Page 183 - Supreme Court

SC to hear Cong leader Pawan Khera's plea against HC order on Monday

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea of Congress leader Pawan Khera challenging Allahabad High Court's refusal to quash criminal proceedings against him for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra is scheduled to hear the plea. The matter was also listed on October 13 but was adjourned after Khera's counsel sought time to file some additional documents. On August 17, the high court dismissed Khera's plea saying the evidence collected by the investigating officer of the case cannot be evaluated in petition filed under section 482 of the CrPC for quashing the case. It had observed that since the top court had asked Khera to raise all the contentions before the chief judicial magistrate, Lucknow, it would be appropriate if he raises all his grievances before the said court. On March 20, the top court clubbed three FIRs lodged against Khera in Assam and Uttar Pradesh for ...

SC directs Centre to apprise it about rice fortification labelling norms

The Supreme Court has directed the Centre to apprise it about steps taken to comply with a provision of the Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2018, that labels on bags containing fortified rice should carry an advisory that it is harmful for people suffering from sickle cell anaemia and thalassemia. A bench of Justice S K Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia asked the Union of India to file an affidavit within four weeks and inform it about the action taken. "Counsel has entered appearance for the Union of India and will obtain instructions as to what steps have been taken in respect of the subject matter of the grievance in the present petition and as to whether any action has been taken on the representation already made by the petitioner(s). "An affidavit be filed in this behalf within four weeks. List immediately after four weeks," the bench said. The top court was hearing a plea filed by Rajesh Krishnan and others seeking compliance with clause 7(4)

SC to hear plea seeking rules on electronics seizure by police on Nov 2

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia said it would hear case on November 2 after senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan appearing for petitioners mentioned matter for early hearing

Will not arrest TDP chief in FiberNet case till Oct 18: AP police to SC

The Andhra Pradesh police Friday told the Supreme Court they will not arrest TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu in the FiberNet case till October 18 due to the pendency of the matter related to the Skill Development Corporation scam in the apex court. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Andhra Pradesh government, told a bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi that the state will seek adjournment in the matter from the trial court where Naidu is to be produced on October 16. The trial court has issued a production warrant and asked the state police to present Naidu before it on October 16. The bench issued notice to the state government on the fresh plea by Naidu in which the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister has challenged the October 9 order of the high court which had rejected his anticipatory bail plea in the FiberNet case. Naidu has said in his petition he apprehended his arrest after production in the court on October 16. The FiberNet case relates to ..

Pending cases in SC with govt as party increased to 11,414 in 2023: RTI

The number of cases in which government is a party and that are pending in the Supreme Court have increased from 4536 in 2019 to 11,414 in 2023, according to an RTI response from the law ministry. Replying to the RTI application filed by Pune-based activist Vihar Durve, the ministry said it did not have the data in the form sought by him. Durve had asked from the ministry "complete information year wise from the year 2019 to 2023" about total cases pending in Supreme Court of India where government of India is one of the party. As ascertained from the branch concerned, results based on the search of the party name from the list of parties involved in a case i.e. 'UOI', 'U.O.I', 'Union of India', 'U O I', 'State', 'bank', 'Ministry', 'Govt. of India', 'Government of India', 'Govt of India', the number of cases filed from 2019 to 2023 in which government is a party and still pending in Supreme Court are as follows, the ministry said. Giving the data, it said in the filing year 2019,

'Re-educate yourself': SC rejects PIL challenging Darwin, Einstein theories

The petitioner contended that Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution and Einstein's mass-energy equivalence (E=MC²) equation were incorrect and should not be taught

Sena disqualification row: SC says Maha speaker cannot defeat its orders

The Supreme Court on Friday came down hard on the Maharashtra assembly speaker for the delay in deciding the plea for disqualification of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and several MLAs, saying the speaker cannot defeat the orders of the top court. Somebody has to advise the Speaker that he cannot defeat the orders of the Supreme Court, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said and asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to apprise the court about the timeline for deciding the issue. A visibly irked CJI said decision on disqualification pleas has to be taken before next assembly elections or the whole process will become infructuous. The bench said if it is not satisfied with the timeline of the Speaker then it would direct that the decision be taken within two months. The writ of this court has to run when there is a decision contrary to the Constitution of India, the bench said, indicating that it may hear the plea on Monday or Tuesday. On September 18, the top court had

SC dismisses plea on banning screening of children for nursery admissions

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea challenging the Delhi High Court's decision refusing to direct the lieutenant governor to give assent to or return a 2015 bill which proposed a ban on screening children for nursery admissions. A bench of Justice SK Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia said it cannot pass a direction to enact a law. "Can there be a mandamus to enact a law? Can we direct the government to introduce the bill? Supreme Court can't be the panacea for everything," the bench said. The high court had on July 3 dismissed a PIL filed by NGO Social Jurist, saying it cannot interfere with the legislative procedure and direct the L-G to either give assent to the Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill, 2015, or return it. The organisation, through advocate Ashok Agarwal, filed the appeal in the top court saying the child-friendly bill banning the screening procedure in nursery admission in schools has been hanging between the Central and the Delhi government for the las

Termination of 26-week pregnancy: We cannot kill the child, says SC

Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, the upper limit for the termination of pregnancy is 24 weeks

