Page 164 - Supreme Court

Yet to finalise mechanism for regulating cryptocurrencies: Centre to SC

The Centre has told the Supreme Court it is yet to take a decision on a mechanism to regulate cryptocurrencies and effectively investigate related offences. A bench of justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan was told by Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee, appearing for the Centre, that the issues related to the digital currency are continuously evolving and the government is deliberating on the mechanism to regulate the cryptocurrencies. He sought time to file an affidavit by the next date of hearing in the case giving updated position on the mechanism. "So far as the stance of the Union of India with reference to the matters of cryptocurrency arising in different states is concerned, the Additional Solicitor General of India seeks and is granted four weeks' time to file an appropriate affidavit," the bench ordered on Friday. During the hearing, Justice Kant said the court only wants that there are appropriate safeguards to protect the common man from frauds and misuse

Bilkis Bano case convicts are under 'police watch', not missing: Official

The Supreme Court earlier in the day refused to give more time to surrender to the 11 convicts in the case of gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of 7 of her family members during the 2002 riots

Tech evolution for ensuring hybrid mode of hearing is work in progress: SC

Technological advancement to ensure hybrid mode of hearing in all high courts is a work in progress, the Supreme Court said on Friday. The top court rejected the submission that access to virtual hearings be declared a fundamental right saying this will not serve the cause. "Only declaring it a fundamental right will not help. We have to ensure that facilities has to be there and we have to ensure that adequate facilities are there in the hilly regions also like say Meghalaya...," it said. The top court, which has been issuing slew of directions from time to time to ensure that no lawyer and litigant are denied access to video conferencing facility or hearing through hybrid mode, has deferred the hearing on a plea to February 12. The bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra asked lawyers Gaurav Agarwal and K Parmeshwar, who are assisting it as amicus curiae, to hold further deliberations with the high courts and file an undated status

Madras HC dismisses startups' appeals against Google's billing policy

The court has, however, asked Google not to delist the startups' mobile applications for three weeks

SC rejects plea seeking quashing of order on Rahul Gandhi's LS membership

The Supreme Court on Friday took a stern view on the filing of "frivolous" petitions and dismissed with a cost of Rs 1 lakh a plea seeking the quashing of an August 7, 2023, notification that restored the Lok Sabha membership of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The Lok Sabha notification restored the membership of Rahul Gandhi following an apex court order staying his conviction in a 2019 defamation case over his 'Modi' surname remark. The top court had on August 4, 2023, stayed his conviction in the defamation case. Gandhi represents Wayanad in the Lower House of Parliament. The plea filed by Lucknow-based Ashok Pandey came up for hearing before a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta. The bench observed that Pandey had not appeared before it despite the matter being called twice for hearing. It also referred to two previous orders passed by the court on separate petitions filed by the petitioner. The bench noted that the top court had dismissed those petitions with costs o

Bilkis Bano case: Supreme Court directs rapists to surrender by January 21

Bilkis Bano case convicts sought an extension to the surrender deadline after the Supreme Court quashed remission granted by the Gujarat government

Jet Airways case: SC deals blow to JKC, orders Rs 150 crore bank guarantee

The Supreme Court ruled that if Jalan Kalrock Consortium (JKC) fails to furnish the bank guarantee, legal penalties will follow

Govt forms panel to examine steps to safeguard interests of SCs: Report

A high-level panel has been formed to examine the administrative steps that can be taken to safeguard the interests of scheduled caste communities like the Madigas, sources said on Friday. The panel will seek to ensure fair allocation of benefits to the most disadvantaged communities within the Scheduled Castes, which have been overshadowed by comparatively affluent and influential groups. "On the directions of the prime minister, a committee of secretaries has been constituted under the chairmanship of cabinet secretary," a source privy to the matter said. "It will examine the administrative steps that can be taken to safeguard the interests of the scheduled caste communities, like the Madigas and other such groups, who have represented that they are not evenly getting their due share of benefits," he said. The committee will comprise secretaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Department of Personnel and Training, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Department of Legal Affai

SC refuses to interfere with AIADMK resolution expelling OPS, his aides

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with a Madras High Court order rejecting pleas of O Panneerselvam and his supporters against the AIADMK general council resolution expelling them from the party. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta told senior advocate K K Venugopal and other senior counsel appearing for Panneerselvam and his supporters that it is not inclined to interfere with the high court order. The bench said interfering with the resolution would amount to allowing the suit pending before the civil court. "If we interfere at this juncture, it will create huge chaos. To us it appears, there is a split, it will work itself out. Sometimes, it's better to let things work themselves out. Sorry, we are not inclined to interfere with the high court order," the bench said. The top court, however, directed for expeditious hearing of the pending suits and gave liberty to Panneerselvam (OPS) and his aides to move application for consolidation of all the .

