High Courts Weekly Round-Up

• Directed Pune Municipal Corporation to grant occupation certificate for two buildings at Indian Law Society Law College, Pune. While one of the buildings is meant for the new girls hostel, the second one is reserved for an arbitration centre.
• Allowed a plea by one Beena Muller, a citizen of Switzerland, to direct the State Adoption Resources Authority (SARA) to disclose necessary information about her adoption that took place over 30 years ago to an attorney appointed by her for this purpose. Division bench of Justice Akil Kureshi and Justice SJ Kathawalla directed SARA to supply necessary information as may be available in connection with the adoption of the petitioner to the power of attorney holder Anjali Pawar. Division bench of Justice SC Dharmadhikari and Justice GS Patel heard the writ petition filed by Indian Law Society and directed PMC to grant OC within two weeks.
• Set aside conviction of one Abdul Gani Mulla, a man sentenced to seven years in prison for allegedly ransacking the house, assaulting the wife and children of another man Balkrishna during the Bombay riots of 1992.
• The High Court at Goa struck down Article 19 of the Decree Law No.35461 enacted to give recognition to judgments and annulments of marriage with respect to Catholics by Patriarchal Tribunal and Metropolitan Tribunal, as unconstitutional and ultra-vires to Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
• Granted relief to a 54-year-old Mumbai based businessman and quashed three separate orders passed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs allowing Central Bureau of Investigation to intercept phone calls of the petitioner businessman in a case of bribery involving an official of a public sector bank.
• Allowed a criminal application filed by one Sandeep Shirsat, convicted of murder and rape and declared him to be a juvenile at the time of crime. Consequently, Shirsat will not face the death penalty awarded to him by the trial court. Division bench of Justice BP Dharmadhikari and Justice SK Shinde set aside the findings recorded against the applicant accused by the trial court in judgement dated May 11, 2017 convicting him under Sections 302, 376(2)(g), 326 of the Indian penal Code.
• Granted relief to Hardcastle Restaurants Private Ltd, which operates several franchises of McDonald's in Western and Southern India and set aside an order of National Anti-Profiteering Authority alleging profiteering on behalf of the company for not passing on the benefits of reduction in tax on restaurant services, from 18% to 5%, to the consumers.
• Confirmed the death sentence awarded to three men convicted of raping and killing a 16-year-old girl who was on her way back home after finishing school in Ahmednagar district at Aurangabad.
• Held that hawkers do not have an absolute and unconditional right to squat on pavements or footpaths and conduct their business causing hindrance to pedestrian and traffic movement in the area.

Chhattisgarh High Court

• While setting aside an order of conviction passed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, the High Court said that without there being any corroboration by Independent Witnesses, relying only on the evidence of Investigating Officers, whose statements were contradictory, was improper.

Delhi High Court

• Taking stern view of a false rent agreement filed by a husband in Domestic Violence proceedings pending against him before the Trial Court, the High Court enhanced the interim maintenance payable by him to his wife and directed initiation of an inquiry under Section 340 of CrPC.
• Issued notice to Election Commission, Central Government and Sikkim Government in a petition challenging the reduction in disqualification term of Prem Singh Tamang from 6 years to 1 year and 30 days.
• Issued notice to ASG Maninder Acharya to take instructions from the central government in order to furnish information about the functioning and other important issues pertaining to Intellectual Property Appellate Board.
• Issued notice to Enforcement Directorate in bail application filed by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the INX Media case. The application was before the bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait.
• Issued notice to New Delhi Municipal Corporation, and SHO, Connaught Place Police Station, in a PIL challenging the public notice which led to the eviction of various street vendors from the Jama Masjid area.
• Directed Commissioner of Delhi Police to equip Police Control Room Vans with mobile phones or iPads in order to enable them to efficiently record the crime scene and tender the same to the court as legal evidence.
• While dismissing a petition assailing election of certain allegedly disqualified candidates to the Legislative Assembly of Orissa, filed before it on account of indefinite Advocates' strike at Orissa, the High Court remarked that all lawyers must boldly refuse to abide by any call for strike or boycott.
• In a suit for permanent injunction filed by Make My Trip (India) Pvt. Ltd., to restrain infringement of its trademarks by Make My Travel (India) Pvt. Ltd. (Defendant), the High Court, while detailing the requisites for a defense of acquiescence, upheld the temporary ad-interim injunction, restraining the Defendant from using the marks 'Make My Travel' and 'MMT', tag line 'Dreams unlimited', website 'www.makemytravelindia.com' and the logo 'Make My Travel'.
• Noticed that there are adequate directions and guidelines in place Delhi Government and the Ministry of Health to ensure equal treatment of mentally disabled persons in private hospitals.
• Held that so long as either the uploading takes place from India or the information/data is located in India on a computer resource, Indian courts would have the jurisdiction to pass global injunctions.
• Granted bail to Congress leader DK Shivakumar in a money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate. He has to furnish two sureties of Rupees 25 lakhs each, cannot leave the country without the prior permission of the court and has to appear before the agency whenever called for interrogation.

