High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court refused to exercise extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution and dismissed a couple of petitions challenging an order of the Registrar General of the High Court wherein a departmental inquiry was ordered against the petitioner who is a Civil Judge Junior Division.

Calcutta High Court

Quashing a 26-year-old show cause notice issued to a man by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Calcutta High Court observed that a charge of a criminal or quasi-criminal nature cannot be allowed to hang over the head of a citizen indefinitely without the authority concerned coming to a conclusion as to whether or not there is substance in the charge.

Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court issued notices to the Delhi government and various schools in the city calling for their response to a petition praying for the attachment of bank accounts of those unaided private schools which have failed to refund the excess fee charged from students despite the recommendations.

The High Court dismissed three applications, including one moved by Hero Motocorp Limited (HML), accusing the proprietor of Delhi-based warehouse management firm of contempt of court for making “defamatory and scandalous” allegations against a judge of the high court and a senior advocate representing HML accusing the latter of claiming that he has all his high-profile cases involving rich and powerful people managed with the said judge.

The High Court on Tuesday upheld the Delhi Jal Board’s “system of preferences” prescribed in its tender calling for bids for mechanized sewer cleaning and its transportation. The tender had stated that in awarding of bids, the Board would give preference to dependents of those who were performing manual scavenging duties or tasks, those who are performing such duties themselves (regardless of their community), and those who belong to the SC/ST communities.

The High Court on Tuesday also ordered Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to reach a prima facie finding on allegations of sexual harassment against Prof. Atul Johri, and examine whether the allegations warrant his immediate suspension or removal from the campus.

The High Court on Wednesday asserted that the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Vishaka & Ors. v.State of Rajasthan need to be taken seriously and not followed in an empty “ritualistic manner”.

On Wednesday, the High Court also upheld the conviction of a man for sodomizing a 6-year-old boy and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment of 15 years under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act

An arbitrator cannot issue further ‘directions’ in an award based on settlement, without hearing both the parties in a process of adjudication, the Delhi High Court held in Surinder Kumar Beri vs. Deepak Beri.

The High Court held that Aadhaar card can be considered as a proof of age for the purpose of Rule 7 of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Rules.

The Delhi High Court reiterated that a licence issued to drive Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) includes authorization to drive transport vehicle (commercial vehicle), including a tractor, and what matters is that the gross vehicle weight or the unladen weight of the vehicle should not exceed 7,500 kg.

The Court issued notices to the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India on a petition challenging the controversial ‘one-day default rule’ stipulated by the  (RBI) wherein even a day’s delay in repayment of term loans would be considered as default and banks will have to report it to the RBI.

As the results of AIIMS MBBS entrance examination is to be announced on June 18, the High Court  sought to know the stand of the Centre, AIIMS and the Unique Identification Authority of India on a petition filed by an aspiring medical student seeking quashing of this year’s AIIMS entrance examination ruing how he was not allowed to sit for the test only because the QR Code in his Aadhar Card could not be scanned at the examination centre in Karnataka.

The High Court issued notices to the Centre, the Director of the National Zoological Park (NZP) in Delhi, the Central Zoo Authority and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization after an environmental activist moved court seeking a CBI probe into alleged foul play in the maintenance of the zoo, including illegal trafficking of animals and their parts.

The High Court, on Friday, issued notice on a Petition challenging the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018, which provides for death penalty for rapists of girls below 12 years of age, and other stringent penal provisions for rape.

Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court on Monday extended the protection from arrest to activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband, Javed Anand till 13 June in the Rs. 1.4 crore fund embezzlement case lodged against them by the Gujarat Police.

Himachal Pradesh High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Tuesday modified its earlier order barring the Managing Director (MD) of the HP State Electricity Board from withdrawing his salary and removed the embargo in view of concrete steps being taken to check electricity theft in the State

The Pradesh High Court issued some stern directions this week in a bid to tackle effectively the acute water shortage being faced my residents in Shimla. Having taken suo motu cognizance of the water crisis in the city, the Bench comprising Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice A.M. Goel on Wednesday directed Commissioner of Shimla Municipal Corporation to disconnect water supply to hotels which have defaulted in clearing their dues.

Continuing with its crusade to do its bit in tackling effectively the acute water shortage being faced my residents in Shimla, the High Court on Friday issued another set of directions addressing various issues being faced by the city people

Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court observed that words “unable to maintain herself” in Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure cannot be interpreted to mean that the person has to be “a destitute, or physically so disabled as to be unable to earn a living, or incapable of earning” and capacity of a person to earn would depend on the facts and circumstances of each case.

Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on Friday allowed an 18-year-old boy and a 19-year-old girl to live together, dismissing a Writ of habeas corpus filed by the girl’s father. The Bench comprising Justice V. Chitambaresh and Justice K.P. Jyothindranath noted that live-in partners cannot be separated by Courts by issuing the writ of habeas corpus, provided that both the partners have crossed the age of majority.

Madhya Pradesh High Court

Allowing prosecution of a police officer for defamation, the Madhya Pradesh High Court observed that a police officer is neither required nor expected to inform any newspaper or media personnel about the commission of a certain alleged crime which comes to his knowledge.

Madras High Court

The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court allowed a Christian religious organization to claim compensation for the death of a nun who died in a road accident after being hit by a rashly driven State Transport Corporation bus as it was of the view that the organization suffered considerable loss due to the death of the voluntary worker in a fatal accident.

Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Centre and States to prohibit homework for Class 1 and Class II students in all schools (including CBSE) in the Country.

Punjab & Haryana High Court

In a major development, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana quashed four policies by which the Haryana Government had sought to regularize the services of Group B, C and D employees with a minimum of three years or 10 years in service on May 28, 2014, as it held that the same were framed only to appease voters ahead of the 2014 Assembly elections.

Sikkim High Court

The Sikkim High Court dismissed a public interest litigation filed by an ‘unemployed’ Law graduate, who claimed to be a social worker, against setting up of a state museum, which according to him, is not in public interest and that the funds should be diverted for other public purposes.

Uttarakhand High Court

The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday directed the State to formulate a comprehensive policy for rehabilitation of mentally ill children and patients.