Page 19 - Law

Acting ED Director Rahul Navin empanelled as additional secretary at Centre

Acting ED Director Rahul Navin has been empanelled by the Union government to hold an additional secretary rank at the Centre. Navin is a 1993-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the Income Tax cadre. An order issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Thursday empanelled Navin in the additional secretary (AS) rank along with 15 other officers from various cadres. He was appointed as the in-charge director or head of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in September following the end of tenure of Sanjay Kumar Mishra. Navin holds expertise in international taxation laws and treaties and has been serving as the Special Director (vigilance) in the ED since his appointment at the agency from the Income Tax department in 2020. The ED director post is an additional secretary rank post. Mishra, a 1984-batch IRS officer, was promoted to the secretary rank while heading the ED. The ED is a federal probe agency tasked to investigate financial crimes under three law

Govt making efforts to bring them back: Navy Chief on ex-personnel in Qatar

Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar on Friday said the government is putting all-out efforts to bring back eight former naval personnel from Qatar, who were handed death sentence by a Qatari court. "We are working closely to ensure that their interests are looked after," Admiral Kumar said at a media briefing. "The government of India is putting all-out efforts to ensure they are brought back," he said. The Indian nationals were on October 26 given death sentence by Qatar's Court of First Instance. India described the ruling as "deeply" shocking and vowed to explore all legal options in the case. An appeal has already been filed against the death sentence and a higher court in Qatar has already admitted the plea. The appeal has been filed by the legal team of the detained Indian nationals. The Indian nationals, who worked with private company Al Dahra, were arrested in August last year reportedly in an alleged case of espionage. Neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the

AIBE 18 admit card 2023 to be released today at allindiabarexamination.com

The AIBE 18 has been anticipated December 10 and the admit cards will be announced today at allindiabarexamination.com for applicants to download

HC rejects I-T reassessment proceedings beyond four-year limitation period

The ruling was given on a writ petition filed by an assessee challenging the reopening notice on capital gains issued by the income tax authorities

Russia outlaws 'extremist' LGBT movement, bans all activities in country

The court ruling stated that "the international LGBT public movement and its subdivisions" were extremist, and issued a "ban on its activities on the territory of Russia"

Info gathered from social media cannot be part of pleadings in PIL: HC

Information gathered from social media cannot be part of the pleadings in a public interest litigation, the Bombay High Court said on Tuesday while hearing a petition claiming that 1,500 to 2,000 people lose their lives in unsafe water bodies in Maharashtra every year. A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor refused to hear a PIL filed by advocate Ajitsingh Ghorpade seeking a direction to the Maharashtra government to take measures to safeguard waterfalls and water bodies in the state. Ghorpade's lawyer Manindra Pandey claimed that around 1,500 to 2000 persons lose their lives at such unsafe waterfalls and water bodies every year, and the bench sought to know from where the petitioner had got the information on the deaths. Pandey then said they had procured the information from newspapers and social media posts. The court then said that the petition was vague and did not contain many details. "Information gathered from social media cannot be part of

SC refuses to hear PIL alleging use of public servants by ruling party

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a PIL seeking to quash a letter issued by the Controller General of Defence Accounts and DoPT's office memorandum which seek to use public servants to showcase achievements of the government. A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra took note of the submissions of lawyer Prashant Bhushan, and said it was not inclined to hear the publicity interest litigation. Bhushan submitted that this is a serious matter where the ruling party wants to allegedly use public servants for promotion of its work with an aim to get benefits in upcoming elections. The bench, however, seemed disinclined to hear the PIL. The plea is dismissed as withdrawn with the liberty to the petitioner to approach the high court, the bench ordered. The PIL, filed by EAS Sarma and Jagdeep S Chhokar, sought setting aside of the letter of October 9, 2023 of the Controller General of Defence Accounts of the Ministry of Defence to Controllers of Defe

Centre, Delhi's stand sought on PIL against nursing courses only for women

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the stand of the Centre and city government on a petition challenging provisions allowing only female candidates to apply for admission to B.Sc (Hons) Nursing courses offered by AIIMS, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Delhi University. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Mamohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna issued notice on the public interest litigation by the Indian Professional Nurses Association and asked the governments as well as the institutes and Indian Nursing Council to file their replies within four weeks. Advocate Robin Raju, appearing for the petitioner, said the petition challenged the gender-based eligibility and that in view of the shortage of nurses in the country, persons of all genders should be permitted to apply to the course. The plea said the petitioner was a non-governmental registered body working for the welfare of nurses across India and was moving the instant petition to highlight the concern that even today .

Cooperating with US investigation as info legally tenable: India to Canada

Earlier in September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made allegations regarding India's involvement in Nijjar's killing

Zuckerberg vetoed ban on certain filters despite concerns for kids: Lawsuit

The suit, initially filed in federal court in Oakland last month, added to growing scrutiny of social media giants over how they serve their youngest users

Parliament repealing archaic laws, enacting new statutes: Dhankhar

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday said denial of legal aid creates an existential challenge to the vulnerable, and said affirmative initiatives and policies can help overcome such problems faced by the weaker sections. He also said that the Global South should shed the shackles of its colonial past and strive together to reverse the historical wrongs that have perpetuated injustice and inequality. "Time has come to follow India's example and emulate the same ... Our country is in the process and legislations are under consideration of Parliament that will bring about sea change in our outlook and totally curb and contain those exploitative provisions in procedure and penology," he said. The vice president was apparently referring to three bills which seek to replace the IPC, CrPC and the Evidence Act. Addressing the first regional conference on "Ensuring Access to Quality Legal Aid for the Vulnerable: Challenges and Opportunities in the Global South," he said Parliament has

