Page 24 - High Court

HC to hear plea against of CAs inclusion in money laundering law on Monday

The Delhi High Court on Monday will hear a petition challenging the inclusion of chartered accountants, company secretaries and cost accountants within the ambit of reporting entities under the anti-money laundering law and fastening of criminal liability on them in case of non-compliance of the legal provisions. The petition by Rajat Mohan, a practising chartered accountant (CA), is listed for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula. The plea said by including CAs and other professionals within the definition of reporting entities under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), onerous obligations have been put on them with consequences of noncompliance leading to criminal prosecution, and it virtually makes such professionals engage in policing their own clients with whom they interact in fiduciary capacity. The Petitioner by way of the present writ petition is challenging the validity of Gazette Notification No. S.O.2036(E) ..

Reckless registration of crime: K'taka HC quashes case against JP Nadda

The High Court of Karnataka has quashed the criminal proceedings in a case registered against BJP president J P Nadda in connection with a speech delivered ahead of the assembly elections in May in Vijayapura district, and called it a reckless registration of crime." A complaint, alleging that Nadda threatened voters at a public meeting by stating that they would lose the benefit of central schemes if the BJP was not voted, was lodged by an election officer at the Harapanahalli police station on May 9 under Section 171F, which is a non-cognizable offence. It was then forwarded to the Magistrate, who granted permission for registration of FIR. Subsequently, Nadda had challenged it before the High Court. Justice M Nagarpasanna who heard the arguments of Nadda's counsel and the government advocate said that the allegations were vague. The allegation is that Code of Conduct has been violated by the petitioner, on speaking at a public gathering on 07-05-2023 by threatening the voters.

3,529 arbitration cases pending in Himachal, HC says 'extremely serious'

The Court observed that the issue is indeed extremely serious and, therefore, required to be deliberated upon by all the stakeholders, more particularly, NHAI and Central Government

What's the harm if person provides caste details for Bihar survey, asks SC

SC also recalled its April 10 verdict by which it had held that duty free shops at arrival and departure terminals at international airports are outside the purview of the customs law

Nitin Desai started delaying repayments from end of 2018: Edelweiss to HC

Senior Edelweiss officials, accused of abetting the suicide of renowned art director Nitin Desai on Friday submitted to the Bombay High Court that he had started delaying on his loan repayment schedules from the end of 2018. Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing for Edelweiss Financial Services chairman Rashesh Shah, Edelweiss ARC MD and CEO Raj Kumar Bansal and two other company officials, said a total loan of Rs 181 crore was given to Nitin Desai. The senior counsel said there was no mens rea (intention) or instigation on the part of the accused to cause abetment of Nitin Desai's alleged suicide. A division bench of Justices Nitin Sambre and R N Laddha was hearing petitions filed by the officials and Jitender Kothari, who was appointed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) as an interim resolution professional, seeking for the FIR to be quashed. The petitioners had sought interim order of protection from any coercive action and for the probe to be stayed in the case pending

Selection for int'l events responsibility of sports federations: IOA to HC

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Wednesday told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the selection of sportspersons for participation in major international events is the responsibility of national sports federations. The IOA was responding to a petition filed by three boxers over they not being selected for the upcoming Asian Games in China's Hangzhou. Pugilists Amit Panghal, a World Boxing Championship silver medallist, Rohit Mor and Sagar Ahlawat had moved the high court last month against the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and others after they were left out of the Indian squad for the Asian Games to be held from September 23 to October 8. They had petitioned against the BFI's evaluation process for the selection of the Asian Games squad. The petitioners had alleged that the BFI had changed the selection criteria for national coaching camps, world championships and Asian Games in violation of the National Sports Development Code of India (NSCI)-2011. The petitioners

Bihar caste survey: SC defers hearing for Aug 18 on plea against HC order

The Supreme Court on Monday deferred for August 18 hearing on a plea challenging the Patna High Court's August 1 order giving the go-ahead for a caste survey in Bihar. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti listed the plea filed by NGO 'Ek Soch Ek Paryas' on August 18 along with other pleas filed challenging the same order of the high court. A counsel appearing for the petitioner challenging the high court order said that on the day of the high court order on August 1, the state government had late night issued a notification to complete the caste-based survey within three days. The bench said it will consider everything on August 18 and by that time the judges will also go through the high court verdict. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, also appearing for the petitioners challenging the high court order, said the direction may be issued to the state to not publish the details of the survey till the pendency of pleas before the court. Justice Khanna said that it will amoun

Manipur HC asks govt to find ways to restore internet services in state

The Manipur High Court has asked the state government to find ways to provide mobile internet services to people. The court was hearing a batch of pleas filed by various parties seeking restoration of mobile internet services which were blocked after violence broke out in the state on May 3. A bench of Justice Ahanthem Bimol Singh and Justice A Guneshwar Sharma on Friday directed, "...state authorities, specially, the home department should consider for devising mechanism/methods for providing internet services through mobile phones by whitelisting the mobile numbers on case to case basis and in a phase-wise manner. It also added, Accordingly, the state authorities are directed to consider this aspect and to submit a report on the next date." During the hearing, the state's counsel submitted that the Manipur government had, earlier, issued necessary orders lifting the ban on providing internet through broadband services (ILL & FTTH) in a liberalised manner. The counsel said this .

