Page 259 - Supreme Court

Inclusion of CJI in process for appointing CEC will ensure independence: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the inclusion of the Chief Justice of India in the consultative process for the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner would ensure independence of the poll panel. The apex court was of the view that any ruling party at the Centre ''likes to perpetuate itself in power'' and can appoint a 'Yes Man' to the post under the current system. The court was hearing a batch of pleas seeking a collegium-like system for the appointment of Election Commissioners (ECs) and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). The Centre argued that a 1991 Act ensured the Election Commission remains independent in terms of salary and tenure to its members and there is no "trigger point'' which warrants interference from the court. It said that the mechanism adopted for appointment of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is seniority among the election commissioners, who are appointed by convention from secretary or chief secretary level officers of the Centre and state level, ..

SC dismisses GUVNL's appeal for termination of PPA with Lanco Infratech

GUVNL had terminated the agreement for the solar power plant over the commencement of liquidation proceedings against LANCO Infratech Ltd (owner of the power plant)

Need a CEC who can even take action against prime minister, says SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday orally observed that the need is for a Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) who can even take action against the Prime Minister

SC to have specialsed benches for criminal, tax, land issues, MACT matters

The Supreme Court will have four special benches to conduct proceedings in issues relating to criminal matters, direct and indirect tax matters, land acquisition matters and MACT

SC to hear Mumbai's Aarey colony tree felling matter on Thursday

The Supreme Court said that it will hear on Thursday the matter pertaining to the felling of trees at Mumbai's Aarey Colony, the site for a metro car shed project. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices Hima Kohli and J B Pardiwala took note of the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) that there was a need to fell 84 trees. The law officer said let the tree felling committee decide on the request of MMRCL on cutting of the tree and the decision would be dependent on the order of this court. A senior advocate appearing for those opposed to felling of trees said they have also filed an interim plea. We will deal with these two IAs (interim applications) tomorrow, the bench said. The MMRCL had on August 5 this year told the apex court that no trees have been cut in Aarey colony since October 2019. On August 24, the top court had directed the MMRCL to strictly abide by its undertaking that no

Election commission needs a person like the late T N Seshan to lead it: SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Constitution has vested enormous powers on the "fragile shoulder" of the chief election commissioner and the two election commissioners and it wants a CEC of strong character like late T N Seshan. Seshan was a former cabinet secretary to the Union government and was appointed as the election commissioner (EC) on December 12, 1990 with a tenure till December 11, 1996. He completed his six-year tenure and died on November 10, 2019. A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Justice K M Joseph, said its endeavour is to put a system in place so that the "best man" is selected as the CEC. "There have been numerous CECs and T N Seshan happens once in a while. We do not want anyone to bulldoze him. Enormous power has been vested on the fragile shoulder of three men (two ECs and the CEC). We have to find the best man for the post of CEC. The question is how do we find that best man and how to appoint that best man," the bench, also comprising justices .

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Supreme Court to set up separate special Bench to hear tax matters

Abhishek Rastogi said the Bench would be useful to expedite the matters and would also ensure that a lot of matters on the same issue were clubbed and placed in one single Bench

'Nearly 15,000 Indian students learning online from Ukraine universities'

It added that though 382 students applied for academic mobility, their applications were not accepted either by the Ukrainian university or the receiving partner university, because of various reasons

Online dashboard on mental health facilities to be set in a month: Centre

The Central government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court it will set up an online portal in a month to provide seamless information with regard to mental health facilities available in the country. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer G K Bansal seeking rehabilitation and COVID-19 vaccination of mentally ill people currently lodged in various hospitals and mental healthcare institutions across the country. Additional Solicitor General Madhvi Divan, appearing for the Centre, told the bench, also comprising justices Hima Kohli and J B Pardiwala, the government has invited tenders so real time information on mental health facilities right down to the district level can be displayed on the portal. The portal would be ready and functional within a period of a month, the law officer said. The bench then adjourned the hearing on the PIL and said it will be listed after a month. The top court had on September 1, 2021 passed a slew of directions

'SC was kept in dark over FIFA letters', allege state associations

FIFA made it clear to the CoA that it could not include individual football players as members of the electoral college as this would violate the FIFA statutes

SC to hear on Friday NIA's appeal against activist Anand Teltumbde bail

The Supreme Court agreed to hear on Friday an appeal by the National Investigation Agency against the bail granted to scholar-activist Anand Teltumbde in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, took note of the submissions by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the stay on the operation on the high court's bail order is for a week only and the matter needed urgent hearing. "We will hear it on Friday," the CJI told the law officer. The Bombay High Court had granted bail to Teltumbde last Friday in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, noting that there was no evidence to show that he was an active member of the banned outfit CPI (Maoist) or had indulged in any terrorist act. Teltumbde, 73, is the third accused of the total 16 arrested in the case to be released on bail. Poet Varavara Rao is currently out on bail on health grounds, and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj is out on regular bail. The high court, however, had stayed its bail

