- Son of High Court Judge Dies in Road Accident
The son of a Chhattisgarh HC Judge died in a road accident near Barfani Ashram in Rajnandgaon district on Saturday, Police said. The incident took place around 5:30 am today. The body has been sent to a hospital for a post mortem, said Police.
Sources said that Shreyansh Chaurasia, son of Chhattisgarh HC Judge Justice Gautam Chaurasia, had gone outside to refill the petrol in his car when a trailer truck hit his car.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where a doctor declared him brought dead.
- 6 Rajasthan BSP MLAs seek to transfer plea against their merger with Congress to SC
On Saturday, 6 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs from Rajasthan moved Apex Court seeking transfer of the case against their merger with the Congress party in the state from the High Court of Rajasthan to the Supreme Court. The BSP MLAs, in their plea, submitted that similar matters pertaining to the interpretation of Para 4 of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, are already pending before the Top Court.
The plea said that "It is important to also note that there is an urgent need to clarify the law in respect of the scope & purport of Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule, to ensure that there are no conflicting judgments, involving substantial questions of interpretation of the Constitution, by an interpretation by this court". It submitted that subparagraph (1) of Paragraph 4 contemplates that a 13 member of the house will not attract disqualification under Paragraph 2, if his original political party merges with another political party.
"All the six persons, being the entire Legislative Party of the BSP merged with the Legislature Party of the Indian National Congress (INC), & the same came to be recognised by the Order of the Speaker of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly September 18, 2019," the plea stated.
Further, subparagraph (2) creates a legal fiction of a merger of the legislative party being treated as a merger of the original political party, it added. This comes even as the Rajasthan HC is scheduled to hear on Aug 11 a plea filed by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) & BJP leader Madan Dilawar against the merger, which had helped the ruling party in retaining a majority in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly,On July 30, the HC heard the application seeking a stay on the order announcing the merger & issued notices to the Speaker, Secretary of the Legislative Assembly & 6 BSP MLAs in the state asking them to file their reply before the next date of hearing. The development holds significance as it comes in the backdrop of a political crisis in Rajasthan Congress after simmering differences between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot & his deputy Sachin Pilot came out in the open.
Pilot, along with 18 other MLAs supporting him, is reportedly staying at a Haryana hotel. The Congress has accused the BJP of attempting to topple the Gehlot-led government in Rajasthan. The BJP has denied the charge.
- Activist Rehana Fathima Surrenders before Police in POCSO Case
Activist Rehana Fathima, who is an accused in a case related to a video of her children painting on her semi-nude body, surrendered before the Police on Saturday after the Apex Court rejected her Anticipatory Bail application in the matter.
She surrendered at Ernakulam South Police Station this evening. On Friday, the Apex Court dismissed the bail plea filed by Fathima, challenging the order of the Kerala HC, which had also refused to grant Anticipatory Bail to her in the matter.
Recently, the High Court of Kerala had refused to grant pre-arrest bail to her & observed that the video amounted to an obscene representation of children for the purposes of "sexual gratification" & attract offences under Section 13 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) & Section 67B of Information Technology Act (IT Act). Thiruvalla Police had registered a case against Fathima over the video based on a complaint filed by Advocate AV Arun Prakash. The non-bailable offences slapped against her also include charges under the Juvenile Justice Act.
Rehana Fathima, who shot to fame for her attempt to enter Sabarimala Temple, posted the video titled 'Body & Politics' in which she allowed her minor son & daughter to paint on her body as she lies half-naked on the bed. Fathima had shared the video on her Facebook feed & her YouTube channel which was circulated widely & was seen by thousands of people.
- Court grants Bail to Delhi Violence accused on condition of Maintaining Peace, Harmony
A Delhi Court has granted Bail to a man, arrested in connection with a case relating to violence that erupted in northeast Delhi on condition that "he shall maintain peace & harmony in his locality." On Friday, Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav granted bail to Mohd Mobin Ali asking him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 20,000 with a surety of the like amount.
The Court also imposed certain condition including that he shall not tamper with the evidence or influence any witness in any manner. Among the other conditions is that Ali will appear before the court on each & every date of hearing to attend the proceedings & shall furnish his mobile number to station house officer (SHO) of New Usmanpur upon his release from the jail.