SC to see if nuns, priests working as teachers entitled for I-T exemption

The Supreme Court has agreed to examine an important legal question whether nuns and priests, working as teachers in government-aided Christian missionary schools, are entitled to income tax exemption. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra on Thursday took note of the submissions of senior advocate Arvind Datar that the plea of several dioceses and congregations from Tamil Nadu and Kerala on the issue needed an urgent hearing. The bench agreed to consider listing the plea, which raised the issue whether the income of nuns and priests, working as teachers, can be subjected to income tax. In December, 2014, the Income Tax department asked the educational authorities to effect TDS (tax deducted at source) from persons working as teachers. The appeals have been filed in the top court after the high courts did not agree to the challenge raised by nearly 100 dioceses and congregations from Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The plea said the inco

Unfounded fears of adverse impact of GM seeds affecting farmers: Centre

The apex court reserved its order on a plea seeking moratorium on release of genetically modified organisms into the environment

Bilkis Bano case: Convicts mention plea before SC, seeks time to surrender

Three convicts in the case of gangrape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 riots in Gujarat moved the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking extension of time to surrender. The top court on January 8 had quashed the Gujarat government's decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in the case, saying the orders were "stereotyped" and passed without application of mind. It had asked the convicts to surrender before jail authorities in two weeks. The matter seeking extension of time was mentioned before a bench of Justices B V Nagarathana and Sanjay Karol on Thursday which asked the Registry to place the plea before CJI. "It is stated by three respondents that applications have been filed for an extension of time to surrender and report to jail. Since the bench has to be reconstituted, registry to seek orders from CJI for reconstitution of the bench since time expires on Sunday," the bench said.

Supreme Court reserves order on environmental release of GM mustard

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on a pleas seeking moratorium on release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the environment. A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Sanjay Karol heard submissions from Attorney General R Venkataramani, Solicior General Tushar Mehta and advocates Prashant Bhushan and senior advocate Sanjay Parikh. The top court directed the parties to file written submissions by January 22. Observing that the issue of genetically modified crops is very technical and scientific, the top court on Wednesday had said it will decide a plea on environmental release of GM mustard on the basis of what is good for the country,. The apex court had earlier questioned the Centre about why reports of the court-appointed Technical Experts Committee (TEC) on biosafety of genetically modified (GM) crops were not looked into by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC). It asked Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre, whether th

Committed to safe use of GM crops with robust evaluation system: Govt to SC

The apex court is hearing public interest litigations (PILs) challenging the environment ministry's decision to approve the commercial cultivation of GM mustard

Report filed on need of change in law on granting driving licence: Centre

The Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that a government-appointed committee has submitted a draft report after examining a legal question that whether a person holding a driving licence for a light motor vehicle is also entitled to legally drive a transport vehicle carrying unladen weight not exceeding 7,500 kilograms. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud granted time to the Centre till April 15 to resolve the issue and said if the matter remains unresolved, it will hear the pleas and pronounce a verdict. "Actually, it is a part-heard matter. We have substantially heard it.... We will give you (the government) the time to resolve the matter. If it is not resolved, then we will hear the matter and lay down the law. "Ultimately, if Parliament wants to intervene, then it can always do so...," the bench, also comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy, P S Narasimha, Pankaj Mithal and Manoj Misra, said. The bench granted time till mid-February for th

SC refers Zee-Aditya Birla dispute to arbitration, upholds Delhi HC order

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud also dropped Siti Network from the lineup of parties in the arbitration proceedings as it has already gone into insolvency

My actions based on SC guidelines: Speaker on Uddhav tirade against ruling

Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Tuesday defended his decision to recognise Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's faction as the real Shiv Sena, and asserted that his actions were based on the guidelines provided by the Supreme Court. He spoke to the media here immediately after Thackeray, at a press conference, attacked his January 10 ruling on disqualification petitions filed by both Shinde and Thackeray camps against each other's MLAs following a split in the party in June 2022. The speaker also justified his decision not to accept the undivided Shiv Sena's amended constitution of 2018. The party had then informed the Election Commission only about Uddhav Thackeray being the party chief but not submitted the amended constitution, he said. In his ruling, Narwekar held that the Sena's 1999 constitution was the valid one for deciding which faction was the real Shiv Sena. "My actions were based on the Supreme Court's guidelines," he said. Rules framed by a party should not

Gyanvapi: SC permits cleaning of water tank in mosque complex in Varanasi

The Supreme Court ordered the cleaning of the water tank under the supervision of the Varanasi district magistrate

PM Modi's degree row: SC stays defamation proceedings against AAP leaders

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the proceedings before a trial court on a defamation complaint filed by the Gujarat University against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP MP Sanjay Singh for their alleged remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's educational qualification. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta passed the order while hearing Singh's plea seeking a transfer of the case pending before a trial court in Gujarat outside the state, preferably in Kolkata. The apex court asked the Gujarat High Court to take a decision within four weeks on a plea filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders seeking quashing of the summonses issued to them by the trial court. The bench said in the meantime, the proceedings before the trial court will remain stayed. Singh, in his plea filed in the top court through advocate Karan Sharma, had alleged bias in the proceedings before the trial court, saying while the plea was pending before the high court, the trial judge w

Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi case: Will continue our fight, says Muslim side

The Supreme Court observed that HC has acted on a vague application seeking omnibus directions. The court noted that the application has to be specific