Delhi HC rejects Future Group's plea to terminate arbitration before SIAC

On November 17, the Supreme Court had said that it would not allow stalling of arbitrary proceedings between Future Group and Amazon before the SIAC

SC asks Guj HC to hold periodical hearings in Morbi bridge collapse

Terming the Morbi bridge collapse an "enormous tragedy", the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Gujarat High Court to take up the suo motu matter on a periodical basis

Karnataka ready to fight border dispute with Maharashtra in SC: CM Bommai

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said that his government has made all preparations to contest the border dispute with Maharashtra in the Supreme Court. The development comes following the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra appointing ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai to coordinate with a legal team regarding the court case on the issue. Bommai told reporters that the state has formed a team of senior advocates to fight the case in the Supreme Court when it comes up for hearing. The team, according to Bommai, will have former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, Shyam Diwan, former Karnataka advocate general Uday Holla and Maruti Jirale. "The team has made all preparations on how to contest the case (in the Supreme Court). Tomorrow, I will also have a video conference with these lawyers," the Karnataka chief minister said. Bommai claimed the maintainability of the case has not yet been decided yet, let alone the main petition. "Hence, we have mad

Cannot allow Bihar govt to play with people's lives: SC on fake pharmacists

The Supreme Court on Monday rapped the Bihar government for not taking action against fake pharmacists and doctors in the state, saying the court cannot permit it to play with the lives of people. A bench of justices MR Shah and MM Sundresh reserved its verdict on an appeal filed against a Patna High Court order by pharmacist Mukesh Kumar seeking action against fake pharmacists practicing in the state. The high court on December 9, 2019, had asked Kumar to give the names of fake practitioners so that necessary action could be taken against them. "It's a serious issue. It's the duty of the Bihar government to ensure that not a single hospital or pharmacy is run by the fake pharmacists in the state. We cannot let the state government play with the lives of the people," the apex court bench said. "If an untrained person administers wrong medicine or gives a wrong dosage, it will prove dangerous for the people. Who will be held responsible? In states like Bihar, the problem is not limi

Supreme Court collegium recommends transfer of Gujarat HC judge to Patna HC

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the transfer of Gujarat High Court judge Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi to the Patna High Court. As per a statement uploaded on the apex court's website on Monday, the collegium made this recommendation in its meeting held on September 29. "The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on September 29, 2022 has recommended transfer of Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi, Judge, Gujarat High Court, to Patna High Court," the statement said. In September this year, the collegium was headed by the then Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit. Justice Lalit retired on November 8. Recently, the collegium headed by CJI D Y Chandrachud had recommended transfer of three high court judges for administrative reasons, sources said on November 18. The sources had said the collegium recommended shifting the Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice T Raja to the Rajasthan High Court, while Justice Nikhil S Kariel and Justice A Abhishek Reddy have been ...

We will have to be tough on Naxalism: Centre tells SC during a hearing

"We will have to be tough on Naxalism," the Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday during a hearing on a plea seeking an SIT investigation into an alleged massacre in a Chhattisgarh village in May 2013 which is already being probed by the CBI. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told a bench of Justices M R Shah and M M Sundresh that there are organisations which send their fact-finding teams to the place of occurrence of Naxal incidents. Such fact-finding teams come out with a pre-determined conclusion faulting the security forces and then petitions are filed in the courts, he said. The bench was hearing a plea seeking the constitution of a special investigation team (SIT) comprising officers from outside Chhattisgarh to probe and prosecute the members of the combined forces for the alleged massacre in Bijapur district's Edesmeta village on May 17, 2013, in which eight people were killed. The plea has also sought a direction to pay compensation to the victim

Cong to file review petition in SC on release of Rajiv murder convicts

The Congress will file a review petition in the Supreme Court challenging the decision to release six convicts of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, party sources said on Monday. The petition will be filed this week, they said. "A fresh review application challenging the Supreme Court decision to release the convicts on the grounds set out in the order will be filed on behalf of the party in the next few days," a party insider said Facing criticism from the Congress, the government last week moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of its order for premature release of the convicts in the case. The Supreme Court on November 11 directed the premature release of the six, including Nalini Sriharan and R P Ravichandran, serving life term in the case. It noted that the Tamil Nadu government has recommended remission of their sentence. Besides Nalini and Ravichandran, the four others released were Santhan, Murugan, Robert Payas and Jayakumar. The top court also took into account that

Shinde govt withdraws SC plea challenging HC order on Arnab Goswami's FIRs

The Supreme Court on Monday permitted the Maharashtra government to withdraw an appeal filed by the state during the previous Uddhav Thackeray dispensation against a Bombay High Court's 2020 order suspending the probe in two FIRs filed against Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami for allegedly making inflammatory comments. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli took note of the submissions of the counsel of Maharashtra that he wanted to withdraw the plea which was filed against the interim order of the Bombay High Court. The appeal against the high court order was filed in the top court when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray was ruling the state. It was replaced by the NDA government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on June 30 after a revolt in the Shiv Sena. The order of the high court is an interim order. I have the instructions to withdraw it, the counsel for the state government told the benc