'Want To Decriminalize Politics', State Tells Madras High Court While Opposing MLA's Pre-Arrest Bail In Abduction Case; Verdict Reserved

While opposing the pre-arrest bail of MLA Poovai Jaganmoorthy in connection with an abduction case, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday (June 27) told the Madras High Court that it wanted to decriminalise politics in the State. Making submissions before Justice G Jayachandran, Additional Advocate General J Ravindran said that the present case should become a guiding light for all future...

Madhya Pradesh High Court Commutes Death Penalty Imposed On Man For Committing Rape Of Minor Relative

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday (June 25) commuted the death penalty awarded to a man convicted for rape of a minor girl aged 12 years. The court commuted the death penalty after noting that the convict was 24 years of age and had no criminal antecedents, except one murder case, which is under appeal.The bench, however, upheld his conviction, observing that the "chain of all...

Karnataka High Court Quashes FIRs Against Ex-CM Basavaraj Bommai For Comment On Waqf Properties

The Karnataka High Court on Friday quashed two criminal cases registered against former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai accusing him of making objectionable statements during a protest rally held to condemn the actions of Waqf Board and State Government in allegedly grabbing the properties of farmers and temples.Justice S R Krishna Kumar allowed the petition filed by Bommai and quashed...

[IPC 304B] Wife Was At Parents' Home Days Before Death, No Link Between Harassment & Death: Calcutta High Court Sets Aside Conviction

The Calcutta High Court bench of Justice Prasenjit Biswas has held that to convict a person under Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), it must be conclusively proven that the deceased wife was subjected to cruelty or harassment in connection with a dowry demand soon before her death. If there is a significant gap between the alleged cruelty or harassment and the death, the essential...

Gujarat High Court Extends Asaram's Temporary Bail In Rape Case Till July 07

The Gujarat High Court on Friday (June 27) extended the temporary bail of Asaram, who has been convicted in a 2013 rape case by a sessions court in Gandhinagar and is serving a life sentence, till July 07.Notably, Asaram's temporary bail was set to expire on June 30. After hearing the parties for some time, a division bench of Justice Ilesh J Vora and Justice PM Raval in its order...

Pension Is Not Charity, Mentally Disabled Dependents Of Govt Servants Can Be Given Pension Without Income Certificate: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has stressed that pension is a matter of right and not charity and the authorities should exhibit alacrity while disbursing pension for the benefit of mentally disabled persons. The bench of Justice GR Swaminathan and Justice K Rajasekar observed that pension should be seen as a facet of Article 21 of the Constitution, and effort must be taken to...

Karnataka High Court Grants Relief To BJP Leader Ananth Kumar Hegde Booked For Assault In Alleged Road Rage Case

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday (June 26) in an interim order directed the police not to take any coercive action against former BJP MP Ananth Kumar Hegde, who has been booked by the police in an alleged case of road rage. Justice S R Krishna Kumar passed the interim order on a petition filed by Hegde seeking to quash the FIR registered against him under sections 126(2), 117(2), 74,...

Revenue Authorities Can Decide Cases On Merits While Exercising Transfer Powers U/S 10 Of Land Revenue Act: J&K High Court

Reiterating the wide discretionary powers conferred upon senior revenue authorities under Section 10 of the Jammu and Kashmir Land Revenue Act, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has ruled that officers such as the Collector, Divisional Commissioner, and Financial Commissioner are legally empowered to decide matters on merits while exercising their authority to withdraw and...

Live-In Relationship Concept Goes Against Indian Middle-Class Values: Allahabad High Court

While granting bail to a man accused of sexually exploiting a woman on the false promise of marriage, the Allahabad High Court recently remarked that the concept of live-in relationships is against the “settled law in the Indian Middle Class Society”. A bench of Justice Siddharth also expressed displeasure at the growing number of such cases reaching the courts. The...

[SARFAESI Act] Incumbent Upon Borrower To Proactively Approach Lender To Avail Benefits Of Revival Or Restructuring: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by Manoj Lalwani, Director of Ritu Automobiles Pvt. Ltd., challenging HDFC Bank's recovery proceedings under the SARFAESI Act, terming the plea as an "attempt to stall the auction" of secured assets.The division bench of Justices M.S. Karnik and N.R. Borkar found that the petitioner had no locus to file the petition, as the company was...

Three Bombay High Court Judges Recuse From Hearing HDFC CEO's Plea For Quashing FIR Lodged By Lilavati Hospital

In an interesting turn of events, at least 03 judges of the Bombay High Court have from last one week, have recused from hearing the petition filed by Sashidhar Jagdishan, the CEO of HDFC Bank, who has sought to quash an FIR lodged against him at the behest of Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust.Notably, the complainant Trust runs the famous Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai. In its FIR, the...

'Can't Curtail Free Speech': Madras High Court Rejects Plea To Ban Film Reviews For First 3 Days After Release

The Madras High Court has dismissed a plea filed by the Tamil Film Active Producers Association (TFAPA) seeking to prevent online reviews of movies within the first three days of release. Justice Anand Venkatesh dismissed the plea, stating that such a relief was unsustainable and could not be granted by the courts. The court observed that such a relief, if granted, would...