Page 174 - Supreme Court

Delhi's AQI 'very poor' at 388 on Friday, Grap-3 rules to continue

Delhi Minister for Environment Gopal Rai on Thursday said that the city's air quality is expected to improve in the next two to three days

Supreme Court asks Centre to constitute fresh delimitation commission

The Supreme Court directed the Centre on Thursday to set up a fresh delimitation commission for ensuring a proportional representation of the communities specified as Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), as mandated under the Constitution. While asking the Centre to set up the delimitation panel, the top court, however, said it cannot direct Parliament to amend or make laws for giving proper representation to other communities that form part of the STs as that would amount to "venturing into the legislative domain". "For the court to direct that in addition to the reservation made ... Parliament must legislate to enact proportional representation for all other communities forming part of Scheduled Tribes, that would be venturing into the legislative domain," it said. The directions were issued by a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra on a plea seeking a proportionate representation of the Limbu and Tamang tribal communities

SC defers hearing on pleas for reconsideration of 2022 PMLA verdict

The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned by eight weeks the hearing on pleas seeking reconsideration of its July 27, 2022 verdict, which had upheld the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) powers to arrest and attach property under the PMLA. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul deferred the hearing, which continued since Wednesday, after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, sought time to address the arguments raised by the petitioners in detail. The bench also comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi allowed the amendment application moved by the petitioner's side, by which various 'new aspects' have been raised, and asked the Centre to file its reply within four weeks. The apex court said that the rejoinder to the Centre's reply be filed within four weeks thereafter. "The deferment will leave really no time for this court to pen down the order," the bench said, adding, "the Chief Justice of India will have to reconstitute the bench, i

Justice Fathima Beevi, India's first woman judge of Supreme Court, dies

Kerala's Health Minister Veena George condoled her death by saying that the demise of Justice Beevi was extremely painful

Plea for review of same-sex marriages verdict in SC for open court hearing

A petition seeking review of the October 17 verdict refusing to accord legal recognition to same-sex marriages was on Thursday mentioned before the Supreme Court for an open court hearing. A bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for one of the petitioners, that the review plea needed to be heard in open court to redress the grievances of those seeking validation of same-sex marriages. The bench also comprised Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. I have not examined the (review) petition. Let me circulate it (among judges of that constitution bench), the CJI said. All the judges of the constitution bench were of the view that there was some kind of discrimination against queer persons and hence they needed relief as well, Rohatgi said. According to the apex court registry, the review plea was listed for consideration on November 28, he said. In the first week of November, one of the petitioners had mo

Centre defends PMLA act, petitioners question provisions of summoning

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing petitioners in the matter, said that the ED summons a person without telling them whether he is being called as an accused or witness

Not making false ad, ready for death sentence if found guilty: Patanjali

Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved on Wednesday said it was not making any "false advertisements or propaganda" regarding its products, and said it would not object if the Supreme Court were to impose a fine or "even give us a death sentence" if found making misleading claims. A day after the apex court cautioned the company against making "false" and "misleading" claims in advertisements about its medicines as cure of several diseases, Patanjali Ayurved said it has "database with more than one crore people, with real world evidence, preclinical and clinical evidence". "Patanjali have made thousands of people free from several diseases like BP, sugar, thyroid, asthma, arthritis, obesity, liver and kidney failure, and cancer," the company asserted. The company further said, "We humbly respect the Supreme Court of India and if we make false advertisements or propaganda, we would not have any objections if honourable court imposes a fine of crores or even give us a death sentence." On

Tax conundrum in online gaming landscape: All eyes on the apex court

Impending verdict on Gameskraft v/s DGGI case could reshape India's online gaming tax landscape, writes Dhanendra Kumar, IAS (Retd.)

Promise of pre-poll freebies is corrupt practice under People Act: SC told

Promise of pre-election freebies by political parties is a corrupt practice and "bribe" under the Representation of the People Act which is a ground for declaring an election to be void, the Supreme Court was told on Wednesday. A three-judge bench was deliberating on pleas including the one filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay opposing promises of such handouts by the parties during polls. The petitions have sought direction to the Election Commission to invoke its powers to freeze the election symbols of these parties and cancel their registration. Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, appearing for the petitioner, told the bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud that the 2013 judgement delivered by a two-judge bench of the apex court in the matter of S Subramaniam Balaji vs The Government of Tamil Nadu and others required reconsideration. In its 2013 judgement, the apex court had noted that after examining and considering the parameters laid in section 123 of the Representatio

SC to hear pleas on constitutional validity of sedition law in January

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will hear in January a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the IPC provision on sedition, months after the Centre introduced in Parliament bills to replace the colonial-era penal statutes, proposing among other things the repeal of the sedition law. Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said he would constitute an appropriate bench to hear the matter. It appointed advocates Prasanna S and Pooja Dhar as nodal counsel to facilitate the compilation of case laws and other statutory material before the hearing. The apex court had earlier declined to accept the Centre's fervent request that reference of the petitions to a larger bench be deferred as Parliament is in the process of "re-enacting" the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and a bill has been placed before a standing committee. The court had said assuming that the bill, which proposes among other things the repeal of the sedition law and introduction of a new provision