SC to pass common order in several nine-judge, seven-judge bench matters

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will pass a common order in several nine-judge and seven-judge bench matters, including those relating to money bills and the speaker's power to disqualify MLAs, to get them ready for hearing. A seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took up six seven-judge and four nine-judges matters for consideration. One of the seven-judge bench matters pertains to the correctness of the 2016 Nabam Rebia verdict relating to the speaker's power on disqualification of MLAs. It was pronounced by a five-judge Constitution bench. "... The idea is to get these matters ready for hearing. We will pass a common order in all these matters in terms of the circular of August 22, 2023 that the compilation of pleadings, documents and precedents that must be all filed within say... we will give three weeks to everyone," the CJI said. "We will appoint nodal counsel in every matter who will then prepare a common compilation," said the bench, also compris

'We can't kill a child,' says SC on termination of 26-week pregnancy

"We cannot kill a child," the Supreme Court observed on Thursday while hearing the Centre's plea seeking recall of its order allowing a married woman, a mother of two, to terminate her 26-week pregnancy. While making it clear that the top court has to balance the rights of the unborn child, a "living and viable foetus", with its mother's right of decisional autonomy, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud asked the Centre and her lawyer to talk to the woman about the possibility of retaining the pregnancy for a few weeks more. "Do you want us to tell the doctors at AIIMS to stop the fetal heart?" the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asked the counsel appearing for the 27-year-old woman. When the counsel responded with a "no", the bench said when the woman has waited for over 24 weeks, can't she retain the foetus for some more weeks so there is the possibility of a healthy child being born. The bench has posted the matter for resumed hearing at

Hope SC will soon pronounce verdict on money bill issue: Jairam Ramesh

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh Thursday expressed hope that the Supreme Court will soon pronounce a verdict on his pleas challenging the "unconstitutional manner" in which the government passed key legislations by declaring them money bills and said it will have far-reaching implications on Parliament's functioning. Ramesh's remarks came after last week the Supreme Court said it will constitute a seven-judge bench to consider the issue of the validity of passage of laws like the Aadhaar Act as a money bill. In a post on X, Ramesh said, "Finally, the Supreme Court has set up a seven-judge bench, headed by the CJI (Chief Justice of India) himself, to hear my petitions challenging the unconstitutional manner in which the (Narendra) Modi government has passed key bills by getting them declared as Money Bills." "I have repeatedly raised this issue in the Parliament and outside it through three petitions in the Supreme Court first one filed on April 6th, 2016, as it denies the Rajya Sabh

SC extends NCP leader Nawab Malik's bail on medical grounds by three months

A bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Dipankar Datta extended the interim bail for three months after Malik's counsel said that his condition had not improved since the previous order

SC gives split verdict on allowing woman to terminate her 26-week pregnancy

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

SC, IIT Madras sign MoU to facilitate digital transformation of judiciary

The Supreme Court and IIT Madras have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate digital transformation of Indian judiciary and improve access to justice. A press release issued by the public relations office of the apex court said the MoU was signed following the visit of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud to Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in July this year. It said the top court and IIT Madras will be collaborating on using artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies for "transcription tools, summarization of page transcript, translation tool, exclusive streaming platform for court trials, process automation and large languages models for the legal domain". "The MoU is aimed to facilitate the digital transformation of the Indian judiciary, aligning it with the vision for a more efficient and technologically advanced legal ecosystem to improve access to justice," the release said. It said the apex court, under the leadership of CJI ...

SC declines interim relief to Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan in criminal case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to grant interim relief to Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan's son that the trial court in Uttar Pradesh be asked not to pass a final order in a pending criminal case against him till his claim of juvenility is ascertained. The top court, on September 26, had directed the Moradabad District Judge to decide the aspect of juvenility of Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan in accordance with the procedure under the Juvenile Justice Act and send the finding to it for further consideration. Referring to this order, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Abdullah Azam Khan, on Wednesday told a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Prashant Kumar Mishra that till the report on juvenility is filed, the other trial court be asked not to proceed with a pending criminal case and convict the accused. Heavens are not going to fall if the trial court does not pass the final order... Sometimes law stands in the way of justice. This is that kind of case, the senior ..

Loan fraud case: Why didn't CBI object to bail to Kochhars, asks SC

Justice Trivedi asked Raju about the next date of hearing in the high court. The lawyer told the judge no fresh date has been announced yet

LIVE: India's direct tax collection rises 17.95% to Rs 11.07 trillion

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Everything cannot be entertained to make SC dysfunctional: CJI Chandrachud

There may be a thousand issues meriting attention but everything cannot be entertained to make the Supreme Court dysfunctional, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said on Tuesday while declining to hear an interim plea on the deaths of captive elephants in Kerala. "These are local issues which may be dealt with by the high courts. If they make an egregious error then we are here to correct those errors. But you know how can we run the country," a bench comprising Chief Justice Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said. "What is the role of the Supreme Court in the nation ... we are not to deal with these, you know, micromanagement of issues which arise all over the country. If the high court commits an egregious error we are here and will correct the error," it said. Senior advocate CU Singh, appearing for an intervenor, at the outset raised the issue of deaths of captive elephants in Kerala, violation of rules and sought an urgent hearing. "More than 135 .

Govt likely to tweak spectrum clauses in the draft Telecom Bill 2022

In 2012, the Supreme Court rejected the policy of first-come-first-served through which spectrum was given to telcos by the government