Page 44 - Delhi High Court

Sedition case: HC seeks Delhi Police stand on Sharjeel Imam's bail plea

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the stand of the city police on student activist Sharjeel Imam's plea seeking bail in connection with a 2020 communal riots case involving allegations of sedition and unlawful activities. A bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain issued a notice to the Delhi Police on Imam's appeal against a trial court order rejecting his bail application. The counsel appearing for the accused said the trial court wrongly refused to grant him bail even though he has undergone more than half of the maximum sentence that can be awarded to him in case of a conviction. As per the prosecution, Imam made speeches at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13, 2019, and at the Aligarh Muslim University on December 16, 2019, where he threatened to cut off Assam and the rest of the northeast from the country. Imam was booked in the case registered by the Delhi Police's Special Branch. The case was initially registered for the offence of sedition and section 13 of t

Congress moves Delhi HC challenging dismissal of plea in tax penalty case

The Congress on Monday moved the Delhi High Court challenging the dismissal of its plea by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) against the imposition of penalties for discrepancies in certain tax returns. The matter was mentioned by senior advocate Vivek Tankha before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela. Tankha said it was an urgent matter as the accounts of the political party have been frozen. Acting Chief Justice Manmohan agreed to list the case for hearing during the day if the petition is in order. Last week, the ITAT had dismissed the Congress' appeal against the imposition of penalties for discrepancies in tax returns for previous years. The party has earlier said the I-T tribunal order freezing its funds was "an attack on democracy" as it had come ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. According to sources, the tribunal had dismissed the Congress' appeal against the imposition of penalties amounting to Rs 210 crore by the Income Tax departme

HC sends show-cause notice to Go First official over maintenance issues

The Delhi High Court has issued a show-cause notice to the resolution professional of crisis-hit 'Go First' airline, asking why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him for prima facie willfully disobeying judicial orders on allowing inspection and maintenance of lessors' aircraft. The high court said the RP (Resolution Professional) cannot plead difficulties in the implementation of the October 12, 2023, judgment after contempt proceedings have been filed by a lessor seeking to enforce court orders. "Prima facie, the orders of this court have been wilfully disobeyed by the respondent/ RP. Issue notice to show cause as to why proceedings of contempt be not initiated...," Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju said. The counsel for the RP submitted that he was willing to revert to the position regarding the maintenance of the aircraft. The court listed the matter for further hearing on March 15. It was hearing a petition filed by one of the lessors DAE (SY22) 13 Ireland Design

Plea in SC seeks early hearing of plea against HC verdict in Bofors case

An application has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking an early hearing of a petition challenging the Delhi High Court's 2005 verdict which quashed all charges, including those against the Hinduja brothers, in the politically sensitive Rs 64 crore Bofors pay-off case. The application, filed by advocate Ajay Agrawal, says the apex court had on November 2, 2018 dismissed the CBI's plea against the high court verdict and said the probe agency can raise all grounds in the appeal filed by him against the same judgement. Agrawal said he had filed the petition in the top court against the high court verdict in 2005 itself and over three decades have gone by since the matter came to light. "Around 16 years have passed of filing of this case by the applicant and 35 years have passed of the occurring of this scam. All the accused persons have died in between leaving Hinduja Brothers. "There have been recurrence of scams in defence sector since the accused in this first ever scam i.e Bof

Delhi HC denies default bail to Supertech chairman in money laundering case

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea by R K Arora, the chairman and promoter of real estate major Supertech Group, seeking default bail in a money laundering case. The high court rejected Arora's contention that on the date of filing of the prosecution complaint (charge sheet) the investigation was incomplete as the chargesheet was not accompanied by FSL report and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had issued summons to another person in the case after filing the prosecution complaint. The respondent (ED) has already submitted the requisite documents for obtaining expert opinion from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). Preparation of the FSL report is not in the control of the investigating agency, though it can take steps for expediting the process. It is the categorical stand of the respondent that the investigation against the present petitioner is complete. Mere issuance of summons to another person or seeking leave of the court to file additional evidence, without there

