High Courts Weekly Roundup

Allahabad High Court 1. Allahabad High Court Allows Mother's Habeas Corpus Plea Seeking Child's Custody From Father [Master Advait Sharma v. State of UP & Ors.] A Single Bench of Justice JJ Munir allowed the habeas corpus petition of a mother, seeking the custody of her child aged three and a half years, from her husband (the child's father). It observed that there is a strong presumption about a child's welfare to be better secured in the mother's hand. The Bench remarked, "It is the precipitate wisdom of generations that a young child's welfare is better ensured in the hands of the mother than the father, or for that matter, anyone else. It is in keeping with this transcendent experience of mankind that the proviso to Section 6(a) of the [Hindu Minority and Guardianship] Act of 1956 reserves to the mother the right to the child's custody until the age of five years." 2. Allahabad High Court Seeks UP Govt's Response On Implementation Of Anganwadi Projects In The State [Nishant Chandra & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors.] A Division Bench comprising of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery sought the response of the UP Government on the condition of Anganwadis in the State, especially with regard to nutrition programmes undertaken therein. The order was passed on a PIL filed by one Nishant Chandra and others, appearing in person. They had submitted that most of the Anganwadis in the State of Uttar Pradesh are not having adequate means to provide nutritive food to the children. Underlining that western filmmakers have refrained from ridiculing Lord Jesus or the Prophet but the Hindi filmmakers have done this repeatedly and still doing this most unabashedly with the Hindu Gods and Goddesses, a Bench of Justice Siddharth denied Pre-arrest bail to Commercial Head of Amazon Prime Video, Aparna Purohit, in the ongoing investigation against the web series 'Tandav'. Drawing parallels with the Munawar Faruqui incident, the Ciurt remarked, "Things are worsening as is evident from the fact that an obscure stand-up comedian, Munawar Faruqui, from Gujarat made comments on Hindu God and Godesses in a new year show at Indore and gained undue publicity on being arrested in a case. This shows that from films this trend has passed to comedy shows." Bombay High Court 1. Bombay High Court Grants Varavara Rao Bail For 6 Months On Medical Grounds In Bhima Koregaon Case [Dr. PV Varavara Rao v. NIA & Anr.] A division bench of Justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale granted bail on medical grounds to 81-year-old Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, who has been under custody awaiting trial since August 28, 2018. The High Court observed that it was a "genuine and fit" case for granting relief in view of the advanced age of the petitioner and inadequate facilities at Taloja jail hospital. The Court also ruled that an undertrial accused of serious offences under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) can be granted bail purely on grounds of sickness and advanced age, if it is found that his continued incarceration is endangering his life 2. 'No Likelihood Of Trial Being Completed In Near Future' : Bombay High Court Upholds Bail Granted To Youth Accused Of Joining ISIS [NIA v. Areeb Ejaz Majeed] A division bench of Justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale upheld bail granted to an alleged Islamic State recruit from India, Areeb Majeed and disposed of an appeal by the National Investigating Agency (NIA). The Court cited Majeed's prolonged incarceration of six years and slow pace of the trial to uphold his bail. The 27-year-old man from Kalyan, argued his own bail application. He was granted bail by the Special Court on March 17, 2020. The order was subsequently stayed after the NIA approached the HC in appeal. 3. Medieval Notion Of Wife Being The Property Of Husband Still Persist In Majority Mindset, Refusal To Give Tea Not Sudden Or Grave Provocation : Bombay HC [Santosh Mahadev Atkar v. State of Maharashtra] Observing that the medieval notion of the wife being the 'property of the husband to do as he wishes, still persists,' a Single Bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere refused to show any leniency to a man convicted for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. It held the husband's contention that his wife, by refusing to make tea, offered a grave and sudden provocation to be "ludicrous," "clearly untenable and unsustainable." 4. 'Sanctioning Authority Must Apply Mind' : Bombay HC Quashes Sanction To Prosecute Order Issued 'Mechanically' [Anand Murlidhar Salvi v. State of Maharashtra] A single bench of Justice SK Shinde ruled that an order granting permission or sanction to prosecute an individual under the Prevention of Corruption Act must demonstrate that the Sanctioning Authority has applied his mind and not passed the order "mechanically". It held...

High Courts Weekly Roundup

Akshita Saxena

Week commencing from February 22, 2021 Till February 28, 2021

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