High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Bombay High Court

In an important point of law that came up in a criminal writ petition filed by one Siraj Pathan, who was an eye witness to a murder, the Bombay High Court dismissed the petition and held that an eye witness cannot circuitously impugn or appeal against a judgment of acquittal and seek a re-trial under Section 378 of the CrPC.

The High Court recently quashed and set aside a judgment and order of a Special POCSO Judge convicting a man accused of raping a minor girl suffering from mental retardation. The court reasoned that the accused, who is 22 years old now, was a juvenile at the time of the incident.

The High Court recently rejected a distinction between the usage of the word ‘Court’ in upper case and lower case in the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 sought to be drawn preliminary objection raised by a judgment debtor in in an arbitral award dated January 2011.

The High Court held that in order to claim any relief under the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act, relations between the woman and her partner must be in the nature of marriage.

The High Court recently held that a civil court can grant reliefs like maintenance, return of meher and right to matrimonial property in divorce proceedings under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939.

In a series of directions passed over the past two months, The High Court directed the state government to ensure that shop owners dealing in veterinary products do not sell these products without a prescription. Also, the court directed.

Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court last week came to the rescue of an inter-faith couple, directing that they be re-united immediately while rapping the Police authorities for their conduct in the case.

On Monday, the High Court issued notice to e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart and also the Centre on a PIL alleging that they have been openly violating FDI norms for marketplace model of e-commerce and circumventing them by routing hot-selling products at much cheaper rates through proxy “Controlled Sellers” or “Name Lenders” and pushing out small sellers and brick-and-mortar retailers.

The High Court asked the Centre to respond to a PIL advocating use of biometric/Aadhaar data for tracing missing children, elderlies and mentally challenged persons and reuniting them with their families.

Eight years after being charge-sheeted by the CBI in a disproportionate assets case, former Haryana Chief Minister OP Chautala has been allowed by the Delhi High Court to summon the record and witnesses pertaining to an FIR which was registered against him way back in year 1997 for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known income only to end in a closure report.

The High Court awarded punitive damages of Rs. Twenty Lakhs to famous French designer company Christian Louboutin for infringement of trademark of its world famous ‘Red Sole’ design.

In a particular case before the Delhi High Court, the complainant and the accused offered to undertake some social work as an expression of their contrition for having assaulted each other and caused undue pain and injury and the High Court ordered them to plant 300 saplings each.

In a huge blow to the AAP government, the Delhi High Court on Saturday quashed its much-touted March 2017 order revising the minimum wages for all classes of workmen in scheduled employment, opining that the same was ultra vires Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

 Karnataka High Court

The High Court of Karnataka quashed a complaint filed for dishonour of cheque under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act on the ground that the complaint did not reveal any “legally enforceable debt”, in the case R.Parimala Bai v. Bhaskar Narasimhiah.

The High Court observed that the documents which are not the part of the charge-sheet could be received in evidence for prosecution after the commencement of trial.

 Kerala High Court

The High Court of Kerala, through Justice Devan Ramachandran, issued a directive calling upon the Chief Secretary of the State and Secretary for Local Self Government Institutions to inform the court in black and white the steps, if any, taken to redress the indiscriminate installation of illegal hoardings/flex boards across the state.

Madhya Pradesh High Court

The first bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court issued significant directives against the call of a strike by State Bar Council and Bar Associations, including debarring members/officials of the Bar Council/Association which gives a call for a strike, from appearing before courts.

Madras High Court

The Madras High Court recently ruled that students who have secured a community certificate from another state cannot use the same to secure MBBS admission under reserved categories in Tamil Nadu.

A division bench of the High Court, though concurred in reversing a trial court judgment awarding death penalty to the accused, was seen split on the aspect of adverse remarks made by one of the judges on the trial court judge and quality of his judgment.

Criticising the state police for registering multiple FIRs against individuals in connection with anti-Sterlite protests, the High Court directed that all FIRs registered in connection with the happenings of 22nd May 2018 and related in any manner to the anti-Sterlite protests in and around Thoothukudi be treated as 161(3) CrPC statements in Crime No.191 of 2018.

Punjab and Haryana High Court

Calling sub Rule 2 of Rule 66 of the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Rules, 1985 “absurd” for letting a person possess 100 units of psychotropic substance at a time for medicinal use, the Punjab and Haryana High Court said, “This proviso had encouraged such nefarious persons to spoil the innocent minds” and “[i]f allowed to exist, it shall create injustice to the social fabric of Punjab and Haryana”

The High Court directed the Haryana Government to suitably amend the Court Marriage Check List (CMCL), which lists down sixteen conditions to be complied with by couples seeking to tie the knot under the Special Marriage Act, 1954.

Tripura High Court

While upholding compensation awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) to a student who suffered accident, the Tripura High Court observed that academic qualification cannot be the sole criteria to determine the merits of a person and there should not be any discrimination in determining the loss of earning capacity on account of disability occurred due to road traffic accident, particularly, when claimant-victims are students.

 Uttarakhand High Court

The Uttarakhand High Court on Monday struck down as unconstitutional a State rule denying maternity leave to female government employees for their third child.