The Court also ordered him to install "Aarogya Setu App" on his mobile phone. While granting bail, the court also noted two parts in the CCTV footage of the incident. In the first part, the co-accused persons namely Mohd Javed Khan, Mohd Anas & other accused were allegedly seen with sword, sticks etc, in their hands; whereas, in the second part the applicant is seen. "He is clearly 'unarmed' & he appears to be very cool, calm & composed," the court observed.
The Court held that "From the very perusal of the CCTV footage, it is clearly apparent that the applicant does not appear to be part of riotous mob. As per the arguments advanced at bar by the learned counsel for the applicant, he was returning from Masjid after offering namaaz". It added that "In my considered opinion, the case of the applicant is different from that of co-accused persons namely Mohd Javed Khan & Mohd Anas".
Ali has been in judicial custody since April 20, afrer he was arrested in connection with a case related to the northeast Delhi violence in New Usmanpur. He was arrested after being identified in the CCTV footage by injured Raman on March 13. Ali had filed a bail plea through advocate M Gulzar Ali, who has argued that the applicant, who is aged about 45 years has not been named in the FIR. The advocate argued that the applicant is not of the age group of other rioters.
Countering defence counsel arguement, Special Public Prosecutor vehemently argued that the applicant has been identified by injured Raman on March 13 after seeing the CCTV footage obtained in the matter.
- Islamabad HC forms larger bench on Kulbhushan Jadhav Case
Bowing down to India's diplomatic pressure, the High Court of Islamabad has formed a larger bench to hear Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row in Pakistan. Geo News reported that the larger bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Amir Farooq & Justice Mian Gull Hassan Aurangzeb, was formed on Friday & it will hear the case on Sept 3.
The decision comes after India continued to pressurise Pakistan into allowing consular access to Jadhav. While the Imran Khan Govt has alleged of contacting the Govt. of India over the matter of appointing a legal representative for Kulbhushan Jadhav.
Earlier, the Pakistan media had reported that Islamabad Court has said Indian officials should be given an opportunity to present their stance. However, no such communication was received by India's Ministry of External Affairs.
Anurag Srivastava, MEA spokesperson said that "We have not received any communication from the Pakistan Govt in this regard". Last month, India had said Pakistan has blocked all avenues for effective remedy available to it in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.
Pakistan alleges that Jadhav was arrested from Balochistan in 2016 on charges of espionage. India has rejected Pakistan's allegations & said he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar. In early 2017, a Pakistani Military Court sentenced him to death. In July 2019, the International Court of Justice upheld India's claim that Pakistan has committed an egregious violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations on several counts.
- BCI seeks reply from NDBA over inaction on hardships faced Members/Advocates due to COVID-19 pandemic
The Bar Council of India has sought reply from New Delhi Bar Association to file over to non use of finances/funds of the Bar Associations to tackle the hardships faced by its Members/ Advocate pertaining to COVID-19 pandemic.
The BCI has the taken the above action in lieu of receipent of one letter mentioned under reference dated 27.07.2020. The letter has been addressed to the President New Delhi Bar Association with a copy to Hon'ble Chairman, BCI and to some other dignitaries, states about the Minutes of a virtual meeting of the New Delhi Bar Association (NDBA) attended by 300 members of the Bar Association, held on 22.07.2020 for taking necessary action, wherein discussion was held on the issue of critical financial -2- hardships faced by the Members of the NDBA on account of Covid-19 pandemic.
In backdrop of this the BCI has sought response from Executive Committee of the New Delhi Bar Association as the matter concerns non use of finances/ funds to mitigate the crisis faced by its Member due to economic crunch resultanant of pandemic. A period of 21 days has been granted by the BCI to furnish the reply.
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- HC raises concern over Gangster Violence in and around Chandigarh
Taking a strong note of rising gangster culture in the tricity, the High Court of Punjab & Haryana observed that once known for academic achievements, the area is now being rapidly turned into a “hostile city”.
“..this court is perturbed over the manner in which such goons trotting with firearms pervade the tricity & gangsters have come to settle here, & such steep number of such incidents in the area is a strong circumstance for this court to take a strong view of the incident,” the bench of justice Fatehdeep Singh said, while rejecting anticipatory bail plea of an accused in a firing incident reported outside Government Medical College & Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, in Jan 2020.
The High Court bench further added that the FIR’s content was strongly suggestive that the accused, as well as the complainant side, are young boys who have formed gangs & are trying to create an atmosphere of threat to society to lay their claim of supremacy & bravado.
