Supreme Court

AAP hopeful of Kejriwal's release, waiting for SC verdict: Raghav Chadha

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha said they are "hopeful" and are waiting for the Supreme Court's decision on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's bail. Chadha, who was in Haryana, also made an appeal to voters to choose the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the October 5 assembly elections. The Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver on Friday its verdict on Delhi Kejriwal's petitions seeking bail and challenging his arrest by the CBI in the excise policy 'scam'. According to the cause list of September 13 uploaded on the apex court website, a bench headed by Justice Surya Kant is slated to pronounce the verdict. "We are very hopeful. We are waiting for tomorrow," Chadha told reporters. The apex court bench, also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, had on September 5 reserved its verdict on the pleas. Kejriwal has filed two separate petitions challenging the denial of bail and against his arrest by the CBI in the corruption case filed by the central agency. The AAP chief was arrested by the

Coastal Energen insolvency: SC allows Dickey-Adani to operate plant for now

The NCLAT, in its September 6 order, had halted the Rs 3,335 crore resolution plan put forth by the consortium, which is the successful bidder for the bankrupt firm

SpiceJet moves SC against order grounding its three leased engines

The division bench of the Delhi High Court had rejected cash-strapped airline SpiceJet's plea, saying it did not wish to interfere with single-judge order of same court and asked parties to settle

Centre seeks review of SC verdict allowing states to levy mining cess

The Centre has also reportedly roped in the state of Madhya Pradesh as a co-petitioner to review the July 25 judgment in an open court hearing

Excise policy scam: SC to deliver verdict on Kejriwal's bail plea on Sep 13

The Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver on Friday its verdict on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's petitions seeking bail and challenging his arrest by the CBI in the excise policy "scam". As per the cause list of September 13 uploaded on the apex court website, a bench headed by Justice Surya Kant is slated to pronounce the verdict.

Madrassas 'unsuitable' for children to receive proper education: NCPCR

Madrassas are "unsuitable" places for children to receive "proper education" and the education imparted there is "not comprehensive" and is against the provisions of the Right to Education Act, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has told the Supreme Court. The child rights body told the top court that children, who are not in formal schooling system, are deprived of their fundamental right to elementary education, including entitlements such as midday meal, uniform etc. The NCPCR said madrassas merely teaching from a few NCERT books in the curriculum is a "mere guise" in the name of imparting education and does not ensure that the children are receiving formal and quality education. "A madrassa is not only a unsuitable/unfit place to receive 'proper' education but also in absence of entitlements as provided under Sections 19, 21,22, 23, 24, 25, and 29 of the RTE Act," it said. "Further, madrassas do not only render an unsatisfactory and insufficient mode

SC to consider SpiceJet's plea against Delhi HC order grounding 3 engines

The Supreme Court said Thursday it will consider listing low-cost airline SpiceJet's plea challenging a Delhi High Court verdict grounding three aircraft engines for defaulting on payments to lessors. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra asked the counsel for the airline to send an e-mail seeking an urgent hearing of its plea against the high court verdict of September 11. "Please circulate the e-mail," the CJI said, adding that the appeal may be listed. A division bench of the Delhi High Court on Wednesday held that the carrier had violated an agreed interim arrangement for payment of dues and upheld an order of a single-judge bench asking the low-cost airline to ground the three engines for defaulting on the payments. The single-judge bench of the high court had on August 14 directed SpiceJet to ground three engines by August 16 and hand them over to their lessors -- Team France 01 SAS and Sunbird France 02 SAS. A high court

Section 498A, Domestic Violence laws among most abused in India: SC

Section 498A of the IPC and the Domestic Violence Act have often faced criticism for being allegedly misused by women to falsely implicate their husbands and in-laws

Establishment of Gram Nyayalayas will improve access to justice: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said establishment of Gram Nyayalayas across the country would help improve access to justice. An Act passed by Parliament in 2008 provided for the establishment of Gram Nyayalayas at the grassroots level for providing access to justice to the citizens at their doorsteps and to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to anyone because of social, economic or other disabilities. A bench headed by Justice B R Gavai was hearing a plea seeking a direction to the Centre and all states for taking steps to set up 'Gram Nyayalayas' under the supervision of the apex court. During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGO National Federation of Societies for Fast Justice and others, said only about five to six per cent of Gram Nyayalayas have been set up till now. "Some of the states are saying we don't need Gram Nyayalayas because we have Nyaya Panchayats," Bhushan told the bench, which also comprised Justices P

