Page 43 - Supreme Court

Govt moves SC seeking transfer of pleas against online gaming law from HCs

The Centre on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of various pleas challenging the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 from various high courts to the apex court to avoid conflicting verdicts. The plea was mentioned before a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran. "(The) Union has filed a transfer plea... the Online Gaming Regulation Act has been challenged before three high courts. If it can be listed on Monday since it's listed for interim orders before the Karnataka High Court," the lawyer said. The CJI agreed to list the plea for consideration next week. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 is the first Central legislation imposing a nationwide ban on real-money online gaming, including popular formats such as fantasy sports. The law prohibits offering or playing online money games, regardless of whether they are games of skill or chance, and categorises violations as cognisable and non-bailable ..

Human dignity is the soul of the Constitution, says CJI BR Gavai

At the 11th Dr L M Singhvi Memorial Lecture, CJI BR Gavai called human dignity the principle uniting all fundamental rights and guiding judicial interpretation in India

Elgar Parishad case: SC defers Surendra Gadling bail plea to Sept 17

The Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred to September 17 the bail plea of advocate Surendra Gadling, accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. A bench comprising Justices J K Maheshwari and K Vinod Chandran deferred the matter after Additional Solicitor General S V Raju sought time. Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Gadling, opposed Raju's request for an adjournment highlighting the plea's pendency since 2023. Grover said Gadling has spent over six years behind bars, with charges not even been framed in the case. Chief Justice B R Gavai had posted the matter for today after being informed on August 26 that Justice M M Sundresh had recused from hearing the bail plea. Previously, a bench comprising Justices Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh was scheduled to hear the plea. On August 8, Grover mentioned the matter before CJI Gavai for an early hearing, citing his client Gadling's over six-year-long incarceration. "The bail plea has been adjourned 11 times in the Supreme

SC raps Sukesh Chandrashekar's wife for rushing bail plea in ₹200 cr case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed Leena Paulose, wife of alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar, seeking expeditious hearing of her bail plea before the Delhi High Court in a Rs 200 crore extortion case. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Prashant Kumar Mishra said the tendency of approaching the apex court for seeking early hearing of cases is not acceptable. "It is not acceptable. Just because of proximity of the Supreme Court, everyone comes here and then seeks adjournment," the bench observed. The lawyer appearing for Paulose submitted that despite being listed everyday in the high court, the matter was not being heard. He said the matter is listed Wednesday also for hearing and sought an adjournment. The bench agreed to adjourn the matter. The top court was hearing a plea filed by Paulose seeking expeditious hearing of her bail plea. Delhi Police has booked Chandrashekar for allegedly duping the wives of former promoters of Ranbaxy, Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh,

Governors cannot examine legislative competence of bills: WB tells SC

The West Bengal government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the governor cannot examine the legislative competence of a bill passed by the assembly. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice BR Gavai was told by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for West Bengal, that since Independence there is hardly any example where the President has withheld a bill passed by Parliament because it is the will of the people. Advancing his argument before a bench also comprising Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, PS Narasimha and AS Chandurkar, on the seventh day of hearing on the Presidential reference on whether the court could impose timelines for governors and President to deal with bills passed by state assemblies, Sibal submitted that legislative competence of a bill has to be tested in courts. "A legislation can be challenged in a court of law by citizens or by somebody else. It's in the rarest and rare case that a Governor says I cannot give assent to the bills and

'Objectionable' cartoons on PM, RSS: SC grants anticipatory bail to Malviya

The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave anticipatory bail to cartoonist Hemant Malviya who is accused of sharing allegedly objectionable cartoons of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS workers on social media. Noting that he has apologised on his Facebook and Instagram accounts, a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria gave the police liberty to seek cancellation of his bail in case the cartoonist did not cooperate in the probe. During the hearing, Malviya's counsel Vrinda Grover informed the court that an apology was given and that the petitioner had not yet been summoned. Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj replied that summoning will take place only after all the evidence is gathered. Malviya was booked by police in Indore in May on a complaint filed by lawyer and RSS worker Vinay Joshi who alleged that he had hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and disturbed communal harmony by uploading objectionable material on social media. On July 15, a top court bench of Just

