Central Information Commission Issues Notice To Its Own CPIO For Failure To Furnish Information [Read Order]

The Central Information Commission (CIC) last week issued notice to its own CPIO for his failure to provide information on a Right to Information application.The interim order was passed by Information Commissioner Divya Prakash Sinha on a complaint filed by Mr. R.K. Jain who had sought copies of the dak inward/ outward register, communications received from High Courts and the Supreme Court...

Deadline For Mandatory Aadhaar Enrolment To Avail Of ‘Subsidies, Benefits and Services’ Extended To June 30

The Centre on Wednesday extended the March 31 deadline for mandatory Aadhaar enrolment for entitlement to ‘Subsidies, Benefits and Services’ under Section 7 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Deliveries of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act of 2016, to June 30.The Ministry of Electronics and IT, in its latest Office Memorandum on the subject, has stipulated that the...

IBBI Invites Comments On Draft IBBI Regulations, 2018

The IBBI has invited comments from the public, including the stakeholders, on the draft Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Mechanism for Issuing Regulations), Regulations, 2018.Section 240 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 empowers the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) to make regulations subject to the conditions that the regulations: carry out the provisions...

CAT’s Relief To IFS Officer Devyani Khobragade: Penalty Over, To Be Considered For Promotion [Read Order]

In a major relief to IFS officer Devyani Khobragade who once hit the headlines when she was arrested by US agencies for underpaying her domestic help and then subjected to a strip-search, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has directed the Ministry of External Affairs to treat her punishment of lowering of grade having come to an end in 2016 and also promote her to the grade of...

Dying Declaration Can’t Be Rejected Merely Because It Wasn’t Read Over To Declarant: Bombay HC (FB) [Read Judgment]

A full bench of the Bombay High Court has held that a dying declaration cannot be rejected merely because it was not read over to the declarant.The three-judge bench of Justice RK Deshpande, Justice SB Shukre and Justice MG Giratkar of the Nagpur bench held the same after a division bench of the high court had framed a question for reference to a larger bench, the question was: “Whether a...

Karnataka HC Drops Inquiry Against District Judge After Justice Chelameswar's Intervention

The Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari has reportedly dropped an inquiry initiated against a senior District and Sessions Court Judge, after Justice J. Chelameswar wrote a scathing letter to Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra last week, challenging the propriety of the inquiry which was initiated at the behest of the Centre.According to a report by The Print,...

Formal Collaboration Between Herbert Smith Freehills and IDIA

In furtherance of the Herbert Smith Freehills India Practice's wider commitment to give back to India, Herbert Smith Freehills has entered into a formal collaboration with Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education ("IDIA"), a leading charity that operates across India to provide financial and practical support to empower students from underprivileged and marginalised communities in India to attend law school and to qualify as lawyers.Through this formal collaboration, the firm...

Karnataka HC Division Bench ‘Restores’ NIA Probe Into RSS Leader Murder [Read Judgment]

A division bench of Karnataka High Court has set aside a single bench order that had quashed the Union Home Ministry’s order entrusting the probe of RSS leader murder case to the National Investigating Agency.Rudresh, the RSS leader, was hacked to death by two men on a motorbike in broad daylight on October 16, 2016. The Home Ministry order initiating NIA probe was quashed by the single...

Vidhi Centre For Legal Policy Received Nearly Rs. 50 Lakhs From Centre For Helping With Aadhaar Act Formulation And Implementation

In the past five years, the Centre has paid nearly Rs. 50 lakh to Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy for their assistance with the formulation and implementation of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology told the Rajya Sabha on Friday.The answer was tabled in response to a question...

Govt Can’t Insist On Production Of Certificate From Any Institution To Declare Conversion Of Faith Of Person: Kerala HC [Read Judgment]

“Do a person require a certificate from an institution to declare that she had converted to another religion or not, for effecting changes in the Government records?” –The High Court of Kerala considered this issue, and answered it in negative, holding that there cannot be any insistence on production of certificate from any institution for declaration of conversion of religion.The...

Aadhaar-PAN Linking Deadline Extended to 30th June

The deadline for linking Aadhaar with PAN has been extended by the Central Board of Direct Taxes to 30th June.As per the provisions of the recently introduced Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which came into effect from 1st July 2017, all taxpayers having Aadhaar Number or Enrolment Number are required to link the same with Permanent Account Number (PAN).Vide its orders dated...

PMO Had Advised Air India Not To Share Info On Date Of Bills Of PM’s Foreign Trips, Reveals Response To Latest RTI Plea

In a revelation to an RTI response, it has come to light that the PMO had advised Air India not to share the information relating to bills of Prime Minister’s overseas trips to an RTI applicant seeking to know only the dates on which the bills were raised and sent to the Centre for each foreign visits undertaken by the PM since his Japan trip in November, 2016 for which Air India...