SC to DCW- “Sorry” cannot extend Nirbhaya juvenile’s detention beyond 3 years under present Juvenile Justice Act [Read Order]

The vacation bench of the Supreme Court today dismissed the plea filed by Delhi Commission for Women challenging the release of the juvenile convicted in the Nirbhaya case saying that “though it shared the  society’s concern”, it could not extend his stay in the observation home beyond three years under the present Juvenile Justice Act.“Everything has to be done in accordance with...

Rule of Agamas & A Verdict Oxymoron

16th of December 2015 saw dashing headlines which made anyone who believes in equality and fraternity, smile with awe at the miraculous judgment of the Supreme Court. I read it too and thought – “Wow! this is a social revolution! All qualified Hindus irrespective of caste can now become Archakas in temples in Tamil Nadu.” I remembered my Professor who told us in our LL.M class that...

RBI’s Duty to Comply with RTI; Ten orders of Shailesh Gandhi upheld by SC

Public authorities have developed ‘fiduciary’ relation as a firm strategy to deny any information about the exercise of their power. Fraudulent financial institutions get fresh lease of encouragement from the regulator as they refuse to disclose, to their comfort. Fiduciary capacity is to take care of the welfare of others and not to affect the same. Even Reserve Bank of India continued...

Police has a Sanctified Legal and Social Obligation to ferret out the truth and bring the Culprit to the book: SC [Read Judgment]

Expressing its disappointment over the “shoddy, casual, laconical and insensitive” investigation conducted by the police in a case wherein the accused was ultimately acquitted by the Supreme Court of all charges in an appeal preferred against the concurrent findings of guilt entered against him by the courts below, the Supreme Court has in a judgment rendered today sought to remind...

Complete departmental inquiries within 6 months: Supreme Court tells State and Private Employers [Read Judgment]

We are of the considered opinion that every employer (whether State or private) must make sincere endeavor to conclude the departmental inquiry proceedings once initiated against the delinquent employee within a reasonable time by giving priority to such proceedings and as far as possible it should be concluded within six months as an outer limit, the bench said.Supreme Court of India has...

A Woman can be a Manager of Joint family, in some particular circumstances, though she could not become a Kartha; SC [Read Judgment]

Such a role (as manager) necessarily has to be distinguished from that of a Karta which position the Hindu widow cannot assume by virtue of her disentitlement to be a coparcener in the HUF of her husband. Regrettably the position remains unaltered even after the amendment of the Hindu Succession Act in 2005, the bench said.Supreme Court has given quietest to a property dispute between cousins...

SC issues notice to Central Govt and 11 states on Swaraj Abhiyan’s PIL seeking relief & compensation to drought affected citizens [Read Petition]

The Supreme Court today admitted and issued notice to the Central government and 11 States in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Swaraj Abhiyan seeking necessary relief and compensation to drought affected farmers and other classes of citizens.According to the Petitioner organisation, it carried out a Samvedana Yatra across nine states from 2nd to 15th October this year to assess...

The Constitutional legitimacy must Supersede all religious beliefs or practices: Supreme Court [Read Judgment]

The exclusion of some and inclusion of a particular segment or denomination for appointment as Archakas would not violate Article 14 so long such inclusion/exclusion is not based on the criteria of caste, birth or any other constitutionally unacceptable parameter, the bench said.The Supreme Court of India, in Adi Saiva Sivachariyargal Nala Sanga vs. Government of Tamil Nadu, has held...

Breaking ; No fiduciary relationship between RBI & Financial Institutions; RBI is bound to disclose information under the RTI Act: Supreme Court

Coming down heavily on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI for short) for depriving information under the RTI Act, 2005 in the name of fiduciary relationship between itself and the banks, the Supreme Court has in a landmark decision declared that RBI does not place itself in a fiduciary relationship with the Financial institutions because, the reports of the inspections, statements of the...

Breaking; SC issues Guidelines to improve Collegium System; Directs Centre to draft MoP [Read Order] [Updated]

Exactly two months after scrapping the NJAC Act, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court  which had embarked on a mission to improve the collegiums system today virtually put the ball back into the government's court by giving the Centre the liberty to finalise a draft memorandum of procedure for appointing judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts in consultation with the Chief Justice...

Supreme Court asks States to Constitute Three member Wakf Tribunal within four months [Read Judgment]

The one member tribunal will continue to exercise jurisdiction till the time the State constitutes three members tribunal by notification in the Official Gazette, the bench said.Supreme Court has directed all the States to immediately take steps for constituting a three member Waqf Tribunal, mandated by Section 83(4) of the Waqf Act. Apex Court Bench comprising of Justices M.Y. Eqbal and...

Imparting of Higher Education amounts to “discharge of public functions”; Hence Writ Petition against Private Deemed University maintainable; SC [Read Judgment]

In identifying the “classes of case in which judicial review is available”, the courts place considerable importance on the source of legal authority exercised by the defendant public authority. Secondly and additionally, where the “source of power” approach does not yield a clear or satisfactory outcome, the court may consider the characteristics of the function...