Page 26 - Law

Setalvad moves HC to quash FIR for altering evidence of 2002 riots cases

Social activist Teesta Setalvad has moved the Gujarat High Court to quash an FIR filed against her by the Ahmedabad crime branch for allegedly fabricating evidence in the 2002 riots cases. A sessions court recently rejected her discharge plea in the case, even as the Supreme Court granted her bail after the Gujarat High Court denied her relief. On Monday, Setalvad moved a plea in the HC for quashing the FIR and the matter is likely to come up for hearing in a few days. Setalvad and two others former state Director General of Police R B Sreekumar and former Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt were arrested by the city crime branch in June 2022 on charges of forgery and fabricating evidence with the intent to implicate Gujarat government functionaries in the 2002 riots cases. An FIR was registered against them after the Supreme Court last month dismissed the plea filed by Zakia Jafri, whose husband and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was killed during the riots. Setalvad has

In the wilderness

Forest Bill defeats purpose of the law

SC refuses to entertain PIL seeking SIT probe into Manipur violence

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a fresh PIL on the Manipur violence seeking among other things a SIT probe into alleged poppy cultivation and narco-terrorism. It asked for a "more specific" petition and said this one was "very difficult" to entertain because it blamed only one community. Senior advocate Madhavi Diwan, appearing for the petitioner Mayanglambam Bobby Meetei, sought to withdraw the plea and was allowed to do so. This petition is very difficult to entertain because it places blame on one community, said the bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandcrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. You can come with a more specific petition. This petition has everything from the violence to narcotics to deforestation, the bench said. Diwan referred to cross-border terrorism and poppy cultivation in the state as responsible for the recent violence. The plea made the Narcotics Control Bureau, the National Investigation Agency and the NHRC as well as the .

Constitute sexual harassment probe committees: NMC asks health institutions

The National Medical Commission has directed all health institutions to constitute sexual harassment probe committees in compliance with the provisions of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act. In a letter to the institutions and medical colleges, the Commission referred to the directions of the Supreme Court regarding the implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013. "Accordingly, all the medical colleges are requested to comply with the directions of the Supreme Court as under. "All health institutions/medical colleges are directed to undertake a time bound exercise to verify as to whether the medical colleges/institutions has constituted ICCS/LCS/ICs, as they case may be and that the composition of the said committees are strictly in terms of the provision of the POSH Act," the Commission said. "The institutions shall ensure that necessary information regarding the constitution and composition of the ICCS/LCS/IC

Mere holding of certain literature would not attract provisions of UAPA: SC

Mere holding of certain literature through which violent acts may be propagated would not attract the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Supreme Court on Friday said as it granted bail to activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia said the actual involvement of Gonsalves and Ferreira in any terrorist act has not surfaced from any third-party communications. "Mere holding of certain literatures through which violent acts may be propagated would not ipso facto attract the provisions of Section 15(1)(b) (use of criminal force or the show of criminal force or attempts to do so or cause the death of any public functionary ) of the said Act. "Thus, prima facie, in our opinion, we cannot reasonably come to a finding that any case against the appellants under Section 15(1) (b) of the 1967 Act can be held to be true," the bench said. According to the NIA, various letters a

Madras High Court directs police to take action on old age home issue

The Madras high court has directed the police to immediately take action against persons who are causing disturbance in running an old age home in the city. Disposing of a petition filed by M/s Athulya Assisted Living Pvt.Ltd, Justice N Anand Venkatesh in his recent order said if required, protection shall also be given to the petitioner to ensure that no one interferes with the running of the Old Age Home. The direction was given to the Inspector of Police, Pallavaram Police Station. The petitioner submitted he was running the home and was providing health care services for the elderly people. He had obtained a necessary license in this regard. Senior Counsel Abudu Kumar, appearing for the petitioner submitted that persons in and around the place were causing threat to the petitioner and were bent upon causing problems following which he filed a police complaint recently. Though FIR was registered the threat perspective continues and hence, the petitioner approached the court, h

Caveat petition filed in Allahabad HC over Gyanvapi ASI survey order

Also the main petitioner in the Shringar Gauri Sthal case, Rakhi Singh also came out in support of the ASI survey at the Gyanvapi mosque complex