Nitin Desai's death: No relief to Edelweiss officials, hearing on Aug 18

The Bombay High Court on Friday refused to pass any order granting urgent interim reliefs to Edelweiss company officials, accused of abetting the suicide of renowned film art director Nitin Desai, and said it would hear their pleas against the FIR on August 18. A division bench of Justices N W Sambre and R N Laddha also issued a notice to Desai's wife, who is the complainant in the case. Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing for Edelweiss Financial Services Chairman Rashesh Shah, Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company's MD and CEO Raj Kumar Bansal and two other company officials urged the court to grant them interim protection from any coercive action and also sought quashing of the first information report (FIR) registered against them. Public prosecutor Aruna Kamat Pai told the court that the FIR in the case was registered only last week and that the probe in the case was still on. The bench then said it would hear the petitions on August 18. "Wait for a week. We will hear the ..

Excise scam: HC grants bail to Raghav Magunta in money laundering case

The Delhi High Court has granted bail to Raghav Magunta, son of YSR Congress Party MP, in connection with a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam. Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma, who had earlier granted interim bail to the son of MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, recorded that the relief was granted as the Enforcement Directorate did not oppose his bail plea. The ED, in its reply, submitted that since the accused is cooperating in the investigation and assisting in tracing the Proceeds of Crime, which would have been otherwise difficult, he may be granted bail. In view of the statement made and the facts narrated herein above, the interim bail granted vide order dated 18.07.2023 for four weeks on medical grounds is made absolute, said the court in an order dated August 10. Let the petitioner be released on regular bail furnishing a personal bond of Rs. 2,00,000 with two sureties of like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial court , the court said. The court a

HC admits Mukhtar Ansari's appeal against life term awarded by lower court

The Allahabad High Court has admitted mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari's appeal against life term awarded to him by the Varanasi sessions court in the 1991 Awadhesh Rai murder case. A division bench comprising Justice K J Thaker and Justice U C Sharma summoned the lower court record and fixed September 13 as the next date of hearing. In the court proceedings on last Thursday, Mukhtar Ansari's counsel Upendra Upadhya had pleaded on his behalf but the state counsel opposed his appeal. Ansari was on June 5 awarded life imprisonment by the court of special judge (MP-MLA) for the murder of Awadhesh Rai in Varanasi in 1991. The court also slapped a penalty of Rs 1.20 lakh on him. This was Ansari's fifth conviction since September 21, 2022, and the biggest so far in terms of quantum of the sentence. Mukhtar had appeared before the court from the Banda jail through video-conferencing.

Karnataka High Court stays order imposing Rs 50 lakh fine on X Corp

A division bench of the High Court of Karnataka on Thursday stayed a single judge bench order that had imposed a cost of Rs 50 lakh on X Corp (formerly Twitter) for not complying with IT Ministry orders -- subject to the company depositing 50 per cent of the amount (Rs 25 lakh) within one week. The deposit is for X Corp to show its bonafides, the court said. The order of the single judge who had directed X Corp to deposit Rs 50 lakh by August 14 will be stayed till the next date of hearing. As such, on deposit of Rs 25 lakh, the order of the single judge bench is stayed until the next hearing date, the HC said. The division bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice MGS Kamal was hearing a petition by the micro-blogging site against the order of Justice Krishna S Dixit which had dismissed its petition challenging the take-down orders on tweets (posts), URLs and hashtags. The single judge bench had also imposed a cost on the company in its judgment on June 30. On .

Indian statistical system among best, firms should share data: K'taka HC

Underscoring the ramifications that data gaps have a cascading effect on the economy, the Karnataka High Court has dismissed a petition filed by a company that did not provide statistics of its operations for the year 2011. Action had been initiated against M/s Masturlal Pvt Ltd, which manufactures technical units of textiles used in industries, under the Collection of Statistics Act in 2015. The company approached the HC in 2022 against it. In a recent judgement, Justice M Nagaprasanna said any negligence on the part of any company will undoubtedly have a spiralling effect on the economic policies of the nation, which is the driving force of any nation among others. On the significance of the data collection, the HC said: "It is in public domain that Indian statistical system is one of the best systems in the world. The country participates in all the international and regional organisations of the United National Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific on statistic

