Delhi HC Miffed As Passport Office Chooses To Ignore Order On Passport To Tibetans Born In India [Read Judgment]

The Delhi High Court has slapped a cost of Rs. 25,000 to be paid to a man whose passport was revoked on illusory grounds ranging from concealment of his parents' Tibetan origin to Intelligence Bureau report that he has purchased several properties with funds from the foreign government.Justice Vibhu Bakhru also pulled up the passport office for asking the petitioner to acquire Indian...

Sikkim State Assembly Passes Bill Prohibiting Cow Slaughter

The State of Sikkim has reportedly become the first north-eastern State to pass a Bill banning cow slaughter, with the State Assembly passing the Sikkim Prevention of Cow Slaughter Bill, 2017 on Tuesday.The Bill was tabled by State Animal Husbandry Minister Mr. Somnath Poudyal, who was quoted as saying, “Generally, the tendency of the cow owners is to cull and sell the cows once they are...

Cabinet Okays Promulgation of GST (Compensation to States) Ordinance, 2017

Finance Ministry to promulgate an ordinance to suitably amend the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017.The approval would allow increasing the maximum rate at which the compensation cess can be levied from 15% to 25% on: motor vehicles for transport of not more than 13 persons, including the driver (falling under sub-headings 870210, 8702 20, 8702 30 or 8702 90); and...

Senior Advocate Vijay Narayan Appointed As Advocate General For Tamil Nadu [Read Notification]

Senior Advocate Vijay Narayan has been appointed as the Advocate General for the State of Tamil Nadu, following the recent resignation of Mr. R. Muthukumaraswamy.Mr. Narayan comes from a family of eminent lawyers and jurists. Interestingly, his father’s younger brother, Mr. K.K. Venugopal is the current Attorney General of India. Besides, his paternal grandfather was legendary lawyer...

MP HC Grants Bail To Rape Accused Seeing Element Of Consent

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has granted bail to a man accused of raping a married woman on finding that the woman’s husband had lodged a report of her going missing, which shows that she willingly went with the man.In her statement, the woman stated that on April 20, 2016, the applicant and other co-accused took her to Indore on the pretext of providing job, but there was no work and...

Nation's New Hero: The CBI Judge Who Did Dera Chief In

Amidst all tension and loathing that surrounded the conviction and sentencing of self-proclaimed godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the nation found a new hero.Jagdeep Singh, the CBI judge who found the Dera chief guilty of raping two sadhavis and sent him behind bars for 20 years, has become a shining example of justice unfazed by pressure from various quarters.Known for his toughness...

Kids Denied Admission In Govt Schools: Delhi HC Seeks Status Report

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Delhi government to consider holding camps for enrolling children of school-going age in its schools.A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal was hearing a PIL by Social Jurist, a civil rights group, highlighting that a large number of children were being turned away by Delhi government schools on flimsy grounds.Advocate and activist Ashok...

NHRC Seeks Report On 52 Child Deaths In Jharkhand

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a report related to death of 52 infants at Jamshedpur's Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College (MGM) hospital in Jharkhand.The NHRC press release said the infants reportedly died within 30 days and the hospital superintendent has blamed malnutrition for the deaths.The commission observed that painful deaths of...

Kerala HC Dismisses Actor Dileep’s Bail Plea In Actress Molestation Again [Read Order]

Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed the second bail application filed by actor Dileep in the actress molestation case.Dileep has been under custody since 10.07.2017, after he was arrested on conspiracy charges for committing abduction and sexual assault on another leading actress. His earlier bail application was rejected by the Kerala High Court on July 24.The prosecution claimed...

Delhi HC Baffled At Kejriwal's Appeal Against Order For Speedy Trial In Jaitley’s Defamation Case [Read Judgment]

A "completely baffled" Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed the appeals of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his aide Ashutosh against a single judge order for speedy trial in a defamation suit filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Harishankar dismissed the appeals against a single judge order which directed...

#Noisepollution: Maharashtra Govt Withdraws Application Alleging Bias, Tenders Apology To Justice Oka [Read Apology & Resolution]

The Maharashtra government on Monday apologised to Justice AS Oka and withdrew its earlier application filed before the Chief Justice wherein it was stated that Justice Oka was “harbouring serious bias against the state machinery in the noise pollution matter” and transfer of all noise pollution matters to a different bench was sought.Advocate General AA Kumbhakoni placed the letter...

High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Bombay High CourtThe Bombay High Court denied relief to one Utsav Sodha, a law student who cleared his first-year examinations from Pravin Gandhi College (unaided) and sought admission to Government Law College (aided) in the second year.Taking a tough stance on ‘sharks’ who prey on helpless unemployed youth, the Nagpur bench of the High Court refused to grant anticipatory bail to one...