SC to set up bench to hear pleas of states on recovery of royalty, tax dues

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will set up a bench to hear subsequent pleas of mineral-rich states like Jharkhand seeking to recover royalty and tax dues on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands worth thousands of crore of rupees from the Centre and mining firms. On July 25, a nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, in a majority 8:1 verdict, had ruled that the legislative power to tax mineral rights vests in states and not Parliament. In a subsequent order on August 14, the top court clarified that the judgement will not have prospective effect and permitted mineral-rich states recover from the Centre and mining firms the royalty and tax dues on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands worth thousands of crore of rupees since April 1, 2005 over a period of 12 years. On Wednesday, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for Jharkhand, urged the bench comprising the CJI and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra to allocate the pleas, relating to recover

NMC expected to act in fairly, says SC; rejects pleas with costs of Rs 10L

The National Medical Commission (NMC) is an organ of the State and is expected to act in a fair and reasonable manner, the Supreme Court has said while dismissing with costs of Rs 10 lakh its pleas challenging an order of the Kerala High Court. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan was dealing with pleas filed by the NMC and others in a matter related to the withdrawal of approval granted to a medical college for increase of seats from 150 to 250 for academic year 2023-24. The apex court observed that making a party run from court to court to seek permission, specifically when the institute has been functional for 18 years, was only an attempt to harass the institution. "Prima facie, we find that the attitude of the NMC is not of a model litigant. The NMC is an organ of the State and is expected to act in a fair and reasonable manner," the bench said in its order passed on September 9. "We are, therefore, of the view that the present special leave petitions are an abuse

Kolkata rape-murder: Doctors continue with cease work, sit-in protest

Defying Supreme Court's directive to join duties by 5 PM on September 10, protesting junior doctors in West Bengal continued with their cease work for the 33rd day on Wednesday to press their demand for justice for a medic who was allegedly raped and murdered at a state-run hospital here last month. The junior doctors also continued their sit-in outside Swasthya Bhawan, the headquarters of the state health department, for the second day, demanding that the Kolkata Police commissioner and senior health officials be removed from their posts. The top court on Monday directed the protesting resident doctors to resume work by 5 PM on Tuesday and said no adverse action shall be taken against them on resumption of work. The court passed the direction after the West Bengal government assured it that no action, including punitive transfers, shall be taken against the protesting doctors on resumption of work. The state government said it has written to the protesters, inviting them for a ...

SC to hear plea related to insolvency proceedings against Byju's on Sept 17

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will hear on September 17 the appeal of US-based creditor Glas Trust Company LLC against a judgment of the NCLAT, which had stayed insolvency proceedings against ed-tech firm BYJU's and approved its Rs 158.9 crore dues settlement with the BCCI. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was urged by a battery of lawyers that the plea be heard urgently keeping in mind the subsequent developments in the case. The plea was mentioned by senior advocate NK Kaul, appearing for the ed-tech major, that the case needed to be heard at the earliest. The submission was supported by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the BCCI, and senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, also appearing for the ed-tech firm. Kaul said another plea in the case has also been filed and that is listed for hearing on September 17 and hence, the present plea be either heard on that day or the hearings in both the cases be advance

Abortion rights measure will be on Missouri's November ballot, court rules

An amendment to restore abortion rights in Missouri will be on the ballot, the state's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday. The proposal to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution is expected to widely undo the state's 2022 near-total abortion ban if passed. Judges ruled hours before the Tuesday deadline for changes to be made to the November ballot. Mary Catherine Martin, a lawyer for a group of GOP lawmakers and abortion opponents suing to remove the amendment, during Tuesday arguments told Supreme Court judges that the initiative petition misled voters by not listing all the laws restricting abortion that it would effectively repeal. Abortion-rights campaign lawyer Chuck Hatfield described the lawsuit as an attempt to derail democracy. Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who opposes abortion, decertified the measure Monday, removing it from the ballot himself following a county circuit judge's ruling Friday. The amendment is part of a national push to have voters weigh