BJP calls Kejriwal 'dishonest' over Delhi-Meerut RRTS project funding dues

The BJP on Wednesday flayed Arvind Kejriwal and called him an "outright dishonest and useless" chief minister, alleging that he is only concerned about benefiting his friends in liquor business and using public money for self-promotion and not the welfare of people. The BJP's attack came a day after the Supreme Court pulled up the Delhi government for not providing funds for the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridors to Alwar and Panipat and said if the dues were not paid within a week, the funds allocated by the AAP government for advertisements will be transferred to the project. The apex court said budgetary provision was something which the state government should look into but if such national projects were to be affected and money was spent on advertisements, it would be inclined to direct that those funds be transferred for this project. Latching on to the top court's observation, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia targeted Kejriwal and said, "The Supreme Court's

SC directs govt to review if change in law is warranted for driving licence

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Central government to review by January 17 the legal question of whether a person holding a driving licence for a light motor vehicle is entitled to legally drive a transport vehicle of a particular weight. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud noted that the exercise for amendment would require consultation with multiple stakeholders which will take time. "We direct the Union to pursue the exercise with utmost expedition. Since the consultation with the state government is envisaged, we direct all state governments to comply with the timeline set by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. "The proceedings shall now be listed on January 17, 2024, by which date we expect that the consultation will be concluded in its entirety and a clear road map of further steps which Union proposes to take should be placed before this court," the bench, also comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy, P S Narasimha, Pankaj .

SC cautions Patanjali over making 'false' claims about its medicines in ads

The Supreme Court Tuesday cautioned Patanjali Ayurved, a company co-founded by yoga guru Ramdev and dealing in herbal products, against making "false" and "misleading" claims in advertisements about its medicines as cure of several diseases. "All such false and misleading advertisements of Patanjali Ayurved have to stop immediately. The court will take any such infraction very seriously...," a bench comprising justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Prashant Kumar Mishra orally observed while hearing a plea of the Indian Medical Association (IMA). The top court, on August 23, 2022, had issued notices to the Union health ministry and Ministry of Ayush and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, on the plea of the IMA alleging a smear campaign by Ramdev against the vaccination drive and modern medicines. During the brief hearing, the bench asked Patanjali Ayurved not to publish misleading claims and advertisements against modern systems of medicine. It said the bench may also consider imposing a fine of Rs

Pay RRTS share, or ad money will be transferred: SC to Delhi govt

The court observed that there was 'gross breach' of the assurances given by the Delhi Government in earlier hearings

SC suggests no minimum support price for farmers burning stubble

Punjab Advocate-General Gurminder Singh on Tuesday took the court through the steps taken by the Punjab government to tackle the issue

Delhi High Court to hear pleas seeking Uniform Civil Code on Dec 1

The Delhi High Court Monday listed for hearing on December 1 a batch of petitions seeking a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and observed that it "cannot do anything" if the issue has already been decided by the Supreme Court. A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan observed that in March, a top court bench had already declined a plea for "gender neutral" and "religion neutral" laws filed by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, one of the petitioners before the high court as well. The court deferred further hearing on the petitions while noting that none appeared for the petitioners during the proceedings and Upadhyay was yet to place on record his prayers in the petition before the Supreme Court. "Supreme Court has already decided the matter virtually... If the matter is covered by Supreme Court then we can't do anything," the bench, also comprising Justice Mini Pushkarna said. In April, a division bench headed by the then Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma had said that Upadhyay's ...

RRTS project: SC pulls up Delhi govt for not providing its share of funds

The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Delhi government for not providing funds for the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridors to Alwar and Panipat, and said if the dues were not paid within a week, the funds allocated by the AAP government for advertisements will be transferred to the project. The RRTS project entails semi-high speed rail corridors connecting Delhi to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Alwar in Rajasthan, and Panipat in Haryana. The apex court said budgetary provision was something which the state government should look into but if such national projects were to be affected and money was spent on advertisements, it would be inclined to direct that those funds be transferred for this project. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia observed that on July 24, the counsel representing the Delhi government had assured the top court that payment would be made towards the project. "We are thus constrained to direct that funds allocated for ...

Role of the governor is to uphold democracy, not kill it, says DMK leader

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud asked the reason for the delay while hearing the Tamil Nadu government plea

What was he doing for 3 yrs, SC questions delay by TN Guv on assenting

The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the delay on the part of Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi in granting assent to several Bills passed by the state Assembly, asking as to why should governors wait for parties to move the top court with their grievances. Posing tough questions, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud asked what was the governor doing for three years, noting that the Bills were pending since January 2020. Observing that the issue was whether there was a delay in the discharge of the constitutional functions entrusted to the office of the governors, the court also said it would deal with the question whether a governor can sit over the Bills without sending them either back to the Assembly or to the President. The top court made the observations as it deferred the hearing on the Tamil Nadu government's plea alleging delay by Governor Ravi to December 1 after Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Office of the Governor, sought a postponement. The

Recovery rate from personal guarantors may rise: CareEdge Ratings

The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of IBC provisions on Personal Guarantors' Insolvency Resolution, dismissing over 200 petitions which challenged its legal validity