Page 23 - High Court

HC issues fresh notice to BBC on plea regarding documentary on PM Modi

The Delhi High Court on Monday issued fresh notice to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on a plea by an NGO seeking damages, claiming its documentary "India: The Modi Question" casts a slur on the country's reputation and makes false and defamatory imputations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian judiciary. Besides BBC (UK), Justice Sachin Datta also issued fresh notice to BBC (India) on the plea filed by Gujarat-based NGO Justice On Trial. The counsel for the petitioner NGO informed the high court that notices were issued to BBC (UK) and BBC (India) earlier but they could not be served. Advocate Siddharth Sharma, representing the NGO, sought more time to serve the notices to the defendants. Issue fresh notice to the defendants through all permissible modes, the high court ordered, and listed the matter for further hearing on December 15. It had on May 22 issued notice to the defendants on the plea which has said BBC (UK) is the national broadcaster of the

HC asks ED to file affidavit on Jet founder plea challenging his arrest

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file its affidavit in response to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal's plea challenging his "illegal" arrest in a money laundering case linked to bank loan default. Goyal, in his plea, claimed his arrest was illegal as it was done without following provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and also challenged orders of a special court which had sent him to the ED custody first and thereafter to jail under judicial remand. When the plea was taken up for hearing on Wednesday by the HC, advocate Hiten Venegaonkar, appearing for the central agency, sought time to file their reply affidavit. Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing for the 74-year-old businessman, urged the court to grant a short date for hearing and pointed to his client's advanced age. A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Gauri Godse then said it has to give the other side time to respond. "He (Goyal) can file .

Children addicted to social media, user age limit needed: Karnataka HC

The court noted that some content should not only be banned from the social media but from the internet

Kohli talks about importance of playgrounds, U'khand HC seeks govt's reply

The Uttarakhand High Court also asked the government whether there are any schemes under the Khelo India programme to facilitate the construction of playgrounds

Time limit under GST to claim input tax credit constitutionally valid: HC

Under GST law, the deadline for claiming ITC is November 30

Supreme Court joins National Judicial Data Grid: Here's how it works

National Judicial Data Grid is a national portal that holds real-time information and data on all cases, pending and disposed, by courts across the country

No pension, PF for I-T, GST tribunal members under amended tribunal rule

Earlier, serving judges of the High Court or the Supreme Court were appointed as chairperson or a member while staying in their existing service, and were entitled to pension and other benefits

X Corp, formerly Twitter, deposits 50% of fine amount in High Court

X Corp (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday informed the High Court of Karnataka that it has deposited Rs 25 lakh following a division bench order on August 10. The company had challenged the single judge order of June 30 to deposit Rs 50 lakh by August 14. The division bench in its earlier hearing of the appeal on August 10 directed the company to deposit half the amount to allow the appeal and for the X Corp to show its bonafides. The division bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice MGS Kamal after hearing the appeal by the micro-blogging site against the order of Justice Krishna S Dixit had passed its order on August 10. The single judge bench had dismissed X Corp's petition challenging the take-down orders on Tweets, URLs and hashtags issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY). The single judge bench had also imposed a cost on the company in its judgement on June 30. The single judge had held that the company did not comply with th

HC sets deadline for forming panel to ensure return of funds by chit-funds

The Jharkhand High Court has set a deadline of 45 days for the state government to form a high-level committee to ensure the return of funds invested by people in various chit-fund companies. A division bench of Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and Justice Ananda Sen while hearing a petition filed by the Non-Banking Abhiraksha Suraksha Samiti ordered the government to issue a notification informing formation of a high-level committee within the deadline set by it. The bench also specified that the high-level committee will be headed by a former chief justice of the high court. Other members of the committee will be the secretary of the Board of Revenue and a DIG ranked officer of the CBI, the court said in its order on Monday. The Committee will work and start planning on how to ensure the return of money to investors who were duped by various chit-fund companies which are being investigated by the CBI. The court will hear the matter again on November 8. Earlier, the court had

Over 100 toilets constructed for transgenders in Delhi, govt tells HC

Over 100 toilets have been built for exclusive use by transgender people in the national capital, the city authorities informed the Delhi High Court on Monday. The counsel for the social welfare department told a bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma that a total of 102 such toilets have been built and 194 more are under construction. "Efforts are being made and further action will be taken expeditiously," the counsel told the court. The counsel for the New Delhi Municipal Council (MDMC), which functions under the union ministry of home affairs, informed the bench that 12 toilets for transgender people are operational in the area under its jurisdiction and tenders for construction of 79 more have been awarded. The area is commonly referred to as Lutyens' Delhi. The court was hearing a PIL filed by Jasmine Kaur Chhabra seeking direction for constructing separate washrooms for the third gender on the ground that their absence makes transgender population prone to sexual

Goods in transit can't be seized under GST law without inquiry: HC

Court rules the items cannot be confiscated without investigation even if the original supplier does not have GST registration

