Page 9 - Law

In matters concerning liberty of citizens, every single day counts, says SC

Every single day counts in matters concerning the liberty of citizens, the Supreme Court said on Friday while asking the Delhi High Court to decide on the regular bail plea of a businessman in a corruption case related to the now scrapped Delhi excise policy. The petitioner's regular bail application has been heard by the high court on 40 occasions and now the matter has been adjourned to July 8, a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta was told by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for businessman Amandeep Singh Dhall. "This cannot be that after 40 hearings, you don't decide the regular bail," he said. The bench noted it has been informed that his regular bail plea was filed in July last year. "In matters concerning the liberty of citizens, every single day counts. Keeping the matter of regular bail pending after almost 11 months deprives the petitioner of his liberty," the bench said. "We request the high court to decide the bail application prior to the closure for .

NewsClick founder Purkayastha released from Tihar Jail on SC orders

NewsClick founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha was released from the Tihar Jail here on Wednesday, hours after the Supreme Court declared his arrest "invalid". Purkayastha had been lodged in the jail since November 2 last year. The Delhi Police's Special Cell had arrested Purkayastha on October 3 last year under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly receiving money to peddle pro-China propaganda through stories. According to his lawyer Arshdeep Singh Khurana, Purkayastha came out of jail number 10 of the prison in Rohini at 9 pm. His family members and friends received him outside the jail complex. Observing that the right to life and personal liberty was the "most sacrosanct" fundamental right guaranteed under Articles 20, 21 and 22 of the Constitution, the apex court said any person arrested over allegations of commission of offences under the UAPA or other offences has a fundamental and a statutory right to be informed about the grou

TikTok creators sue US govt over law that could ban popular platform

Eight TikTok content creators sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, issuing another challenge to the new federal law that would ban the popular social media platform nationwide if its China-based parent company doesn't sell its stakes within a year. Attorneys for the creators argued in the lawsuit that the law violates users' First Amendment rights to free speech, echoing legal arguments made by TikTok in a separate lawsuit filed by the company last week. The legal challenge could end up before the Supreme Court. The complaint filed Tuesday comes from a diverse set of content creators, including a Texas-based rancher who has previously appeared in a TikTok commercial, a creator in Arizona who uses TikTok to show his daily life and spread awareness about LGBTQ issues as well as a business owner who sells skincare products on TikTok Shop, the e-commerce arm of the platform. The lawsuit said the creators rely on TikTok to express themselves, learn, advocate for causes, share opinions, .

Excise case: Court to consider ED chargesheet against Kavitha on May 14

A Delhi court is likely to consider on Tuesday a fresh charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case naming BRS leader K Kavitha and four others as accused. Special Judge for ED and CBI cases, Kaveri Baweja, who was likely to take up the charge sheet for cognisance on Monday, adjourned the matter for May 14. The ED on Friday filed the nearly 200-page prosecution complaint (charge sheet) along with annexures under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Kavitha, an MLC of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party, three employees of a company that handled AAP's Goa campaign (Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd) -- Damodar Sharma, Prince Kumar and Chanpreet Singh -- and a former employee of India Ahead news channel Arvind Singh have been named as accused in the latest charge sheet, sources said. The federal agency had arrested 46-year-old Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K ...

Over 171,000 matters settled at second National Lok Adalat in Delhi

According to the official release, a total of 254,392 cases were referred to Lok Adalat

Forest fires: SC bats for preventive steps, says cloud seeding no solution

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said cloud seeding or "depending on rain god" is not the answer to the raging forest fires in Uttarakhand and that authorities will have to take preventive measures to tackle the problem. The Uttarakhand government apprised the apex court about the steps taken to control the forest fires and said 0.1 per cent of the wildlife cover in the state was on fire due to such incidents. The state government told a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta that since November last year, there were 398 forest fires in Uttarakhand and five people were killed in such incidents. Deputy Advocate General of Uttarakhand Jatinder Kumar Sethi told the court that all the fires were man-made. A total of 350 criminal cases have been lodged in connection with the forest fires, he said, adding that 62 people have been named in those. "People say that 40 per cent of Uttarakhand is on fire, whereas 0.1 per cent of the wildlife cover was on fire. And all this was man-made.

HC asks Centre to respond to plea on non-regulation of deepfake technology

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the Centre's response on a PIL by veteran journalist Rajat Sharma against non-regulation of deepfake technology in the country and seeking directions to block public access to applications and software enabling creation of such content. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora issued notice to the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on the petition. Deepfake technology facilitates creation of realistic videos, audio recordings and images that can manipulate and mislead viewers by superimposing the likeness of one person onto another, altering their words and actions, thereby presenting a false narrative or spreading misinformation. The bench said it was a major problem and sought to know from the central government if it was willing to act on the issue. Political parties are complaining about this as well. You are not taking any action, the court said. Rajat Sharma, the Chairman and ...

Excise scam case: Court extends Kavitha's judicial custody till May 14

A Delhi court on Tuesday extended till May 14 the judicial custody of BRS leader K Kavitha in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam. Special judge for CBI and ED matters Kaveri Baweja extended the custody of the Telangana MLC after she was produced before the court on expiry of her remand. During the proceedings, the Enforcement Directorate told the court the investigation was at a crucial stage and it may file a charge sheet against Kavitha within a week.

CLAT 2025: Exam date announced on consortiumofnlus.ac.in, details inside

The Consortium of National Law Universities has announced the CLAT 2025 exam dates in the official notice for Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) exam on the site consortiumofnlus.ac.in

Judge warns Trump of possible jail time, fines $1k for gag order violation

The judge presiding over Donald Trump's hush money trial has fined him $1,000 for violating his gag order and sternly warned the former president that additional violation could result in jail time. The fine marks the second sanction for Trump for inflammatory comments about witnesses since the start of the trial last month. He was fined $9,000 last week for nine violations. Judge Juan M Merchan warned Monday that additional gag order violations could potentially result in jail time, though he said that was the last thing I want to do.

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 ...