1991 Multani murder case: SC to not quash fresh FIR against ex-Punjab DGP

The Supreme Court Tuesday refused to interfere with a fresh FIR lodged against former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in the 1991 disappearance and murder of junior engineer Balwant Singh Multani. A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Pankaj Mithal said that in view of the subsequent development of a charge sheet being filed in the case, it would not like to interfere with the FIR. The top court, however, said that observations and findings recorded in the Punjab and Haryana High Court verdict dated September 8, 2020, will not come in the way of proceedings before the trial court. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Saini, sought quashing of the FIR, saying it was lodged in 2020 after decades of the alleged incident due to political reasons. He said that time and again this court had granted relief to Saini, who is a decorated officer, and even protected him from any coercive action in the case. Justice Sundresh said that since the charge sheet has been filed in the case, it

SC stays proceedings against Shashi Tharoor over remarks against PM Modi

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed proceedings before a trial court against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in a defamation case lodged against him for his alleged "scorpion on Shivling" remarks targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and R Mahadevan issued notice to the Delhi government and the complainant in the case. The notice is returnable in four weeks. Tharoor has moved the top court against Delhi High Court order which refused to quash defamation proceedings against him on August 29. The Congress leader had sought setting aside of the trial court's April 27, 2019 order summoning him as an accused in the criminal defamation complaint filed by Rajiv Babbar as also the November 2, 2018 complaint. The criminal complaint was filed against Tharoor in the trial court by Babbar, who claimed that his religious sentiments were hurt by the Congress leader's statement. In October 2018, Tharoor had claimed that an unnamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS

Free on-arrival visa scheme to be implemented after Parl nod: Sri Lanka

The commencement of granting free on-arrival visas to tourists from 38 countries, including India, can only be implemented in October as it needs parliamentary approval, Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles has announced. The minister said on Monday that a new gazette to implement the change requires parliamentary approval. Last week, the presidential advisor on tourism, Harin Fernando, said the scheme was to be implemented with immediate effect following a proposal approved by the Cabinet. The Parliament is not scheduled to meet before the September 21 presidential election. The island's tourism industry has demanded an immediate end to the long delays experienced by travellers to the country. In April, a foreign company was engaged to issue on-arrival visas. However, it has caused much heartburn to the tourism industry that says travellers are made to spend hours before being allowed entry at the immigration at the Colombo International Airport. The tourism industry demands

WB school jobs row: SC to hear pleas challenging HC verdict on Sept 24

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would hear on September 24 the pleas of the West Bengal government and others challenging a Calcutta High Court order that invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff in state government and aided schools. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said it may not be able to hear the batch of pleas, listed on Tuesday, due to the hearing of some other matters during the day. "We will list it on September 24," the CJI said. Earlier, the top court had said that it will hear the pleas on September 10 and granted last opportunity to the parties to file their responses to the petitions by August 16. The bench had also asked the nodal counsel -- Astha Sharma, who represents the state government, and Shalini Kaul, Partha Chatterjee and Shekhar Kumar-- to prepare a common compilation of the records in electronic form and ensure that the judgments cited by the parties were part of

SC orders U'khand college to release original documents of MBBS students

In a relief to 91 students, the Supreme Court has ordered a medical college in Uttarakhand to release their original documents withheld by the institute for non-payment of fee arrears. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions of senior lawyer Gaurav Agarwal and advocate Tanvi Dubey, appearing for the doctors, that the students will neither be able to register themselves as medical practitioner nor can take up examinations for higher studies for lack of original documents. The bench, which also comprised justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, ordered Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences College at Dehradun in Uttarakhand to release the documents on payment of Rs 7.5 lakh by students who have completed their MBBS course and the requisite internship. The students will have to give an undertaking that they will be paying the remaining fee arrears, the top court said on Monday. The medical college had earlier increased Rs 5 lakh

'Protests won't stop': Bengal IMA defies SC order over RG Kar rape case

RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case: The Indian Medical Association of West Bengal has defied the Supreme Court's order for protesting junior doctors to return to work