Page 13 - Law

NCLT orders Mehul Choksi-promoted Gitanjali Gems' liquidation under IBC law

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has ordered liquidation of jewellery retailer Gitanjali Gems, promoted by absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi, under Section 33 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The bench also appointed Santanu T Ray as the liquidator, who will complete the liquidation process as per the provisions of the IBC, 2016, according to an NCLT order, filed on BSE. The resolution professional of the jewellery retailer, Vijay Kumar Garg, filed the application for liquidation in NCLT. Garg informed the tribunal that on account of the alleged fraud perpetrated by Gitanjali Gems and its officers, the affairs were under investigation by multiple law enforcement agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He said that the ED had issued orders attaching the properties of Choksi. In his application, Garg informed the tribunal that immediately after the appointment he wrote to various investigation authorities ..

Delhi court denies statutory bail to Sharjeel Imam in sedition case

A court here on Saturday dismissed the plea of student activist Sharjeel Imam seeking bail on the grounds that he had been in custody for the last four years, which was more than half of the maximum sentence prescribed for the offence. The court directed to continue Imam's custody, saying the present case was "different" from other cases because of the nature of allegations against Imam and his "disruptive activities which finally resulted in the riots". Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai was hearing Imam's plea seeking bail under 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), saying he was in custody since January 28, 2020, while the maximum sentence for the offence under section 13 (punishment for unlawful activities) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is seven years, if convicted. According to Section 436-A CrPC, a person can be released from custody if he has spent more than half of the maximum sentence prescribed for the offence. "Keeping in view the alleged acts

Evading ED summons: Court exempts Kejriwal from personal appearance on Sat

A Delhi court on Saturday granted exemption to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from personal appearance for the day in connection with a complaint filed by the ED against him over non-compliance with its summonses in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra granted relief to Kejriwal after the AAP convener appeared before the court via video conferencing and urged for exemption from physical appearance for the day. The application moved by Kejriwal's counsel stated that the Budget Session of the Delhi Legislative Assembly has commenced on February 15 and shall continue till the first week of March, 2024. "The accused being the Chief Minister of GNCT of Delhi/Leader of the House of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, has to take an active part in the Assembly Session. As such, it is requested that his personal appearance be exempted for today so as to enable him in discharge of his official duties and that th

Explain increase in dengue cases in last 3 months: Delhi HC to MCD

The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to file a status report explaining the reason behind the increase in cases of dengue in the national capital in the last three years. A bench headed by Acting chief justice Manmohan, while dealing a suo motu case registered by it in 2021 concerning the spread of vector borne diseases, asked the civic body to give complete figures pertaining to the disease in all its zones. It also asked the Centre to expeditiously take a decision on the Delhi cabinet's proposal to increase the fine for mosquito breeding from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000. Amicus curiae advocate Rajat Aneja said in the last three months, there has been an increase of around 300 per cent in the cases of dengue, with the west zone witnessing over 380 cases. Some zones like centre and south were however not disclosing the data and therefore the civic authority should like a better status report, the lawyer said. "MCD is directed to file a better status repor

SC tags plea challenging Triple Talaq law validity with pending petitions

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered clubbing a fresh plea challenging the validity of certain provisions of the 2019 law, which make the practice of instant divorce through Triple Talaq a punishable offence, with those already pending with the court. Violation of the law entails imprisonment up to three years. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra agreed to hear the plea along with pending petitions on which notices were issued to the Centre in 2019. The fresh plea has been filed by Amir Rashadi Madani, a resident of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. During the brief hearing, the CJI asked as to how the provisions violate the rights of men. The counsel for Madani said the provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 criminalise instant Triple Talaq and provide for punishment to men. Sections 3 and 4 of the law are contrary to each other, the lawyer claimed. Section 3 terms Triple Talaq as illegal and se

2020 Delhi riots: Court convicts son of rioting charges, acquits father

A court here has convicted a man of unlawful assembly and arson charges in a case related to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, while acquitting his father of all alleged offences. Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala was hearing a case against Jony Kumar and his father Mitthan Singh, who were accused of being part of a riotous mob that torched two houses in the Khajuri Khas area here on February 25, 2020 during the communal riots. "Accused Jony Kumar is held guilty and convicted for the offences under sections 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon) and 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with the intent to destroy house etc.) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), read with section 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC, and under IPC section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant)," the judge said. In an order passed on Wednesday, the judge acquitted Singh of "all the charges levelled against him". The court rejected the defence counsel's argument ..

