Paying Service Charge ‘Discretion Of Customer’, Can Deny If Unhappy: Govt.

Those disappointed with sloppy service at restaurants need not shell out those extra few notes for ‘service charge’.The Department of Consumer Affairs said the ‘service charge’ billed in the total amount along with the taxes is only ‘optional’ and the customer has the discretion to not pay it.The department has asked the state governments to sensitise the companies, hotels...

Bombay High Court Round Up 2016

Bombay High Court passed orders and judgments in several important cases this year. The highest court in the state laid down the law, altered legislations and in the process contributed significantly to jurisprudence in India.This year also saw two separate tenures of Chief justices, while CJ DH Waghela was appointed on February 15 this year, he retired on August 10. His tenure lasted for...

ATM Withdrawal Limit Raised To ₹4,500; Withdrawal Limit From Bank Unchanged

Limits of withdrawal from banks remain unchanged, i.e., ₹24,000.Reserve Bank of India has raised the withdrawal limits from ATMs from ₹2,500 to ₹4,500. It also directed the banks that the disbursals should predominantly be in the denomination of ₹500.The circular, which was reportedly issued during Friday midnight, read: The daily limit of withdrawal from ATMs has been increased...

Petition In Bombay HC Seeks Guidelines For Preventing False Rape Cases Post Love Affair

A petition has been filed in the Bombay High Court by a couple who were formerly in a relationship, seeking guidelines to ensure that people are not booked under false charges of rape after a love affair turns sour.The 20 year old girl, who is one of the petitioners in the case, had decided to file a complaint against her 34 year old partner(second petitioner)after she realized that he...

RTI Reveals RBI Recommended Note Ban Hours Before PM’s Announcement; Plea For Minutes Rejected

The pre-demonetisation consultation process has been shrouded in secrecy, much to the angst of opposition and experts. However, recently the RBI has revealed certain details regarding the consultation process preceding note ban and clarified that its recommendation came hours before Prime Minister Modi’s announcement. An RTI plea, on the hand, seeking minutes of the demonetisation...

Aadhaar Card Is Not Proof Of Citizenship: Calcutta HC [Read Judgment]

Aadhaar card is not a proof of Indian citizenship, the Calcutta High Court has ruled, while rejecting a claim of citizenship on the ground that the accused possessed Aadhaar card.Justice Joymalya Bagchi was considering bail plea of a person who was booked under Section 14F of the Indian Foreigners Act, who had contended that she is an Indian citizen and that the Aadhaar card was issued in view...

Media Must Apologize To Acquitted Innocents: ‘Peoples’ Tribunal On Innocent Acquitted’ Suggests Legislative & Policy Changes [Read Report]

BackgroundThe Innocence Network organized its first Peoples’ Tribunal on Acquitted Innocents on 2nd October 2016 at Delhi. The Jury comprised of Justice (Retd.) A.P. Shah (Chairman), Mr. Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai, Ms. Neena Vyas, Ms. Nandini Sundar, Mr. Abdul Shaban, Mr. Vinod Sharma and Ms. Monica Sakhrani.It heard testimonies of those who had been charged with terror...

New Captain Of The Ship, Change In Sailing Rules Soon?

Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar has recently been appointed as the next Chief Justice of India as Justice TS Thakur will superannuate on January 4 next year.As is the practice in the Supreme Court, Justice Thakur has already surrendered the administrative works, which will be picked by Justice Khehar in the next calendar year, when the Supreme Court reopens on January 2.http://www.livelaw.in/sc-junks-pil-justice-khehars-elevation-cji/Looking at the vast powers of the Chief Justice of India in the...

Decriminalising S.377 Will Not End Homophobia & Transphobia: Interview With Oishik Sircar & Dipika Jain

The Indian Supreme Court referred the curative petitions to reopen its 2013 decision in Suresh Kumar Kaushal v Naz Foundation to a five-Judge Constitution Bench in February this year. With the current chief justice retiring in January next year, and the next chief justice also having a very limited tenure of seven months, there is considerable uncertainty, and anxiety about when the Constitution Bench would be set up, and whether it could answer the principal plea of the petitioners to recognise...

Quality Reporting And Quick Reporting; Lessons From Allahabad High Court’s Triple Talaq Verdict

Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court C. Aryama Sundaram in his article [The New Indian Express-18th Dec] wrote wrongly in the opening para – “The triple talaq rule has similarly dire consequences for Muslim women — until the Allahabad High Court, looking aghast at the custom, struck it down.” It has been debated across the country immensely, how incorrect reporting (especially sensitive issues like this) leads to much confusion as a large population of the country is not privy to reading the...

‘Disaster Prevention And Speedy Justice Are Never Election Issues’, Say Neelam And Shekhar, Authors Of ‘Trial By Fire’

The 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy in New Delhi killing 59 patrons of a cinema-hall, was a man-made disaster, from which India has hardly learnt any lessons, either in preventing similar tragedies, or in ensuring appropriate punishment to those found guilty of causing them.Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy of Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) have, in their recent book, ‘Trial By Fire’ [Penguin Random House], lucidly brought out their challenges in pursuing the legal struggle to ensure...

Madras HC Directs Govt To Crack Down On Shariat Courts [Read Order]

“If a place of worship – whether it be temple, mosque or church, is used for purposes other than prayers and more specifically to create extra-judicial forums, certainly the authorities are duty-bound to take action against the same,” it said. The Madras High Court has recently directed the government to take necessary action to stop the activities of ‘shariat’ courts in the...