Jammu & Kashmir High Court

• In a significant judgment, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court declared criminalization of beggary to be unconstitutional and struck down the provisions of the Jammu &Kashmir Prevention of Beggary Act, 1960 and the Jammu & Kashmir Prevention of Beggary Rules, 1964.

Karnataka High Court

• Said that a magistrate where the aggrieved woman resides even temporarily has jurisdiction to entertain an application filed under the Domestic Violence Act, it need not only be tried by a court within whose local jurisdiction the offence was committed.
• Issued rule and will finally hear a Public Interest Litigation filed by Healthcare Global Enterprises, which operates a network of Cancer hospitals in India, seeking to hold Section 4 of the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (COTPA) Act, as unconstitutional. The section prohibits smoking in public places, but allows smoking in separate rooms at restaurants and Airport.
• Granted permission to the Registrar General to construct an annexe building inside Cubbon Park area, after a revised plan submitted prevents cutting of 17 trees or shifting of road. A division bench of Justice P S Dinesh Kumar allowed the petition filed by the Registrar General which sought permission to construct the annexe building in place of old election commissioners office, situated inside Cubbon Park.
• Directed a Woman To Pay Cost Of RS 25,000 To Ex-Husband For Abusing Process Of Law By Registering Case Under Section 498A IPC To Harass Husband Also Quashes Criminal Case. .

Kerala High Court

• Held that an individual partner cannot claim eviction on the ground of bonafide need for his/her own occupation of the building owned by partnership firm. The bench comprising Justice A. Hariprasad and Justice TV Anil Kumar also held that eviction petition filed by a partnership firm on the ground of bonafide need for the occupation of a legal heir of a partner, is not maintainable.
• Directed the Government and Local Self Government Institutions to repair and maintain all roads to make them motoroble 'immediately', not later than 31st January 2020. Sometimes, extraordinary situations requires extraordinary remedies, said Justice Devan Ramachandran while issuing important directives in a writ petition filed in 2008 raising the issue of pathetic road conditions in Kerala.
• Took cognizance of the alarming water-logging and water rising in the Kochi city. Justice Devan Ramachandran has issued also issued directions to curb the menace on a war footing basis.

Madhya Pradesh High Court

• Issued notice on a petition challenging Rule 213(2) of the Madhya Pradesh Motor Vehicles Rules, 1994, by virtue of which the Section 129 of Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, which mandates wearing a helmet while riding a two-wheeler, does not apply to women riders in the state.

Madras High Court

• Dismissed a plea that sought a direction to Central Government to enact a law prohibiting forced and induced religious conversions. Hindu Dharma Parishad had filed a Public Interest Litigation before Madurai bench of the High Court seeking a direction to the Centre to enact a new special law to prohibit the conversion from one religion to another by the use of force or allurement or by fraudulent means.
• While assessing whether the 30ML outer limit of alcohol consumption as fixed under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for a person driving the vehicle, is correct, the High Court proposed that the central government should contemplate a zero tolerance regime for drunk driving.
• Held that while permitting a Plaintiff to withdraw the suit under Order XXIII Rule 1 sub-rule 3 of CPC, it shall be mandatorily for the court to give him the liberty to institute a fresh suit in respect of the subject matter of such suit.
• While quashing criminal proceedings instituted against ninety year old Tamil writer, K. Rajanarayanan, for allegedly insulting the Scheduled Castes community, the High Court cautioned Magistrates against mechanically ordering registration of FIRs in cases having "direct and clear implications on free speech".

Manipur High Court

• Quashed the Manipur Public Service Commission Exam, 2016 and ordered an independent CBI enquiry into the conduct of the Manipur Public Service Commission (MPSC) in conducting the said examination.The order was passed by a division bench of Justice Lanusungkum Jamir and Justice Kh. Nobin Singh in various writ petitions and writ appeals filed by students affected by alleged anomalies, irregularities and illegalities committed by the Respondent MPSC, in the process of conducting the said exam.

Punjab & Haryana High Court

• Stating that absence of injury on the person of the prosecutrix would lead to an inference that she was a consenting party to sexual intercourse, the High Court refused to grant Leave to Appeal against the judgment of acquittal in a rape case.

Rajasthan High Court

• Decided that it shall not publish manually printed cause list, starting November 18, so as to get rid of discrepancies in manual entries as well as to save paper and conserve the environment. An order in this regard was passed by Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma, in a petition titled Jitendra Singh & Ors. v. State of Rajasthan & Ors., S.B. W. P. (C) No. 4427/2018.
• Even while remarking that if a list of all heinous crimes committed in the history of mankind was to be prepared, the incident at hand would rate amongst the top hundred, the High Court commuted the capital punishment awarded to five convicts in a ten years old murder case.

Uttarakhand High Court

• Issued extensive guidelines and directions to the State Election Commission and the state government to ensure free and fair elections at block and district level Panchayat heads in the State. The directions were passed by a division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma in two public interest litigations filed by Vipul Jain and Ashirvad Goswami.
• While setting aside a decree of judicial separation passed by the Family Court, Dehradun, the High Court reiterated that allegations of infidelity, consistently leveled by a spouse, amount to cruelty.