THE CASE
Ludhiana resident Jagtar Singh, aka Jaggi, 23, had told police that on Jan 10, he & a friend, Samar Bhat, had come to GMCH to meet another friend, Lovepreet Singh of Model Town, Kharar, who was admitted there. The 2 were standing near the emergency when 4-5 men reportedly attacked them & fled after firing gunshots. A passerby was shot in the arm in this melee.
The incident was allegedly the result of Bhat’s standoff with the accused youths over a TikTok video. Police arrested Kamalpreet Singh Sidhu, 24, of Sunny Enclave, Kharar, on June 28,while Dilpreet Singh, alias Billa, 24, who had opened fire, was nabbed from Ropar in July. Three co-accused, including one Nishan Singh Khera, are yet to be arrested.
The High Court order came on the petition of Khera, who allegedly owned the car used to flee from the spot. He had told the court that neither he has been identified nor named in the FIR & nothing was to be recovered from him. He had also produced a compromise deed document effected by both parties in this case.
However, Chandigarh Police told the Court the 2 groups had a previous history of enmity & a number of skirmishes had taken place between them. Thus, rejecting the bail plea, the Court said it has to invoke its extraordinary powers “sparingly” & the compromise effected in this case was to “stifle” the investigations.
- Sushant Singh Rajput Death Case: 'Politically Motivated', Mumbai Police tells SC about FIR in Bihar
Actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death probe is turning into a mud-slinging match between the Mumbai Police and Bihar Police at the top court. On Saturday, the Mumbai Police filed an affidavit stating that the FIR lodged by Bihar Police on a complaint filed by Sushant’s father was politically motivated and done at the instance of the chief minister of Bihar. This has given an interesting turn to the case ahead of the Supreme Court hearing the transfer petition filed by Sushant’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty on Tuesday. She has sought transfer of the FIR lodged at Patna to Mumbai.
Mumbai Police even called out the “indecent haste” shown by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in lodging a FIR on the recommendation from the Bihar government and even constituting a team to begin probe into abetment of suicide charge against Rhea, her family members and two friends.
“The indecent haste with which the CBI has proceeded in this regard, speaks for itself, regarding the bonafides of all involved in this exercise,” stated the Mumbai Police in its affidavit filed through advocate Sachin Patil. The affidavit termed the CBI FIR without “legal sanctity” as it was filed without consent of Maharashtra, which alone is entitled to give consent under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act and not Bihar.
The developments came on a day when Sushant’s father KK Singh filed his reply in the apex court terming Rhea’s petition as “infructuous” following CBI taking over the case. The late actor’s father even accused the Mumbai Police of inaction as he questioned why even after 54 days of enquiry no FIR was registered. “If the respondent No.3 (State of Maharashtra) has found no evidence qua the petitioner (Rhea) in 54 days of enquiry, it only reflects one conclusion that the Respondent No.3 is trying to shield the Petitioner for the reason best known to them,” Sushant’s father stated in his affidavit settled by senior advocate Vikas Singh.
Defending the charges against them, Mumbai Police wondered why the father of the late actor did not approach them for registering FIR against Rhea and her family members. Citing a Ministry of Home Affairs circular of May 10, 2013, the Mumbai Police claimed that at best, Bihar Police ought to have registered a Zero FIR and transferred the same to Bandra Police.
Making a big charge against its Bihar counterpart, the Mumbai Police said, “The registration of the FIR at Rajeev Nagar Police Station, Patna, Bihar was politically motivated and due to extraneous reasons.” To support this statement, the affidavit cited a newspaper report annexed to Rhea’s petition which said that while Bihar Police was hesitant to file FIR, it was the Bihar chief minister and another minister who persuaded them to register it.
The mud-slinging was not limited to that alone. Commenting on Bihar’s decision to recommend a CBI probe, the Mumbai Police said, “Recommendation of respondent no 1 (Bihar government) to transfer investigation into FIR by CBI bristles with malafides and same is void ab initio.” Such a thing could lead to a “chaotic situation” as the accused or complainant would then choose their own state police to initiate investigation into a case.
Already, the Bihar Police had accused Mumbai Police of shielding Rhea and obstructing probe into the FIR lodged at Patna. The turf war between the two police forces was at display when Bihar-cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Vinay Tiwari who landed in Mumbai on August 2 to expedite probe was forcibly quarantined.
The Bihar government had claimed this was an “afterthought” as the four officers of Bihar Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) who landed in Mumbai on July 27 were not similarly quarantined.
