High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Bombay High CourtThe Bombay High Court held that the stepson of a Hindu citizen dying intestate cannot claim inheritance over his property. Justice SC Gupte passed the judgment in a chamber summons taken out in a partition suit involving partition of ancestral property jointly owned by the parties in the suit.The High Court held that a licensing authority cannot refuse arms license to a...

DSLSA Conducts National Lok Adalat, Disposes Of 12,576 Cases In One Day

The Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA), under the guidance of its Patron-in-Chief/Executive Chairperson Justice Gita Mittal, Judge, High Court of Delhi, conducted National Lok Adalat on 10th February, 2018.The Lok Adalats were organized in all the 11 district courts of Delhi and the same were presided over by the judges of the district courts, Delhi. A total of 12,576...

Orders From HC’s Official Website Have Sanctity: Bombay HC Tells Trial Courts Insisting On Certified Copy Of Orders [Read Order]

The Bombay High Court has said orders uploaded on its official website have sanctity and trial courts that insist on production of a certified copy always have the option of verifying whether the said orders are uploaded on the website or not.Justice RV Ghuge of the Aurangabad bench passed the order after advocate Suvidh Kulkarni, who was appearing in a miscellaneous application, stated that...

Calcutta HC Commutes Death Penalty Of Eight Murder Accused [Read Judgment]

We find that the case under reference is simply a case of retaliation and in that view of this case, we are not in a position to accept the case as one of rarest of rare cases, the bench observed.The Calcutta High Court has commuted death penalty awarded to eight persons accused in a kidnap-cum-murder case and also acquitted two accused.The bench comprising Justice Nadira Patherya and...

Stone-Pelting In J&K: NHRC Seeks "Factual Report" From Defence Ministry On Complaint By Army Officers' Children

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought a "factual report" from the Union Ministry of Defence on the alleged "humiliation and violation of the human rights of Army personnel" in Jammu and Kashmir.The NHRC has taken cognizance of a complaint filed by three children of Army officers alleging violation of human rights of the force's personnel in recent incidents of stone-pelting...

Delhi HC Takes Suo Motu Cognizance Of Attacks On Three Advocates; Calls For Status Report From Delhi Police [Read Order]

The Delhi High Court has taken suo motu cognizance of a recent attack on three Advocates- Mr. Kirti Uppal, Mr. Ravi Sharma and Mr. Vikas Pahwa- which had prompted the Delhi High Court Bar Association to abstain from work on 25 January.In an order passed on 29 January, a Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar expressed dismay and concern over the...

Licensing Authority Can’t Deny Arms Licence Merely On The Ground That Applicant Doesn’t Possess Sufficient Property: Bombay HC [Read Judgment]

The Bombay High Court has held that a licensing authority cannot refuse arms license to a person merely on the ground that such person does not own sufficient property.Justice KL Waldane of the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court held the same under Section 14(2) of the Arms Act, 1959 while hearing a criminal writ petition filed by one Ashok Patil who claimed that there is a threat to...

Special Sessions Of Parliament, GST Council Mean Nothing If Assesses Are Unable To Get Timely Access: Bombay HC Rebukes Functioning Of GST Network [Read Order]

The Bombay High Court recently made some sharp observations regarding the functioning or the lack thereof the Goods and Services Tax network while hearing a petition filed by a company engaged in manufacture of robotic and automation equipment.A bench of Justice SC Dharmadhikari and Justice Bharati Dangre was hearing a writ petition filed by Abicor and Benzel Technoweld Pvt Ltd.Case...

Post Hunger-Strike By Lawyers, Centre Notifies The Appointment Of 5 New Judges In Karnataka HC [Read Notification]

The Centre, on Friday, notified the appointment of five Judges to Karnataka High Court, after Advocates Association of Bangalore, the Karnataka State Bar Council and several designated senior Advocates had initiated a hunger strike on Monday protesting the vacancies.Those appointed to the High Court are- Krishna S. Dixit, Shankar Ganapathi Pandit, Ramakrishna Devdas, B.M....

Information On 'Human Rights Violations' Under RTI Act Would Not Include Service Matter Disputes: Delhi HC [Read Order]

The Delhi High Court, last week, set aside an order passed by the Central Information Commission (CIC), wherein the latter had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to provide one of its officers information relating to the status of the disciplinary proceedings pending against him.The CIC had, in the impugned order, opined that the CBI officer had the “right to know about his...

Google Told To Pay Rs 135.86-cr Penalty for Creating Search Bias In Favour Of Its Own Services [Read Order]

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday imposed a penalty of nearly Rs 1.36 billion on internet giant Google for abuse of its dominant position and creating a search bias in favour of its own services. The fine amounts to 5 per cent of the company’s average total revenue generated from India operations for the financial years 2013 to 2015.It was contented by the...

Rajasthan HC ‘Reviews’ ‘Padmaavat’ While Quashing FIR Against Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Deepika Padukone [Read Judgment]

The complainant and the like-minded persons who are carrying unjustified prejudice against the movie would be better advised to realise the folly of their acts, the Judge said.Portrayal of the characters of ‘Maharani Padmavati’ and the King of Chittorgarh as depicted therein would fill the heart of every citizen of this country, more particularly those of Rajasthan and Mewar, with...