NGT Quashes Centre’s Notification Diluting Provisions Of Environmental Clearance For Construction Activities [Read Judgment]

The principal bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has quashed notification dated 09.12.2016 issued by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, whereby substantive provisions of EIA Notification, 2006, that require prior Environmental Clearance (EC) for building and construction activities were diluted. As per EIA notification dated 14.09.2006, building and construction...

Deserted Husband Accuses Wife Of Running Fake Marriage Racket; Delhi Court Directs Police To Verify

It could well be a story out of a crime thriller or Bollywood film where a woman enters into several marriages only to exploit her ‘husbands’ and extort money.Balvinder Singh, a truck driver residing in Siraspur village in outer Delhi, has been doing the rounds of Rohini district courts with his minor son in arms trying to blow the lid off the bogus marriage racket his estranged wife Shalu...

Denial Of Information For Lack Of Aadhaar Is A Serious Breach Of RTI Act: CIC [Read Order]

The Central Information Commission has recently held that denial of information for lack of Aadhaar card will be a serious breach of right, which was guaranteed by the RTI Act and also amounts to harassment of the applicant.FACTSWith the government-owned Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) claiming that it does keep record of lakhs of rupees it spends on gifts and...

Categorise Undertrial Cases As ‘Priority Sector Litigation’: J&K HC [Read Order]

The fate of an accused can’t be kept hanging like that of a “Trishunka” on the absolute discretion of the trial judge, the court said.The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has reiterated the need to categorize cases relating to undertrial prisoners as a priority sector litigation.Justice MK Hanjura made this observation while rejecting bail plea of an accused who is in custody for the past...

Justice Manmohan Singh Gets Additional Charge Of IPAB [Read Notification]

Justice Manmohan Singh, retired judge of the Delhi High Court, has been given the additional charge of  Chairman of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB).Since the retirement of Chairman Justice K M Basha in May 2016, the Chairman post was remaining vacant. Sanjeev Kumar Chaswal served as interim chair in the meanwhile. The IPAB handles appeals against orders and decisions...

Madras HC Suspends Guidelines For Weeding Out Fake Lawyers; Will Examine Need For Recall After December Break

The Madras High Court has suspended the guidelines which it had framed last month with the aim of weeding out fraudulent lawyers.The order has been suspended by Justice S. Vaidyanathan till 22 January, when the proposal to recall the order will also be examined. The suspension order, issued on the last working day before the Court closed for the break, directed:"As members of various...

Circular Issued On Guidelines To Avoid Misuse Of Judge Car Parking Stickers [Read Circular]

There have been cases where stickers of ‘press’, ‘army’, ‘police’ and ‘judges’ have been misused by criminal elements on vehicles used in crimes.While in many cases, such stickers are bogus, there are times when original stickers are used on vehicles not used personally by the person to whom the sticker has been issued.To avoid any misuse and to streamline the issuance...

Condonation Of Delay Scheme For Defaulting Companies’ Directors: Delhi HC Orders To Give Wide Publicity [Read Order]

 In one such case titled Shikha Pahuja vs Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Anr, Justice Vibhu Bakhru of the Delhi High Court had ordered that wide publicity be given to the COD scheme.The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has issued its ‘Condonation of Delay Scheme, 2018’ after a large number of directors who were disqualified on account of default by a company in filing annual return...

Punjab & Haryana HC Lawyers Seek Probe Into Judge Loya’s Death

As many as 470 members of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar have written to the Chief Justice of India and forwarded the representation to judges of the Supreme Court and the acting chief justice of the Bombay High Court seeking a probe into the death of former special CBI judge BH Loya, who was presiding over the Sohrabuddin trial.As reported by the Hindustan Times, these lawyers are...

Delhi HC Dismisses PIL Against Govt. Decision To Declare As "Martyr" Farmer Who Committed Suicide During AAP Rally [Read Judgment]

The Delhi High Court has dismissed the challenge to the State's decision to declare as a "martyr" a Rajasthan-based farmer who had allegedly hanged himself at an AAP rally at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. The incident had occurred during an anti land bill rally called by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).The Bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar, noted that...

Imprisoning Muslim Men Will Further Alienate The Muslim Community: Bebaak Collective On Triple Talaq Bill

After being opposed by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 has now been criticized by the Bebaak Collective, a women's rights group that played a pivotal role in the Shayara Bano case.The Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday, prescribes a punishment of three years and fine for any man who resorts to triple...

Open Land, Especially Govt Land, Can’t Be Used As Burial Ground By Anyone: Delhi HC [Read Judgment]

No person has any right to use any open land, especially government land, indiscriminately as a burial ground, the Delhi High Court has said.A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said so while dismissing the petition moved by Kabristan Intzamia Association, an NGO, staking claim over a piece of government land in west Delhi.The NGO claimed that premised on...