High Courts Weekly Round-Up

Allahabad High Court

Having repeatedly summoned doctors to decipher unreadable medico legal reports in many cases, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court directed submission of computerised reports along with original handwritten ones for facilitating the courts of law.

The High Court ordered a CBI inquiry into the death of a 29-year-old woman, who was allegedly beaten and tortured by her in-laws for dowry. The Bench comprising Justice Bala Krishna Narayana and Justice Ravindra Nath Kakkar has directed the central agency to file the report in the case within two months.

The High Court recently directed the Industrial Development Bank Of India (IDBI) to consider the representation by an alleged “wilful defaulter” before taking any “drastic steps” against him. The Bench comprising Justice B.Amit Sthalekar and Justice Rajiv Joshi ordered the bank to consider the representation by Mr. Sanjiv Aggarwal within a month, and also allow him an opportunity of personal hearing and filing of any documents.

 Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Friday refused to stay the construction of the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial observing that the project is a policy decision taken by the state.

The High Court read down the provisions of section 52A of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 and struck down Rules 4 (partly), 5 and 7 of the Compounded Structures Rules holding that they offend Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

The High Court restrained the University of Mumbai from introducing ‘Choice Based Credit System’ in LL.B Course ( both 3 year & 5 year course) in the academic year 2018-19. The University has been directed to conduct exam as per the existing system.

The High Court recently revoked and recalled an ex-parte order of the high court granting probate to one Savita Patil, sister of Deepak Patil who passed away on May 26, 2011. According to Savita, she was the executor of the will wherein Pooja, the deceased’s daughter, was the sole heir.

In an important decision, the Bombay High Court held that medical clinics, nursing homes, hospitals and dispensaries that employ 10 or more persons will come under the purview of the newly amended Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act, 2017.

The Bombay High Court recently upheld a lower court order that allowed an application filed by a father under Section 21 of the Domestic Violence Act, granting him visitation rights to his child.

In a recent judgment, the High Court ordered a fresh trial in a matter regarding the acquittal of an accused under Sections 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and Section 304­-A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.

The High Court recently dismissed a petition demanding a direction to the State Government to frame a policy document outlining the rules for allotting permanent accommodation to the Judicial Officers who have put in 15 years of service.

The High Court on Tuesday constituted an ad-hoc committee to look after day-to-day functioning of the Mumbai Cricket Association. The committee comprises of Professor Dr. Umesh Khanwilkar, Mr. Navin Shetty, Mr. Shahalam Shaikh, Mr. Ganesh Iyer, and CEO Mr.C.S.Naik. Dr. Khanvilkar and Mr. Naik have been appointed as the authorised signatories to operate the bank account of the association jointly.

The High Court upheld the validity of the Maharashtra Tax on Lotteries Act, 2006 and held that lottery comes under the purview of betting and gambling. The division bench of Justice SC Dharmadhikari and Justice BH Dangre ruled that the state is empowered to levy tax on betting and gambling. Also, that the state government is empowered to prohibit or restrict within its state the sale of lottery tickets of any other state.

The Bombay High Court held that calling a husband ‘impotent’ in pleadings can amount to ‘defamation’.

 Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court stayed the notice cancelling online courses offered by the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences in collaboration with private parties, for students who had enrolled themselves before June 27, 2018.

The vacation bench presided by Justice Protik Prakash Banerjee of Calcutta High Court encountered a curious petition filed by a police officer accused of corruption, who was earlier denied anticipatory bail by a division bench of the high court. The High Court stayed the criminal proceedings against police constable for 8 weeks to enable him file writ petition in sc without fear of arrest

Chhattisgarh High Court

Acting promptly on a case involving a student’s career, the Chhattisgarh High Court recently admitted, heard and disposed of a case within a day. The case was heard by Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, who was quick to rule in favour of the petitioner, Amit Saha.

Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court directed Rattan India Nasik Power Ltd, formerly called Indiabulls Power, to give at least 10-day notice to Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) in case it intends to invoke or encash its bank guarantee of Rs 263 crore submitted by the latter under phase -I of the Nasik and Amravati Thermal Power Project.

The High Court recently absolved Station House Officer PS Mayur Vihar, Inspector Manoj Kumar Sharma of contempt charges, while directing the Delhi Police to refrain from filing status reports in a “casual” and “cavalier” manner.

Ten years after the death of her husband, a lady’s appeal against divorce decree granted by the family court has been allowed by the Delhi High Court.

The High Court recently recognised the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) as being the authority for declaring the equivalence of courses undertaken by candidates with the educational qualification prescribed by the eligibility criteria for appointment as teachers.

The Delhi High Court directed North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the parents of a 13-year-old boy who was electrocuted while at play in a public park in the year 2010.

Gauhati High Court

The Gauhati High Court held that a third party questioning the marriage of any other party would not be entitled to maintain proceedings before the family court.

Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court recently imposed costs of Rs. 1 lakh on seven event management firms for dragging Gujarat University (GU) to the court and challenging the introduction of eligibility criteria for bidders for the lease to manage the university’s convention centre and exhibition hall.

Himachal Pradesh High Court

While rejecting bail plea of a ‘godman’ accused in a rape case, the Himachal Pradesh High Court observed that offence committed by a person pretending himself a pious/spiritual person is more serious than an impious person, particularly when the commission of such an offence shakes the trust of society at large.

The High Court directed the state to ensure that no sale of loose cigarette/bidis/prohibited articles shall be allowed to be carried out, more specifically within the radius of 100 metres of educational institutions.

The High Court directed all institutions of higher education and other higher educational institutions receiving aid from the state government to reserve not less than 5% seats for persons with benchmark disabilities.

Kerala High Court

The High Court of Kerala upheld death penalty awarded by trial court for a person convicted of rape and murder of a mother-daughter duo. The crime happened on December 2, 2007, in Idukki district.

Holding that supporting the ideology of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria(ISIS) will not amount to waging war against Government of an Asiatic power in alliance with India, the High Court of Kerala set aside the conviction of a woman under Section 125 of the Indian Penal Code. Section 125 punishes waging war against Government of an Asiatic power in alliance with India, or the attempt to do so, with imprisonment for life.

On Thursday, the High Court dismissed the bail application of a person accused of indulging in rioting and vandalism during protests against women entry in Sabarimala temple following the judgment of the Supreme Court. While dismissing the bail application, Justice Sunil Thomas observed that there was prima facie material to connect the accused to the crime.

The High Court held that a DNA test cannot be ordered without hearing the person affected, irrespective of the fact whether he is a minor or major.

Observing that emotional outburst of a disgruntled employee is part of free speech, the High Court of Kerala ordered the reinstatement of a University employee who was suspended for his social media posts against the institution.

The election of K M Shaji, the returned candidate of Indian Union Muslim League from Azhikode constituency in 2016 assembly polls, was declared void by the High Court. The High Court has however stayed the operation of the judgment for a period of two weeks.

On Wednesday, the High Court of Kerala dismissed a petition seeking directions to the ‘Thantri’ of Sabarimala temple to reduce the ‘vratham'(penance period) from 41 days to 21 days to enable women to undertake pilgrimage to the temple.

The High Court of Kerala on Wednesday admitted a Public Interest Litigation which seeks directions to constitute Internal Complaints Committee(ICC) within political parties, media and film production houses n accordance with the Prevention of Sexual Harassment At Workplaces Act 2013. Considering the PIL for admission, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice Jayasankaran Nambiar issued notice to the respondents.

On Thursday, the High Court declined the prayer to direct Travancore Devaswom Board to file review petition in the Supreme Court against the judgment in Indian Young Lawyers’ Association case, which permitted entry of women on all age groups to Sabarimala temple.

Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court treated a suicide note of a rape victim who had killed herself as a dying declaration and convicted two accused.

Madras High Court

In no mood to delay the proceedings in a PIL revolving around linking online identity of users with Aadhaar or other government-authorised ID proof and making social media companies duty-bound to assist probe agencies in criminal matters especially cyber crimes, the Madras High Court directed Google LLC and YouTube to appear before it even as the notice issued to them was served on their subsidiary Google India

Patna High Court

The Patna High Court on Friday commuted death penalty awarded to a man convicted for rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl in Bihar. Hari Kishun Sada was convicted by the trial court for rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl. He was convicted under Sections 376, 302 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Ordering de novo trial in a murder case, the Patna High Court set aside conviction of an accused who was not represented by a lawyer during the trial. The bench of Justice Aditya Kumar Trivedi and Justice Rajendra Kumar Mishra observed that unless there happens to be refusal at the end of the accused, the accused must be provided legal representative at the cost of the State.

Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the District Judge of Gurugram to advise all the judicial officers not to use abbreviations in official correspondence. Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill noticed the use of abbreviation VOD in a report he received from the Judicial Magistrate while considering a criminal petition in a cheque bounce case.

Uttarakhand High Court

The Uttarakhand High Court directed the Haridwar Municipal Corporation to provide 100 state-of-the-art changing rooms and construct 300 toilets at the Har Ki Paudi area and other major ghats of river Ganga. A bench of Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma said so in a string of directions passed by it in a PIL titled Narendra Vs State of Uttarakhand and others, stressing on absolute cleanliness at the ghats along river Ganga, which has been given the status of a living entity by the high court.

The Uttarakhand High Court while deciding a reference sent by a single judge, reiterated that “the High Court and the Court of Session have concurrent jurisdiction under Section 438 of Cr.P.C (anticipatory bail)” and that, “it is for the accused to choose the forum and the same cannot be restricted by construing the provision of Section 438 of Cr.P.C. narrowly”.