SC to decide on validity of Centre's electoral bonds scheme on February 15

The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on Thursday on a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud had on November 2 last year reserved its verdict in the matter. The scheme, which was notified by the government on January 2, 2018, was pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring in transparency in political funding. According to the provisions of the scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by any citizen of India or entity incorporated or established in the country. An individual can buy electoral bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals. Only the political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and which secured not less than 1 per cent of the votes polled in the last elections to the Lok Sabha or a state legislative assembly are eligible to receive .

Delhi Court reserves verdict on Sharjeel Imam's bail plea in sedition case

According to his grounds, he has been in custody since the last four years and it is more than half of the maximum sentence

SC proposes to inspect closed Vedanta group's copper plant in Tamil Nadu

The Supreme Court on Wednesday proposed a panel of domain experts to inspect the closed Sterlite copper unit in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin and suggest further compliances and way forward, saying shutting down a plant of national importance will not serve anybody's purpose. The plant is closed since May 2018 after 13 people were killed as police opened fire to quell a protest over alleged pollution caused by it. The top court, while hearing a plea by the Vedanta group company, mooted the idea of setting up of a panel of experts and sought views of the firm, the Tamil Nadu government and the state pollution control board. Ultimately, shutting down the plant of national importance will not serve anybody's purpose, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra observed. The bench, however, made it clear that it cannot grant permission to the firm to refurbish the plant as an interim order. The bench, which heard the submissions of senior advoca

EU's new technology law exempts Apple's iMessage, Microsoft's Bing

European Union's new Digital Markets Act takes effect in three weeks' time

Adani-Hindenburg row: Plea filed in SC seeks review of January 3 verdict

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking review of its January 3 verdict by which it refused to transfer the probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani Group to a special investigation team or the CBI. In a significant win for the Adani Group, the apex court had declined to order a CBI or SIT probe and said in its judgement that market regulator SEBI was conducting a "comprehensive investigation" into the allegations and its conduct "inspires confidence". The petition claimed there were "mistakes and errors" in the judgment, and in light of certain new material that have been received by the counsel for the petitioner, there were sufficient reasons for a review of the verdict. The review petition has been filed by Anamika Jaiswal, who was one of the petitioners in the case. The plea, filed through advocate Neha Rathi, said the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had in its report only updated the court about the status of the 24 investigatio

Castes of SCs, STs may not be homogenous in terms of social status: SC

The Supreme Court, examining whether states can sub-classify scheduled castes and scheduled tribes for grant of quota inside quota, on Wednesday said all SCs and STs may not be homogenous in terms of their sociological, economic, education and social status. "They (SCs and STs) may be a class for a certain purpose. But, they may not be a class for all the purposes," a seven-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud observed while hearing as many as 23 petitions on the issue. The top court is hearing references to revisit a five-judge constitution bench judgement of 2004 in the case of 'EV Chinnaiah vs. State of Andhra Pradesh' in which it was held that SCs and STs are homogenous groups and hence, states cannot further sub-classify inside SCs and STs to grant quota inside quota for more deprived and weaker castes in these groups. "Therefore, there is homogeneity in the sense that each one of them belongs to the scheduled castes. But your argument is that there i

Donald Trump's sweeping immunity claim rejected by US appeals court

"We cannot accept that the office of the Presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter," the unanimous panel wrote