SC to interpret Constitution in Presidential reference, not specific cases

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will only interpret the Constitution while dealing with the Presidential reference on whether the court could impose timelines for governors and President to deal with bills passed by state assemblies. The remark by a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice BR Gavai came when Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said if senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for parties opposing the reference, is going to rely on examples of constitutional provisions which concerned Andhra Pradesh, among others, then he needs to file a reply, as he has not argued on those aspects. Mehta told a bench also comprising Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, PS Narasimha and AS Chandurkar, "If they (Tamil Nadu and Kerala governments) are going to rely on examples of Andhra Pradesh etc ... we would like to file a reply on this. Since, we need to show how the Constitution was taken on a joyride since its inception... let us see if we want to travel down that dirty path." CJI

SC dismisses PIL against E20 policy, backs ethanol blending programme

The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea challenging the E20 ethanol blending policy, reinforcing India's push for cleaner fuels and support for sugarcane farmers

Claims, objections to Bihar draft rolls allowed after Sept 1: EC to SC

The Election Commission told the Supreme Court that claims and objections to Bihar's draft electoral rolls will be accepted beyond the September 1 deadline, up to the last date of nominations

Supreme Court rejects plea opposing rollout of 20% ethanol-blended petrol

The petition asked for ethanol labelling at all petrol pumps, but the Centre opposed the move, arguing E20 fuel supports sugarcane farmers

Bihar SIR: Claims, objections can be filed beyond Sept 1, EC tells SC

The Election Commission of India on Monday said claims, objections and corrections in the draft electoral roll prepared in Bihar special intensive revision (SIR) exercise can be filed beyond September 1 but the same would be considered once the electoral roll was finalised. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi noted the submission of the Election Commission (EC) which said claims and objections could be filed till the last date of nomination forms in each assembly constituency. The top court while terming the confusion over the Bihar SIR as largely trust issue, directed the state legal service authority to deploy paralegal volunteers to assist individual voters and political parties in filling claims and objections to the draft roll, which was published on August 1. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for EC, said, Any extension of deadline will lead to disruption of the entire exercise and finalisation of final electoral roll. The poll panel further said 99.5 p

SC clears way for construction of new passenger jetty at Gateway of India

The construction of a new passenger jetty and terminal at the iconic Gateway of India in south Mumbai would continue as the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea against the Bombay High Court verdict allowing the project. The high court on July 15 had dismissed three petitions challenging the construction of the Rs 229 crore passenger jetty and terminal facility proposed by the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) near the Gateway of India. A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran dismissed the appeal filed by one Laura D Souza against the high court verdict, saying the issue fell under the policy domain of the government. The project in the sea, approximately measuring 1.5 acres, will be nearly 280 metres from the Gateway of India, located near the Radio Club in south Mumbai. According to the plea, the project plan involves parking of 150 cars, VIP lounges/waiting areas, amphitheatre and ticket counters/administrative areas along with a huge tennis ..

SC upholds Telangana's domicile rules for admissions in medical colleges

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Telangana government's domicile rule permitting students, who have studied for the last four years up to Class 12 in the state, for admissions in medical and dental colleges under state quota. A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran allowed the appeal of the state government and upheld the Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission (Admission into MBBS & BDS Courses) Rules, 2017, amended in 2024. The impugned rules entitled only those students, who have studied for last four years up to Class 12 in the state to admissions in the medical and dental colleges under the state quota. The Telangana High Court had held the state's permanent residents cannot be denied benefits of admissions in medical colleges only because they lived outside the state for sometime. The top court on August 5 reserved its verdict on the pleas, including one from the Telangana government, against an order that struck down its ...

