'Have Withdrawn GO Allowing State Waqf Board To Issue Marriage Certificates': Karnataka Govt Tells High Court

The Karnataka Government on Thursday informed the High Court that it has withdrawn its earlier order dated August 30, 2023, authorising the State Waqf Board and its officers to issue marriage certificates to married Muslim applicants.A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C M Poonacha in its order noted that “AGA has handed over a memo enclosing there with a...

Kerala High Court Permits Convict To Attend Daughter's Enrolment Ceremony As Lawyer

The Kerala High Court on Thursday (October 9) allowed the plea of a convict to be granted parole to attend the enrolment ceremony of his daughter. The petitioner is undergoing imprisonment at the Central Prison and Correctional Home, Tavanur for committing offences under Sections 324 [Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means], 307 [Attempt to murder], 120B[Punishment for...

NDPS Act | Failure To Videograph Chance Recovery Doesn't Vitiate Seizure: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has made it clear that failure to videograph or produce CCTV footage of a chance recovery does not vitiate seizure of alleged contraband from an accused.Though the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 does not mandate video-recording of seizure, the same has become mandatory with the introduction of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.Even the...

Delhi High Court Quashes Criminal Proceedings Against Lawyer For Running Office From Basement After 22 Yrs

After a 22 year long battle, the Delhi High Court quashed the criminal complaint and consequent proceedings initiated against a lawyer for running his offices from the basement of a residential building in the city.In doing so, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna cited Clause 10 of the Master Development Plan 2001, which permits non-residential use of residential premises.It stipulates that a...

Police Laxity In Handling Missing Persons Cases Leading To Filing Of Habeas Corpus Pleas: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court recently criticised filing of habeas corpus petitions in cases of missing persons, without establishing a prima facie case of illegal detention.The Madurai bench of Justice AD Jagadish Chandira and Justice R Poornima noted that though the police department had sufficient infrastructure to deal with missing cases, they were not using it properly and often ignoring...

Delhi High Court Dismisses Review Petition Seeking To Scrap EVMs And Conduct General Elections Through Ballot Papers

The Delhi High Court on Thursday rejected a plea for review of its earlier order dismissing a PIL seeking a direction on the Union Government and Election Commission of India (ECI) to conduct general elections through ballot papers and not electronic voting machines (EVMs).A division bench comprising Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela dismissed the review petition filed...

Kerala High Court Seeks Clarity From BCI On Reservation Of Seats For Transgender Students In LLB Courses

The Kerala High Court has sought clarity from the Bar Council of India on reservation of seats for students belonging to the Transgender community in professional colleges.Justice N Nagaresh, was hearing a writ petition seeking reservation under the transgender category for admissions to integrated Five year LL.B courses in Government Law Colleges.The State has previously submitted that...

Punjab & Haryana High Court Directs Chandigarh To Frame Rehab Policy For J&K Migrant Workers Evicted After 4 Decades

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Chandigarh Administration to consider framing a rehabilitation policy for migrant labourers from Jammu & Kashmir who have been residing in government quarters for nearly four decades. Acknowledging that the petitioners have been living in the premises for approximately 37 years, the Court held that immediate eviction would be "unjust...

High Courts Cannot Reduce Sentence Below The Statutory Minimum: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has recently clarified that High Courts cannot reduce the sentence for a criminal offence below the minimum punishment prescribed by a statute. Justice A. Badharudeen relied on the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Dashrath v. State of Maharashtra to observe that such an action would be overstepping into the legislature's domain. The case before the Court was an...

Lok Adalat Can't Take Up Case Suo-Motu Or Dismiss It For Absence Of Party; Duty To Return Matter If No Settlement: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has held that a Lok Adalat has no authority to dismiss a pending complaint for want of prosecution on the mere non-appearance of a party and must, where no compromise or settlement is arrived at, return the case back to the court concerned. A bench of Justice Anish Kumar Gupta also added that a Lok Adalat can't take up the matter on own motion, without...

'Aadhar Can Give Clues On Person's Whereabouts': MP High Court Asks UIDAI To Verify Aadhaar-Linked Activities Of Missing Girl To Trace Her

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday (October 7) asked the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) to verify if the Aadhaar number of a missing girl had been used in any form of online transactions, in order to discover clues about her location, also directing the body to share it with the police for tracing her. The court, in doing so, observed that since Aadhar is unique to...

Gujarat High Court Orders Status-Quo On Proposed Demolition Of Shops Allegedly Encroaching On Public Road

The Gujarat High Court on Thursday (October 09) ordered status-quo till October 16 on the proposed demolition of certain shops in Gandhinagar district, claimed to be encroaching on a public road by the state authorities. The court further granted seven days' time (ending on October 16) to the shop-keepers to produce documents to support their claim and if they are unable to do so, the...