EPF Act | Penalty For Delayed PF Contributions Can't Be Reduced Below 25% Of Arrears: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has held that the penalty imposed on an establishment under the Employees Provident Fund Act for delaying payment of employees' provident fund contribution cannot be reduced below 25% of the arrears. In doing so the court modified an order which had reduced a company's penalty from over Rs. 3 Lakh to Rs. 25,000.The establishment had challenged an order dated 05.12.2016...

CMO Bulk Messaging Issue: Kerala Government Assures High Court No Further Messages Till Monday

The Kerala government on Friday (February 27) submitted before the High Court that its earlier undertaking to refrain from disseminating bulk messages from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) can continue till Monday (March 2).Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas recorded the submission of the special government pleader while considering a plea alleging that the CMO has violated the privacy of...

'Stamp Duty Revision Must Conclude Within 6 Years': Bombay High Court Quashes ₹1 Cr Deficit Demand In Slum Rehab Deal

The Bombay High Court has held that the six-year limitation prescribed under Section 53A of the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958, governs the entire revisional process, from initiation to passing of the final order, and not merely the issuance of notice. The Court observed that a fiscal statute must be construed strictly and that permitting initiation within six years but completion thereafter...

Karnataka High Court Grants Bail To POCSO Accused Noting Minor Was Of Age To Understand Consequences Of Her Consensual Acts

Granting bail to a man accused of raping a minor girl, the Karnataka High Court observed that the 15-year-old survivor had a love affair with the accused and she is of an age where she could understand the consequences of her actions. The court was hearing the man's bail plea booked under BNS Sections 137(2)(kidnapping), 75(sexual harassment), 96(procuration of child), 126(2)(wrongful...

'State Cannot Forfeit Money For Its Own Lapses': J&K&L High Court Pulls Up JDA For Auctioning Encroached Land, Imposes ₹50K Cost

Observing that contractual forfeiture clauses cannot be pressed into service mechanically to penalise a citizen for lapses attributable to the State, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has held that where the alleged default itself flows from the failure of the authority, forfeiture of earnest money and denial of allotment would be wholly arbitrary and unsustainable...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside CAT Order Quashing Disciplinary Proceedings Against Sameer Wankhede In Cordelia Cruise Ship Drugs Case

The Delhi High Court on Friday set aside an order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) quashing the disciplinary proceedings against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede in the 2021 Cordelia cruise drug bust case. A division bench comprising Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Amit Mahajan allowed the plea filed by the Central Government challenging the order passed by the Tribunal...

“Investigation Not Fair”: Madras High Court Orders CBI Probe Into Alleged Fake NOCs For Setting Up Petrol Pumps In State

The Madras High Court has ordered a CBI probe into the alleged incident of issuing fake No Objection Certificates (NOC) for obtaining licenses to operate petrol pumps in the State. Noting that the investigation being carried out by the State was not fair or independent, the bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Arul Murugan thought it fit to transfer...

Absence Of Medical Officer's Opinion On Sexual Assault Not Fatal To Prosecution Under POCSO Act: Bombay High Court

In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court recently held that in cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, a person cannot be acquitted just because the medical officer does not give any opinion about sexual assault. Single-judge Justice Ravindra Joshi, while upholding a man's conviction under section 376(2)(i) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 6...

Karnataka High Court Directs North West Road Transport Corporation To Issue Guidelines On Transfer Of Employees In 3 Months

The Karnataka High Court has directed the North West Road Transport Corporation (NWRTC) to frame within three months guidelines governing transfer of employees, adding that till such guidelines are issued the transfer orders made on administrative grounds shall be speaking orders containing reasons. The court passed the order while setting aside the transfer of a driver, transferred from...

Threat Of Suicide To Force Girl To Accompany Accused Constitutes Kidnapping: Bombay High Court

If a man threatens a girl to come along with him else he will commit suicide, the same would amount to 'enticing' her and a clear case of kidnapping is made out in such circumstances, held the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court recently.Single-judge Justice Shreeram Shirsat while upholding a man's conviction under section 363 (kidnapping) and section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)...

“Serious Allegations Made”: Madras High Court Seeks Details On ₹397 Crore Transformer Procurement During Senthil Balaji's Tenure

The Madras High Court on Thursday (26th February) called for details of the preliminary enquiry that had been undertaken into a Rs. 397 crore scam in procuring transformer tenders during the tenure of Senthil Balaji as the Minister for Electricity and Prohibition and Excise from 2021 to 2023. The bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan also...

'Private & Public Companies Must Be Treated Equally In Excise Licence Fee Exemptions': Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has held that the State cannot discriminate between private limited companies and public limited companies while granting exemption from excise licence fees for changes in management occurring in the usual course of business, observing that such unequal treatment violates Article 14 of the Constitution. The Court ruled that even though dealing in liquor is a...