Need to make justice system flexible to deal with new challenges: PM Modi

Noting that criminals have been using the latest technology for funding and operating across regions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday pitched for expanding cooperation between countries for investigation and justice delivery. He also said cooperation can happen even while respecting each other's jurisdiction and asserted that when nations work together, jurisdiction becomes a tool to deliver justice, not delay it. The rise of cryptocurrency and cyber threats presents new challenges and there is a need for making the justice delivery system more flexible and adaptable, he said. Speaking at the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) - Commonwealth Attorneys and Solicitors General Conference (CASGC) here, he said countries already work with each other in the domain of air traffic control and maritime traffic, and advocated extending this to investigation and justice delivery. "When we work together then jurisdiction becomes a tool to deliver justice and not to delay

Court allows Hemant Soren to participate in trust vote in J'khand assembly

A special court in Ranchi on Saturday allowed former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren to participate in the trust vote in the state assembly on February 5. Soren, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday in a money laundering case, filed a petition before the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court, seeking permission to participate in the trust vote sought by the new Champai Soren government. Soren was remanded to ED custody for five days by the court on Friday.

eCourts Ph-3 project gets Rs 825 cr this fiscal, Rs 1,500 cr for next FY

The phase-III of the ambitious eCourts project, which seeks to upgrade the lower judiciary's digital infrastructure, has been allocated Rs 825 crore this fiscal after the revised estimates, while an enhanced sum of Rs 1,500 crore has been allocated for the next financial year. The phase-III received a Cabinet nod in September last year with a financial outlay of Rs 7,210 crore. According to the revised estimates for 2023-24, the Law Ministry has been granted Rs 825 crore for the Phase III of the project. The project will get Rs 1500 crore, according to the budget estimates for 2024-25. This phase of the the project, which is to be implemented over four years, will see digitisation of entire court records, both legacy and pending cases, at an estimated cost of Rs 2,038.40 crore. A total of 3,108 crore documents will be digitised, official sources had said. The eCourts Mission Mode Project has been described by the government as the prime mover for improving access to justice using

BharatPe fraud: Ashneer Grover, wife move HC challenging lookout circular

Payment app BharatPe's former MD Ashneer Grover and his wife on Thursday approached the Delhi High Court seeking quashing of the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against them in connection with the investigation in a cheating and forgery case. Justice Subramonium Prasad, before whom the matter came up for hearing, listed it for May 8 saying the investigation in the case registered by the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) is at a nascent stage. It is too hot in the day for this court to intervene now. Come after sometime. The investigation is at a nascent stage and they will take some time to investigate, the high court said. It further said that at this juncture, it will not be correct to say that the LOC is completely unjustified. As an interim relief, Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover have sought suspension of the LOC issued against them with a further direction to the authorities not to interfere with or prevent their right to travel abroad. The court asked the ..

Court sends Hemant Soren to one-day judicial custody after arrest by ED

The Directorate of Enforcement had sought 10-day remand of the former Jharkhand Chief Minister but the order has been reserved

AAP to move Supreme Court for early hearing on Chandigarh mayoral election

The Aam Aadmi Party will move the Supreme Court seeking an early hearing of its plea on Chandigarh mayoral polls, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said on Wednesday. His statement came hours after the Punjab and Haryana High Court fused to grant any interim relief on the AAP's petition for setting aside Tuesday's mayoral election and seeking fresh mayoral polls. The HC also asked the Chandigarh administration to file its reply within three weeks and has adjourned the matter till February 26. The AAP-Congress alliance has alleged tampering with ballot papers by the presiding officer Anil Masih, a charge rejected by him and the BJP which won the election to all three posts. "We will move Supreme Court. We will seek an early hearing in the matter. There is a video of the whole thing," Mann said and questioned why the Chandigarh administration required three weeks to prepare a report. The chief minister was replying to queries at a news conference here on the sidelines of chairing

India embraces data privacy with DPDP Act, experts await detailed rules

Amid rising cyber threats, DPDP Act marks a pivotal step in data privacy management, with stakeholders eager for comprehensive guidelines