Burden Of Proof On Accused To Prove Plea Of Insanity Is One Of Preponderance Of Probability : Supreme Court

Accepting the plea of insanity, the Supreme Court recently set aside an order passed by a trial court in 2006 convicting a man for the offence of murder. The Court noted that the appellant was undergoing treatment for schizophrenia at the time of the offence which took place in 2004. There was evidence on record that prior to the occurrence, he had underwent in-patient treatment at a...

All Courts Should Have Hybrid System For Hearing Cases, Opines Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday verbally expressed that all courts in the country need to have in place, a hybrid system for hearing cases. Before a bench of Justices SK Kaul and Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, Senior Advocate P Wilson said that regional benches of the Supreme Court are necessary for the benefit of litigants. “With the technology that has developed now, this has...

Article 226| Writ Petition Should Not Be Dismissed On Ground Of Alternative Remedies When Only Questions Of Law Are Raised : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court observed that it is not proper to dismiss a writ petition on the ground of alternative remedy without examining whether an exceptional case has been made out for such entertainment."Where the controversy is a purely legal one and it does not involve disputed questions of fact but only questions of law, then it should be decided by the high court instead of dismissing the...

S.153A Income Tax Act| Can Assessments Be Reopened If No Incriminating Material Is Found During Search? Supreme Court Starts Hearing

The Supreme Court on Wednesday commenced hearing on whether in an assessment under section 153A of the Income Tax Act, besides the incriminating material found during search, such materials which the Assessing Officer has on hand and the third party records available can be relied on to assess total income, or whether the assessment has to confined only to the incriminating material...

BREAKING | Siddique Kappan Walks Out Of Jail On Bail After Over Two Years Of Incarceration

Over 1 month after he was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case, Kerala Journalist Siddique Kappan today walked out of jail after spending over 2 years in jail.A Sessions Court in Lucknow yesterday signed orders to release him on Bail after accepting his bail bonds.He was arrested along with three others in Mathura on...

We Have No User Data Except Name & Phone Number; We Don't Process Personal Sensitive Data : WhatsApp Tells Supreme Court

On Wednesday, WhatsApp infomed the Supreme Court that by policy it does not process sensitive personal data of its users.A Constitution Bench bench comprising Justices KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar was hearing the petitions which were filed challenging the 2016 privacy policy of WhatsApp. The case was referred to the Constitution Bench in 2017.On...

'Ban BBC's Operations In India' : Hindu Sena President's Plea In Supreme Court After Documentary On Narendra Modi

A PIL has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking imposition of complete ban on the British Broadcasting Corporation and BBC India from operating in the territory of India.The petition, filed through Advocate, Barun Kumar Sinha, also seeks directions to the NIA to initiate investigation against the ‘anti-India and anti-Indian Government reporting/documentary films/short films including...

Tribunals Have Become Haven For Retired Judges & Bureaucrats;They Must Have Specialists As Members : Supreme Court Judge

Supreme Court Judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on Wednesday orally observed that the Tribunals in the country should have experts in the respective fields as members. "I have no hesitation in saying, there's a saying that it's become a haven for retired bureaucrats and judges. Tribunals must be with specialists. For eg. in Tax tribunals, you pick up specialists. Similarly, armed...

Supreme Court Asks MoEFCC To Respond To Recommendation To Convert "Project Elephant" Into A Statutory Agency

The Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala on Wednesday resumed hearings in the PIL seeking court's intervention in relation to the issue of a large number of unnatural death of wild elephants due to electrocution from power lines passing through the protected areas and elephant reserves. The bench asked the Ministry...

Bail Pendency Is An Emergency Situation Needing Urgent Attention : Justice PS Narasimha

Justice. P.S. Narasimha of the Supreme Court of India said the average quality of legal representation, both legal aid and private, needs to be upgraded. He spoke on the urgency of improving the quality of and collaboration between institutions of the criminal justice system to ensure protection of the rights of individuals impacted by the system. He also noted that ‘the current state...

Land In Himachal Pradesh Cannot Be Transferred To A Non -Agriculturist Without State Govt Permission : Supreme Court

Land in Himachal Pradesh cannot be transferred to a nonagriculturist, and this is with a purpose, the Supreme Court observed in a judgment delivered yesterday.The bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Sudhanshu Dhulia noted that the purpose is to save the small agricultural holding of poor persons and also to check the rampant conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes.In...

Supreme Court Directs WhatsApp To Widely Publicise That Users Aren't Bound To Accept Its 2021 Privacy Policy

A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court directed WhatsApp to widely publicise its stand that WhatsApp users in India do not have to accept its 2021 privacy policy in order to use it, and WhatsApp’s functionality would remain unaffected till the Data Protection Bill comes into existence.In a letter written to the MeitY, Government of India, in 22.05.2021, WhatsApp had given the...