High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Allahabad High Court

Allahabad High Court on Friday directed the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government to issue new licenses and renew old ones for slaughterhouses and meat shops.

The High Court on Monday refused to allow an Advocate who was above 45 years of age on the date specified in the recruitment advertisement from appearing for the Higher Judicial Service recruitment exam.

The High Court recently held that under the garb of personal Law, individual or collective rights of the citizens protected by Part III of the Constitution may not be infringed. The Court also held that the personal law operates under the authority of legislation subject to constitutional limitation, and not under the

Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court directed the Union of India to appoint nodal officers in the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Law and Justice for the purpose of tracking progress made in the service of court summons, notices etc., to a foreign country.

A vacation bench of the High Court on Monday directed the makers of movie Sarkar 3 to give story credit to scriptwriter Nilesh Girkar, who had moved the court claiming infringement of copyright.

The High Court of Bombay, on Sunday, asked the Maharashtra Government to decide in six weeks time the days on which there would be a ban on slaughter of animals and sale of meat in the city owing to certain festivals.

In an important development, the High Court ordered a forensic scan of electronic voting machines used in the 2014 Assembly Elections, specifically booth number 185 in Parvati (Assembly Constituency), Pune.

The High Court directed the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) to stop issuing any fresh occupancy and commencement certificate in the Ghodbunder Road area of Thane till June 9, due to the problem of water scarcity.

The Court dismissed a writ petition filed by Mulund blast convict Saquib Nachan. A bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Anuja Prabhudessai was hearing Nachan’s petition wherein he sought the period of detention undergone by him in the MCOC case to be set off against the sentence of imprisonment in POTA case.

The High Court imposed a fine of Rs.10,000 on M/s Integrated Siddhi Hospitality, that owns a transport vehicle which was plying on Mumbai roads in breach of a 13-year-old order by the court.

The High Court directed all schools, boards and educational institutions to carry out the task of detecting specific learning disabilities in children at the earliest stage, preferably, when they are in primary schools or after they complete the age of nine years.

The High Court directed the state of Maharashtra to ensure that private vehicles that are allowed to ply as “school buses” carrying children come under the common standard agreement (CSA) guidelines.

Refusing to quash an FIR filed for offences punishable under Sections 498 A, 323, 504, 506, of the Indian Penal Code, the Bombay High Court dismissed a plea filed by in-laws of 35-year-old Nimisha Patel who alleged mental and physical torture at their hands. 

Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court held that in cases where someone dies without a will, succession can only be granted to the legal heirs of that person, not the nominee. Justice Valmiki Mehta was hearing an appeal against an order by the trial court dated January 18, 2017, wherein the application for revocation of succession certificate filed by the appellant was rejected.

Coming down heavily on an 84-year-old man, the High Court  issued contempt notice to him for seeking recall of an order on the ground that his counsel cheated him by withdrawing his appeal.

The High Court on Monday sought a response from cab aggregators Uber and Ola on whether their drivers would fall under the category of employees/workmen so as to be eligible for receiving benefits under labour laws. Notice was also issued to the Centre and the Delhi Government. The matter will now be heard on August 10.

The High Court recently quashed an externment order against an accused, observing that such orders bring in societal and personal deprivation.

The Court, through Justice Vipin Sanghi, in the case of Naveen Jindal vs M/S Zee Media Corporation and Anr, noted that under Order 11 Rule 14 of the CPC, the Court has the power to direct production of documents relevant to the issue in question and necessary for the fair disposal of the case and which are in the possession of the person against whom the discovery has been sought.

The High Court of Delhi on Monday upheld the grant of tax exemption under Section 11 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, despite the delay in filing of audit reports along with the returns for FY 1993-94. The Court accepted the contention that such delay was justified as it was due to the fact that its accounts were seized when it was banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 after the Babri Masjid demolition incident.

The Delhi High Court speaking through Justice Siddharth Mridul dismissed a review petition filed by real estate barons Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal in the unfortunate 1997 Uphaar cinema fire tragedy, in which 59 people had lost their lives after a fire broke out during the show of a Bollywood movie.

The High Court of Delhi on Tuesday rapped its Mediation Cell for drawing up a settlement agreement that had resulted in further litigation.

The High Court of Delhi on Monday declared as improper the rejection of a woman’s candidature for Municipal Elections on the ground of her having failed to declare her gender in the nomination papers.

Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court, in the case of M/S Alliance University vs Sri Sudhir, noted that a counterclaim can only be filed against the plaintiff and a presenter of the suit cannot be treated as the plaintiff.

Madhya Pradesh High Court

A single bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court held if the fundamental right of aggrieved party is not infringed than it is beyond the scope of judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution to consider relief sought by the employer against the threat received from the employees’ union to go on strike.