Page 180 - Supreme Court

GST enforcement action likely to fetch over Rs 50,000 crore in FY24

Could be highest recovery ever in a year

Sometimes it's vote of conscience: CJI on judgement on queer couples

CJI Chandrachud was speaking at the 3rd Comparative Constitutional Law discussion on the topic 'Perspectives from the Supreme Courts of India and the United States'

Extended Safai Karmachari Commission's tenure till March 2025: Centre to SC

The Centre has told the Supreme Court the current tenure of the National Commission for Safai Karmachari (NCSK) has been extended till March 31, 2025 and steps will be taken to fill up the vacant posts in the panel. The top court took note of the affidavit of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment that besides extending the tenure of the panel, the chairman, vice-chairman and one more member have been appointed till March 31, 2025. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta said it has no reason to believe that the central government will not do the needful and disposed of the PIL filed by lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy. As per the counter affidavit filed by the respondents (Centre), the current tenure of the National Commission for Safai Karmachari has been extended till 31.03.2025. It is further informed that Chairman, Vice-Chairman and one more member have been appointed for a period till 31.03.2025 and four post of members are lying vacant due to absence

SC directs Centre, states to ensure eradication of manual sewer cleaning

Observing that a large segment of India's population, involved in manual scavenging, has remained unheard and muted, in bondage and systematically trapped in inhumane conditions, the Supreme Court has directed the Centre and states to take appropriate measures, frame policies and issue directions to ensure that manual sewer cleaning is completely eradicated in a phased manner. The top court has asked the Centre to issue guidelines and directions that any sewer-cleaning work outsourced or required to be discharged by or through contractors or agencies do not require individuals to enter sewers for any purpose whatsoever. Issuing a slew of directions, a bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat (since retired) and Aravind Kumar asked the central and state governments to pay Rs 30 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of those who die while cleaning sewers. "The court hereby directs the Union and the states to ensure that the compensation for sewer deaths is increased (given that the previou

PMLA case: We will go into 'legal issues' only, says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court, which has decided to examine whether its 2022 judgement upholding the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) powers to arrest and attach property involved in money laundering under PMLA required any reconsideration, said on Friday it will deal only with the "legal issues" and not go into individual matters. The three-judge special bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said this while hearing an interlocutory application filed by a man who has been summoned by the ED in a money laundering case related to alleged extortion of illegal levy on coal transportation and production of steel and iron pellets etc. "When the matter was taken up (on October 18), we had said we will go into the legal issues only and not individual issues," Justice Kaul said. The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi, said "We are dealing with larger issue which is apparent from the order passed on October 18. It is not possible for the special bench to deal with all ...

SC rejects BRS plea to instruct ECI not to allow 'car-like' poll symbols

The court remarked that voters are intelligent enough to differentiate between car and road roller

SC dismisses PIL challenging restoration of Rahul Gandhi LS membership

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL challenging the restoration of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha membership and imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioner. A bench headed by Justice BR Gavai said the petition is abuse of the process of law as no fundamental right of the petitioner has been violated. The top court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Ashok Pandey challenging restoration of Gandhi's membership. The Lok Sabha Secretariat had restored Gandhi's membership after the Supreme Court on August 4 stayed his conviction in case related to a remark on the 'Modi' surname. The Congress leader, who was disqualified from the lower house in March 2023, was reinstated as Wayanad MP. BJP leader Purnesh Modi had filed a criminal defamation case against Gandhi in 2019 over his "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remark made during an election rally in Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.

Govt to pay compensation to families of those who die while cleaning sewers

Taking a grim view of incidents of sewer deaths in the country, the Supreme Court on Friday said government authorities will have to pay Rs 30 lakh as compensation to the kin of those who die while cleaning sewers. A bench comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar said those who suffer permanent disabilities while cleaning sewers will be paid Rs 20 lakh as minimum compensation. "The Union and the state governments must ensure that manual scavenging is completely eradicated," the bench said. Pronouncing the judgement, Justice Bhat said the authorities will have to pay up to Rs 10 lakh if the cleaner suffers other disabilities. Issuing a slew of directions, which were not read out, the bench directed that the government agencies must coordinate to ensure that such incidents do not occur and moreover, the High Courts are not precluded from monitoring the cases related to sewer deaths. The judgement came on a PIL. The detailed order is awaited. As many as 347 people died

AP Police asked not to arrest Naidu till verdict in Skill Development scam

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Andhra Pradesh Police not to arrest TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu in the FibreNet case till it delivers verdict on the plea in the Skill Development scam case. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi listed the anticipatory bail of Naidu in the FibreNet Case for hearing on November 9 and told the Andhra Pradesh Police, "Let the earlier understanding continue." The bench was referring to the statement of the Andhra Pradesh Police on October 13, when it had said that police will not take Naidu into custody. Justice Bose said since the order is reserved on another plea, it would be appropriate if the court takes up the instant plea of Naidu after the verdict is delivered. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Naidu, said police are looking to take him into custody in FibreNet case despite the fact that he is already in custody in the Skill Development scam case. Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for Andhra Pradesh ..

