High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Allahabad High Court

No intervention with the right of privacy of an Indian citizen can be permitted so mechanically, Allahabad High Court observed while ordering the police to discontinue surveillance of a man, who was kept under surveillance since 2011.

Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court recently quashed and set aside an order passed by a metropolitan magistrate wherein an intervention application filed by accused was allowed and held that unless process is issued, a person against whom an FIR is sought to be registered cannot intervene through such application under Section 156(3) of the CrPC.

The High Court recently granted relief to a man declared unfit for the post of constable/driver in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) as he had a tattoo.

On Thursday, the High Court adjourned the petition challenging the vires of the Maharashtra Court Fee (Amendment) Act sine die granting the petitioners liberty to mention the matter once the said amendment is notified by the state.

Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court dismissed a public interest litigation filed against Calcutta University (CU) decision to confer the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Literature to Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee.

Chhattisgarh High Court

In a big relief to former Chief Minister Ajit Kumar Jogi, the Chhattisgarh High Court upheld his petition challenging the decision of a high-powered certification scrutiny committee which had held that he had obtained certificate of Tribal status “Kanwar” to which he was not entitled.

Insisting upon the husband to live separate from his aged mother suffering from cardiac problem is by itself a cruelty, the Chhattisgarh High Court held. A bench of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Arvind Singh Chandel made this observation while disposing of a matrimonial appeal against the trial court denying divorce sought by the husband.

The High Court recently dismissed a plea of the bar association against setting up of a camp court, observing that reduction of professional prospects of the members of the Bar Association cannot be the ground to challenge the establishment of a new court.

The High Court modified its order that made Aadhaar card of the accused as well as surety mandatory before obtaining bail. Now the surety can submit any document of identification like voter ID, PAN, passport also.

Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court, on Wednesday, directed the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to examine the difficulties being faced by visually impaired people in identifying the new currency notes of Rs. 200 and Rs. 50 denominations.

In a huge setback to former promoters of Ranbaxy — Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh — and major win for Japanese Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited, the Delhi High Court upheld the international arbitral award of Rs 3,500 crore against the Singh brothers.

The High Court, on Monday, issued notice on a Petition challenging an Ordinance passed in June, 2015 under the Delhi University Act, 1992 prohibiting LLM students from practicing or undertaking employment while enrolled in the course.

Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court dismissed plea of a senior advocate challenging his exclusion from the final electoral roll of Bar Council of Kerala. A division bench comprising of Acting Chief Justice Antony Dominic and Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu dismissed a writ appeal preferred by senior advocate VK Beeran Sahib against the dismissal of his writ petition by the single bench.

In an elaborate judgment dealing with the manner of testing the competency of a child witness, the High Court of Kerala held that the preliminary finding made by the court regarding the incompetency of the child witness can be varied at a later stage.

Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court directed the State government to provide adequate police protection and support to the persons, who are involved in exhibition and distribution of film ‘Padmaavat’ and to the viewers.

Manipur High Court

The Manipur High Court held provision of the village constitution which forbids any denominational activity dividing the existing religion, i.e., Baptist Christianity, as illegal and unconstitutional.