Page 9 - Supreme Court

SC dismisses Anil Ambani's plea challenging fraud tagging of his accounts

Supreme Court of India dismisses Anil Ambani plea against fraud tag on bank accounts; allows banks to proceed while leaving settlement option open

SC dismisses plea against transfer of EC officers in poll-bound West Bengal

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea challenging the transfer of administrative and police officers by the Election Commission in poll-bound West Bengal. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi also said that the question of law raised in the matter would be kept open. The bench passed the order while hearing a plea challenging a Calcutta High Court order dated March 31. The high court had dismissed a PIL challenging the transfer of officers by the poll panel in West Bengal. Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29 and votes will be counted on May 4.

SC rejects pleas of Anil Ambani challenging Bombay HC order in fraud case

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the pleas of industrialist Anil Ambani challenging the Bombay High Court order that allowed the proceedings initiated by banks against him and Reliance Communications Ltd to classify their bank accounts as fraud to continue. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi permitted Ambani to pursue his plea before the high court's single judge bench against the banks' show cause notices to declare the accounts as fraud. The bench requested the single judge bench to expeditiously decide Ambani's plea against the show cause notices issued by three banks. The apex court passed the order while hearing three separate pleas filed by Ambani who had challenged a February 23 order of a division bench of the high court. The division bench had quashed a single judge bench interim order that stayed proceedings initiated against him and Reliance Communications Ltd to classify their bank accounts as fraud. The divisio

SC rejects plea on guidelines for Ashoka Chakra display on national flag

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea seeking a direction to the Centre and others to frame guidelines for the display of the Ashoka Chakra on the national flag. A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi told the petitioner, who appeared in person, to do something constructive for society. "There is no need to be so emotional about these things. Your idea is good. You have informed the authorities. Now it is for the authorities to see what they want to do," the CJI told the petitioner. "You do some constructive work for society," the bench said. The petitioner showed a picture of the Ashoka Chakra installed at a roundabout in Varanasi, but the bench refused to entertain the plea.

Most difficult task is to declare belief of millions wrong, says SC

Supreme Court emphasises restraint in religious matters, cautioning against diluting core practices while hearing constitutional questions arising from the Sabarimala case

West Bengal's SIR exercise casts a long shadow on electoral integrity

Overall, some nine million voters - about 12 per cent of the electorate - were struck off the roll. Of those, about six million were deemed "absentee" or "deceased"

Courts can't judge religious belief of denomination: Sabarimala board to SC

The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the historic Sabarimala temple in Kerala, told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that religion is a set of beliefs and practices followed by a denomination with a broadly similar identity and the court cannot sit in judgement of that belief. A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant was told by the board, which is a statutory autonomous body that manages over 1,000 temples in South India, that the beliefs and practices of the community have to be judged by the subjective belief of the community and the court is bound to accept their belief. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the TDB said, "Religion is a set of beliefs and practices followed by a group/sect/denomination with a broadly similar identity. While Article 25 clearly vests in an individual the right to profess, practice and propagate religion, such individual rights cannot be allowed to extend to an area which intrudes upon the mass of ...

SC seeks Centre, EC's reply on biometric voter verification plea

The Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre and ECI on a plea for biometric and facial voter verification, noting legal changes and costs would be required

SC raps states over illegal sand mining, flags risk to Chambal bridge

The Supreme Court criticised states over illegal sand mining after a forest guard's death, raising concerns over governance lapses and warning of risks to the Chambal bridge

SC seeks Centre, EC's response on plea for biometric voter verification

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre, Election Commission and others on a plea seeking to implement finger and iris biometric identification system at polling stations to prevent duplicate voting. While agreeing to hear the plea, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi made clear that the prayer sought in the petition can't be considered for the current state Assembly elections in some states. "However, whether such a recourse deserves to be followed before the next parliamentary election and/or state assembly elections needs to be examined. Issue notice," the bench said. The top court issued notice to the Centre, the poll panel and several other states seeking their responses on the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay. Upadhyay, who appeared in person, told the bench that the prayer sought in the plea would prevent bribery and proxy voting. The bench observed that it would require major changes in the rules and would incur

SC notice to Centre, EC on plea to implement biometrics at polling stations

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea seeking direction to the Election Commission to implement finger and iris biometric identification system at polling stations to prevent duplicate voting. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi made clear that the prayer sought in the plea can't be considered for the current state Assembly elections in some states. "However, whether such a recourse deserves to be followed before the next parliamentary election and/or state assembly elections needs to be examined. Issue notice," the bench said. The top court sought responses from the Centre, the poll panel and several other states on the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay. "The injury to citizens is extremely large as bribery, undue influence, personation, duplicate voting and ghost voting still affects the purity and integrity of the electoral process," the plea submitted.

