Page 5 - Court Cases

Delhi court denies bail to businessman in ₹48,000 crore PMLA fraud case

Hayer, the son-in-law of the late Nirmal Singh Bhangu, is one of the accused in the case linked to PACL. He is on bail granted by the Delhi High Court in a related case filed by the CBI

US court finds Trump's push to end birthright citizenship unconstitutional

A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that President Donald Trump's order seeking to end birthright citizenship is unconstitutional, affirming a lower-court decision that blocked its enforcement nationwide. The ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes after the push was also blocked by a federal judge in New Hampshire, and puts the issue one step closer to quickly coming back before the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court declines to examine plea on milk used at Tirupati temple

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to examine a plea for a direction to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams to ensure the milk used for the worship of Lord Venkatesh should be taken only from indigenous cows. A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh declined to pass any direction on the matter. "There are much more important issues than this. The true love for god lies in serving fellow living beings, and not in these things," the bench said. The top court was hearing a plea filed by Yuga Thulasi Foundation seeking directions to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams to ensure only the milk of indigenous cows was used for the worship and bhog prasad (sacred food offering) of Lord Venkatesh. The counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that worship has to be conducted as per the Agamashastras (Hindu scriptures) and sought implementation of an existing resolution.

All marriage-time gifts not necessarily stridhan, says Delhi court

A Delhi court has said every article given at the time of marriage cannot be called stridhan (woman's property) and dismissed a woman's plea seeking return of her articles, including a car. Judicial magistrate Sonika was hearing an application filed by the woman under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act. Stridhan is movable or immovable assets, received during the lifetime, by a woman either prior to marriage or at the time of marriage or at childbirth. In an order on July 12, the court held, "Upon perusal of the record, including the documents annexed with the present application, at this stage, it cannot be concluded that all the articles, including the car, as mentioned in the list of dowry articles annexed with the present application were given as the stridhan articles of the petitioner." It said there was no prima facie evidence, such as bills, photographs, or affidavits of witnesses, to prove the ownership. The order added, "Moreover, each and every article g

US justice dept asks court to unseal grand jury records in Epstein case

Justice Department lawyers made the requests Friday to two judges in Manhattan, where prosecutors handled separate criminal cases against Epstein and his former associate, Ghislaine Maxwell

Trump won't recommend special counsel in Epstein case, says spokeswoman

President Donald Trump will not recommend a special counsel in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, a White House spokeswoman has said, turning aside calls for further action in an inquiry that has roiled the Justice Department and angered supporters who had been expecting a treasure trove of documents from the case. The rejection of a special counsel is part of an effort by the White House to turn the page from continued outrage from corners of Trump's base over the Justice Department's refusal last week to release additional records from the investigation into Epstein, a well-connected and wealthy financier who killed himself in jail in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. Officials also said Epstein did not maintain a much-hyped "client list" and said the evidence was clear he had died by suicide despite conspiracy theories to the contrary. Trump on Wednesday sought to clamp down on criticism from his own supporters about his administration's handling of the ...

Lodha Developers to deposit ₹520 cr as security in case against VHL

Lodha Developers Ltd has been directed to deposit Rs 520.80 crore as security in relation to an ongoing case in the Supreme Court against V Hotels Ltd, which the company acquired last year through an insolvency process. In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Lodha Developers Ltd informed that this matter is related to proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the erstwhile promoter of V Hotels Ltd (VHL). This was in relation to a transaction of Rs 520.80 crore, allegedly routed through VHL before the start of the insolvency process. Lodha expects that the matter will be heard expeditiously in the apex court and the deposit will be released. In April last year, Lodha Developers Ltd announced the takeover of VHL through the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016. In the filing, the company said it acquired VHL in 2024 and paid the consideration to various creditors based on the approved resolution plan. The .

Appeals court returns peace institute to Trump admin with temporary stay

A federal appeals court panel on Friday stayed a lower court ruling that blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with dismantling the US Institute of Peace, an organisation taken over in March by the Department of Government Efficiency, then led by Elon Musk. The three-judge panel with the US Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit issued the stay, saying the Trump administration's appeal of US District Court Judge Beryl Howell's opinion would likely succeed on the merits. The stay added that the president would face "irreparable harm from not being able to fully exercise his executive powers." The judges said in their decision that the nonprofit think tank that focuses on peace initiatives engaged in activities that fall under the purview of the executive branch. The appeal's court action is the latest turn in the government's shutdown of the USIP, which had been turned back over to the organisation's board and acting president following Howell's May 19 ...

