Supreme Court Weekly Round Up

Top Stories:1. Siddique Kappan Was Using 'Garb Of Journalism' To Disturb Law & Order In Hathras: UP Govt Tells SC [Kerala Union of Working Journalists V. UOI]The State of Uttar Pradesh has submitted before Supreme Court that Journalist Siddique Kappan has no locus to approach the Top Court under an Article 32 petition, since he is not in an illegal custody/confinement but is in judicial custody in "pursuance of the valid judicial order passed by the competent court". The counter-affidavit filed by the UP Government states that the petition filed by Kerala Union of Working Journalists(KUWJ) directly under Article 32 of the Constitution of India "is not maintainable and it is for the person in judicial custody to approach the jurisdictional High Court namely High Court of Allahabad."Also Read: Supreme Court Records State Of UP's No Objection To Siddique Kappan Meeting Lawyer In Jail; Hearing Deferred To Next WeekAlso Read: 'We Are Trying To Cut Down Article 32 Jurisdiction': Chief Justice of India2. New Tweet Against CJI: Attorney General Grants Consent To Initiate Contempt Against Comedian Kunal KamraThe Attorney General for India, KK Venugopal has granted his consent for initiation of contempt proceedings against comedian Kunal Kamra, over his latest tweet passing comments on the Chief Justice of India. Responding to the request made by Advocate Anuj Singh, the AG said, "The depiction of the two fingers, with the legend that he means the middle one, is to deliberately insult the Chief Justice of India which would equally be an insult to the Supreme Court of India itself, which the Chief Justice heads. The said tweet is grossly vulgar and obnoxious, and I have no doubt that it would tend to lower the authority of the Supreme Court of India as well as undermine the confidence that the litigant public have in the institution of the Supreme Court of India itself.3. Supreme Court Issues Notice On Centre's Challenge To Kerala HC Judgement Which Quashed Preventive Detention Under COFEPOSA Act [Union of India V. Beevikunju]The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice in a special leave petition filed by the Union of India challenging a Kerala High Court judgment which quashed the preventive detention orders passed against two person under Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA) was quashed.4. Waiver Of Loan Interest: Sufficient Relief Granted; Further Intervention Not Needed, Centre Tells Supreme Court [Gajendra Sharma V. Union of India]The Centre urged a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, MR Shah and Subhash Reddy to not intervene and provide further relief to borrowers under Article 32 as the Government was already "on top of it". Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told top Court today that many relief packages and schemes had been worked out with technical experts and the intervention of the Court in fiscal policy issues was uncalled for. The law officer informed Court that the Government was not oblivious to the stress suffered by various stakeholders but, there was no room to do anything beyond the constraint of finance.5. Sudarshan TV's UPSC Jihad Show Not In "Good Taste", Likely To Promote Communal Attitudes: MIB Cautions Channel [Firoz Iqbal Khan V. UOI]The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that Sudarshan TV's UPSC Jihad program is "not in good taste" and has likelihood to "promote communal attitudes". In this context, it has "cautioned" the Suresh Chavhanke led channel to be "careful in future."6. "PMO Unique, Matter Cannot Be Kept Pending" :SC Reserves Order In Plea Against Narendra Modi's Election From Varanasi [Tej Bahadur V. Narendra Modi]The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved orders in a petition filed by ex-BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav, challenging the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde, Justices AS Bopanna & V. Ramasubramaniun said that the issue concerned with the most important office of the country, i.e. the PMO and that it cannot be kept pending indefinitely. This happened after the counsel for petitioner sought adjournments and pass overs many times during the hearing.7. 'Frivolous' Plea To Protect Pending Ram Temple Artefacts At Ayodhya:Supreme Court Partially Waives Cost And Closes The Matter [Satish Chindhuji Sambharkar V. UOI]Noting that such pleas "create aspirations" and "disrupt emotions", the Supreme Court on Friday partially waived the costs imposed on the petitioners for two 'frivolous' PILs seeking preservation of artefacts recovered from the Ram Janmabhoomi site at Ayodhya, with the warning that such ventures not be indulged in in the future.8. Default Bail Granted Erroneously Can Be Cancelled By High Court U/s 439(2) CrPC: Supreme Court [VENKATESAN BALASUBRAMANIYAN vs. THE INTELLIGENCE OFFICER, D.R.I. BANGALORE]The Supreme Court has observed that a 'default bail' illegally or erroneously...

Supreme Court Weekly Round Up

Sanya Talwar

Week Commencing November 15 to November 22, 2020

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