High Drama In Calcutta HC As Single Judge Objects To Division Bench Direction To Accept Document In "Sealed Cover"

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday passed a scathing order against the observations made by a Division Bench in a case pertaining to the alleged irregularities in the appointment of 'Group-D' (non-teaching staff) in sponsored Secondary and Higher Secondary schools under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) on the purported recommendation by...

'She Was In School Uniform': Madras High Court Confirms Conviction Under POCSO Act, Commutes Life Sentence Of Three

Madras High Court has commuted the life sentence of three accused including a pastor involved in the acts of kidnapping, marrying and sexually assaulting a Class X Student.Justices P.N Prakash and A. A Nakkiran observed that the conviction of the appellant-accused stand confirmed along with other substantive sentences though the life sentences under POCSO Act can be reduced to a fixed term...

Recommendations To 230 High Court Vacancies Yet To Be Received From HC Collegiums: Law Ministry

The Ministry of Law and Justice recently informed Lok Sabha that against 405 vacancies in High Courts, 175 proposals are at various stages of processing between the Government and the Supreme Court Collegium. It was also informed that recommendations from High Court Collegiums are yet to be received in respect of 230 vacancies in High Courts. It was stated that the...

Can't Convict Co-Accused If Main Accused Is Acquitted After Examination Of Same Set Of Witnesses For Same Allegation: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court has observed that considering the testimony of witnesses if one accused is acquitted, no criminal proceeding can be sustained against co-accused on the same set of witnesses with the same allegation/case.The Bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Gupta observed thus as it quashed Section 364-A [Kidnapping for ransom] r/w Section 34 IPC charges against one Anant Mishra while...

No Plans To Restrict Entry Of Former Judges/ High Ranking Govt Officials Into Legislative Domain: Centre Tells Lok Sabha

The Ministry of Law & Justice recently informed the Lok Sabha that there is no plan to bring in any law to restrict the representation of persons holding high office of Government or judiciary into legislative domain. The aforesaid information was provided by the Law Minister in response to a question regarding election of former judges to state legislatures/...

Kashmiri Students Accused Of Celebrating Pakistan's T20 Win Against India Granted Bail By Allahabad High Court

The three Kashmiri students who were arrested in October on sedition charges for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans following Pakistan's victory in a T20 Cricket World Cup match against India have been granted bail by the Allahabad High Court.The Bench of Justice Ajay Bhanot granted bail to three students, Arsheed Yusuf, Inayat Altaf Sheikh, and Showkat Ahmed Ganai, who are all students of...

DigiLocker Offers About 494 Crore Digital Docs From Govt Agencies, Considering Integration With Passport Seva: Centre Tells Lok Sabha

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology informed the Lok Sabha that it is in the process of adding all government-issued citizen-centric proof documents in DigiLocker. Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar stated that DigiLocker already offers around 494 Crore digital documents from various Government, Semi-Govt, Private...

"Pawns In Hands Of Political Powers": Calcutta HC Reduces Sentence Of Agricultural Labourers Convicted For Assaulting Man Over Political Rivalry

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday reduced the sentence awarded to persons concurrently convicted under Section 324 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code after noting that they are mostly agricultural labourers who had fallen prey to the hands of political powers without having any knowledge about politics.In the instant case, the appellants had been convicted for causing the death of...

Long Period Of Incarceration Coupled With No Possibility To Conclude Trial In Near Future Can Be Fresh Ground For Bail: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court has observed that if there is no possibility to conclude the trial in near future and the accused applicant is in jail for a substantial long period then such a long period of incarceration may be considered as a fresh ground for the purpose of grant of bail.The Bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan observed thus while granting bail to one Anokhi Lal under Sections...

Party's Participation Insufficient To Infuse Life To Arbitral Proceedings If Award Is Void Due To Arbitrator's Ineligibility: Delhi HC Opines Prima Facie

Expressing a prima facie opinion, the Delhi High Court has observed that the participation of any party is not sufficient to infuse life to arbitral proceedings if the award is void ab initio on the ground of ineligibility of an arbitrator. Justice Vibhu Bakhru made the said observation while staying the enforcement of an arbitral award in the case of Ruia Exports & Another v....

"Not Grave Misconduct": Madras High Court Orders Reinstatement Of Workman Who Hung Dr. Ambedkar's Photo In Office Without Permission

The Madras High Court has recently directed reinstatement of a workman, working with a bank and belonging to the Scheduled Caste Community, who was dismissed from service after an incident of hanging Dr. BR Ambedkar's photo in the Bank premises, without prior permission.The bench of Justice M. Duraiswamy and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad stated that the single Judge, which had allowed...

Can Mere Utterances Qualify As Conspiracy? Kerala High Court Asks State In Dileep's Plea To Quash FIR In Murder-Conspiracy Case

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday continued to hear the parties in actor Dileep's plea seeking to quash the FIR filed by the Crime Branch of Kerala Police against him and five others for conspiring to murder the investigation officials in the 2017 actor rape case, in which Dileep is facing trial as the chief conspirator.Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A heard the arguments in the afternoon session...