Weinstein jurors focus on accuser Mann's emails as deliberations continue

Jurors in Harvey Weinstein's sex crimes retrial appeared to be focusing on one of his three accusers as deliberations stretched into a fourth day on Tuesday, with no further sign of interpersonal tensions that flared earlier. The jury had requested to start off Tuesday with electronic copies of emails and other evidence pertaining to Jessica Mann the accuser with arguably the most complex history with Weinstein. Jurors deliberated through the day, winding up with a request to rehear on Wednesday a key part of Mann's testimony. Jurors also indicated they want on Wednesday to keep reviewing the emails and some medical records concerning her reaction to news accounts of other women's allegations against him. During days of testimony, Mann said the Oscar-winning movie producer raped her in 2013 amid a consensual relationship that continued for years afterward. Weinstein's lawyers emphasised that she kept seeing him, accepting invitations and sending warm messages to him. Mann said she

Salvador court convicts 3 ex-army officers in 1982 killing of 4 journalists

Three former Salvadoran officers were convicted by a five-person jury late Tuesday for the 1982 killings of four Dutch journalists during the Central American nation's civil war. A jury made up of five women convicted the three men of murder in a lightning trial that began Tuesday morning in the northern city of Chalatenango, said Oscar Perez, lawyer for the Foundation Comunicandonos that represented the victims. Perez said prosecutors requested 15-year prison sentences for all three. Convicted were former Defence Minister Gen. Jose Guillermo Garcia, 91, former treasury police director Col. Francisco Moran, 93, and Col. Mario Adalberto Reyes Mena, 85, who was the former army commander of the Fourth Infantry Brigade in Chalatenango. Garcia and Moran are under police guard at a private hospital in San Salvador, while Reyes Mena lives in the United States. In March, El Salvador's Supreme Court ordered that the extradition process be started to bring him back. The Dutch TV journalists

Prosecutor in Trump files case invokes 5th Amendment in Congress interview

A key prosecutor on the classified documents case against President Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a congressional interview Wednesday, declining to answer questions because of concern about the Trump administration's willingness to weaponise the machinery of government against perceived adversaries, a spokesman said. Jay Bratt had been subpoenaed to appear before the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee for a closed-door interview but did not answer substantive questions because of his Fifth Amendment constitutional right to remain silent. Bratt spent more than three decades at the Justice Department before retiring in January, just weeks before President Donald Trump took office. He was a key national security prosecutor on special counsel Jack Smith's team, which in 2023 charged Trump with illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and with obstructing the government's efforts to recover them.

Wisconsin judge indicted for allegedly helping man evade immigration agents

A federal grand jury indicted a Wisconsin judge Tuesday on charges she helped a man in the country illegally evade US immigration authorities looking to arrest him as he appeared before her in a local domestic abuse case. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan's arrest and ensuing indictment has escalated a clash between President Donald Trump's administration and local authorities over the Republican's sweeping immigration crackdown. Democrats have accused the Trump administration of trying to make a national example of Dugan to chill judicial opposition to the crackdown. Prosecutors charged Dugan in April via complaint with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. In the federal criminal justice system, prosecutors can initiate charges against a defendant directly by filing a complaint or present evidence to a grand jury and let that body decide whether to issue charges. A grand jury still reviews charges brought by complaint to determine whether enough ..

Pocso Act now misused for exploitation, says Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has observed that the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which was enacted to protect children under the age of 18 years from sexual exploitation, has now become a tool for their exploitation. While hearing a bail application, Justice Krishan Pahal stressed that the Act was never meant to criminalise consensual romantic relationships between adolescents and said the fact of a consensual relationship borne out of love should be considered while granting bail. The court said it would amount to the perversity of justice if the statement of the victim was ignored and the accused was left to suffer in jail. The court made these observations while granting bail under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and POCSO Act to an 18-year-old boy who was booked for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl. The applicant Raj Sonkar was arrested in March this year. His counsel contended before the court that it was a case of consensual relationship and that .