Meta knowingly designed platforms to hook kids, claims US court document

Facebook parent Meta Platforms deliberately engineered its social platforms to hook kids and knew but never disclosed that it had received millions of complaints about underage users on Instagram but only disabled a fraction of those accounts, according to a newly unsealed legal complaint described in reports from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. The complaint, originally made public in redacted form, was the opening salvo in a lawsuit filed in late October by the attorneys general of 33 states. According to the reports, Meta said in a statement that the complaint misrepresents its work over the past decade to make the online experience safe for teens and said it doesn't design its products to be addictive to younger users. Meta didn't immediately provide a comment on the unredacted complaint following a request from The Associated Press. Company documents cited in the complaint described several Meta officials acknowledging that the company designed its products t

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Govt to enable citizens to file FIR against social media companies

The government will assist citizens in filing FIR against social media platforms for violation of IT rules in case they are aggrieved from objectionable content like deep fakes. Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) will develop a platform on which users can notify about IT rule violation by social media platforms. "Meity will assist users to very easily notify it about violation of IT rules and assist them in filing FIRs," the minister said. He was speaking to the media after a meeting with social media platforms. "From today onwards there is zero tolerance for violation of IT rules," Chandrasekhar said. The FIR will be registered against the intermediary and if they disclose the details from where the content has originated then the FIR will be filed against the entity that has posted the content, the minister said. He said that social media platforms have been given seven days time to al

Governors cannot keep bills pending indefinitely without any action: SC

Governors cannot be at liberty to keep bills pending indefinitely without any action, the Supreme Court has said while emphasising that the unelected Head of the State is entrusted with constitutional powers but that cannot be used to thwart the normal course of lawmaking by state legislatures. Observing that unbridled discretion to the Governor would "virtually veto the functioning of the legislative domain by a duly elected legislature, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said such a course of action would be contrary to fundamental principles of a constitutional democracy based on a Parliamentary pattern of governance. "The Governor, as an unelected Head of the State, is entrusted with certain constitutional powers. However, this power cannot be used to thwart the normal course of lawmaking by state legislatures. "Consequently, if the Governor decides to withhold assent under the substantive part of Article 200,

Parliamentary panel seeks robust safeguards for technology in legal process

A parliamentary panel, which examined the three proposed criminal laws, has hailed the move to enhance the use of technology in legal proceedings but said the adoption of electronic means for communication and trials should proceed only after the establishment of robust safeguards. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, headed by BJP MP Brij Lal, also said enabling online or electronic FIR registration is a positive step forward but these should be allowed only through modes specified by the state. "The committee notes that the Sanhita provides for acceptance of trials in electronic mode as provided in 'Clause 532' wherein all trials, inquiries, and proceedings may be held in electronic mode by production of electronic communication devices, likely to contain digital evidence, for investigation, inquiry, or trial," the panel noted. "Electronic communication includes communication through devices such as mobiles, computers, or telephone. The committee notes the enhance

HC questions order issued by GST authorities to cancel firm's registration

GST authorities had rejected application by a company for changing its main place of business

SC seeks reply of Centre on Kerala's plea alleging delay in clearing bills

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre and the office of Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on a plea of the state government accusing him of not granting assent to several bills cleared by the legislative assembly. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of senior advocate K K Venugopal, alleging delay on the part of the governor in granting assent to eight bills. The top court also issued a notice to Attorney General R Venkataramani asking that either he or Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assist it in the hearing. The court will now hear the Kerala government's plea on Friday. "This is an endemic situation. The governors do not realise that they are part of the legislature under Article 168 of the Constitution," Venugopal said. In its plea, the state of Kerala claimed that Governor Khan is delaying the consideration of eight bills that have been passed by the state assembly. "Mr

L-G refuses to consider Delhi govt's report on land acquisition case

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has refused to consider a report of Vigilance Minister Atishi alleging "prima facie complicity" of Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar in the Bamnoli land acquisition matter, saying it seems to be "completely based" on the minister's preconceived assumptions and presumptions, sources in the Raj Niwas said on Sunday. On its end, the Delhi government said the LG should "allow an impartial enquiry by CBI into the matter and not prejudge the matter and protect certain individuals because of his fondness for them". In a file noting the government's submission of the report to him, Saxena has said the report "could very well go on to hamper the ongoing investigation, instead of facilitating it". I have received the 'Preliminary Report' on 'Complaints', submitted by the Hon'ble Minister (Vigilance) and endorsed by the Hon'ble Chief Minister. It is surprising and unfortunate, to say the least, that this report, which deals with sensitive vigilance-related matte

SC to hear pleas on delay by govt in clearing collegium's recommendations

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday two petitions, including one alleging a delay on the Centre's part in clearing the names recommended by the collegium for appointment and transfer of judges. A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sudhanshu Dhulia and Sandeep Mehta is slated to hear the matter on Monday. While hearing the pleas on November 7, the apex court said it was "troublesome" that the Centre was selectively picking, choosing and appointing judges whose names were recommended by the collegium for appointment to the higher judiciary. It had also expressed concern over the pendency of names recommended for transfer from one high court to another. "The pendency of transfer matters is an issue of great concern as it has been selectively done. The attorney general submits that the issue is being taken up by him with the government," the bench had said. "We have emphasised to him again that once these people are already appointed as judges, where they perfo