Parliamentary panel supports increasing retirement age of SC, HC judges

A parliamentary committee on Monday recommended a performance appraisal system for extending the tenure of judges of the Supreme Court and high courts beyond the existing retirement age. At present, while Supreme Court judges retire at the age of 65 years, judges of the 25 high courts demit office at 62. The Standing Committee on Law and Personnel, in its report on 'Judicial Processes and their Reforms', also said that the practice of post-retirement assignments to SC and HC judges in bodies or institutions financed by public exchequer may be reassessed to ensure their impartiality. It noted that many stakeholders had raised objections to the post-retirement assignments given to judges. During the UPA-II, a bill was introduced in Lok Sabha to bring the retirement age of HC judges on par with SC judges. But the bill never came up for consideration and lapsed. "... the Committee feels that the age of retirement of judges needs to be increased in sync with the increase in the longevi

SC to hear pleas against order on removal of Haldwani encroachment tomorrow

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a matter in which it had stayed the Uttarakhand High Court directions for the removal of encroachments from 29 acres of land that has been claimed by the railways in Haldwani. According to the cause list uploaded on the apex court website, the pleas challenging the high court order are listed for hearing on August 7 before a bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia. The apex court had on May 2 said that its interim order staying the high court's December 20 last year directions will continue during the pendency of appeals before it. "The interim order(s) is made absolute during the pendency of the appeals," the top court had said in its May 2 order. On January 5, the top court had in an interim order stayed the high court's directions for removal of encroachments from 29 acres of land, terming it a "human issue" and saying 50,000 people cannot be uprooted overnight. According to the railways, there are 4,365

2002 riots: HC grants bail to ex-DGP in case of fabricating evidence

The Gujarat High Court has granted regular bail to ex-DGP RB Sreekumar in a case of fabricating evidence to frame people in connection with the 2002 riots, nearly two weeks after the Supreme Court allowed the bail plea of social activist Teesta Setalvad in the same case. The court of Justice Ilesh Vora on Friday gave relief to former director-general of police (DGP) Sreekumar, who is already out on interim bail, on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and directed him to surrender his passport. An interim bail is granted for a short period before the hearing for the grant of regular bail. The HC had earlier rejected the bail plea of Setalvad, one of the three accused in the case registered by the Ahmedabad city crime branch under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offence). The Supreme Court (SC) granted her regular bail on July 19. Granting bail to ..

Manipur HC orders status quo on burial site, over 25 injured in violence

Hours before a planned mass burial of Kuki-Zomi people killed in Manipur's ethnic violence, the states high court on Thursday ordered that the status quo be maintained at the proposed burial site in Churachandpur district, while ITLF, an apex tribal body, said it was postponing the funeral service plans by seven days following requests from the Union home ministry. Meanwhile, over 25 people were injured in clashes as Army and RAF personnel fired tear gas shells in Kangvai and Phougakchao areas in Bishnupur district on Thursday to stop processions from proceeding to the proposed burial site violating restrictions on gatherings, officials said. The district magistrates of Imphal East and Imphal West withdrew curfew relaxations earlier announced, imposing day curfew as a precautionary measure, throughout the Imphal valley. The Kuki-Zomi organisation, Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum, had planned the burial of 35 people, who were killed in ethnic riots in the state, on Thursday at a sit

Go First moves SC against HC order granting lessors' access to aircraft

lessors informed high court that future aircraft leasing would be jeopardized if DGCA fails to deregister aircraft whose leases they have terminated

After 2016 attempt, no proposal yet to change names of high courts: Govt

There is no proposal at present to change the name of various high courts, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. In July 2016, the government had brought the 'High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill to change the names of the high courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras as high courts of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai respectively. Later, some fresh names were added to the list. But amid divergent views, the bill could not be taken further and lapsed due to dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply. Giving out the history of the proposal to alter the names of some of high courts, he said with the enactment of the city of Madras (Alteration of Name) Act, 1996, the city of Madras was renamed as Chennai, following which the Tamil Nadu government sent a proposal for changing the name of the Madras High Court to the High Court of Chennai in 1997. Since the names of the cities of Bombay and Calcutta were also changed to Mumbai and Kolkata, and th

Manipur HC orders status quo on proposed burial site for Kuki-Zomi killed

The Manipur High Court on Thursday directed that the status quo be maintained at the proposed burial site in Haolai Khopi village of Churachandpur district where the Kuki-Zo community had planned a burial service for 35 people who were killed in the ethnic strife. The HC order was passed by Acting Chief Justice MV Muralidharan after a hearing at 6 am. Meanwhile, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), an organisation of the Kuki-Zo community, also agreed to conditionally postpone the burial for five days after requests from Union Home Minister Amit Shah. They said Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga also requested the same. We had a marathon meeting last night till 4 am due to a new development. The MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) requested us to delay the burial for five more days and that if we comply with that request, we will be allowed to bury in the same location and the government will legalise the land for the burial. The Mizoram CM had also made a similar request, the IT