State Govt. cannot reserve any Mining Area for exploitation by State owned Companies without the approval of Centre; holds SC by 2;1 Majority [Read Judgment]

Chief Justice Thakur wrote the Majority Judgment supported by Justice Gopal Gowda, Justice Banumati dissented. A Three Judge Bench of Supreme Court of India in State of Kerala Vs. M/S Kerala Rare Earth and Minerals Limited and Others, by a Majority of 2;1 has held that if the State Government proposes to reserve any Mining area for exploitation by the State owned corporation or company, it...

#Puttingal FireTragedy; No noise making firecrackers in any place of worship between sunset and sunrise: Kerala HC [Read Order]

High Court of Kerala in a Suo motto Public Interest Litigation, ordered that no noise making fire crackers can be used in any place of worship between sunset and the sunrise. The Bench also said that the firecrackers used in the day time should also not be making noise more than 140 Decibels.Division bench comprising of Justices Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Anu Sivaraman came down heavily...

SC to RBI: Ensure banks do not grant loans recklessly

The Supreme Court today reminded the Reserve Bank of India that it had a duty to keep a tight vigil on banks to ensure that they do not grant loans recklessly.Making several scathing remarks two weeks after the RBI submitted a list of defaulters owing Rs 500 crore or more to public sector banks, a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur asked the RBI “What are you doing to recover the...

Kerala Munsiff-Magistrate selection fiasco; SC adjourns the case to next week as Justice Banumati recuses

Supreme Court of India Today has adjourned the hearing in a Petition [PETITION]  filed by High Court of Kerala in the case Malik Mazhar Sultan & Anr. v. U.P. Public Service Commission, seeking permission to fill up the existing vacancies in the cadre of Munsiff-Magistrates in the State.The Case was posted before a Two Judge Bench comprising of Chief Justice Thakur and Justice...

More High Courts stay Service Tax on Senior Lawyers, Centre to approach SC [Read Calcutta HC Order]

As first reported by LiveLaw, the Department of Revenue has decided to move Supreme Court of India under Article 139A of the Constitution of India seeking transfer and vacation of stay of various High Court Orders staying the levy of Service Tax on legal services provided by Senior Advocates. The Centre will challenge the Delhi High Court order in W.P. 2892/2016 and W.P. 2891/2016,...

SC slams police over attack on Kanhaiya inside Patiala house courtroom

The Supreme Court today orally observed that the demand for an independent enquiry into allegation that JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar accused of sedition was attacked inside the patiala house courtroom on February 17 was “justified”.The contentious issue is part of the petition filed by noted lawyer Kamini Jaiswal and being argued by lawyer Prashant Bhushan who has urged...

Exclusive; Kollam Fire Tragedy: Kerala HC to consider Sitting Judge’s Letter seeking ban on Fireworks as PIL Tomorrow [Read Letter]

A Day after the Kollam Puttingal Temple Fire Tragedy, a sitting Judge of High Court of Kerala Justice V. Chitambaresh wrote a letter to High Court seeking ban on high-decibel explosives in Fireworks display. He requested the Registrar to place the letter before the Division Bench in order to consider as to whether the same could b treated as a PIL and appropriate interim orders passed....

SC allows review of its Judgment quashing ‘The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)’ for Medical Courses [Read Order]

We find that there was no discussion among the members of the Bench before pronouncement of the judgment, said the Constitution BenchA Five Judge Constitution Bench of Supreme Court of India today has recalled its 2013 Judgment which declared Medical Council of India’s (MCI) and Dental Council of India’s (DCI) notification for holding common entrance test called National...

Practitioner of Indian/Integrated medicine not entitled to practice Allopathic medicine: Delhi HC [Read Judgment]

Delhi High Court has held that no practitioner of Indian System of Medicine or integrated medicine is entitled to practice modern scientific system of medicine viz. Allopathic system of medicine.First Bench of the High Court (Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw) observed that a person holding qualification in Indian Medicine, even if it be a degree in integrated course,...

Judicial appointments must continue, in order to protect the Rights of Citizens: CJI Thakur

Expressing concern over the pending vacancies in the High Courts of the country, Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur said on Saturday that the process of appointment of Judges must continue, while the technicalities are being worked on, in order to safeguard the Fundamental Rights granted to the citizens of India. The vacancies, which will hit 500 by the year-end, are placing the judiciary...

Supreme Court Weekly Round-Up

Leases of Mining Companies will not be lapsed automaticallySupreme Court held that lapse of mining lease as contemplated under Section 4A(4) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 is not automatic, and that, for a lease to lapse, express order needs to be passed.Costs imposed on 26 States and 7 UTs for failure to file responses in prison reform caseThe Supreme...

Will ensure Nirbhaya convicts get fair hearing: Ramachandran, Hegde

“I cannot get swayed by the gravity of the incident once I get a call of duty from the court. The judges have entrusted me with a duty to satisfy its judicial conscience. The court felt that everything should be done to give a fair hearing to the convicts on the merit of the case and also on the point of sentence. I will ensure that" Senior lawyer Raju Ramachandran who will represent...