Page 178 - Supreme Court

Assam Accord: SC to hear Sec 6A of Citizenship Act challenge pleas on Dec 5

The Assam NRC is meant to identify illegal immigrants in the State who migrated from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971

SC sets up panel for appointment of members to Delhi power regulator DERC

The Supreme Court on Monday set up a three-member selection panel for short-listing and appointing two temporary members of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC). A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the selection committee will comprise Justice Jayant Nath, former Delhi High Court judge and present pro tem DERC head, Justice Ramesh Ranganathan, the chairperson of APTEL (Appellate Tribunal for Electricity) and Justice Asha Menon, a former Delhi High Court judge. The bench said the selection panel shall recommend two names for each position with information regarding their ability, integrity and domain knowledge, preferably within one month. The names of short-listed candidates will be forwarded to the office of the lieutenant governor of Delhi and the chief minister for appointment, it added. The bench said the panel will be free to devise methods for selection of the members of the national capital's power regulatory

SC asks for national model for girls' toilets in govt-aided schools

The Supreme Court Monday directed the Centre to lay down a national model for building toilets commensurate with the number of girl students in all government-aided and residential schools across the country. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud also asked the Union government about the policy it has formulated for distribution of sanitary napkins to female school students nationally. The bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said the Centre should bring uniformity in the procedure for distribution of sanitary napkins. During the hearing, the Centre informed the apex court that a draft national policy for distribution of sanitary napkins free of cost to school-going girls has been formulated and sent to stakeholders for eliciting their comments. The top court had earlier warned the states, which had not submitted their response to the Centre on formulating a uniform national policy on menstrual hygiene for girls studying in schools, that it will t

NewsClick row: SC defers hearing on pleas of founder, HR against arrest

The Supreme Court on Monday deferred post Diwali vacation hearing on pleas of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and its HR head Amit Chakravarty against their arrest under anti-terror law UAPA. A bench of Justices BR Gavai Prashant Kumar Mishra told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for both the accused, that it will take up the pleas after the vacation. Sibal said the matter is covered by the recent judgement of the apex court under which it was held that grounds of arrest has to be immediately shared with the accused but in this case, nothing was shared. He said there is an application for medical bail also pending before the court. The bench said it would take up the medical bail application along with the main matter after the Diwali vacation. On October 19, the top court had sought the response of the Delhi Police on pleas of Purkayastha and Chakravarty challenging the Delhi High Court order of October 13. The high court had on October 13 dismissed their pleas agains

Supreme Court dismisses Popular Front of India's plea against Centre's ban

The Centre had banned the PFI for five years for its alleged links with global terrorist organisations and for trying to spread communal hatred in the country

SC to hear on the validity of Citizenship Act's Sec 6A on December 5

The Supreme Court on Monday said it will commence hearing on December 5 to examine the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act relating to illegal immigrants in Assam. Section 6A in the Citizenship Act was inserted as a special provision to deal with the citizenship of people covered by the Assam Accord. The provision provides that those who have come to Assam on or after January 1, 1966 but before March 25, 1971 from specified territories, including Bangladesh, as per the Citizenship Act amended in 1985, and since then are residents of Assam must register themselves under section 18 for citizenship. As a result, the provision fixes March 25, 1971 as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to Bangladeshi migrants in Assam. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud deferred the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter. "I am mentioning on my behalf and on behalf of the Attorney General for India. The case coming up tomorrow is th

In IBC, no automatic secured creditor tag for govt's statutory dues

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) would consider issuing this as a clarification, if needed, following the recent Supreme Court (SC) judgment in the Rainbow Papers case, the senior official said

SC to hear on Monday Punjab govt's plea against guv's delay in nod to bills

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea moved by the Punjab government on the issue of alleged delay in granting assent by Governor Banwarilal Purohit on bills passed by the Assembly. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is scheduled to hear the plea, which has also sought directions to the governor to clear all pending bills, which have been passed by the Assembly and are awaiting his assent. The plea has said such "unconstitutional inaction" has brought the entire administration to a "grinding halt". It has said the governor cannot indefinitely sit over the bills as he has restricted powers under Article 200 of the Constitution, which deals with the governor's power to give or withhold assent or reserve a bill for the president's consideration. The Punjab governor is involved in a running feud with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. On November 1, Purohit gave his approval to tw

Chadha seeks early meet with RS chair to tender 'unconditional' apology

Chadha said that he has sought the meeting appointment in pursuant to order of the Supreme Court which said that it hopes the Chairman would take a sympathetic view of the matter

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Tata Motors wins Singur land case against WB govt: Here are case details

Tata Motors secured an arbitral award of Rs 766 crore, with 11 per cent interest in the Singur plant case against the West Bengal government

