Surender Koli's death sentence commuted to life imprisonment by Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court today commuted the death penalty awarded to Surender Koli in relation to the Nithari Killings to life imprisonment on account of "inordinate delay" in taking a decision on his mercy petition.The Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud, also having Justice P.K.S Baghel said that the execution of the death sentence awarded to Koli would be "unconstitutional...

Schools should have such toilets which are clean and acceptable having proper facilities: SC

A Supreme Court Bench comprising of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Prafulla C. Pant, while rapping the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for the State of toilets in schools, observed, "Before dwelling upon the framing of the Schemes and the time-frame granted to the States, it can be said without any fear of contradiction that a toilet in structure only is not a toilet in reality....

Governments acquiring land, neither possession taken nor compensation paid; Acquisition is invalid : Supreme Court [Read the Judgment]

The Supreme Court of India delivered a judgement that is going to bring in relief to persons whose land has been acquired by the government, but neither possession taken nor compensation paid despite years having gone by.Addressing a bunch of petitions involving a common question of law, the Bench comprising of Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice C. Nagappan said, "we are of the view...

Sr. Adv. K.K. Venugopal awarded the Padma Vibhushan; Sr. Adv. Harish Salve and Constitutional expert, Dr. Subhash Kashyap conferred with Padma Bhushan

Supreme Court Senior Advocate K.K. Venugopal has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan, which is the second highest civilian award in the Republic of India. SC Senior Counsel Harish Salve and Constitutional Expert Dr. Subhash Kashyap have been conferred the Padma Bhushan.Mr. Venugopal is the son of the illustrious M.K. Nambiar, who famously defended the right to life and personal liberty in...

Husband and Wife have to file detailed Affidavits of Income, Assets and Expenditure during divorce proceedings; Delhi High Court [Read the Judgment]

The Delhi High Court have issued direction that both the husband and the wife need to file detailed affidavits of income, assets and expenditure at the time of filing for divorce or maintenance petitions. Now hiding of assets and income at the time of divorce or maintenance proceedings will put in difficulty with the Delhi High Court.Justice J R Midha directed that, "the detailed affidavit,...

BCI notifies Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015; Repeals provision for work experience in lower Courts to practice in SC, advocates protecting "fake people" to be debarred for 3 years

The Bar Council of India has notified the "Bar Council of India Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015". These Rules, which are effective from January 13, 2015, mandate a "Certificate of Practice", in the absence of which, the Advocate would not be entitled to practice law. (Section 5 of the Rules)These Rules repeal the Bar Council of India Certificate of Practice...

Prashant Bhushan submits suggestions to SIT on black money; suggests disclosure of names and mandatory prosecution

In a letter addressed to the SIT on black money, advocate and activist, Prashant Bhushan has submitted certain suggestions pursuant to the Supreme Court order dated 20.01.2015, wherein, the Court had permitted all the parties and intervenors to put their suggestions before the SIT within a period of 2 weeks. Read the LiveLaw story here.He suggests curbing anonymous investments. According to...

Non production of CCTV Footage in Italian Tourist Murder Case leads to acquittal of the Foreign Nationals : Landmark Judgment in relevance & admissibility of Electronic Evidence [Read the Judgment]

In the times where installation of 15,000 CCTV cameras for the US President by the current ruling establishment for Republic Day is attracting both bouquets and brickbats, a 3 judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Dave and authored by Justice Banumathi with Justice Kurian Joseph as the third member had an occasion to deal with the importance of 'CCTV footage' as an important link...

Single Bench of Kerala High Court doubts the correctness of a DB Judgment [Read Judgment]

A Single Bench of Kerala High Court presided over by Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu has doubted the correctness of the judgment rendered by a Division Bench led by the then Chief Justice of Kerala High Court, Dr. Manjula Chellur in the case of Jyothilal K. R. v. Mathai M.J., reported in 2014 (1) KLT 147. The Division Bench had held in that case that the contemnor need not appear until a notice...

SC delivers its judgment on BCCI-IPL, Constitutes 3-member panel to decide on punishment, and disqualifies persons having stakes in IPL teams to contest BCCI

The Supreme Court of India today delivered a verdict that is going to have a huge impact on administration of cricket in India. The 138-page judgment delivered by a two-judge Bench consisting of Justices TS Thakur and Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla brings an end to the proceedings that were going on for the last 17 months in the highest court of the country. It also replaced the question...

Posting comments about ill treatment by Police on their FB page may not amount to Assault (S. 353 IPC) or criminal intimidation (S. 503 IPC): SC

A Supreme Court Bench comprising of Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice R. Banumathi, while quashing an FIR registered against the appellants, observed, "As far as the comments posted on the Facebook are concerned, it appears that it is a public forum meant for helping the public and the act of appellants posting a comment on the Facebook may not attract ingredients of criminal intimidation...

"Deferring cross examination for a long time is anathema to the concept of fair trail": SC directs circulation of judgment among trial Judges

A Supreme Court Bench comprising of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice R.F. Nariman, while dismissing an Appeal and confirming the conviction of the appellant under Prevention of Corruption Act expressed their anguish over the manner in which trials in respect of serious offences relating to corruption are being conducted by the trial courts."It is imperative if the examination-in-chief is over,...