High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Bombay High CourtThe 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 CourtQuashing 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 CourtThe 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) ActAn 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 CourtThe 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 CourtThe Himachal Pradesh High Court on Tuesday modified its earlier order barring the Managing Director ...

High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Ashok K.M

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