SC asks MP Raghav Chadha to tender unconditional apology to RS chairperson

The Supreme Court on Friday asked suspended AAP lawmaker Raghav Chadha to tender an unconditional apology to Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar on the select committee issue, and hoped that he would take a sympathetic view of the matter. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to apprise it of the developments in the matter after the Diwali vacation. The CJI said the lawmaker will have to meet the Rajya Sabha chairperson to tender an unconditional apology on the issue. The vice president, in turn, may take a sympathetic view of the entire matter and take further steps in this regard. Chadha has been under suspension since August 11 after some MPs, a majority from the ruling BJP, accused him of adding their names to a motion without their consent. The motion sought constitution of a select committee to examine the contentious Delhi Services Bill. It was alleged that the Rajya Sabha MP f

SC to hear plea seeking implementation of Women Reservation Bill on Nov 22

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti listed the matter for hearing on November 22

SC rejects plea against transfer of Gyanvapi case from one court to another

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee's plea challenging the Allahabad High Court chief justice's administrative decision withdraw the Gyanvapi case from a single-judge bench hearing it since 2021. The single-judge bench was hearing the plea challenging the maintainability of a suit seeking restoration of a temple at the site where the Gyanvapi mosque exists in Varanasi. Dismissed, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said after hearing the submissions of senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, who represented the mosque committee. We should not interfere with the order of the chief justice of the high court...In high courts, it is a very standard practice. This must lie in the realm of the chief justice of the high court, the bench said. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) is challenging the withdrawal of the case from one single judge bench and its assignment to some other bench by the

Don't want Supreme Court to become 'tarikh-pe-tarikh' court: Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Friday urged lawyers not to seek adjournments in fresh matters, saying he does not want the Supreme Court to become a 'tarikh-pe-tarikh' court. At the outset of the day's proceedings, the CJI flagged the issue of lawyers seeking adjournments in fresh matters and said in the last two months adjournment slips were moved in 3,688 matters by advocates. "Unless it is very very necessary, please don't file the adjournment slips...I don't want this court to be a tarikh-pe-tarikh' court," the CJI, who was sharing the bench with justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said. "Tarikh-pe-Tarikh" (repeated adjournments) was a famous Sunny Deol dialogue in Bollywood film "Damini" where the actor rued the adjournment culture in courts. The CJI said that now with the help of lawyers' bodies, the time gap in the listing of fresh matters after their filing in the top court has been significantly reduced. He, however, rued the fact that after their listing

Give data of funds received by political parties via bonds: SC directs EC

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to produce before it in sealed cover the "up to date" data of funds received by political parties through electoral bonds till September 30, 2023. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud referred to the April 12, 2019 interim direction passed by the apex court directing political parties to furnish the details of funds received by them through electoral bonds to the poll panel in a sealed cover. The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said the April 2019 order was not restrictive to the date on which it was pronounced, and if there was any ambiguity, it was necessary for the poll panel to seek a clarification from the top court. While hearing arguments on a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties, the bench observed the ECI should have the up to date data. "I

Kerala govt moves SC against Governor Arif Khan over inaction on Bills

As per the petition, three bills have been pending before the Governor for more than two years

Same-sex marriage: Plea demands open court hearing against SC's order

A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking to review its judgement denying marriage equality rights to queer persons, urging for an open court hearing on the petition

Electoral bonds scheme aims to eradicate use of black money: Centre to SC

The Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that almost every country, including India, was grappling with the problem of use of black money in elections and the electoral bonds scheme was a "conscious attempt" to eradicate the menace of "unclean money" in the poll process. Arguing before a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said the apex court may not take this particular scheme as a standalone attempt in the direction of dealing with the menace of black money. Mehta highlighted steps taken by the government to deal with black money including digitised payments and action taken against 2.38 lakh "shell companies" between 2018 and 2021. "The use of black money in elections and politics in general and elections in particular...every country is grappling with this problem. Country-specific issues are being dealt with by every country depending upon the circumstances existing. India is also

Electoral bonds scheme provides for 'selective anonymity', says SC

The Supreme Court Wednesday said the problem with electoral bonds scheme is that it provides for "selective anonymity" and "selective confidentiality" as the details are available with the State Bank of India (SBI) and can also be accessed by the law enforcement agencies. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud observed the problem with the scheme would lie if it does not provide a level playing field to political parties and if it suffers from opacity. While hearing arguments on a batch of pleas challenging the validity of electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties, the apex court said the motive behind the scheme may be perfectly laudable but in an effort to bring in white money into the electoral process, it essentially provides for a "complete information hole". "The problem with the scheme is it provides for selective anonymity. It is not completely anonymous. It provides for selective anonymity, selective confidentiality. it is not ...