Not entitled to default bail: HC rejects Supertech's promoter Arora's plea

Default bail is enshrined in Section 167(2) of the CrPC, which states that when an accused is arrested and detained in custody, the investigation must be completed within a specified time frame

Delhi HC issues contempt notice to Go First RP over maintenance of aircraft

Go First RP had earlier cited lack of funds for the inability to retain aircraft maintenance staff

Delhi court summons CM Kejriwal on March 16 after fresh complaint by ED

A Delhi court on Thursday issued summons to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on a fresh complaint by the ED for evading its summonses in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam, saying there were "sufficient grounds" for proceeding against him. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra directed Kejriwal to appear before the court on March 16. The judge passed the order on the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) complaint seeking prosecution of Kejriwal for repeatedly evading summonses on January 12 and 31 and February 14. The judge observed that under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the person summoned is bound to comply, and the law enables prosecution of those who don't. Thus, as per the mandate of the Act, the respondent/ proposed accused was legally bound to comply with the summons but allegedly he failed to do so. In view thereof, the complaint accompanied by the supporting documents discloses all the necessary ...

HC reserves order on Bloomberg's plea over take down of article against Zee

The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved the order on plea moved by Bloomberg Television Production Services India Private Limited challenging the order of the Saket district court directing it to take down an article titled "India Regulator Uncovers USD 241 Million Accounting Issue at Zee" published on February 21 from its website.The bench of Justice Shalinder Kaur decided to reserved the order after hearing the submissions at length of both sides.The article claimed that the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had apparently "found a discrepancy of more than USD 240 million in the accounts of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd".The Saket Court on March 1 stated that the plaintiff/Zee has made out a prima facie case for passing ad interim ex-parte orders of injunction, the balance of convenience is also in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendant/Bloomberg and irreparable loss and injury may be caused to the plaintiff, if the injunction as prayed for is not ...

Expecting wife to do household chores does not amount to cruelty: Delhi HC

The HC noted that in some cases, the husband handles the financial obligations and the wife accepts household responsibility. Thus, expecting the wife to do household chores can't be termed as cruelty

Delhi HC to pass order on plea by BJP MLAs against suspension today

The Delhi High Court will pronounce its verdict on Wednesday on petitions filed by seven BJP MLAs from the city challenging their indefinite suspension from the Legislative Assembly for interrupting Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena's address at the start of the Budget session. Justice Subramonium Prasad reserved the order on the pleas on February 27 after hearing the counsel for the suspended legislators and the Assembly. The seven Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs -- Mohan Singh Bisht, Ajay Mahawar, O P Sharma, Abhay Verma, Anil Bajpai, Jitender Mahajan and Vijender Gupta -- moved the court last month challenging their suspension from the Assembly till the conclusion of the proceedings before the privileges committee. The pronouncement is scheduled to take place at 2:30 pm. The MLAs had contended that their suspension till the conclusion of the proceedings before the privileges committee was in violation of the applicable rules. The Assembly authorities had, on the other hand, assu

2020 Delhi riots: HC reserves order on bail pleas of 4 accused in UAPA case

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved its order on the bail plea of four accused in the case concerning the alleged larger conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots in 2020

Delhi HC to hear wrestlers' petition against WFI elections on Monday

The Delhi High Court will on Monday hear a petition by wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and her husband Satyawart Kadian seeking to set aside and declare as illegal the elections held by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The petition by the wrestlers, who were at the forefront of last year's protest at Jantar Mantar here demanding the arrest of former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for the alleged sexual harassment of seven women grapplers, is listed for hearing before Justice Sachin Datta. The plea contended that the WFI elections, held on December 21, were in blatant violation of Sports Code and sought a direction to the federation to "cease and desist" from undertaking any activity pertaining to the sport of wrestling. "The present Writ Petition is being filed by the Petitioners inter alia assailing, challenging, and seeking directions against the illegal action of the suspended Wrestling Federation of India conducting selection trials for the Seni

