characterised the case as political persecution. Ahead of Friday's sentencing hearing, Uribe posted on X that he was preparing arguments to support his appeal. He added that one must think much more about the solution than the problem during personal crises. The former president governed from 2002 to 2010 with strong support from the United States. He is a polarising figure in Colombia, where many

Ex-cop who mistook Black man's phone for gun gets 15 yrs to life for murder

A former Ohio police officer convicted of murder in the shooting of Andre Hill, a Black man who was holding a cellphone and keys when he was killed, was given a mandatory sentence Monday of 15 years to life. Former Columbus officer Adam Coy shot Hill four times in a garage in December 2020, as the country reckoned with a series of police killings of Black men, women and children. He told jurors that he feared for his life because he thought Hill was holding a silver revolver. Coy, who is being treated for Hodgkin lymphoma, told the court Monday he plans to appeal the verdict. I feel my actions were justified, Coy said. I reacted the same way I had in hundreds of training scenarios. I drew and fired my weapon to stop a threat, protect myself and my partner." Prosecutors said Hill followed police commands and was never a threat to Coy. In victim impact statements Monday, Hill's sisters and ex-wife described the 47-year-old as a gentle man who had never met a stranger. His grandchild