Page 83 - Supreme Court

Supreme Court stays ruling favouring Tiger Global in Flipkart deal

The next hearing of the case at the Supreme Court has been scheduled for February 14

SC orders Assam govt to pay Rs 70 cr to clear dues of tea corp workers

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Assam government to pay Rs 70 crore in two equal installments of Rs 35 crore each to cash-strapped Assam Tea Corporation Ltd to clear long-pending dues of its workers. A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said, "It took some time till the state government came around. It accepted the proposal of the state government to pay the amount in two tranches and said the first installment would be paid by June 30. The second installment would be deposited with the competent authorities of the ATCL by June 30, 2026. "We make it clear that as and when the amount is deposited with the ATCL, it will disburse the same on 'pro-rata' basis," the bench said. The top court said it would decide whether the state government should be absolved of any further liability only after it deposits Rs 70 crore. On December 9, last year, the state government said Rs 70 crore will be paid by two yearly installments and sought four weeks' time to file an

SC considers appointing observer for free and fair Chandigarh mayoral polls

The Supreme Court on Friday mulled appointing an observer to ensure that "free and fair" Chandigarh mayoral elections were held on January 30. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh passed the order on a plea filed by Chandigarh mayor Kuldeep Kumar from AAP who sought "show of hands" instead of "secret ballot" to ensure fairness in the polling process. "Issue notice for the limited purpose of appointing an independent observer to conduct the election scheduled to be held on January 30, 2025. Meanwhile, the election process will continue," the bench said. The top court posted the hearing on January 27, and indicated it may appoint a retired high court judge as observer for the polls. Punjab advocate general Gurminder Singh, appearing for the mayor, submitted the court may issue notice on polling by "show of hands" for he said, "We all know what happened during last elections when it was secret ballot and CCTV video recording." Justice Surya Kant said the mayor had ...

SC pulls up Maha govt for not allocating funds for solid waste management

Irked over non-implementation of rules, the Supreme Court on Friday pulled up the Maharashtra government for failing to allocate funds for solid waste treatment plants in the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation and said the state was duty-bound to protect the environment. A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan expressed strong disapproval of Maharashtra's previous stand that there were no funds available for essential projects. It directed the state to submit a detailed affidavit specifying the time the funds would be released and the number of civic bodies in Maharashtra complying with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The affidavit would be filed by February 21. On January 15, the bench was dissatisfied over the stand of the Urban Development Department of Mumbai claiming they lacked funds for the plants and asked the principal secretary to appear through video-conferencing and explain the stand before it on January 24. "A very strange stand has been taken

SC reserves treasurer post for women lawyers in Bengaluru bar body

Exercising its plenary powers, the Supreme Court on Friday reserved the post of treasurer in Bengaluru advocates association for women lawyers. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh exercised its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution observing the election for the bar body was scheduled on February 2 and the nomination process was over. "We deem it appropriate to invoke our powers under Article 142 of Constitution and direct as follows - (i) the post of treasurer shall be exclusively earmarked for women candidates," it held. The court invoked its powers saying it was "high-time" to provide women reservation in different elected bodies of advocates and there were no express provisions in the memorandum and by-laws earmarking seats for women candidates of the association. The bench directed the high-powered committee constituted to oversee the election and the chief returning officer for the bar body polls to extend the date for inviting nominations and if requir

Sambhal demolition: SC to hear plea against authorities after a week

The Supreme Court on Friday said it would hear after a week a plea seeking contempt proceedings against Sambhal authorities for allegedly violating its verdict on demolition of properties. Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih posted the matter after a week after the lawyer appearing for petitioner Mohammed Ghayoor sought an adjournment on the ground that the arguing counsel was in a personal difficulty. He requested the bench to post the matter after a week. In his plea filed through advocate Chand Qureshi, the petitioner alleged the authorities violated the top court's November 13 2024 verdict which laid down pan-India guidelines and barred demolition of properties without a prior showcause notice and giving 15 days to the aggrieved party to respond. The plea claimed authorities in UP's Sambhal bulldozed a part of the petitioner's property on January 10-11 without a prior notice or an opportunity to him or his family members. "The petitioner and his family members had al

