Supreme Court Criminal Digest February 2023

Code of Criminal Procedure 1973; Section 432 – Remission - In determining the entitlement of a convict for premature release, the policy of the State Government on the date of the conviction would have to be the determinative factor. However, if the policy which was prevalent on the date of the conviction is subsequently liberalised to provide more beneficial terms, those should also be...

Supreme Court Upholds 'Change In Law' Compensation For Adani Power; Flays State DISCOMs For Taking A Stand Contrary To Union Govt

The Supreme Court has criticised the DISCOMS (Distribution Companies) for taking a stand contrary to that of the Union of India regarding grant of "Change in Law" compensation to power production companies.The Court made this observation while dismissing a petition filed by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited challenging the ‘Change in Law’ compensation granted by...

Compulsory Retirement Order Can Be Set Aside If It's Found To Be Punitive & Was Passed To Circumvent Disciplinary Proceedings : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court, on Friday, set aside an order passed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, communicating the order of the President, to compulsorily retire a Gazetted Officer who was being considered for appointment as a Member (Accountant) of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.Holding the order of compulsory retirement to...

Courts Today- A Daily Round Up Of Important Legal Developments- 6.3.23

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Courts Should Not Summon Appearance Of Officials At The “Drop Of The Hat”: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently highlighted that Courts should practise restraint while summoning government officials while hearing contempt cases.“This Court has repeatedly held that while it is open to the High court to come to any conclusion on the basis of the pleadings and materials available on record, it is not open to the Court to summon the appearance of the officials at the drop of...

Laws Needed To Address Fake News & Hate Speech In Social Media : Supreme Court Judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat

Supreme Court judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat has opined that laws are needed to tackle the proliferation of fake news and hate speech in the social media. There should be a legislation to address the issue and in its absence, there should be judicial intervention, said the judge while speaking at the Harvard India Conference last month.He said that the rapid proliferation of media via the...

Supreme Court Turns Down Plea For 50% Women Reservation In National Defence Academy

The Supreme Court has refused the plea of an aspirant to reserve fifty per cent of seats in the National Defence Academy for women. While noting that although the candidate had not secured the qualifying marks in her category, but in ‘overall merit’ would have obtained more marks than some of the male candidates admitted to the military academy, a division bench of Justices Sanjay...

Sex With Minor Wife : Supreme Court Acquits Husband Of Rape Relying On Exception 2 To Sec 375 IPC

The Supreme Court recently acquitted a man who was convicted for the offence of rape for sexual intercourse with his minor wife by relying on Exception 2 to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which exempts marital rape from punishment if the wife was aged above 15 years.A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Sanjay Karol was considering an appeal that had arisen out of a conviction under...

Revolutionizing Justice- Exploring Kerala High Court's Innovative, Paperless E-Court System For More Accessible Justice [PART-2]

“There can be no life without change, and to be afraid of what is different or unfamiliar is to be afraid of life” – Theodore Roosevelt.In Part 1 of the feature, we had discussed about the Case Management System (CMS) introduced by the Kerala High Court, in its pursuit of becoming completely paperless, and automated. We had highlighted the notable features provided by the System. We...

Indian Judiciary Can Never Be Forced To Play The Role Of Opposition Party : Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

Indian judiciary can never be forced to play the role of an opposition party though "some people" want it to play such a role, said Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju on Sunday."Some people want to force the judiciary to play the role of an opposition party. Indian judiciary will never accept this. I can tell you Indian judiciary itself will resist these forceful attempts to...

Supreme Court Forms Committee To Oversee Transfer/Import Of Wild Animals In India

The Supreme Court has extended the jurisdiction of a High Powered Committee constituted by the High Court of Tripura for the transfer or import of wild animals in India at Pan India level. The order was passed by a bench comprising Justice Krishna Murari and Justice A Amanullah. Supreme Court was approached by a petitioner seeking clarification on a previous order of the court regarding a...

Spotlight On Recent Appointments To Supreme Court: Justice PV Sanjay Kumar

A general criticism of the Indian Courts has been that very little is known to the public about the judges being recommended by respective Collegium before their appointment, on merit and suitability. A designated Secretariat ideally should do the job, unfortunately we don’t have such a mechanism. Livelaw has taken an initiative to share relevant information about the appointees and we are starting with the appointments to the Apex Court. The focus is to shed light on some of their significant...