Page 2 - High Court

SC dismisses Telangana's plea against HC order on quota to Backward Classes

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the Telangana government's plea challenging a high court order which stayed a government order providing 42 per cent reservation to Backward Classes in local bodies. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the state's plea against the October 9 order of the Telangana High Court. The high court had issued an interim stay against the government order. The high court, which was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the state government's order that increased the Backward Classes quota, had directed the state to file its reply in four weeks. Some of the petitioners before the high court challenged the September 26, 2025, government order, saying the 42 per cent quota to Backward Classes raises total reservation in local bodies to 67 per cent. It breaches the 50 per cent ceiling on reservations laid down by the court in its verdicts, they claimed.

Karisma Kapoor's kids dispute Sunjay Kapur's Will, call it forged

Sunjay Kapur's children tell Delhi High Court their father's alleged Will is forged, citing misspelled names, wrong addresses, and missing asset details

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

Prajwal Revanna challenges conviction in rape case in Karnataka HC

Former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna has approached the Karnataka High Court appealing against his conviction in a rape case. A special court that convicted Revanna last month had sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his life and imposed fines, in one of the four sexual abuse and rape cases against him. The Special Court for MPs/MLAs, Judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat, who sentenced the convicted politician under various sections of the IPC on August 2, had imposed a total fine of Rs 11.50 lakh on him, and had said Rs 11.25 lakh from this fine amount will be paid to the victim. Revanna, who was arrested in May last year after returning from Germany, is contesting the verdict on several grounds, including what he claims are contradictions in the survivor's testimony and inconsistencies in the evidence produced by the prosecution. The case in which Prajwal has been sentenced pertains to the one involving 48-year-old woman who was working as a help at the family's Gannikada farmhous

X to challenge Karnataka HC order upholding Sahyog portal validity

Elon Musk's X will challenge the Karnataka High Court verdict that upheld the Centre's Sahyog portal, which allows online content takedowns without judicial review

Musk's X 'deeply concerned' by HC content takedown order, plans appeal

X owner Elon Musk, a free-speech absolutist, has often clashed with authorities, but the firm's India lawsuit challenges the very foundation of the country's tightened internet regulation

Karnataka HC allows Russian woman, daughters found in cave to return home

The Karnataka High Court on Friday permitted the Union Government to issue travel documents to facilitate the return of a Russian woman and her two minor daughters who had been discovered living in a cave in coastal Karnataka. Justice B M Shyam Prasad passed the order while hearing a petition filed by Israeli national Dror Shlomo Goldstein, who claims to be the father of the children. Goldstein had approached the court seeking a direction to the Centre not to immediately deport the minor children. The woman, identified as Nina Kutina, was found on July 11 in a cave in the Ramatirtha Hills near Gokarna in Kumta taluk. Authorities reported that she and the children had been living there for nearly two months without valid travel or residence documents. Goldstein had earlier lodged a complaint at the Panaji police station in Goa in December last year after being unable to trace his children in India. During Friday's hearing, the court recorded that the Russian consulate had issued ...

Inclined to stay bike taxi ban: K'taka HC seeks clarity on gig workers law

The Karnataka High Court questioned whether the state's new gig workers law applies to bike taxis and adjourned the matter to October 15, asking the government to avoid coercive steps against riders

Social media can't be left in 'anarchic freedom': Karnataka High Court

Observing that social media could not be left in "anarchic freedom", the court said that every sovereign nation regulated social media

Social media can't be left in anarchic freedom: K'taka HC quashes X's plea

The Karnataka HC dismissed X's plea against the Sahyog portal, calling it a public-good mechanism, noting that social media cannot be left in unregulated

SCBA urges reforms in collegium, seeks merit-based judge appointments

SCBA president wrote to the CJI and Law Minister, citing flaws in the collegium system and warning that delays in reform erode judicial integrity and public trust

Karnataka High Court dismisses X's petition on content removal rules

Filed in March, the company's case against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in the Karnataka High Court had targeted the entire basis for tightened internet censorship in India

Fresh probe ordered into missing 4,000 MT of illegal coal: Meghalaya govt

The Meghalaya government has informed the high court that it has ordered a fresh inspection of coal dump sites in two villages in South West Khasi Hills district, after nearly 4,000 metric tonnes of illegally mined coal, detected in an aerial survey, could not be accounted for during ground verification. A final report is expected within a month, the state government told the Meghalaya High Court through an affidavit on Monday. The direction followed a probe initiated by the district deputy commissioner, in compliance with a July 24 high court order in connection with a PIL filed in 2022. A three-member committee, comprising senior district officials, had been constituted to investigate the discrepancy. "It is highly improbable for nearly 4,000 metric tonnes of coal to disappear without detection," the committee stated in its report. It attributed the discrepancy to the region's difficult terrain and environmental conditions, noting that the errors were the result of unintentional

Karnataka HC stays ₹200 movie ticket price cap for cinemas, multiplexes

The Karnataka High Court stayed the government's ₹200 cap on cinema tickets after producers and multiplex owners challenged the move, citing arbitrary restrictions and business concerns

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

HC directs Congress to take off AI-generated video of PM, his late mother

The Patna High Court on Wednesday directed the Congress to take off from its social media handles an AI-generated video depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother. Acting Chief Justice P B Baijanthri passed the order on a petition filed by Vivekanand Singh. In the petition, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Union government and the Election Commission were also named as respondents. "The court, while ordering immediate withdrawal of the video, has also issued notices to Gandhi, Facebook, Twitter and Google," EC's counsel Siddharth Prasad told PTI. The Bihar Congress had last week posted the video on its X handle, which portrayed Modi's mother criticising him for his politics.

SC to decide validity of religious conversion laws, give states 4 weeks

The court was hearing a plea filed by an NGO called Citizens for Peace and Justice, which challenged religious conversion laws enacted by various states

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

SC collegium names 3 judges for elevation as chief justices of high courts

The Supreme Court collegium on Thursday recommended to the Centre names of three judges for elevation as chief justices of different high courts. The three-judges collegium comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath took the decision in a meeting on Thursday. The collegium recommended names of Karnataka High Court's Justice Pavankumar B Bajanthri as Chief Justice of Patna HC (at present acting CJ of Patna HC), Calcutta High Court's Justice Soumen Sen as Chief Justice of Meghalaya, and Madras High Court's Justice M Sunder as Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, (consequent upon retirement of the incumbent Chief Justice on September 14, 2025).

Madras HC sets aside EPFO circular, clears path for higher pension claims

The Madurai bench of Madras HC has struck down an EPFO circular that blocked retrospective PF trust rule changes, enabling employees of exempted firms to seek higher pensions