SC maintains actor Darshan's bail in murder case, to examine state plea

In an interim order, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to cancel the bail granted to Kannada actors Darshan Thoogudeepa, Pavithra Gowda, and others in a murder case but agreed to examine the Karnataka government's challenge against it and issued notice. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan issued notice to Darshan and others on the state's plea against the Karnataka High Court's bail order. The state government, said the apex court, apprehended other co-accused would take advantage of the high court order. "Since state is praying for cancellation of bail, it would not be proper to stay the operation of the order as it would amount to cancellation of bail. Yet, to protect the interest of prosecution, if any co-accused prays on bail, the court concerned shall not place reliance on the order challenged before us. Any bail application filed shall be decided on its own merit," clarified the bench. Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra along with advocate Anil Nishani, appearing

Shraddananda virtually seeks direction to Prez for mercy plea: Centre to SC

The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that the plea of Swamy Shraddananda, jailed for over 30 years for the murder of his wife, has virtually sought a direction to the President to decide his mercy petition. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih was hearing a petition filed by 84-year-old Shraddananda alias Murali Manohar Mishra seeking a direction to the authorities to decide his mercy plea filed before the President in December, 2023. Additional solicitor general K M Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, sought to get instructions on the plea and said, "However, the prayer is virtually seeking a direction to the President to do it. Whether such a prayer could be considered at all? Kindly see the prayer." Advocate Varun Thakur, appearing for Shraddananda, said the petitioner was in jail for over 30 years and was suffering from ailments. "You (Shraddananda) must thank this court that you were saved that time," the bench said and posted the hearing after tw

SC dismisses PIL seeking scrapping of 'tax deducted at source' framework

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court remarked that the petition was poorly drafted and unsuitable for consideration, advising the petitioner to move the PIL to the Delhi High Court

SC refuses to cancel bail of actor Darshan, others in murder case

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to cancel the bail granted to Kannada actors Darshan Thoogudeepa, Pavithra Gowda, and five others in the Renukaswamy murder case but agreed to examine the Karnataka government's challenge. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan issued notice to Darshan and others on the state's plea against the Karnataka High Court's bail order. The state government, the apex court said, apprehended other co-accused would be allowed to take advantage of order passed by the high court in the impugned order. "Since state is praying for cancellation of bail, it would not be proper to stay the operation of the order as it would amount to cancellation of bail. Yet, to protect the interest of prosecution, if any co-accused prays on bail, the court concerned shall not place reliance on the order challenged before us. Any bail application filed shall be decided on its own merit," the bench said. The Karnataka High Court on December 13, 2024, granted bail to th

Illegal payments to land owners: SC appoints SIT to probe Noida functioning

Dissatisfied with a UP government-appointed panel probing the issue of illegal compensation to land owners paid by NOIDA officials, the Supreme Court has appointed an SIT to look into it. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh ruled while hearing the anticipatory bail pleas of the legal advisor and one of the law officers of NOIDA who were accused of corruption. It said the allegations related to the release of huge amounts of compensation in favour of some landowners, who were allegedly not entitled to seek such a higher compensation for their acquired land. The top court constituted the special investigation team (SIT) comprising IPS officer and Additional General of Police, Lucknow zone S B Shiradkar, Inspector General CBCID Modak Rajesh D Rao and Hemant Kutiyal, Commandant of UP Special Range Security Battalion. "The special investigation team shall, inter alia, look into the issues (i) whether the quantum of compensation paid to the land owners was higher than the

Demolition in Sambhal: SC to hear plea seeking contempt action after a week

The Supreme Court on Friday said it would hear after a week a plea seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against authorities in Sambhal for alleged violation of the apex court's verdict on demolition of properties. The plea came up for hearing before a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih. The lawyer appearing for petitioner Mohammed Ghayoor sought a short adjournment, saying the arguing counsel was in a personal difficulty. He requested the bench to post the matter for hearing after a week. The bench said the plea would come up for hearing after one week. In his plea filed through advocate Chand Qureshi, the petitioner has alleged violation of the November 13 last year verdict of the top court which laid down pan-India guidelines and said no property should be demolished without a prior show cause notice and the affected must be given 15 days to respond. The plea claimed that authorities in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh had bulldozed a part of the petitioner's

