High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court confirmed death sentence awarded to a man holding him guilty of murdering his octogenarian parents, brother and his wife, minor nephew and niece.

The High Court, on Monday, sought the CBI’s response on an affidavit filed by Unnao rape victim’s mother, who has alleged that the agency was not conducting a fair investigation into her husband’s murder.

While ordering de novo trial in a murder case, the Allahabad High Court observed that the trial court has a duty to ensure the availability of a diligent and effective defence counsel for the accused, even when there is a counsel representing him on record, but in fact is only a sham.

The High Court, while allowing a plea of the wife of a slain police officer to transfer the investigation into his death to the Central Bureau of Investigation, observed that the CBI can be entrusted investigation of a crime even if a case does not have inter-state or international ramifications.

Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court redirected the Bar Council of India (BCI) to conduct an inspection of the premises for an all-women’s law college in Thane after the BCI failed to comply with the court’s earlier order dated January 22, 2018.

In a writ petition filed by A2Z Cleaning Services seeking a revision in reimbursement given by the Indian Railways with regard to cleaning and housekeeping services provided by them, the High Court ruled in favour of the petitioners.

A vacation bench of the Bombay High Court granted a permanent injunction restraining Jackson Laboratories Pvt Ltd from manufacturing or selling their trademark Spasmo-pronyvon or any other drug that is deceptively similar to Wockhardt Limited’s pain relief drug, Spasmoproxyvon.

Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court stayed the decision of the Department of Posts, Union of India not to accord equivalence to the degrees/diplomas/equivalence which are issued by Madrassas of any character which are operated under the West Bengal Board of Madrasahs Act.

Chhattisgarh High Court

Holding that the penalty provisions under the Right to Information Act is discretionary, the Chhattisgarh High Court observed that the matter of penalty to be awarded under the Act is between the Information Commission and erring Information Officer, and the information seeker cannot, as a matter of right, cannot claim audience in the penalty proceedings.

Delhi High Court

On Monday, the Delhi High Court refused to interfere with the exam being conducted by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) for engineering graduates who had obtained their degrees through distance education from certain deemed universities between 2001 and 2005.

The High Court on Tuesday issued notice on the Petition challenging Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), 2018 filed by Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), along with one candidate who appeared for CLAT UG and another law graduate who appeared for CLAT PG.

The High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Delhi Medical Council (DMC), the Delhi Medical Association (DMA), the Delhi government and DMC’s Registrar Girish Tyagi, on a public interest litigation challenging his continuance on the said post while also acting as the DMA president which represents the interest of medical practitioners.

The High Court on Tuesday also reiterated the guidelines laid down by it in the case of Delhi Commission for Women v. Delhi Police, and directed the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) to ensure that every rape victim in Delhi is offered the services of a DSLSA panel lawyer and counseling services from the earliest stage of the case, till its conclusion.

The Division Bench of the High Court on Wednesday delivered a split verdict on the issue of disclosure of donor details in the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Hoping that it would act as a “balm” for all Kashmiri migrants who suffered loss of their homeland due to communal violence and came to Delhi during 1990-93 and were employed as contractual teachers, the High Court on Wednesday directed the AAP government and the four municipal corporations to regularize within eight weeks all Kashmiri migrant teachers from the first date of their appointment.

The High Court, while dismissing a suit filed by NDTV for non-prosecution against MJ Akbar and other journalists of The Sunday Guardian, observed that the procedure and time of the court is not for sale and is not to be regulated by the litigants but is to be regulated by the court.

Dismissing appeals filed by the Centre, the Delhi High Court on Thursday directed it to promote IRS Officer Ashok Kumar Aggarwal and give him all consequential benefits.

Though upholding the right of parties summoned by the Director-General (DG) for investigation under the Competition Act to be accompanied by advocates, the Delhi High Court directed the DG to ensure that ‘the counsel does not sit in front of the witness, but is some distance away and the witness should be not able to confer or consult her or him’.

The High Court on Friday issued a notice to the Delhi government on a Public Interest Litigation seeking lowering of the legal age of drinking in Delhi from the present 25 years to bring it at par with other states where the legal age of drinking is anywhere from 18 to 21 years.

The Delhi High Court on Friday left it on the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to decide the representation of a lawyer seeking an independent probe into the killing of people in police firing during a protest against Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper unit in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu.

The High Court by way of an ex-parte injunction restrained Cobrapost, on the plea of Dainik Bhaskar, from releasing its documentary “Operation 136: Part II” which is an expose on media houses, including indulgence in paid news, peddling communal agenda, mass polarization, and acceptance of illegal black currency.

Gauhati High Court

The Gauhati High Court on Tuesday directed a State Transgender committee to submit a report after an in-depth study into the problems faced by the transgender community and suggest measures that can be taken by the State Government to ameliorate their problems.

Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday convicted a man for contempt for filing criminal complaint against former CJI and two judges of the Supreme Court alleging that they passed an ‘illegal’ order in Cauvery issue.

Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court, on Tuesday, dismissed a writ petition filed by two advocates challenging the High Court’s recommendation to Supreme Court Collegium to elevate five lawyers as judges of the high court.

A Division Bench of Kerala High Court set aside a single bench judgment that ordered the police to investigate into allegations against the Major Arch Bishop and others of the Syro-Malabar Church in connection with the Syro-Malabar Church land deal.

Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, while upholding an order of Central Information Commission (CIC), observed that a wife is entitled to know what remuneration her husband is getting.

While acquitting two persons, who spent more than a decade in jail, during the pendency of trial and appeal proceedings, the Madhya Pradesh High Court directed the state to pay compensation of Rs. 3 lakh each to them for  ‘malicious implication’.

Madras High Court

The Madras High Court restrained a Tamil weekly magazine from publishing anything about the private life of Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi without her prior consent.

In the aftermath of the police shooting that killed eleven protesters, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed Vedanta to stop the construction of Unit II of its Sterlite copper plant in Thoothukudi in south Tamil Nadu

Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court, while posting a writ petition challenging CLAT Examinations 2018, on 29th May, observed that if the result of the Examination is declared before the said date, it shall be subject to the decision of this writ petition.

Mere violation of Section 15(2) of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act will not vitiate the search proceedings, the High Court held.

The High Court recently held that Juvenile Justice (Care And Protection Of Children) Model Rules, 2016 can be utilized to determine the age of a child irrespective of the date of occurrence of the offence.

Uttarakhand High Court

Shocked at the pathetic state of shelter homes like Nari Niketans and Children Homes where many inmates, including a deaf and dumb girl, was subjected to rape and forcible abortion, the Uttarakhand High Court passed a string of directions ranging from regular inspection of such custodial institutions, segregation of normal and mentally ill inmates to strict action against those employing children for begging or drug peddling or anyone meting out corporal punishment to children in child care institutions and loans to the inmates of After Care Organization to set up entrepreneurial activities.