High Courts Weekly Round-Up

• Took suo moto cognizance of the shocking incident where three men began to open fire inside a courtroom in the Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh.
• The preventive detention is an encroachment upon the personal liberty of an individual and cannot be said to be encroached in a casual manner as has been done in the instant case,'' said High Court bench, Justices Shabihul Hasnain and Rekha Dikshit.
• Reiterated that at the initial stage of framing of a charge, the final test of guilt is not to be applied and the court has to be merely satisfied with the existence of a strong suspicion that the accused has committed an offence, which, if put to trial, could prove him guilty.
• Directed the UP Police to produce before it the arrest memo pertaining to the arrest of Lucknow based senior lawyer and president of human rights group Rihai Manch Mohammad Shoaib. The Court has directed the Government to produce documents to show that he was medically examined after the arrest. The court further said that Shoaib's family members or lawyers should be allowed to meet him

Bombay High Court

• Directed the State government to file an affidavit in a Public Interest Litigation filed by Advocate Abha Singh highlighting deaths of sewage workers in and around Mumbai alleging violation of Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
• Directed the trial court to book eight police officials from Wadala Railway Police in the murder of 25-year-old Agnelo Valdaris who died in police custody five years ago after being picked up on charges of theft.

Calcutta High Court

• Directed the State Government to expedite the process of video linkage between correctional homes, courts and police stations. The bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh and Justice Joymalya Bagchi remarked that the process was crucial to ensure seamless and quick production of undertrials via video linkage, in order to avoid systemic delays arising out of infrastructural deficiencies like absence of vehicle and staff for physical production of undertrials.

Delhi High Court

• Refused to provide an urgent hearing in a plea seeking action against Delhi Police for using excessive force against the students of Jamia Millia Islamia University.
• Asked 'The New Indian Express' to tender an apology for disclosing the identity of the Hyderabad rape case victim. A Division Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Hari Shankar asked the media portal that whether such publication happened ignorantly or deliberately.
• Granted more time to CBI to complete investigation against the agency's former Director Rakesh Asthana. In yesterday's hearing, CBI sought an adjournment as the ASG designated to argue for the agency was busy in the Supreme Court.
• Issued notice to Delhi opposition leader Vijender Gupta in an application filed by Arvind Kejriwal challenging a summons issued against him in a criminal defamation case.
• Quashed the order of theCentral Information Commission which had held that Electronic Voting Machines are within the definition of 'information' under section 2(f) of the RTI Act.
• Held that a dying declaration would simply not become unreliable, just because it was recorded by an Executive Magistrate instead of a Judicial Magistrate. The Single Bench of Justice IS Mehta has noted that once it is ascertained that the dying declaration was made voluntarily and is truthful, the fact that it was reported by an Executive Magistrate, won't affect its relevance.
• Agreed to hear the petition seeking independent judicial enquiry into the incident of Jamia violence. The Division Bench headed by Chief Justice DN Patel informed the petitioner that the petition will likely be listed for hearing tomorrow.
• While directing a government agency to regularise its daily wage labourers, High Court noted that the state cannot exploit the labour of unregulated workers over a continued period of time.
• Transferred another petition seeking action against alleged violence committed by police against the Jamia students to the Chief Justice's court.
• Dismissed plea of one of the four convicts facing the gallows in the Nirbhaya gang rape-and-murder case claiming that he was a juvenile at the time of the offence in December, 2012.
• Agreed to form a committee to look into the incident of shouting in Court yesterday.
• Stayed till February 6 an office order issued by the Delhi government vide which 11 Chairpersons and Members of various Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) were transferred from one Committee to another.

Himachal Pradesh High Court

• While recapitulating the principles to be followed by courts while granting bail, the High Court highlighted that poverty or the deemed indigent status of an accused must be taken into account while granting bail
• Taking a stern approach against parties resorting to suppression of material facts before the court, the High Court observed, 'Equity Can't Bend Arms Of Law Where An Individual Acquires Status By Fraud'

Karnataka High Court

• Held that where a family member leaves the shared household to establish her own household, she cannot claim to have a right to move an application under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act.
• Directed the Registrar General of the High Court to issue notice under the Contempt of Court Act, against Editor and Publishers of 'Deccan Herald', for printing a false news report titled, "Rupees 9 crores was seized from the residence of a City Civil Court (Bengaluru) Judge in a raid by the "vigilance wing of the Karnataka High Court", in it's edition dated, Decber 16.
• Issued guidelines to be followed by Judicial Magistrates, as to how they have to approach and pass orders when requisition is submitted by the SHO of police station seeking permission to investigate, non-cognizable offence.
• Refused to accept the unconditional apology tendered by Editor/Publisher and Reporter of Deccan Herald newspaper, while hearing a criminal contempt petition issued to them for printing a false report titled "Rs 9 crore seized in raid on judge."

Telengana High Court

• The division bench of the High Court comprising of Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Abhishek Reddy, while observing the necessity of second autopsy of accused's dead body in the alleged rape and murder of the lady veterinary doctor, said, " Since the alleged accused persons have been killed, while they were in police custody, the faith of the people in the rule of law needs to be restored to its pristine and primary position"