SC bench of Chief Justice Khanna to hear plea seeking verification of EVMs

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna will hear a plea filed by former Haryana minister and five-time MLA Karan Singh Dalal seeking a policy for the verification of Electronic Voting Machines. When the matter came up for hearing on Friday before Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan, the bench said the case shall be placed before the Chief Justice along with similar petitions. "This can go before the Chief Justice's bench," the bench said. Dalal has approached the Supreme Court seeking a policy for the verification of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). He has sought compliance of an earlier judgement of the top court delivered in the case of 'Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India'. Dalal and co-petitioner Lakhan Kumar Singla secured the second-highest votes in their respective constituencies and have sought a direction to the Election Commission (EC) to implement a protocol for examining the original "burnt memory" or microcontroller of the four

Top court expresses concern over too many lawyers' names in case papers

The Supreme Court on Thursday raised concern over a large numbers of lawyers marking their appearance in cases, and their names running into several pages, whereas an order was only a few pages. A bench comprising Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma said if a lawyer was assisting the court "effectively" it had no problem in adding the appearance. "Names of lawyers go into 10 pages and the order will go into only a few pages. We are not passing any orders on how the names of advocates should be included in the order. Since you are representing the Bar, we are hearing out," it said. The top court said though many lawyers appeared with the arguing counsel, nobody argued when asked to. "Or we would have clearly said you have no locus. Whoever is attached with the lawyer, their names are there. It cannot be done like that. When we see they are assisting you effectively, their names are there. We will pass the orders," the bench told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing f

State police has no role in lodging complaints for airport violations: SC

The Supreme Court has held the Aircraft Act was "a complete code" to deal with the safety and security of civil aviation and aerodrome whereas the state police could only forward probe material to the authorised officer to decide on lodging a complaint. The significant verdict, ruling out any significant role of a state police in dealing with the airport violations cases, came from a bench comprising Justices A S Oka and Manmohan on an appeal of the Jharkhand government. The state government challenged the Jharkhand High Court judgement which quashed the FIR against BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey and Manoj Tiwari and others. They were accused of allegedly forcing the Deoghar air traffic control to allow their aircraft to take off after sunset in 2022. The judgement, authored by Justice Manmohan, and made available on Wednesday said, "The Aircraft Act, 1934 as well as the rules framed thereunderis a complete Code which deals with safety and security of civil aviation and aerodrome." It ad

SC delivers split verdict on riots accused Tahir Hussain's bail plea

Allegations against former councillor and February 2020 riots accused Tahir Hussain were grave and reprehensible but as of now they were allegations, Supreme Court judge Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah said on Wednesday. While opining Hussain should be released on interim bail, Justice Amanullah, who was on a division bench with Justice Pankaj Mithal -- said the petitioner was in custody since March, 2020 and secured bail in majority of cases. The bench delivered a split verdict in the matter. "The allegations against the petitioner are no doubt grave and reprehensible but as of this moment they are exactly that - allegations. It is settled law that magnitude and gravity of offence are not grounds in itself to deny bail. No court of law has rendered adjudications thereon. The petitioner is in custody since March 2020. He has secured bail in majority of cases," said Justice Amanullah. He observed the Delhi High Court had permitted Hussain to file his nomination and consequently stand a

RG Kar case: SC defers suo-motu hearing to Jan 29 citing paucity of time

The Supreme Court on Wednesday cited paucity of time and deferred to January 29 the hearing on the suo-motu case over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. On January 20, a Kolkata trial court awarded convict Sanjay Roy "life term imprisonment till death" in the case. The suo-motu (on its own) plea was set to be heard by the top court for the first time after the sentencing in the doctor's rape and murder which took place on August 9 last year. The heinous crime triggered nationwide outrage and prolonged protests in West Bengal. A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan on Wednesday said there was paucity of time, and moreover, three fresh applications were filed in the case. "We will take it up at 2 pm on next Wednesday," the CJI said. Senior advocate Karuna Nandy, representing the Association of Junior and Senior Doctors, mentioned the plea for hearing. On December

Delhi's air quality stays poor, but rain could offer temporary reprieve

Further improvement in AQI is expected as rain accompanied by thunderstorms is forecasted to affect the national capital on Wednesday

SC dismisses income tax petition against Vi, reinstates Rs 1,600 cr refund

Vi has already received refund in December, telco told exchanges

Supreme Court agrees to hear income tax dept's appeal in Vodafone case

The Bombay High Court had rejected the PCCIT's move to issue a reassessment notice