News Updates
Death for Kidnapping (S.364A IPC) – Vires Challenged in the Supreme Court; Question referred to larger Bench
The vires of S.364A of Indian Penal Code is challenged before the Supreme Court on the ground that the section which makes kidnapping for ransom an offence is itself unconstitutional being violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.Though the two Judge bench of Justice T S Thakur and Justice S J Mukhopadhyaya felt that the appellants who have been sentenced to death by hanging...
Delhi HC dismisses PIL seeking to discontinue summer vacation of the Court
The Delhi High Court yesterday dismissed a PIL [WP(C) 4138/2013] seeking to discontinue summer vacation enjoyed by the Court.Observing that the Petitioner was not aware of how the Delhi High Court functions, a Division Bench comprising of Acting Chief Justice BD Ahmed and Justice Vibhu Bakhru said, “Most of the judges spend substantial part of vacation time in writing the judgements at...
Madras High Court initiate suo motu contempt proceedings over arrest of Magistrate
The Madras High Court has initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against a woman Superintendent of Police and four of her subordinates over the arrest of a Judicial Magistrate. The Court came down vehemently on the Police for deliberately violating the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court concerning arrest of judicial officers.The Court said, “Blatant misuse of powers and showing...
Ravenshaw University Honour Refused by SC Judge and HRD Minister
In an interesting development, Supreme Court Judge Dipak Misra and Union Human Resource Development minister M M Pallam Raju have refused to accept the honorary doctorate degree to be conferred on them by Ravenshaw University at its sixth annual convocation ceremony.Justice Misra in his letter to the vice-chancellor of the University has cited that he holds a constitutional position and it...
National Cyber Security Policy 2013 released (Download Copy)
The Government has released the National Cyber Security Policy 2013 to safeguard both physical and business assets of the country. The vision of the policy is, "to build a secure and resilient cyberspace for citizens, business and Government".The distinctive feature of the policy is to create a mechanism to obtain information regarding information and communications technology...
“Judiciary is not untouched by corruption” says CJI designate Justice P Sathasivam
Chief Justice of India designate Justice P Sathasivam spoke to the media on various issues. Live Law brings you a summary of the views expressed by Justice Sathasivam.On Corruption in JudiciaryJudiciary is not untouched by corruption. The solution for eliminating this disorder majorly lies in the hands of litigants. The litigants must take the responsibility of bringing to light such...
NLU Jodhpur gets Prof Poonam Saxena of Delhi University Law Faculty as new VC
Professor Poonam Saxena of Faculty of Law, Delhi University is slated to be the next Vice Chancellor of the National Law University, Jodhpur (NLU-J). Prof. Saxena will succeed the outgoing VC Justice N N Mathur, a former judge, High Court of Rajasthan.Prof. Saxena completed her LL.B. and LL.M from Delhi University and thereafter obtained a Ph. D on Succession Laws also from Delhi University....
Supreme Court reopens today after a long summer vacation of 49 days
Supreme Court is reopening today after a long summer vacation which lasted 49 days. Long vacations enjoyed by the Supreme Court judges have always been a topic of debate. The Supreme Court calendar for 2013 indicates that, the Court has 50 days of summer vacation, 6 days of Holi vacation, 6 days of Durga Pooja vacation, 8 days of Diwali vacation and 15 days of Christmas vacation apart...
Justice P Sathasivam to be 40th Chief Justice of India; first CJI from Tamilnadu
Justice P Sathasivam will become the 40th Chief Justice of India on 19th July, 2013 succeeding Justice Altamas Kabir. Born into an agricultural family, Justice Sathasivam was the first lawyer in his family and in his village.Justice Sathasivam hails from the Madras Bar and was elevated as a Permanent Judge of the Madras High Court on 8th January, 1996. On 20th April 2007 Justice Sathasivam...
Suryanelli Rape Case: Victim’s plea dismissed; Order comes as relief for PJ Kurien
A Sessions Court in Idukki, Kerala today dismissed a plea against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, seeking to include him as an accused in the ‘Suryanelli’ rape case.Sessions Judge, Abraham Mathew observed, “The history of the litigation shows that the second complaint has all the characteristics of a vexatious litigation.”Earlier, an accused in the case, Dharmarajan told a...
SC dismisses PIL on US Surveillance of India’s Internet Data; asks Petitioner to move “any other forum”
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the issue of US National Security Agency spying on India’s Internet data. The PIL [Writ Petition (Civil) 381 of 2013] was filed against nine internet companies including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo.The vacation bench comprising justices A K Patnaik and Ranjan Gogoi said, “We cannot entertain the...
US Supreme Court paves way for federal benefits to gay couples (Download Judgment)
US Supreme Court has struck down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as it was violative of the Fifth Amendment. Section 3 limited the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman for the purposes of federal benefits. This landmark judgment will now give federal benefits to gay couples and clear the way for same-sex marriage in California. The Supreme Court said,...