Go First resolution professional not able to maintain aircraft: Delhi HC

The court warned the RP that it may issue him a notice in the contempt petition if a consensus is not reached on the issue

Delhi HC sets aside order asking CBDT to give info on Ram Mandir Trust

The Delhi High Court has set aside an order of the Central Information Commission directing the Central Board of Direct Taxes to provide information relating to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, looking after the construction and management of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, under the RTI Act. The high court on February 28 allowed the petition by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) challenging the Central Information Commission's (CIC's) November 30, 2022, order. Justice Subramonium Prasad said it is always open for applicant Kailash Chandra Moondra to approach the appropriate authority under the Income Tax Act to seek information as sought in the Right to Information (RTI) application. The high court was dealing with a plea by the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of CBDT seeking quashing of the November 30, 2022, order of the CIC which had directed that the CPIO would revisit certain points made in the application under the RTI Act and provide information within 1

Notice to govt on conditions imposed on married women for using maiden name

The plea alleges gender bias and an "impermissible discrimination" against women as the Centre's conditions and requisites are applied only on them, if they wish to revert to their maiden names

IOCL to relaunch tender to set up a green hydrogen production unit

The recently closed other big green H2 tender was by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) under the aegis of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

HC reserves order on BJP MLAs' pleas against suspension from Delhi Assembly

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved its order on the pleas by seven BJP MLAs challenging their indefinite suspension from the legislative assembly for interrupting Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena's address at the start of the budget session. Justice Subramonium Prasad asked the parties to file short written submissions, if any, within two days. The court was hearing petitions by the BJP MLAs -- Mohan Singh Bisht, Ajay Mahawar, O P Sharma, Abhay Verma, Anil Bajpai, Jitender Mahajan and Vijender Gupta -- challenging their indefinite suspension from the assembly till the conclusion of the proceedings before the privileges committee. Earlier, the court had asked the privileges committee of the Delhi Assembly to hold off its proceedings against the suspended MLAs in view of the pendency of the matter before it. The MLAs, represented through senior advocate Jayant Mehta, had contended their suspension till the conclusion of the proceedings before the privileges committee was in ...

SC to hear Kejriwal's plea against Delhi HC order in defamation case on Mon

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging a Delhi High Court order which upheld summons issued to him as an accused in a criminal defamation case for retweeting an allegedly defamatory video circulated by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in May 2018. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is likely to hear the matter. In its judgement dated February 5, 2024, the high court had said that reposting alleged libelous content will attract defamation law. The high court had said a sense of responsibility has to be attached while retweeting content about which one does not have knowledge and added that retweeting of defamatory content must invite penal, civil as well as tort action if the person retweeting it does not attach a disclaimer. "This court is of the view that rigours of Section 499 (defamation) of IPC will be attracted prima facie in case a person retweets/ reposts the alleged defamatory remarks or content, for the

Atishi declares order of appointing Delhi govt standing counsel 'invalid'

Delhi Law Minister Atishi has declared as "invalid" an order issued by the principal secretary (Law) appointing another lawyer as standing counsel to represent Delhi government before the Delhi High Court on interim basis instead of standing counsel (civil) Santosh Kumar Tripathi. The minister, in an order issued on February 15, said "Tripathi will continue to handle the responsibilities of standing counsel (civil), Delhi High Court, GNCTD". A copy of the order has also been sent to the registrar general of the high court. Earlier this month, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena had said that government counsel have made "misleading" statements before the high court related to a report on the opening of liquor vends in conforming and non-conforming wards while implementing the now-rescinded excise policy in the national capital, officials had said. Later on February 14, the principal secretary (Law) issued an order stating, "As an interim arrangement and to ensure proper ...