Courts must be on guard, test evidence meticulously when FIR is delayed: SC

Courts must be on guard and test evidence meticulously to rule out possibility of embellishments in the prosecution's story when an FIR is delayed and there is absence of proper explanation, the Supreme Court has said. The apex court acquitted two people whose conviction and life sentence for the offence of murder in a case lodged in 1989 was affirmed by the Chhattisgarh High Court. A bench of justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra noted that the accused were tried for allegedly murdering a man on August 25, 1989, while the FIR in the case was lodged the next day in Bilaspur district. "When an FIR is delayed, in absence of proper explanation, the courts must be on guard and test the evidence meticulously to rule out possibility of embellishments in the prosecution story, inasmuch as delay gives opportunity for deliberation and guess work," the bench said in its verdict delivered on September 5. "More so, in a case where probability of no one witnessing the incident is high, such as

HC orders CBI probe into illegal constructions, felling of trees in Corbett

The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday directed the CBI to probe large-scale felling of trees and illegal constructions carried out in Uttarakhand's Corbett Tiger Reserve. The order was delivered by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Alok Kumar Verma who said a copy of the order should also be sent to Director CBI, New Delhi for compliance. Citing the outcome of various enquiries conducted into the irregularities and field inspections which indicated the involvement of highly placed forest officials, the court in its 16-page order said it cannot remain a "mere bystander or spectator". "... the material on record, does disclose a prima facie case calling for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Therefore the present matter is referred to the CBI for proper and uninfluenced investigation in accordance with law," the court said. It also asked all authorities in the state to cooperate with the probe agency in conducting fair ...

HC allows to end 27-week pregnancy of 12-year-old girl raped by her father

The concerned police station at Dediapada was also directed to take the victim for medical termination of pregnancy at the Vadodara hospital

Supreme Court stays Karnataka HC order on Gameskraft tax evasion case

The high court had quashed the Directorate General of GST Intelligence's order alleging tax evasion of Rs 21,000 crore in May this year

False allegations of dowry harassment, rape amount to extreme cruelty: HC

False allegations of dowry harassment or rape lodged by a woman against the husband's family members amounts to "extreme cruelty" which cannot be condoned, the Delhi High Court has said. The high court also said that the bedrock of any matrimonial relationship is cohabitation and conjugal relationship and for a couple to be deprived of each other's company, proves the marriage cannot survive and such deprivation of conjugal relationship is an act of extreme cruelty. The court's observations came while dismissing a woman's appeal challenging a family court's order granting divorce decree in favour of her estranged husband on the grounds of cruelty. In the present case, indisputably parties are residing separately since 2014 which proves that they are unable to sustain matrimonial relationship thereby depriving each other from mutual companionship and conjugal relationship. Such separation of almost nine years is an instance of utmost mental cruelty, asking for immediate severance of

Both parents responsible for child maintenance, not just father: HC

A single judge bench in Uttarakhand High Court observed that in cases of divorce both parents shared responsibility over a child

Delhi HC refuses to entertain PIL against first level checking of EVMs

The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to entertain a public interest litigation challenging the State Election Commission's conduct in relation to the First Level Checking of EVMs and VVPATs ahead of the upcoming general elections. Petitioner Anil Kumar, President of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, submitted that sufficient notices were not given for carrying out First Level Checking (FLC) and the political parties thus could not prepare themselves for the process. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula observed that the plea was directed against the State Election Commission when they have nothing to do with it. The officials were working for the Election Commission of India, remarked the court as it asked the petitioner to withdraw the present petition and file a fresh petition. The petitioner prays for withdrawal of the petition with a liberty to file a fresh PIL. The petition is dismissed as withdrawn with the said liberty, the court ...

Railways to prepare fresh proposal for Hubli-Ankola railway line in K'taka

The Karnataka High Court has disposed of a batch of petitions challenging the Hubli (Hubballi)-Ankola railway line project after the Railways submitted that a fresh proposal is being worked out, and work will start only after all necessary permissions are obtained. The public interest litigations (PILs) by Giridhar Kulkarni and others had challenged the project on grounds that it would fragment the tiger habitat in the region. The Deputy Chief Engineer, Construction-1, South Western Railways, Hubballi, filed an affidavit before the court stating that as per directions of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), a mitigation plan will be worked out in consultation with the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, and a fresh proposal will be submitted. The affidavit stated that the work on the project shall commence only after getting all the necessary clearances and approvals as required under law. The Bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice M G S Kamal on Thursda

X Corp gets last chance from HC to show takedown order compliance proof

X Corp (formerly Twitter) has been given one more and last opportunity by the Karnataka High Court to submit material to show compliance of the blocking orders issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY). The counsel for X Corp informed the bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice M G S Kamal that he was awaiting instructions from the client and sought time for the same. The HC, while adjourning the case to September 15, made it clear that it was the last chance the company was being granted. Today counsel for appellant prays for adjournment on the ground that he is awaiting instruction, accordingly one more and last opportunity is granted. Appeal is adjourned to September 15, the HC recorded. Twitter (later changed to X Corp) had approached the HC against several blocking orders issued by the MeiTY. A single-judge bench had dismissed the petition and imposed a cost of Rs 50 lakh for approaching the court without complying with the Ministry'