Inmates are duty-bound to offer an explanation about death occurring in a house: Supreme Court [Read Judgment]

The inmates of the house where the crime occurred, cannot get away by simply keeping quiet and offering no explanation on the supposed premise that the burden to establish its case lies entirely upon the prosecution and there is no duty at all on the accused to offer, the Bench said.The Supreme Court, in Gajanan Dashrath Kharate vs State of Maharashtra has held that an accused, by virtue...

Indian Penal Code requires a thorough revision to meet the changing needs of the twenty-first century; President Pranab Mukherjee

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Valedictory Function of 155th Anniversary of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 organized by the Directorate of Prosecution, Kerala today (February 26, 2016) at Kochi, Kerala.Speaking on the occasion, the President said there is no doubt that the IPC as a premier code for criminal law is a model piece of legislation. Nevertheless,...

SC Constitution Bench holds Section 23 of Travancore-Cochin HC Act prevails over 98(2)CPC in Kerala; Justice Kurian calls for a comprehensive legislation [Read Judgment]

Constitution Bench of Apex Court, in Pankajakshi (Dead) Through L.Rs Vs. Chandrika, has held that Section 23 of the Travancore-Cochin High Court Act remains unaffected by the repealing provision of Section 9 of the Kerala High Court Act, and that, being in the nature of special provision vis-à-vis Section 98(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure, would apply to the Kerala High Court....

Block Child Pornographic Sites; Explore if viewing porn in public can be prohibited: SC to Centre [Read Order]

Observing that right to free speech, thought and expression was not “absolute”, the Supreme Court today asked the Centre to  take steps to block child pornographic sites and also to gradually consider steps to block all pornographic sitesA bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra significantly also decided to hear a plea to make watching pornographic material in any form in public places...

Plea for Establishment of National Court of Appeal; SC issues Notice to Centre [Read Petition] [Updated]

A Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur today issued notice to Centre seeking response on a plea for setting up of National Court of Appeal with regional Benches. The Court has appointed Senior Advocates K.K.Venugopal and Salman Khurshid as Amicus Curiae in this Case.Interestingly in 2010, K.K.Venugopal in his landmark Jain Memorial Lecture on the subject “TOWARDS...

Patiala House violence: SC issues notice on Kamini Jaiswal's Plea for SIT and Contempt against Three Lawyers

The Supreme Court today issued notices to three lawyers Vikram Chauhan, Yashpal Singh and Om Sharma shown in a TV sting bragging about bashing up JNU case accused Kanhaiya Kumar and others on a petition filed by lawyer Kamini Jaiswal seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against them.The court also issued notice to Delhi police and the Centre on the plea for setting up of a...

SC refuses to entertain plea against new Juvenile Justice Act

Supreme Court today refused to entertain a PIL which challenged the validity of the Juvenile Justice(care and protection of children) Act 2015 saying it cannot be a subject matter of a public interest litigation and can only be admitted if an aggrieved comes before the court.Salman Khurshid, the senior lawyer who appeared for activist Tahseen Poonawalla argued that the court must look into...

Reservation is to achieve the concept of giving equal opportunity to all sections of the society; SC [Read Judgment]

Candidate eligible for selection to the post under the OBC category even if the OBC Certificate was submitted after last date of application: SC.Supreme Court in Ram Kumar Gijroya vs. Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board has held that a candidate who appears in an examination under the O.B.C. category and submits the certificate after the last date mentioned in the advertisement is...

There were grave doubts about Afzal Guru’s role in Parliament Attack Case ; Former Home Minister P.Chidambaram

In a new twist to the Afzal Guru story, former Home Minister of India Mr. P.Chidambaram told Economic Times that he felt it was possible to hold an "honest opinion" that the case was "perhaps not correctly decided" and that there were "grave doubts about the extent of his involvement" in the 2001 Parliament attack."I think it is possible to hold an honest opinion that the Afzal Guru case...

Delhi HC to amend its RTI Rules bringing it in conformity with RTI Act, on law students’ petition [Read Order]

In a welcome step, Delhi High Court has decided to amend its Delhi High Court RTI Rules, 2006, to bring it in conformity with RTI Act, 2005. The decision was communicated to the division bench of the Delhi High Court, on a petition filed by law students, Aastha Sharma, Ishwin Mehta, Paras Jain and Kumar Shanu.A media report from July, 2015 had apprised the petitioners of the request by the Department of Personnel and Training to the Registrar of all High Courts to harmonize their RTI Fees in...

EXCLUSIVE; Kanhaiya Kumar was badly beaten up by lawyers, while Police did nothing to prevent [Read the Report of Advocates Commission appointed by SC]

Supreme Court appointed Lawyers commission has submitted its report on the violence witnessed in the Patiala Court on February 15 and 17. In its report released yesterday, it blames Delhi Police for inaction. Report say that lawyers and journalists were locked inside the court room and Kanhaiya Kumar was badly beaten up by lawyers, while Police did nothing to prevent.“The atmosphere outside...

Patiala Court Violence: Advocate Kamini Jaiswal files Writ Petition seeking contempt proceedings and SIT probe against 3 accused lawyers [Read Petition]

Advocate Kamini Jaiswal has filed a Writ Petition in the Supreme Court through advocate Prashant Bhushan, seeking to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incidents of violence on that took place on 15th and 17th of February at Patiala House Court and also to initiate suo motu contempt proceeding against three advocates, accused of interfering with the administration...