Page 9 - Law

UK govt acted unlawfully in approving climate plan: High Court judge

A High Court judge ruled Friday that the UK government acted unlawfully when it approved a plan to meet climate targets without evidence that it could be delivered. It was the second time in two years that the government's main climate action plan was found to be unlawful and insufficient in meeting legally-binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Justice Clive Sheldon sided Friday with three environmental groups that brought the case, ruling that the government's decision to approve its Carbon Budget Delivery Plan last year was simply not justified by the evidence. The plan outlined how the UK aims to achieve its climate targets, including pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about two-thirds of 1990 levels by 2030 and to reach net zero by 2050. The judge said the details in the draft plan were vague and unquantified, and didn't provide officials with enough information on whether the plan should be approved. Lawyers acting for the environmental organizations tol

Delhi HC directs action against use of oxytocin in dairy colonies

The Delhi High Court has directed authorities to take action against the spurious use of oxytocin in dairy colonies here, saying the administration of the hormone amounts to animal cruelty and is an offence. A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan Court asked the Delhi government's department of drugs control to conduct weekly inspections and register cases which will be investigated by the police. The court further asked the Intelligence Department of Delhi Police to identify the sources of oxytocin production, packaging and distribution and take action in accordance with law. The court's order came on a petition by Sunayana Sibal and others concerning the state of dairies in the national capital. The bench, also comprising Justice Manmeet PS Arora, recorded that one of the issues flagged by the court commissioner was the "rampant use" of oxytocin to force milk let-down and to increase production of milk in the cattle. "Since administering of oxytocin amounts to animal ..

Fresh kidnapping case registered against H D Revanna, Prajwal: Police

Former Karnataka minister H D Revanna and his son Prajwal Revanna face fresh troubles as a case has been lodged based on a youth's complaint alleging that his mother was abducted after a video of her being allegedly tied and raped by Prajwal emerged. The case was registered on Thursday night, police here said. Revanna, who is a JD(S) MLA from Holenarasipura constituency in Hassan district, is the son of former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda and elder brother of former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy. Prajwal, the sitting JD(S) MP from Hassan, is facing allegations of sexually abusing women. The state government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case after scores of explicit video clips allegedly involving the 33-year-old MP started making the rounds in recent days. He was the NDA candidate from the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency where polling was held on April 26. JD(S) joined the NDA in September last year. A case of molestation was

LS polls: HC dismisses plea to allow arrested leaders to campaign virtually

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition seeking to allow arrested political leaders to campaign through virtual mode for the Lok Sabha polls, terming the plea as "highly adventurous" and against the fundamental principles of law. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora said courts do not take policy decisions and that it is for Parliament to decide on such issues. "We can't allow someone who is in custody to run a campaign. Otherwise, all rapists, murderers will start floating political parties just prior to the elections," the bench said. The high court warned the petitioner of imposing costs but later agreed not to do so as the arguing counsel pleaded that the petitioner was a student. The court was hearing a petition by Amarjeet Gupta, a law student, who was aggrieved by the timing of the arrest of politicians, particularly Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, after the announcement of the model code of conduct by the ECI. "Okay we

Excise policy case: Court extends custody of Sisodia, others till May 8

A court here on Friday extended the judicial custody of AAP leader Manish Sisodia, co-accused Vijay Nair and others till May 8 in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. The accused persons were produced before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja through video conferencing on the expiry of their judicial custody granted earlier. The judge also directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit a report on how much time it was likely to take to digitize the documents related to the charge sheet. During the proceedings, ED's special public prosecutors Naveen Kumar Matta and Simon Benjamin alleged that the accused persons were delaying the proceedings and that they were not willing to expedite the hearing. Earlier, the court sent Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and BRS leader K Kavitha to judicial custody till May 7 in the case. The ED alleged that Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is the major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the allege

Delhi HC allows request by Go First lessors for aircraft deregistration

"DGCA shall forthwith and not later than five working days process the deregistration applications filed by the 54 aircrafts," the court said

Court grants time to Kejriwal to file response in case of evading summonses

Special Judge Rakesh Syal on Wednesday granted two weeks to Kejriwal to file rejoinder on the ED's reply on the AAP convener's appeals

SC issues notices on plea challenging anti-profiteering provisions

The petition, filed by Swati Reality, states that the High Court erred in failing to appreciate that the impugned provisions under the GST system are ultra vires the Constitution

SC refuses plea for voting facilities to 18,000 displaced in Manipur polls

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea seeking voting facilities for around 18,000 people displaced internally due to the ethnic strife in Manipur for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The polling for the two Lok Sabha seats of Manipur will be held in two phases on April 19 and 26. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said interference of this court, particularly at this belated stage, would cause substantial impediments in the conduct of the ensuing general elections of the Lok Sabha for Manipur. "You have come at the last minute. At this stage, what can be virtually done? We cannot interfere at this stage," the bench said. The top court was hearing a plea by Manipur resident Naulak Khamsuanthang and others seeking a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to make arrangements to enable internally-displaced persons settled outside Manipur to enable them to cast their votes in the Lok Sabha election

Proposed SEZ amendment bill may figure in next govt's 100-day agenda

The proposed amendments in the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) law are expected to figure in the 100-day agenda of the commerce ministry for the next government and it may be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament, sources said. The monsoon session will be the first session of the newly elected government which will also see the presentation of the full budget for 2024-25. The seven-phase Lok Sabha polls, the world's biggest election exercise, will kick off on April 19 with the counting of votes set to take place on June 4. The government is considering several measures such as a flexible framework for the sale of products manufactured in SEZs in the domestic market, and streamlining approval processes for units, they said. The aim is to help revive SEZs and facilitate business transactions between SEZs and the domestic tariff area (DTA) or the domestic market. SEZs are enclosures that are treated as foreign territories for trade and customs duties, with restrictions on ...

