Sedition Row: Delhi HC Sets Aside JNU’s Penalty On Kanhaiya Kumar

The Delhi High Court on Friday set aside Jawaharlal Nehru University’s order imposing fine of Rs. 10,000 on its former student union president Kanhaiya Kumar. It opined that the impugned order was “illegal, irrational and irregular”, and directed JNU to conduct the proceedings afresh.The penalty had been imposed by JNU’s Appellate Authority in connection with an incident in...

Live Streaming Of Supreme Court Cases—An Idea Whose Time Has Come

The brilliant move by the Supreme Court (SC) in declaring its support for live streaming of its cases, in two PILs filed by Senior Advocate Indira Jaising and Swapnil Tripathi (a law student from NLU Jodhpur), comes at a time when there is serious trust deficit in the workings of the court. The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud should be lauded for a great step towards initiating a move for transparency and openness in the Indian legal system....

Some Provisions Of Delhi District Court (Right to Information) Rules Are Not In Conformity With RTI Act: CIC [Read Order]

“One wonders, what queries other than relating to its primary functioning of the administration of justice could be put to the PIO of a Court of Law.”Taking note of some ‘exemption’ provisions of Delhi District Court (Right to Information) Rules, the Central Information Commission observed that they are not in conformity with the Right to Information Act and have orchestrated Counter...

Bombay HC Upholds Transfer Of Case After Party’s Lawyer Comments On Judge’s Facebook Post [Read Order]

A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court recently upheld the decision to transfer a case from a lower court judge after one of the parties’ lawyers commented on the judge’s FaceBook post.Justice Shantanu Kemkar and Justice Nitin W. Sambre in fact opined that the lawyer’s act of commenting on the judge’s post is capable of being viewed...

Punjab & Haryana HC Confirms Death Penalty For Haryana Women & Her Lover For Murdering 7 Members Of Her Family [Read Judgment]

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday confirmed the death sentence awarded to a Haryana woman and her boyfriend for poisoning and strangulating seven members of her family, including four children, in September 2009.The Bench comprising Justice A.B. Chaudhari and Justice Kuldip Singh observed, “In this case, the collective conscience of community is shocked and in opinion of this...

Marital Rape Hearing-Marriage Does Not Mean That Wife Should Always Be Willing To Engage In Sexual Relations: Delhi HC

Hearing petitions demanding criminalisation of marital rape, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday reportedly asserted that marriage does not mean that the wife should always be willing to consent to have physical relations with her husband.The observation was made by a Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar, on a Petition by the RIT Foundation, with the...

Acceptance Of Bribe Can Be Presumed If Accused Fails To Give Satisfactory Explanation For Possessing Bribe Money: SC [Read Judgment]

‘Since it is established that the accused was possessing the bribe money, it was for them to explain that how the bribe money has been received by them and if he fails to offer any satisfactory explanation, it will be presumed that he has accepted the bribe.’Interpreting Section 20 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Supreme Court in State of Gujarat vs. Navinbhai Chandrakant Joshi,...

Kerala Church Sex Scandal: SC Stays Arrest Of Two Accused Priests Till Thursday

The Supreme Court today deferred till Thursday the hearing on anticipatory bail plea of Father Soni Abraham Varghese and Father Jaise K George in connection with the sex scandal case involving Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Kerala.A Bench of Justice A K Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan meanwhile directed that no action shall be taken against the two till Thursday."We are not saying...

‘The Wire’ Stands By Its Article Against Jay Amit Shah; Rules Out Apology

The Wire affirmed that it was standing by its article published against Jay Amit Shah, by ruling out an apology to him. “There is no question of apology”, submitted Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran, appearing for ‘ The Wire ’ and reporter Rohini Singh, who was the author of the contentious article titled “The Golden Touch of Jay Amit Shah”.“The Wire” has approached the...

Consent Not A Defence For Offences Under POCSO Act: Kerala HC [Read Order]

"A minor girl can be easily lured into giving consent for sexual intercourse since she does not have the capacity to understand the implications thereof. Such a consent, therefore, is treated as not an informed consent given after understanding the pros and cons as well as consequences of the intended action."While denying pre-arrest bail of a person accused of committing offence under POCSO...

Lawyer’s Rape At Saket Court: Delhi HC ACJ Gita Mittal Convenes Urgent Meeting, Takes Stock Of Security In Courts

Distt and Sessions judges told to regularly interact with the BarIn wake of the alleged rape of a lady lawyer by a senior colleague in his chamber in Saket court complex two days ago, Delhi High Court Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal on Monday morning convened a meeting of judges of the high court and district court.ACJ Mittal met the administrative committee of Delhi High Court, which...

Netflix ‘Sacred Games’ Defaming Rajiv Gandhi? Delhi HC Says Actors Not Responsible For Dialogues, Asks If Plea Can Be Heard As PIL

The Delhi High Court on Monday said actors cannot be held responsible for dialogues or enacting their character while seeking to know if a plea seeking deletion of certain scenes from Netflix show ‘ Sacred Games ’ for being derogatory to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi could be heard as a PIL.A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar sought to know from the petitioner if...