US court reprimands judge for conduct during Parkland school shooting trial

The Florida Supreme Court publicly reprimanded the judge who oversaw the penalty trial of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz on Monday for showing bias toward the prosecution. The unanimous decision followed a June recommendation from the Judicial Qualifications Commission. That panel had found that Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer violated several rules governing judicial conduct during last year's trial in her actions toward Cruz's public defenders. The six-month trial ended with Cruz receiving a receiving a life sentence for the 2018 murder of 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after the jury could not unanimously agree that he deserved a death sentence. The 15-member commission found that Scherer unduly chastised lead public defender Melisa McNeill and her team, wrongly accused one Cruz attorney of threatening her child, and improperly embraced members of the prosecution in the courtroom after the trial's conclusion. The commission, ...

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Motive necessary for commission of crime when there is no eyewitness: SC

The prosecution will have to establish motive for commission of crime if there is no eyewitness of an incident, the Supreme Court has said while acquitting a man convicted in a 2008 murder case. A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah noted that all the witnesses have stated that there was no enmity between the petitioner and the deceased. "Once there is no eyewitness of the incident, the prosecution will have to establish a motive for the commission of the crime inasmuch as in a case of direct evidence, motive may not have a major role," the bench said. "If there is no motive setup or proved and there are direct eyewitnesses, motive may loose its importance but in the present case as admittedly no one has seen the occurrence, the motive has an important role to play," it said. The observations came while hearing a plea by a man challenging an order of the Chhattisgarh High Court which confirmed his conviction under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and

Will decide after reviewing order: Muslim side lawyer on Gyanvapi verdict

The Hindu side had submitted a petition letter in the Varanasi court asking for an ASI study of the entire complex of the Gyanvapi mosque located in Vishwanath temple

Judges must not use protocol facilities in way that leads to criticism: CJI

Protocol facilities made available to judges should not be used in a manner which causes inconvenience to others or brings public criticism to the judiciary, Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud has said in a letter to the chief justices of all the high courts. The CJI in his letter expressed displeasure over a recent incident in which a judge of the Allahabad High Court sought explanation from railway authorities for "not meeting his requirements" during a train journey. "A Judge of the High Court does not possess disciplinary jurisdiction over railway personnel. Hence, there was no occasion for an officer of the High Court to call for an explanation from the railway personnel 'to be placed before His Lordship for kind perusal'. "Evidently, the officer of the High Court in the above communication was carrying out a direction of the Judge of the High Court in this instance ('the Hon'ble Judge has desired')," the CJI said in the letter dated July 19. In his letter, Chandrachud said ...

3-judge Bench to hear pleas relating to criminalisation of marital rape: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that a three-judge bench will hear a batch of petitions pertaining to criminalisation of marital rape after constitution benches conclude hearing some listed pleas. We have to resolve the matters concerning marital rape, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra said when senior advocate Indira Jaising mentioned the matter for hearing. My case deals with the child sexual abuse case, the senior lawyer said. The CJI said these matters are to be heard by a three-judge bench and these will be listed up for hearing after the five-judge constitution benches conclude hearing some of the listed cases. Presently, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by the CJI is hearing pleas relating to regimes on grant of driving license for different kind of vehicles under the Motor Vehicle Act. The petitions relating to abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which had provided special status to erstwhile Ja

Thai court suspends PM candidate, to rule whether he broke election law

Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday agreed to suspend Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, a candidate to become prime minister, from his duties as a member of Parliament pending its ruling on whether he violated election law. The court's announcement came on the verge of a likely second vote in Parliament whether to confirm Pita as prime minister. His party was the top finisher in May's general election and assembled an eight-party coalition that won 312 seats in the House of Representatives. However, the coalition failed to win enough support in an initial vote last week from the Senate, which votes together with the lower house to name the new prime minister. The court's announcement still would allow Pita's nomination and selection as prime minister, at least until a ruling. Thailand's state Election Commission had referred Pita's case to the court, saying there was evidence he had violated election law over his alleged undeclared ownership of media company ...

Delhi HC asks police to file report on steps to strengthen court security

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the city police to submit a fresh status report on the issue of strengthening the safety and security of court complexes in the national capital. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Kumar Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula perused the status report submitted by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in which several recommendations and steps were suggested based on a meeting of all the stakeholders, for increasing the security in court complexes. The bench said the fresh status report must be based upon the recommendations and the steps suggested and implemented as per the joint meeting conducted by all the stakeholders on May 6. The court listed the matter for further hearing on October 9. The high court was hearing a batch of petitions seeking to increase safety and security measures in trial courts.

