No closing of BAR Hotels till September 30: Supreme Court to Kerala Govt.

The Supreme Court today restrained the Kerala Government from shutting down the ‘Bar Hotels’ till September 30, under the state’s new liquor policy that limits bar licences to only five-star hotels. The order has brought ahuge relief to non-five-star hotel bar owners as the state government was ready to initiate closingdown process against such bars as part of its plan to implement...

Gay, lesbian and bisexual (persons) cannot be included in the category of a gender or transgender: Centre to apex Court

Centre has communicated its stand on the LGBT community to the Supreme Court, raising several objections against the historic April 15 judgment that granted constitutional recognition to transgender as a third gender and gave them the right to have a family. The Centre has argued that gay, lesbian and bisexual people cannot be categorized as transgender.The Centre has refused to accept such...

Law Ministry demands ‘nodal officer’ in all Ministries and Departments to hasten weeding out of obsolete laws

From the time it took control, NDA Government has been striving hard to eliminate archaic laws. However, an irked Law Ministry has now written a letter to all Union ministries pointing out that "several" of them have failed to help the Law Commission compile a list of obsolete statutes.Secretaries of various Central Ministries and Departments have been asked by the Law Ministry to appoint a...

Will can be executed by testator's wish at any circumstance: Supreme Court [Read the Judgment]

A Supreme Court bench comprising of Justice Ranjana Gogoi and Justice R.K. Agrawal held that a will can be executed by testator's wish at any circumstance.The appeals were brought against 2009 common judgment and order of the High Court. The question was regarding the validity and legality of a Will dated 11.1.1982 executed by K.P. Janaki Amma, the mother of the appellants and the...

Supreme Court questions logic behind Kerala's new liquor policy

The Apex Court yesterday questioned the logic behind new liquor policy of the Government of Kerala for limiting bar licenses to only 5-star hotels as part of a move to implement total prohibition in the State in 10 years and agreed to examine it.A bench of justices A R Dave and U U Lalit agreed to grant an urgent hearing on a plea of aggrieved owners of hotels and posted the case for today....

Appoint Nodal Officer: Supreme Court tells Centre in Somali pirates case

“Combating piracy is imperative for safety of seafarers as well as successful world trade. The issue is of international concern and as already noted, it is receiving the attention of Government of India at highest level. We do hope the Government of India will continue its efforts for protection of affected citizens,” said the Bench headed by Justice TS Thakur, expressing its concerns...

Supreme Court maintains stand on quashing of FIR when parties settle [Read the Judgment]

The Supreme Court held that FIR can be quashed under S. 482 CrPC and Art. 226 of the Constitution in disputes which are substantially matrimonial in nature, or the civil property disputes with criminal facets, if the parties have entered into settlement, and it has become clear that there are no chances of conviction. However, the Court also clarified that such a situation would not apply...

Reply on Delhi elections by October 10, Supreme Court tells Centre

The Constitution Bench headed by Justice Dattu today asked the Centre to apprise it by October 10 about the result of political process started by Lt Governor by writing a letter to the President on exploring the chances of government formation in Delhi.The Court also expressed its view that it is not in favour of keeping the matter pending for long. "What is the possible time by which...

28 lawyers chosen to be trained to handle sexual harassment issues within the apex Court

Twenty eight lawyers have been picked as volunteers, to be trained to deal with cases of sexual harassment and to act as bridge between the victims and the committee dealing with such cases in the apex court premises.According to the office report on the Supreme Court website, NGOs have been contacted to train volunteers who were chosen in a seminar organized by the Gender Sensitization...

The SC refuses to review the order in CIDCO‘s land allotment case, indirectly dismissing Dushyant Dave ’s allegations.

A Supreme Court bench consisting of Justices J. Chelameswar and Pinaki Chandra Ghose has dismissed the Review Petition filed by City & Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) by its dated 28.8.2014.  The order against which review petition was filed had created a huge storm in legal circles in view of the letter written by Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave to the then...

Italian Marines Case: SC seeks response from Centre on plea to visit Italy

After one of the Italian Marines facing murder charges in India suffered a brain stroke, the Supreme Court has exempted personal appearance of the marine before police for two weeks. The SC sought a response from the Centre on a plea by one of the Italian marines, facing murder charges in India, to travel to his country for medical treatment for two months.During an initial hearing of the...

Apex Court demands reply from CBI Chief on visitors’ logbook

A Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice H.L. Dattu demanded a reply from CBI director Ranjit Sinha regarding the visitors’ logbook at his Delhi residence, asserting that the averments are “very serious”. He is asked to reply within a week.The Bench rejected Singh’s argument that filing an affidavit would mean disclosing crucial facts relating to 2G spectrum probe. It said if he chose...