Motor vehicle tax not applicable if vehicle not used in 'public place': SC

Motor vehicle tax is compensatory in nature and if a vehicle is not used or not kept for use in a 'public place', then its owner should not be burdened with motor vehicle tax for such period, the Supreme Court has said. A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan delivered its verdict on an appeal challenging a December 2024 judgement of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. "Motor vehicle tax is compensatory in nature. It has a direct nexus with the end use. The rationale for levy of motor vehicle tax is that a person who is using public infrastructure, such as, roads, highways etc. has to pay for such usage," the apex court said. Referring to section 3 of The Andhra Pradesh Motor Vehicle Taxation Act, 1963, the bench said the legislature has consciously used the expression 'public place' in this provision. Section 3 of the Act deals with levy of tax on motor vehicles. "If a motor vehicle is not used in a 'public place' or not kept for use in a 'public place' then the person concer

Bihar SIR: 200K pleas for removal and 33K for inclusion in voter list

The month-long period to demand inclusion or deletion of names from the electoral rolls of Bihar ends on Monday, with more than 33,000 electors filing pleas to add their names to the list. Over 2 lakh demands have been made by individuals seeking removal of names they claim have been wrongfully included in the draft rolls. The draft electoral rolls were published on August 1 and will remain open for "claims and objections" by individuals and political parties till September 1. People and parties have the right under election law to challenge inclusion of names who they think are ineligible. Similarly, people who think they are eligible but have been left out of the draft list can seek inclusion. The final electoral roll for Bihar, which will go to polls likely in November, will be published on September 30. The booth-level agents appointed by the political parties have so far filed 25 claims for inclusion and 103 for exclusion from the draft list. On Monday, the Supreme Court wil

SC to hear on Sept 1 plea over sale of 20% ethanol blended petrol

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea which has challenged the nationwide rollout of 20 percent Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP-20), alleging that millions of motorists have been forced to use fuel not designed for their vehicles. The public interest litigation (PIL) is listed for hearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai on September 1. The plea, filed by advocate Akshay Malhotra, has sought a direction to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to ensure availability of ethanol-free petrol at all fuel stations. It has also sought a direction to the authorities to mandatorily label ethanol content on all petrol pumps and dispensing units, making it clearly visible to consumers, and also to ensure that consumers were informed about ethanol compatibility of their vehicles at the time of fuel dispensing. The plea said the authorities be directed to conduct a "nationwide impact study on mechanical degradation and efficiency loss due to ethanol blended fu

Why the wolf stayed: The long, messy love story of humans and dogs

The most theatrical demonstration came in Siberia during the Soviet era, when Dmitry Belyaev and Lyudmila Trut bred silver foxes for friendliness alone

Bihar SIR: SC to hear pleas seeking more time to file claims, objections

Petitioners seek more time for filing claims in Bihar's special electoral roll revision

SC to hear plea to extend Sept 1 deadline for Bihar SIR claim filing

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on September 1 pleas of the RJD and AIMIM seeking extension of deadline for filing of claims and objections in the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. The deadline for filing claims and objections is also September 1. A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said it will hear the applications of the political parties on Monday after advocate Prashant Bhushan and senior advocate Shoeb Alam, appearing for the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD), said that several of them have filed applications for extension of deadlines. Advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing for the AIMIM, said time needs to be extended due to large scale filing of claims and objections. "The number of claims filed are exponentially rising. The deadline needs to be extended," Alam told the bench. Pasha submitted that 80,000 claims were filed before the August 22 order while post the order 95,000 claims have been filed. "We are ..

SC issues notice to Centre on plea to declare 'Ram Setu' national monument

The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Centre on a plea by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy seeking a direction to the government to "expeditiously" decide his representation to declare 'Ram Setu' as a national monument. 'Ram Setu', also known as Adam's bridge, is a chain of limestone shoals between Pamban Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta agreed to hear Swamy's plea and issued notice to the Centre. It posted the matter for hearing after four weeks. In his plea, Swamy has referred to the January 19, 2023 order passed by the apex court in the matter. On January 19, 2023, the Centre had told the top court that it was looking into the issue pertaining to declaring 'Ram Setu' as a national heritage monument. The top court was then hearing Swamy's plea on the issue. "The solicitor general states that the process is currently underway in