Rahul Gandhi’s Conviction And Disqualification Are On Questionable Grounds

The conviction of former Congress Member of Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi by a Surat court for criminal defamation (Purnesh Modi vs Rahul Gandhi) has led to a debate on whether what he said, in the course of an election speech in 2019, constitutes an offence under the law. The constitutional validity of Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 199(1) and 199(4) of the CrPC was upheld in Subramanian Swamy vs Union of India in 2016 by a two-Judge bench of the Supreme Court. In this...

Deputationist Has No Indefeasible Right To Continue In Borrowing Department, Repatriation Permissible If Work Not Satisfactory: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed the petition filed by Civil Police Officers who had been deputed to the Bureau of Immigration, seeking to continue on deputation till the expiry of their period. Reiterating that deputationists do not have a right to claim that they should be permitted to complete the entire tenure in the borrowing department, the Single Judge Bench of Justice...

Positioning Of Vehicles Unclear, Evidence Of Rash And Negligent Driving Lacking: Bombay HC Upholds Acquittal In Case Over Death Of Cyclist & Bullock

The Bombay High Court recently upheld a man's acquittal from charge of culpable homicide for causing death of a cyclist and bullock while driving, on the ground that the direction of path of the bullock cart and the spot it was lying after the collision could not be ascertained from the evidence. Justice SM Modak added the investigating officer should have prepared a map of the scene and...

No Confrontation Between Government & Supreme Court : Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

On speaking about the recent media reports regarding differences between the government and the supreme court, Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju said that in a democracy there were bound to be differences of opinion. But it does not necessarily mean that there were conflicts between the Government of the Supreme Court or the Legislature and the...

Circumstantial Evidence| When Two Views Possible, View Favouring Accused’s Innocence To Be Adopted: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India on recently reiterated that in cases where two views are possible while relying on circumstantial evidence, the view favouring the accused must be preferred.Relying on judicial precedents, a Bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sanjay Karol observed, “…in cases where heavy reliance is placed on circumstantial evidence, is that where two views are possible, one pointing...

Assisted Reproductive Technology Act Appears To Have Discounted Relevance Of Male Counterpart In ART Process: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court on Monday observed that the omission under the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 to treat a 'commissioning couple' as a separate unit coupled with the omission to prescribe an age for a 'gamete donor' leads to the argument that a woman’s age is the only relevant factor for a commissioning couple for availing of ART services.While hearing a...

Rajasthan High Court Criticises Abuse Of PIL Jurisdiction To Serve Vested Interest, Imposes 50K Cost On Villagers

The Rajasthan High Court recently imposed a cost of Rs. 50,000. on two villagers from Jodhpur for abusing PIL jurisdiction in pursuance of their vested interests with respect to quarry licenses for mining activities distributed via e-auction.The bench of Acting Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Srivastava and Justice Kuldeep Mathur said the petitioners’ allegations as contained in the writ...

'Supreme Court Is Of The Entire Nation, Not Just Of Tilak Marg' : CJI DY Chandrachud On Making Court Accessible For Those Outside Delhi

While speaking at an event in Madurai, the Chief Justice of India Dr. DY Chandrachud said that he had been striving to ensure that the Supreme Court is accessible to lawyers and students all over the country. The CJI was speaking at the event to lay the foundation stone for additional court buildings in the District Court campus at Madurai and Inauguration of the District and Sessions...

De-silting Of Dams Not Exempted From Obtaining Prior Environment Clearance: NGT Imposes ₹50 Crores Penalty On Karnataka Irrigation Department

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) South Zone has imposed a penalty of 50 crore rupees on the Irrigation Department of Karnataka for conducting mining activities in Adyapadi and Shamburu Dams in the Dakshin Kannada District without obtaining environmental clearance, in violation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification of 2006.The bench, comprising of Justice Pushpa...

Every Hour Five Trees Are Cut Down in Delhi: High Court Seeks Action Plan From Forest Department

Recently, the Delhi High Court sought an expedited action plan from the Forest Department after it was brought to the court's attention that, for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021, five trees are being cut down every hour in Delhi with prior permission from the Tree Officer.The bench of Justice Najmi Waziri said, “Remedying the harm and loss of tree-cover would possibly take another 20 years...

Bombay High Court Weekly Round-Up: March 12 To March 18, 2023

Nominal Index [Citation 135 - 147]Pidilite Industries Limited v. Chiripal Industries Limited 2023 LiveLaw (Bom) 135Jetair Pvt Ltd v. Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax & Ors. 2023 LiveLaw (Bom) 136Mahendranath Vidyaniwas Trivedi v. State of Maharashtra and Ors. 2023 LiveLaw (Bom) 137All India Service Engineers Association v. Union of India and Ors. 2023 LiveLaw (Bom) 138Sara Chemicals...

Kerala High Court Directs Forest Department To Refrain From Capturing Wild Tusker 'Arikomban' Till March 29

The Kerala High Court in a late night sitting on Thursday directed the Forest and Wildlife Department to refrain from capturing wild tusker 'Arikomban' that had allegedly been foraging in the Chinnakana area, and causing damage to the property in the human settlement areas. The Division Bench comprising Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Gopinath P. however, permitted the department...