100 PMLA courts in country but money laundering trials delayed: ED

Timely completion of money laundering case trials continues to face several "systemic" and "procedural" hurdles, even though there are 100 special PMLA courts across the country, the Enforcement Directorate has said in its latest report. The federal probe agency has been regularly targeted by political parties in the opposition, alleging that its actions were biased and the conviction rate was "poor" -- a claim strongly refuted by the organisation. ED Director Rahul Navin defended the track record of his agency during an event held here on Thursday to mark the 'ED Day', saying its conviction rate was more than 93 per cent. Same day, the ED also released its first-ever annual report, where it devoted a specific chapter to 'Challenges in Expeditious Completion of PMLA Trials'. Till now, the estimate of yearly work done by the agency was clubbed in the 'Annual Report' of the Union finance ministry under which the ED works. "While the legal framework under PMLA (Prevention of Money ..

Mangione wants murder case dropped, cites double jeopardy in CEO killing

Luigi Mangiones lawyers urging a judge Thursday to throw out his state murder charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, arguing that the New York case and a parallel federal death penalty prosecution amount to double jeopardy. If that doesn't happen, they want terrorism charges dismissed and prosecutors barred from using evidence collected during Mangione's arrest last December, including a 9 mm handgun, ammunition and a notebook in which authorities say he described his intent to wack an insurance executive. Mangione's lawyers also want to exclude statements he made to police officers who took him into custody at a McDonald's restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of New York City, after a five-day search. Among other things, prosecutors say the Ivy League graduate apologised to officers for the inconvenience of the day, and expressed concern for a McDonald's employee who alerted them to his whereabouts, saying: A lot of peop

Law ministry urges timely response to court orders to prevent contempt

With nearly 1.50 lakh contempt cases involving the central government pending across courts, the law ministry has pushed for "timely and adequate" response to court orders by Union ministries to prevent such proceedings. The ministry also pointed out that many officials managing litigation in ministries or their departments do not possess qualification in the field of law which results in a lack of understanding of legal implications and delayed response to judicial directives. This leads to contempt cases against head of the organisations, it said. In its 'Directive for the efficient and effective management of litigation by the Government of India', the Department of Legal Affairs in the law ministry said the capacity of ministries to manage litigation is limited due to resource constraints. Most ministries and departments do not have a dedicated legal cell, and cases are generally being handled by the administrative or technical divisions overseeing the relevant subject matter.

Man uses AI avatar in court, raising fresh concerns over ethical boundaries

The use of an AI-generated avatar in a New York courtroom has sparked a debate over the ethical boundaries of artificial intelligence, raising questions about its role in legal proceedings and beyond

Elon Musk's 'relentless' campaign to undermine us must stop, says OpenAI

In a lawsuit filed last year, Musk accused OpenAI of straying from its original nonprofit mission by accepting billions in funding from Microsoft in 2019, a year after he stepped down from its board

Law ministry comes out with directive to reduce litigation involving Centre

Seeking to reduce and prevent court cases involving the central government, the Union law ministry has come out with a set of directives to be followed by all central ministries. The central government is a party in nearly seven lakh cases pending across courts, according to official data. Minimising "unwarranted appeals" in courts and addressing "inconsistencies in notifications and orders" that lead to court cases are the key measures proposed by the ministry. The Department of Legal Affairs in the law ministry has formulated the "Directive for the efficient and effective management of litigation by the Government of India" based on the recommendations of the committee of secretaries (CoS), chaired by the cabinet secretary, the ministry said in a statement on Friday. " It shall be applicable to all ministries and departments of the central government, including their attached and subordinate offices, autonomous bodies, as well as Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)...," it

Chevron told to pay $740 mn to restore Louisiana coast in landmark case

Oil company Chevron must pay more than $740 million to restore damage it caused to southeast Louisiana's coastal wetlands, a jury ruled on Friday following a landmark trial more than a decade in the making. The case was the first of dozens of pending lawsuits to reach trial in Louisiana against the world's leading oil companies for their role in accelerating land loss along the state's rapidly disappearing coast. The verdict - which Chevron says it will appeal - could set a precedent leaving other oil and gas firms on the hook for billions of dollars in damages tied to land loss and environmental degradation. What did Chevron do wrong? Jurors found that energy giant Texaco, acquired by Chevron in 2001, had for decades violated Louisiana regulations governing coastal resources by failing to restore wetlands impacted by dredging canals, drilling wells and billions of gallons of wastewater dumped into the marsh. No company is big enough to ignore the law, no company is big enough to w