SC refuses to quash CBI FIR against Lalu Prasad Yadav in land-for-jobs case

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to quash a CBI FIR in the land-for-jobs case involving RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members. A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh, however, granted exemption to the 77-year-old former Bihar chief minister from appearance before the trial court during the proceedings. The top court allowed Yadav to raise the issue of the applicability of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the case. The Delhi High Court had on March 24 refused to quash a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR in the case involving Yadav and his family members, rejecting the RJD chief's contention that the agency's action was legally unsustainable in the absence of prior sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The land-for-jobs case is related to Group D appointments made in the West Central Zone of the Indian Railways in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, during Yadav's tenure as the railways minister between 2004 a

SC seeks reply from Centre, others on plea concerning states' costs in MSP

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea to accord weightage to states' proposal on the exact cost of cultivation while fixing minimum support price (MSP). A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notices to the Centre and others, including the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, seeking their response on the plea. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, said the plea raises a very important issue related to the farmers in the country. The plea has sought direction to the authorities to ensure complete procurement of all notified crops under the MSP calculated on the basis of the exact cost of cultivation. It has also sought direction to take appropriate steps to ensure complete procurement of crops from all farmers who are desirous of selling their crops at the MSP.

SC to hear on Monday pleas related to SIR of electoral rolls in Bengal

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a batch of pleas pertaining to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound West Bengal. As per the apex court's cause list of April 13, the pleas would be heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. On April 10, the top court had agreed to hear on April 13 a fresh plea along with pending ones challenging the freezing of electoral rolls by the Election Commission ahead of the upcoming assembly polls in West Bengal. The poll panel has frozen and finalised the electoral rolls on April 9 for the assembly seats which are going to polls in the first stage. Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29 and votes will be counted on May 4. The freezing of electoral rolls means that no new person, who has been deleted, can be added to the voters list for this assembly polls. On Monday, the bench would also hear the suo motu case related to the .

West Bengal SIR: SC to hear plea against EC's voter roll freeze on Apr 13

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on April 13 a fresh plea along with pending ones challenging the freezing of electoral rolls by the Election Commission ahead of the upcoming assembly polls in West Bengal. The poll panel has frozen and finalised the electoral rolls on April 9 for the assembly seats which are going to polls in the first stage. Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29 and votes will be counted for all polls on May 4. The freezing of electoral rolls means that no new person, who has been deleted, can be added to the voters list for this assembly polls. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi was urged by a lawyer to take up the plea against freezing on an urgent basis. The lawyer said many appeals against deletions from the electoral rolls are still pending and the poll panel has frozen the rolls on April 9. "We will consider the petition on April 13," the CJI ...

Allahabad HC judge Yashwant Varma resigns amid impeachment proceedings

Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, facing impeachment proceedings after wads of burnt currency notes were found at his residence here, has submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu, sources said on Friday. "Your Excellency, While I do not propose to burden your august office with the reasons which have constrained me to submit this missive, it is with deep anguish that I hereby tender my resignation from the office of Judge of the Hon'ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, with immediate effect. It has been an honour to serve in this office," the resignation letter sent to the President on April 9 said. Justice Varma was repatriated from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court after burnt wads of currency notes were found at his official residence in New Delhi on March 14 last year.

SC rejects plea to stop caste Census, slams petitioner for language used

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to stop caste Census, and slammed the petitioner for the language used in the PIL. "'Aapne apne petition me badtameezi ki bhasa likhi hai. Aapne kisse apna petition likhwaya hai' (You have written indecent language in your petition. Who has written your petition?)," a visibly angry Chief Justice Surya Kant told the petitioner, who was appearing in person. "Aap kahan se aisi bhasa likhte ho petition me (From where you write such language in your petition)," the CJI, who was heading the bench which also comprised Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, told the petitioner. The bench dismissed the plea, which also sought a direction to the Centre to formulate policies to provide economic incentives to families with a single child. On February 2, the top court had refused to entertain a separate PIL questioning the procedure to be adopted to record, classify and verify the caste data of citizens in th

Govt cites restrictions on men at temples in Sabarimala defence

Says exclusions rooted in faith, not hierarchy

Supreme Court asks states to treat rising child trafficking cases as grave

The Supreme Court has voiced grave concern over rising cases of child trafficking, saying gangs are operating across the country and if States and Union territories do not take immediate action, thing will go beyond control. The court said only the state government and its home department can act vigilantly in this regard. "As a court we can monitor, but ultimately the action has to be on the part of the state government, the police, and other agencies. Therefore, this is our humble request", a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan said during the hearing of a plea on Wednesday. The bench was irked over the "lackadaisical" approach of several states and UTs in implementing a 2025 judgment aimed at dismantling organised trafficking networks. Justice Viswanathan said the retrieval of children in some cases proves the problem can be tackled, but it requires a level of political and administrative will which is lacking at present. The verdict, delivered on April 1

NCERT revamps curriculum committee after SC rap over Class 8 textbook

The NCERT has reconstituted its curriculum committee after being rapped by the Supreme Court over a section on "Corruption in Judiciary" in the now-withdrawn Class 8 Social Science textbook, officials said on Wednesday. The high-powered, 20-member National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC) of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) includes IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti; Indian Council of Historical Research Chairman Raghuvendra Tanwar; former Vice-Chancellor of the National Law School of India University R Venkata Rao; and Amarendra Prasad Behera, Joint Director-in-Charge, Central Institute of Educational Technology,NCERT. Earlier, the panel had 22 members. Following Supreme Court orders, three members have been removed from the NSTC. These are Michel Danino, former guest professor at IIT Gandhinagar; M D Srinivas, chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai; and the late Bibek Debroy, former chairman of the Prime Minister's