Laws on preventive detention are harsh, procedure needs to be adhered: SC

Laws on preventive detention are necessarily harsh, curtail the personal liberty of an individual who is kept behind bars without trial and so the procedure prescribed should be strictly adhered to, the Supreme Court has said while ordering the release of a man whose detention was extended twice without the authorities considering his representation. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia set aside an order of the Jharkhand High Court upholding the detention of Prakash Chandra Yadav alias Mungeri Yadav, who was declared an 'anti-social element' under the Jharkhand Control of Crimes Act, 2002. The bench, in its order dated July 10, held the procedure of law was not followed, and ordered Yadav's release from Rajmahal prison in Jharkhand's Sahibganj district. "All laws on preventive detention are necessarily harsh. They curtail personal liberty of an individual, who is kept behind bars without any trial. In such cases, procedure is all a detenue has. Laws of preventiv

SC extends interim bail of Ashish Mishra in Lakhimpur Kheri violence case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended till September 26 the interim bail of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra's son Ashish, facing prosecution in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta noted that trial was going on in the case and adjourned the matter. The top court on April 24 had said that it may not be possible to direct the trial court to conduct day-to-day hearings in the case as it may affect other cases pending there. While hearing the matter on March 14, the apex court had said the trial in the case was not "slow paced" and directed the sessions judge concerned to keep apprising it about the future developments of the trial. The top court had observed though it is not monitoring the trial, it is having an "indirect supervision" on it. It had said the interim direction contained in its January 25 order, by which it had granted eight-week interim bail to Ashish Mishra in the case, shall continue to operate. The court had als

7/11 train blasts: HC yet to commence hearing on death penalty confirmation

Seventeen years since a string of powerful bombs ripped through Mumbai's commuter trains system in the evening rush hour on July 11, the Bombay High Court is yet to commence hearing on the confirmation of the death penalty given to five convicts in the case. On July 11, 2006, seven blasts were reported from different locations on the Western line of the city's local trains within a span of 15 minutes, killing more than 180 people and injuring several others. The first bomb went off shortly after 6:20 pm in a train plying from Churchgate to Borivali. The bomb exploded when the train was between the Khar and Santacruz stations. Another bomb exploded at around the same time in a local train between Bandra and Khar. Subsequently, five more explosions were reported from Jogeshwari, Mahim, Mira Road-Bhayandar, Matunga-Mahim and Borivali. Between 2006 and 2008, the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra arrested 13 alleged members of the Indian Mujahideen terror outfit in connection wi

2020 Delhi riots: Court acquits 6 accused of arson, loot, rioting

A court here has acquitted six people accused of rioting, arson and looting on two properties during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala passed the order while hearing a case against Sahil, Dinesh, Tinku, Sandeep, Vikas Kashyap and Sonu, who were accused of being a part of a riotous mob that committed trespass and thefts in a shop in Bhagirathi Vihar during the riots on the intervening night of 24th and 25th February 2020. They were also accused of being members of an unlawful assembly that committed arson, trespass and theft in a nearby house around 9 pm on February 24. "I find that charges levelled against the accused persons, in this case, are not proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Hence, all the accused persons are acquitted of all the charges levelled against them in this case," the court said on Thursday. It noted that a constable and an assistant sub-inspector were the two prosecution witnesses who claimed to have seen the incidents.

Fake news rules: Can statute have unbound discretionary authority, asks HC

Is it permissible in law for a statute to have unbound and limitless discretionary authority, the Bombay High Court asked on Friday while hearing a bunch of petitions against the recently amended Information Technology (IT) Rules against fake news. A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale said before it goes into the effect the Rules would have on the fundamental rights of citizens, it needs to know the boundaries and limits of the words - fake, false and misleading - used in the Rules. The court was hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the IT Rules that empower the Centre to identify fake, false and misleading information posted on social media against the government and its business. Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India and the Association of Indian Magazines filed petitions in the high court against the rules terming them as arbitrary, unconstitutional and saying that they would have a "chilling effect" on the fundamental rights of ...