High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Allahabad High Court Allahabad HC Grants Bail To Swami Chinmayanand In Sexual Exploitation Case Of Law Student [Swami Chinmayanand Alias Krishna Pal Singh v. State of U.P.] The Allahabad High Court granted bail to former Union Minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand, who has been accused of sexually exploiting a 23 years old law student. The order was passed by Justice Rahul Chaturvedi. Chinmayanand has been booked under Section 376-C of IPC for allegedly taking advantage of his official position by inducing the student to have sex with him. He was arrested by the SIT on September 20, 2019, after the student gave a pen drive to the SIT to support her allegations, and he has remained in custody since then. The Sessions Court at Shahjahanpur had rejected his bail plea on September 30, 2019, pursuant to which he approached the high court. On November 16, 2019, the high court had reserved order on the bail application. ● Credibility Of Witness Can Be Established Only After Cross-Examination By The Accused [Rekha v. State of UP & Anr.] The Allahabad High Court has reiterated that the credibility of any witness can be established only after the said witness is put to cross-examination by the accused persons, in connection with the charged offense. Justice Ajit Singh held that the trial court had committed an error in not providing an opportunity to the Petitioner-accused to cross-examine the prosecution witnesses after the charges framed against them were altered. Bombay High Court If Probationer Judge Is Discharged By Simpliciter Termination, Not Necessary To Follow Principles Of Natural Justice [Ajay Ramesh Dinode v. State of Maharashtra] In a significant judgment, the Bombay High Court held that in case the order of termination of a probationer judge is simplisitor termination, it is not necessary to follow the principles of natural justice and or to hold an inquiry before issuing an order of termination. The division bench of Justice SS Shinde and Justice NB Suryawanshi dismissed a writ petition filed by Ajay Dinode, who was appointed as a District Judge in 2014 at Akola and was later conferred with powers of an Additional Sessions Judge in 2015. In July 2016, the High Court of Bombay recommended him as Special Judge for speedy and expeditious trial for the matters relating to National Spot Exchange Ltd Scam. However, the petitioner was discharged from service in June 2017. Hence the present petition was filed. Employer-Employee Relationship a Prerequisite For Levy of Fringe Benefit Tax [Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax 2 v. M/s Aristo Pharmaceuticals P Ltd.] The Bombay High Court a couple of weeks back dismissed an appeal filed against an order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal and held that for levy of fringe benefit tax, relationship of employer is the sine qua non and the fringe benefits have to be provided by the employer to the employees in the course of such relationship. A division bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Milind Jadhav heard the appeal filed under Section 260A of Income Tax Act filed by the Commissioner of Income Tax against an order dated January 25, 2017, passed by ITAT. ● Unregistered Partnership Firms Can Maintain Complaint For Dishonor Of Cheque U/S 138 NI Act [Narendra v. Balbirsingh] The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday held that an unregistered partnership firm can maintain a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The division bench comprising Justice PN Deshmukh and Justice Pushpa V Ganediwala was answering a reference from an order of single judge, questioning the previous view of the high court taken in Sai Accumulator Industries, Sangamner v. Sethi Brothers, Aurangabad, 2016(5) Mh.LJ 936, that, an unregistered partnership firm cannot maintain a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act due to the bar contained in Section 69(2) of the Indian Partnership Act. ● Bombay HC Imposes 25K Cost on Litigant For Wasting Time of The Court [Mr. Shrikrishna Adbol v. Election Commission of India] The Bombay High Court imposed a cost of Rs.25,000 on one Shrikrishna Adbol who had challenged the election of Akola Member of Parliament Sanjay Dhotre, presently the Union Minister of State for Department of IT and Telecommunication, in a writ petition alleging suppression of expenditure incurred by him during the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Division bench of Justice RV Ghuge and Justice SM Modak of the Nagpur bench dismissed the said petition after concluding that instead of an election petition under Section 81, the petitioner had filed a writ petition invoking Section 10 A of the Representation of People's Act even though the said provision simply pertained to the legal formality of lodging account of election expenses within the time and the manner required by the Act. ● Forfeiture Of Gratuity: Proof of ...

High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Arabhi Anandan

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