Justice Attar of J&K HC claims “Indianism” remark torn out of context; says ‘Fascist bent of mind, otherwise, called Fascism, is abhorrent to and antithesis of “Idea of India”

A year after triggering a row by observing that any person claiming to be a Hindu or a Muslim Nationalist is working against “Indianism”, Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar has clarified his stand on the issue.While issuing a recent order, Justice Attar observed, “The press reports of the time, when judgement was pronounced, would show that the expression “Indianism” was torn out of...

Properly maintained roads is a part of Fundamental Rights under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution: Bombay High Court

A Bombay High Court Bench comprising of Justice A.S. Oka and Justice C.V. Bhadang in a recent order observed that citizens have a Fundamental Right to good roads and it is the State Government’s statutory obligation to maintain the roads.The directions were given during the hearing of a suo motu Public Interest Litigation taken up by the High Court in 2013.The Court directed BMC,...

Tamil Nadu seeks review of SC judgment on Government Advertisements

The State of Tamil Nadu has approached the Supreme Court and sought a review of its judgment on government advertisements. The Apex Court, through a judgment delivered on May 13 had ruled that government advertisements can carry the photographs of only the President, Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India.The Bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice P.C. Ghose had accepted...

MBA student from Jindal Global University alleges sexual assault in campus, moves SC demanding CBI probe

An MBA student of Jindal Global University, Hissar has approached the Supreme Court demanding a CBI investigation into her alleged rape by her seniors. She has asserted that the Police are trying to protect the accused at the behest of a Haryana MP.It hence prays for a CBI inquiry “because of shoddy, reckless, biased and mala fide investigation conducted by police”.According to a DNA...

Kejriwal-Jung altercation: Gopal Subramaniam, Jaising and Dhavan back Kejriwal; Dhavan says Modi’s responsibility to tell LG to stay within “Lakshman Rekha” [UPDATED]

The altercation over the appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as the Acting Chief Secretary of Delhi has taken shape of major hostility between the ruling AAP and Jung, with Kejriwal alleging that the LG was trying to take over the administration.Kejriwal had opposed Gamlin's appointment accusing her of lobbying for power distribution companies. He has declared that he would keep close tabs on...

'Traffic' Ramaswamy files SLP against Jayalalithaa's acquittal before Supreme Court

As the government of Karnataka, Subramanyam Swamy, the complainant in the case and K Anbazhagan of DMK, on whose plea the trial was moved from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka continue to weigh their legal options, 'Traffic' Ramaswamy , a social activist has gone ahead and filed a Special Leave Petition before the Apex Court regarding Karnataka HC acquitting the former Chief minister of Tamil Nadu...

Association for Democratic reforms and Subhash Agrawal file PIL in SC for brining political parties under RTI Act

A Petition has been filed in the Supreme Court by Association for Democratic Reforms and RTI activist Mr. Subhash Agrawal, demanding that all political parties should be brought under the ambit of the Right to Information Act, 2005 as “public authorities”.It prays for mandating the following disclosures to be made by all national and regional parties:Complete details about their income...

Apple v Samsung : U.S. federal appeals court finds Samsung violated Apple’s patents, but not trade dress’

A US federal appeals court handed down a mixed ruling in a celebrated patents infringement case between smart phone giants Samsung and Apple Inc as it affirmed on Monday a jury's verdict that Samsung violated Apple's design and utility patents, but ruled that Samsung had not infringed on the company's overall trade dress.The Court said in its ruling : "We affirm the jury's verdict on the...

SC Convicts 74 years old retired public Servant for Corruption

A Supreme Court Bench comprising of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice R. Banumathi, in a judgment pronounced on May 15, confirmed the conviction of a seventy four years old public servant under Prevention of Corruption Act.Keeping in view the age of the public servant and the fact that the incident had taken place 19 years ago, the Court reduced the sentence of rigorous imprisonment of four...

Dauntless Aruna: The pioneer of Euthanasia debate breathes her last

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”- Revelation 21:4After fighting bravely for 42 years, lying in a vegetative state, Aruna Shanbag has passed away today. She spent her final week battling a serious bout of pneumonia and was breathing with the help...

Contractual disputes between State and private party : Jurisdiction of High Court under Article 226 can be invoked only if the nature of the activity involves public law element; SC

Even as it conceded that the distinction between public law and private law element in the contract with State is getting blurred , the Supreme Court case, in a judgment rendered recently has held that if the contract between private party and the State/instrumentality and/or agency of State is under the realm of a private law and there is no element of public law, the normal course for...

All birds have Fundamental Right to fly in the sky and not be caged: Delhi High Court

Justice Manmohan Singh of the Delhi High Court recently expressed anguish over the plight of birds, which also have a Fundamental Right to “live with dignity” but were nevertheless being "exported illegally to foreign countries without availability of proper food, water or medical aid". The Court observed that birds should be allowed to fly free and not be kept in cages or subjected...