High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court observed that a wife working against the wishes of husband or his family is not a ‘cruelty’ to grant divorce to husband.

Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Monday issued notices to the Union of India, Comptroller and Auditor General of India, 14th Finance Commission of India, GST Council, State of Maharashtra on a PIL filed by one Ashrita Prasad Kotha, a law professor at Jindal Global Law School challenging the constitutional validity of  GST(Compensation to States) Act,2017 and 15 other Acts.

The High Court on Friday set aside the order of sanction dated February 4, 2016, passed by Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao under Section 197 of the CrPC for prosecution of former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in the Adarsh scam case under Sections 120 B and 420 of the IPC.

The High Court held that no member of a village panchayat can insist upon encroaching on government land and have immunity from disqualification under the Maharashtra Village Panchayat Act, 1958.

The High Court held that the Bombay Denatured Spirit Rules, 1959 to the extent that they regulate the possession, use, sale, import, export and transport of denatured spirit, are ultra vires and unconstitutional.

Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court, on Friday, initiated criminal contempt proceedings against Additional District Judge (ADJ) Kamini Lau for leveling personal allegations against a High Court Judge.

The High Court, last week, directed the authorities to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and the Transport of Animals Rules, 1978.

Dismissing an application made by the trademark owner of “ BOOKMYSHOW ”, the Delhi High Court refused to grant interim injunction restraining the use of prefix “BOOKMY” by “ BOOKMYSPORT ”.

The Delhi High Court refused to grant divorce to a man who complained of his wife’s frequent visits to her parental home.

The High Court awarded damages to famous French fashion designer Christian Louboutin for infringement of trademark of luxury footwear ‘ Red Sole ’.

On Tuesday, the high Court  issued notice to the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) on a PIL seeking closure of restaurants on terraces in Khan Market and Connaught Place on grounds of safety.

The High Court, on Tuesday, also ruled that chewing tobacco and pan masala do not come under the definition of ‘food’ prescribed by the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.

The Delhi High Court, on Wednesday, dismissed the petition challenging election of Mr. Ajay Maken as a Member of Parliament from the New Delhi Parliamentary Constituency for the Lok Sabha elections of 2009.

The High Court on Tuesday ordered an inquiry in to the incident relating to the assault on a 60yr old lady lawyer by Police.

The Court on Friday declined permission to a minor rape victim to terminate her pregnancy of almost 27 weeks after AIIMS gave a report saying abortion at this age is relatively unsafe for the mother.

The High Court on Friday took suo motu cognizance of the report about the DDA demolishing a hostel for visually-impaired students in west Delhi leaving them out in cold and ordered their immediate rehabilitation.

The High Court, last week, upheld the conviction of six Policemen belonging to the Special Staff of the Delhi Police for the custodial death of one Dalip Chakraborty in 1995.

The High Court suspended two judicial officers posted at Dwarka courts over charges of alleged corruption.

On Friday, the High Court suggested taking penal action against candidates who participated in the Delhi University Students Union polls this year and had their names defacing various public properties across the national capital but are staying away from deliberations among various stakeholders to undo the defacement.

Vijay Joshi, the co-convict of Jharkhand’s former Chief Minister Madhu Koda in the multi-crore coal block allocation scam case, has been granted bail by the Delhi High Court, which also granted interim stay on depositing fine of Rs 25 lakh imposed on him by Special CBI court.

Kerala High Court

While recognizing the fundamental right of a woman to dignity of a mother and fairness at workplace which cannot remain insensitive to the love of a mother for her child the Kerala High Court held that A Mother Can’t Be Compelled To Choose Between Her Motherhood & Employment, State Can’t Discriminate Against Her ‘Right To Dignity’ As Mother

The High Court restrained the publication and media discussion on the contents of the letter dated 19.07.2013 allegedly written by Saritha S Nair, which has been referred by the Justice Sivarajan Commission’s report.

Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court confirmed death sentence awarded to a man convicted of murdering his two brothers and a nephew by observing that reformative ideas are totally ineffective nowadays and death sentence is essential.

Madras High Court

Justice N Kirubakaran of the Madras High Court asked 15 questions to Tamil Nadu Government observing that corruption is said to become order of the day and the people seems to have been driven to level of accepting it as normal.

The Madras High Court issued a circular directing heads of all sections of the Registry to not accept any vakalatnama sans the enrolment ID, mobile phone number and complete residential address of the counsel as well as the advocate who has attested the vakalat.

Meghalaya High Court

The Meghalaya High Court came down heavily on the headmistresses of two schools, the students of which took part and raised slogans against the cremation of a person belonging to the indigenous faith.

Orissa High Court

The Orissa High Court finally decided not to sentence a man accused of murdering a 16-year-old girl to death by commuting the sentence to life imprisonment.

Rajasthan High Court

A division Bench of Rajasthan High Court comprising Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Dinesh Chandra Somani, issued notice to Centre on a petition challenging the advisory issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting banning television ads for condoms during prime time hours.

The High Court granted a week’s parole to one Fazlur Rehman Sufi, who was convicted under the TADA Act, 1987; Explosives Act 1884; Arms Act, 1908; Indian Railways Act; and Prevention of Damages to Public Property Act for his involvement in the serial train blasts in 1993.

Uttarakhand High Court

Four years after the Kedarnath tragedy, the Uttarakhand High Court declared all national parks, including tiger reserve, elephant reserve, Jim Corbett and Rajaji National Park, plastic free zones while banning dumping  of garbage around rivers and its tributaries and recommending the state government to provide insurance cover to all pilgrims visiting the Char Dhams at a reasonable premium.