Govt extends consultations for digital competition Bill till 15 May

The government has extended the deadline for submitting stakeholder comments on the draft digital competition bill by one month to May 15. It has also extended the deadline for submission of comments by stakeholders on the report of Committee on Digital Competition Law (CDCL). The initial deadline is to end on April 15. Earlier, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had invited comments of stakeholders on the report of CDCL as well as draft digital competition bill under e-consultation module by April 15. However, in a notice on Tuesday the ministry said it had considered "the requests received from various stakeholders, and the last date of submitting the comments/ suggestions is extended till 15th May, 2024". It also said stakeholders could send in their comments via email, apart from the e-consultation module. In March this year, fair trade regulator proposed digital competition bill which seeks to put in place several obligations for large digital enterprises, including new

Why can't states impose laws on industrial alcohol to stop its abuse: SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought to know from the Centre why the states, as the custodians of the health of citizens, cannot impose regulations on industrial alcohol and levy fees to ensure that its abuse does not take place. A nine-judge constitution bench is examining the issue of overlapping powers of the Centre and states in the production, manufacturing, supply and regulation of industrial alcohol. "We all know about Hooch tragedies and the states are widely concerned about health of its citizens. Why should the states not have the power to regulate. If they can regulate to ensure that there is no misuse, then it can impose any fees," the bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre. A bunch of petitions came before the bench after a seven-judge constitution bench ruled against the states. The matter was referred to the nine-judge bench in 2010 after the seven-judge bench ruled in 1997 that the Centre would hav

RoC puts Rs 10 cr fine on 2 cos, 9 individuals for violating companies law

Clamping down for illegal fundraising activities, the corporate affairs ministry has slapped fines totalling nearly Rs 10 crore on two companies and nine individuals as they violated private placement norms. The fines have been imposed on Planify Capital and four individuals as well as on Mayasheel Retail India Pvt Ltd (Bazar India) and five individuals, according to two orders passed by the Registrar of Companies, NCT of Delhi & Haryana on April 3. The action has been taken against the entities for violating Section 42 of the Companies Act, 2013, which pertains to the issuance of securities through the private placement route. Fines totalling Rs 7 crore have been imposed on Planify Capital and four individuals. A total penalty of nearly Rs 2.89 crore has been imposed on MayaSheel Retail India and five individuals. It was found that the entities used a crowdsourcing platform 'Planify' to reach out to investors for issuing securities through the private placement route. Planify ...

PIL in HC seeks to restrain Kejriwal from issuing order while in custody

There is a likelihood that the order issued by Kejriwal in the capacity of Chief Minister of the NCT of Delhi may influence a fair and proper investigation

HC seeks response of govt to plea against FCRA licence cancellation of CPR

Justice Chandra Dhari Singh issued a notice to the central government and asked them to file a short reply within two weeks

Apple, Google, Meta targeted in EU's first Digital Markets Act probes

The European Commission said Monday that Apple and Google's app store rules will be targeted in the first probes under the bloc's Digital Markets Act

Trump wins pause of $454 mn civil fraud ruling, avoiding asset seizures

The decision by a mid-level state appellate court eases an acute cash crunch brought on by Trump's mounting legal expenses

2nd accused arrested for Budaun double murder, kids stabbed multiple times

The brother of the main accused in the chilling murder of a neighbour's two children in Budaun was arrested after he surrendered at a police post in Bareilly, police said on Thursday. The postmortem report of the slain children has revealed that the assailant stabbed the elder brother 13 times and his sibling 11 times, officials said, adding injury marks have been found on the neck, chest and other parts of bodies of the two children. Javed, who had been absconding since the murders in Baba Colony on Tuesday, surrendered at Satellite police outpost of Baradari police station in neighbouring Bareilly district, Budaun Senior Superintendent of Police Alok Priyadarshi said. "Javed, the brother of main accused Sajid, was arrested by a police team in nearby Bareilly district. He is being brought to Budaun for further questioning," the SSP said. A video clip that surfaced online purportedly showed Javed pleading with a group of people confronting him to take him to the police. In the vid

NCLAT directs 11 PSBs to not take action against IL&FS till next hearing

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has directed 11 public sector lenders not to take coercive action against IL&FS and its group companies till its next hearing on May 14. A two-member NCLAT bench headed by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan also issued notices to the banks, along with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), directing them to file a reply. "In view of the order dated October 15, 2018, the Respondents (banks) shall not proceed to take any coercive action against the Applicant (IL&FS and group companies) till the next date," said the NCLAT. On October 15, 2018, the NCLAT stayed all proceedings against IL&FS and other group companies till its further order. It had also restrained creditors of IL&FS from filing suits, in the case of non-repayment of loans. The NCLAT direction came on Tuesday over an urgent plea moved by the newly appointed board of debt-ridden IL&FS, seeking direction to the banks restraining them from initiating or pursuing ..

Delhi court grants police 10 more days to complete NewsClick investigation

A court here on Wednesday granted the Delhi Police 10 days more to complete its investigation against NewsClick founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha in a case lodged under the anti-terror law UAPA over allegations that the news portal received money to spread pro-China propaganda. Additional Sessions judge Hardeep Kaur passed the order on an application filed by police, which sought more time to complete its investigation, claiming it was "at a crucial stage". The judge had on December 22 granted the city police 60 more days to complete the probe. The court on February 23 further granted 20 more days to police to conduct the investigation. The judge also extended the judicial custody of Purkayastha and accused-turned-approver Amit Chakravarty, NewsClick's HR department head, by 10 more days. The Special Cell of Delhi Police had arrested Purkayastha and Chakravarty on October 3. Without the court's permission, the probe agency would have had three months from the day of