Bombay HC Holds 30-Yr-Old Land Acquisition By Maharashtra Govt As Lapsed [Read Judgment]

The Bombay High Court has held the acquisition of land by Government of Maharashtra in 1986 as lapsed under Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.A bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice GS Kulkarni was hearing a writ petition filed by owners of a piece of land in Pune.They contended that after...

Trial Court Can Re-call It’s Judgment Vitiated By Fraud: Allahabad HC [Read Judgment]

The high court upheld a trial court move ordering retrialThe Allahabad High Court has held that when an acquittal was obtained by playing fraud upon the court, it is no acquittal in the eyes of law, and in such a case the bar of Section 362 CrPC would not come into play.Justice Anil Kumar Srivastava made this observation while disposing of a challenge against an order by the trial court...

Britannia Vs ITC: Injunction For ‘Passing Off’ Only If Colour Combination Is Distinctive Of Plaintiff’s Product, Says Delhi HC [Read Judgment]

It is only when it is established, may be even prima facie, that the colour combination has become distinctive of a person’s product that an order may be made in his favour, the bench said.Setting aside an order of interim injunction passed against Britannia Industries restraining it from using a packaging get-up/wrapper for its Nutri Choice Digestive Zero biscuits, the Delhi High Court...

HC Can’t Carry Roving Inquiry Into Conflicting Versions Of Incident: MP HC [Read Order]

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held exercising jurisdiction of section 482 of Criminal Procedure Code this court cannot indulge in a “roving inquiry” to ascertain the two conflicting versions concerned to any incident whether it is correct or not.Furthermore the court held it is the sole domain of the trial court to enquire and deduce to the truth of two conflicting versions relating...

High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Allahabad High CourtThe Allahabad High Court directed the removal of the vice-chancellor of Integral University, Lucknow. A bench of Justice Narayan Shukla and Justice Sheo Kumar Singh passed the order after hearing a PIL filed by one Junaid Ahmed, seeking issuance of a writ of quo warranto to SW Akhtar, VC of the university.The High Court held that that mere possession and recovery of...

In Departmental Proceedings, Inquiry Officer Is Quasi Judicial Officer, Not Dept’s Representative: Allahabad HC [Read Judgment]

The Allahabad High Court has recently held that the departmental proceedings are quasi judicial proceedings and the inquiry officer functions as quasi judicial officer.“He is not merely a representative of the department. He has to act as an independent and impartial officer to find out the truth,” said Justice Devendra Kumar Arora while quashing a dismissal order passed by inquiry officer...

Uttarakhand HC Directs Govt To Provide Free Schooling To Kids Orphaned In 2013 Floods [Read Judgment]

How else can a welfare state function effectively if it cannot even hear let alone listen to what the underprivileged and needy people have to say, the bench said.In a huge relief for 132 kids who lost their parents as a result of unfortunate floods which happened in Uttarakhand in 2013, the Uttarakhand High Court has asked the state government to admit all of them in Rajiv Gandhi...

Gauhati HC Rejects Demand For Separate Time Zone For North East India [Read Order]

The Gauhati High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation seeking a direction to the Central government to have separate time zone for the North East India, including Assam.The Union Government, in reply to the plea of one Rita Das Mozumdar, informed the court that a high level committee constituted by the Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, has already dealt...

498A: Vague allegations Not Sufficient To Prosecute Relatives Of Husband: MP HC [Read Judgment]

Madhya Pradesh High Court has recently held that in a prosecution under S.498A IPC (Matrimonial Cruelty) the case of the near and distant relatives of the husband stands on a different footing than that of the husband and parents-in-law.Justice GS Ahluwalia also held that in order to prosecute the other relatives, there has to be some specific allegations against them.The High Court...

European Court of Justice Restricts ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ [Read Judgment]

The European Court of Justice, on Thursday, ruled that individuals cannot demand removal of personal data from company records in an official register, thereby restricting the “right to be forgotten” to that extent.Such disclosure, it opined, was justified in view of the need to protect the interests of third parties, and to ensure legal certainty and fair trading, and thus the...

Building Tax Exemption To Educational Institution Only If It Caters Just To Students’ Purpose: Kerala HC [Read Judgment]

It held that if at all to claim any exemption, such an institution should utilise their entire resources /profits for the benefit of the students, school or college etc.The High Court of Kerala, in a judgment through Justice Devan Ramachandran, has held that only those educational institutions whose entire resources are utilised for the welfare of its students and itself are entitled to...

Beg Pardon For Your Stupid Actions: Ram Jethmalani Tells Justice Karnan In Open Letter [Read Letter]

If you do not know the enormity of your madness, do meet me and I might put some sense in your head, Ram Jethmalani wrote."You have lost your mind," nonagenarian senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani has told Justice CS Karnan in a 'brief', but scathing open letter.A copy of the letter addressed to the controversial judge has been uploaded on his website.Jethmalani said he has great concern and...