Supreme Court expresses concerns over adoption rackets

Hearing a public interest litigation seeking to ban inter country adoption, the bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and N V Ramana expressed its concerns over child trafficking and said that it was it was time to crack the whip on the adoption rackets.Appearing for the Petitioner, Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade submitted, "Government has no time to look into the issue. We have a case where a girl...

Amendments to Whistle Blowers Act get Cabinet’s approval

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the amendments that the Government is planning to make to the Whistle Blowers Act. The Act provides for safeguards against disclosure of information that may "affect the sovereignty, integrity and security of the country."Reportedly, the cabinet also okayed amendments that are similar to safeguards relating to disclosures that have already been...

SC expresses concerns over lack of publicity and awareness or fear regarding female foeticide in India

Hearing a writ petition filed by Voluntary Health Ass. Of Punjab, the Supreme Court expressed concerns regarding lack of awareness or fear regarding female foeticide in the country. The Bench consisting of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant also said that the directions given by the Apex Court with respect to spreading awareness about female foeticide need to be followed by all states...

Lok Sabha passes GST Bill

The 122nd Constitution Amendment Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Bill paves the way for Goods and Services Tax in India, after it has been made law.The Bill aims to tax both services and goods, with goods to be taxed by Centre and services to be taxed by States. GST will also subsume services tax, excise duties, stamp duties, entry tax and central sales tax.The government...

Rajya Sabha passes The Repealing and Amending Bills, 2014 and 2015

Following the recent trend, the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed The Repealing and Amending Bills, 2014 and 2015 though a voice vote. Both the bills aim to repeal obsolete laws.The 2015 bill contains 36 redundant laws and three acts in its first schedule, i.e. The Indian Fisheries Act, 1897, The Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1947, and The Sugar Undertakings (Taking Over of Management) Act,...

AP High Court returns appeal to Session Court as Ramalinga Raju appeals against conviction in the Satyam scam case [Read the Judgment]

The founder of Satyam, B Ramalinga Raju and nine others have moved to the Sessions Court in Hyderabad to appeal against their conviction the Satyam scam case. Earlier, the High Court had declined to hear the appeals, holding that the appeal was not maintainable before the High Court and accordingly returned the appeals.The High Court in its order had said, “The  Registry  is  directed ...

Supreme Court refuses to restrain BCI, SCBA from taking action against Mr. ML Sharma

Hearing the petition filed by the Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association (SCWLA) against lawyers who made controversial remarks in the BBC documentary on December 16 gang rape, the Supreme Court yesterday refused to restrain BCI, SCBA from taking action against the lawyers to appear in the BBC Documentary, India’s Daughter.Advocate ML Sharma, who was the defense lawyer in the December 16...

Setback for Indian tax authorities as Bombay High Court stays MAT claim on Aberdeen Asset

Indian tax authorities suffered a setback on Tuesday in their efforts to impose the minimum alternative tax (MAT) on foreign investors, as UK-based Aberdeen Asset Management got a temporary respite from a tax bill it was served, with the Bombay High Court staying the tax department's order seeking minimum alternate tax (MAT) from the company.However, the court reportedly issued a stay on...

Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal get a breather as Competition Commission rejects charges

The Competition Commission of India has rejected the complaints filed against several e-commerce companies, which include Flipkart India Pvt Ltd, Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd, Xerion Retail Pvt Ltd, Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd and Vector E-commerce Pvt Ltd.The Commission did not find prima facie evidence against Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon, Jabong and Myntra and its ten page order read,...

Government planning to make Law Commission of India a permanent body

The Centre has reportedly informed a Parliamentary Standing Committee that it is planning to turn the Law Commission of India into a permanent body, instead of reconstituting it every three years.Secretary P.K. Malhotra of the Department of Legal Affairs disclosed the plan when the demand for Grants to the Law Commission came up for discussion before a Parliamentary Standing Committee. He...

Top police official in Kerala allegedly caught red-handed while copying in LL.M. exam

A senior police officer in Kerala was allegedly caught copying at the Master of Laws (LLM) examination held at St Paul's College in Kalamassery, Kochi, on Monday.Inspector General of Police, T.J. Jose was allegedly copying from torn pages of guide books when the invigilator caught him. The invigilator thereupon proceeded to seize his answer sheets, along with the pages of the guide book...

Petition challenging differential compensation for male and female rape victims : Delhi High Court seeks response of Delhi Govt

The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi on a writ petition (criminal) filed by NGO iProBono through Advocates Diya Kapur and Tejaswi Shetty on behalf of a 13 year old victim of sodomy alleging discrimination between male and female victims of rape in the Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme.The 13 year old boy who was subjected to sodomy...