Best of BS Opinion: Tax uncertainty, the prospects of Mandal 2.0, and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Watch | What common people said about SC's same-sex marriage ruling

The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, delivered its much-anticipated judgement on pleas seeking legal validation for same-sex marriage.

What are NCLT and NCLAT? Why has the Supreme Court accused them of 'rot'?

The NCLT and NCLAT are quasi-judicial bodies that hear cases related to Indian companies and came in for criticism from the Supreme Court on Wednesday

NewsClick row: SC seeks Delhi Police's reply on pleas of portal founder

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought response of the Delhi Police 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 and Prashant Kumar Mishra issued notice to the Delhi Police and sought its response by October 30 after senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Devadatt Kamat, appearing for Purkayastha and Chakravarty, respectively, said they are in jail and the pleas be heard early. On October 16, the top court agreed to list the matter urgently after Sibal mentioned it before the bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. The CJI had asked Sibal to circulate the case papers and said he would take a call on urgent listing of the matter. The Delhi High Court had on October 13 dismissed their pleas against arrest and subsequent police remand in the case. Both were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on October 3. They subsequently moved the high court challenging th

SC sets Nov 22 to hear review petition challenging various PMLA provisions

The top court has clarified that would be addressing issues only related to PMLA on certain parameters

SC summons 2 NCLAT members for defying order, slams 'rot' in tribunal

A bench, which also had justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asked the two NCLAT members to appear before the Supreme Court on October 30

Need for pragmatism

Govt must create enabling legal framework for LGBTQIA+ rights

BCI approaches HC on direction to process S Korean's enrolment as advocate

Here's a lowdown on the important cases heard in the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court today

Same-sex marriage: 4 SC verdicts made critical analyses of dissenting views

The five-judge bench of the Supreme court, which unanimously refused to legalise same-sex marriage in four concurrent verdicts, differed on issues like applicability of adoption rules for queer couples and unusually made critical analyses of rival opinions and findings. The Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday refused to accord the legal recognition to same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act, saying there was "no unqualified right" to marriage with the exception of those that are recognised by law. The bench comprising the CJI, and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha wrote four separate judgments. While the CJI and Justice Kaul were broadly on the same page on all legal issues raised in the petitions, three other judges Justices Bhat, Kohli and Narasimha differed with the views expressed by the two. In his 247-page judgement, the CJI separately penned a response to the opinion voiced by Justice Bhat w

NewsClick row: SC to hear pleas of Purkayastha, HR in UAPA case on Oct 19

The Supreme Court Wednesday said it will hear on October 19 two separate pleas of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and its HR head Amit Chakravarty against their arrest under anti-terror law UAPA, after the Delhi High Court refused to grant them any relief. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra, which took up the petitions, told senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Devadatt Kamat, appearing for Purkayastha and Chakravarty, respectively, that it needs to peruse the pleas. "We need to go through the files. We will take both the matters tomorrow," Justice Gavai said. On October 16, the top court agreed to list the matter urgently after Sibal mentioned it before the bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. The CJI had asked Sibal to circulate the case papers and said he would take a call on urgent listing of the matter. The Delhi High Court had on October 13 dismissed their pleas against arrest and subsequent police remand in the case. Both were arrested by the .

Finolex case: SC issues notices to NCLAT judicial member, technical member

In an unusual move, the Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal judicial member Rakesh Kumar and technical member Alok Srivastava, asking them why contempt proceedings be not initiated against them for defying apex court orders in Finolex Cables disputes matter. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud took strong exception to the passing of a judgement by the NCLAT bench. The top court set aside the NCLAT bench's October 13 judgement relating to the annual general meeting (AGM) of Finolex Cables without going into its merit. The bench also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the case would be heard by NCLAT chief Justice Ashok Bhushan. "NCLAT has got down to a rot now. This case is an illustration of that rot.We are prima facie of the view that the members of the NCLAT have failed to disclose correct facts. "We are of the view that it is necessary to pass orders to ensure that the dignity of this court is ..