The Mumbai Police has denied of having obstructing the probe and claimed that Vinay Tiwari was quarantined by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and not the police. Further, it said that the four officers who landed earlier ought to have quarantined themselves.
- Social impact of Crime against Women can’t be lost sight of: HC
Social impact of the crime against women requires “exemplary treatment” to be meted out to the accused, said the High Court of Bombay on Friday while refusing to reduce the life term to 6-year imprisonment to a Mumbaikar for attempting to kill his girlfriend 6 years ago, who had also refused to marry him, despite being in an intimate relationship for 2 years.
“We are conscious that the social impact of the crime against women cannot be lost sight of & per se require exemplary treatment,” said the 2-member High Court bench, comprising Justice SS Shinde & Justice MS Karnik, while rejecting the prayer of the convict, Arumugum Arundatiyar, to reduce his life term to 6 years imprisonment, which he had already served.
Earlier, Mumbai Sessions Court had sentenced Arundatiyar to a life term.
The prosecution argued that Arundatiyar was seeing the young woman, who worked as a baby-sitter, & wanted to marry her.
However, She had refused to marry him, as her family was opposed to the match, following which Arundatiyar had assaulted her twice because she had spurned his proposal.
On May 8, 2014, when the victim was returning home from work by an auto-rickshaw, Arundatiyar barged into the vehicle.
He threatened the auto-driver with a knife & pulled her out of the vehicle. Arundatiyar attacked her with the knife in public. He stabbed her on the neck & also threatened the public, who had tried to intervene.
Though he had fled from the scene of the crime, he was arrested after a while. Arundatiyar appealed against the sessions court verdict & move High Court.
His lawyer, advocate Aniket Vagal, pleaded before Court that the injuries caused to the woman were not life-threatening & the incident took place because she had refused to marry him, even they were in an intimate relationship for 2 years.
Vagal also cited that Arundatiyar was only 25 years old when he had committed the crime & had little financial means. He argued that the sentence was grossly disproportionate to the crime, especially when the injuries were not life-threatening, & urged the Court to let Arundatiyar off since he had served 6 years in prison.
However, the High Court refused to show any sympathy to the convict. The bench said any liberal approach by imposing meagre sentences or taking a lenient view of the crimes against women would be counter-productive in the long run & against societal interests. But, High Court found life imprisonment to be too harsh & reduced Arundatiyar’s sentence to ten years, of which he needed to serve another 4 years.
- SC notifies revised timings of opening of Lawyers’ Chamber Blocks
On Friday, taking into account requests received in this regard, and in partial modification of terms of Circular dated 21st May, 2020, the Competent Authority of Supreme Court has revised the timings for the opening of Lawyers’ Chamber Blocks in the Supreme Court premises from 09:30 AM to 05:00 PM (Monday to Friday, except holidays) instead of 10 AM to 4 PM (Monday to Friday, except holidays).
Other terms of the said Circular shall remain the same.
- Robust Online Dispute Resolution can facilitate affordable Justice delivery, ease of doing biz: Amitabh Kant
On Saturday, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said a robust online dispute resolution (ODR) ecosystem has the potential to ensure Justice delivery in a cheaper, quicker & credible manner, which in turn can help in ease of doing business. Amitabh Kant further said ODR is a fast-evolving dispute resolution mechanism that uses technology not just to aid, but to proactively assist efficient & affordable Justice delivery.
Mr Kant was addressing a virtual seminar on ‘Unlocking Online Dispute Resolution to Enhance the Ease of Doing Business’. “A robust ODR ecosystem in India has the potential to facilitate access to justice & the ease of doing business by making dispute resolution cheaper, quicker & most importantly equally credible as conventional methods of dispute resolution,” he said. Also speaking at the event, Ex-Apex Court Judge Justice B N Srikrishna said ODR can act as a complement to the Court system.
He said that “In fact, it will act as an auxiliary of the court system in the sense that it will prevent a large number of litigations unnecessarily that clutter the courts". Online Dispute Resolution can help deliver justice to the doorstep of the litigant, Srikrishna said adding that the litigant doesn't need to travel from Kerala to Delhi to solve dispute, he or she can resolve it through the electronic platform.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas managing partner Cyril Shroff said that this is an amazing opportunity to create a public-private partnership (PPP) where the Govt can become the technology garage or the solution for finding access to Justice.
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