Supreme Court Weekly Digest (13th February 2023-19th February 2023)

Case Title : Uber India Systems Private Ltd and Another versus Union of India and others |SLP(c) No.5705/2022

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 108

The Supreme Court directed Uber to apply for a license as per Section 93(1) of the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, 2019 within a period of 3 weeks (on or before 6th March, 2023), to continue its services as an aggregator in the State of Maharashtra. At the same time, the Court also allowed Uber to make a representation to the State of Maharashtra to ventilate its grievances with regard to the conditions imposed while granting provisional license.

Case Title: Roppen Transportation Services Pvt Ltd v. Union of India & Ors

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 100

The Supreme Court of India has held that when the State Government formulates rules in pursuance of its power under Section 96 of the Motor Vehicles Act, it may also bear in mind the Guidelines which have been framed by the Union Government in 2020 (Motor Vehicle Aggregators Guidelines, 2020). The observation by the court came in the order passed by Apex Court in Rapido's plea against the Maharashtra government's refusal to grant two-wheeler bike taxi aggregator license to the company.

Case Title: SEBI i vs V Shankar | Civil Appeal No 527 of 2023

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 101

The Supreme Court has held that a Company Secretary, while acting as a compliance officer in terms with the SEBI (Buyback of Securities) Regulations 1998, has to ensure that there is compliance of the company with the regulations relating to buyback of shares.

Case Title : Association of Vasanth Apartments Owners vs V Gopinath and others

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 105

The Supreme Court has upheld a rule which mandated that builders should reserve open spaces in the plots developed by them. The rule in question was Rule 19 of the Development Control Rules for the Chennai Metropolitan Area. The Rule mandated that 10% of the area of any developmental plan having area 10,000 sq. meter or more should be reserved as open space for communal and recreational use and that such open space area must be transferred to the local authority free of cost through a registered gift deed.

Case Title: GTC Industries Ltd (Now Known As Golden Tobacco Limited) Thr. Manager Legal And Anr. v. Collector of Central Excise And Ors. | Civil Appeal Nos. 8583-84 of 2010

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 107

The Supreme Court, recently, endorsed the order of the Delhi High Court upholding the validity of Section 9D of the Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944 (Excise Act).

Case Title : Shankar Kumar Jha Vs The State Of Bihar & Ors | Special Leave Petition (Civil) Diary No(S). 40774/2022

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 114

High Courts are too, are constitutional courts and are not subordinate to the Supreme Court, the Apex Court reiterated in a recent order.

Case Title: Ananta Chandrakant Bhonsule (D) By Lrs. And Anr. v. Trivikram Atmaram Korjuenkar (D) By Lrd. And Anr. Civil Appeal No. 3936 of 2013]

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 109

Division Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice V. Ramasubramanian and Justice Pankaj Mithal reiterated that ouster of jurisdiction of civil court can be expressed or implied, but it cannot have retrospective effect annulling a decree validly passed by the civil court.

Case Title : Ajai alias Ajju and others vs State of Uttar Pradesh

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 110

"It is not the quantity of the witnesses but the quality of witnesses which matters", observed the Supreme Court while affirming the conviction and sentence of four persons for murder of four persons.

Case Title: Pancham Lal Pandey vs Neeraj Kumar Mishra | SLP(C) 3329 OF 2021 | 15 Feb 2023

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 111

The Supreme court reiterated that the provision of review is not to scrutinize the correctness of the decision. It is to correct the error, if any, which is visible on the face of the order / record without going into as to whether there is a possibility of another opinion different from the one expressed, the bench of Justices V Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal observed.

Case Title: Arvind Kumar Jaiswal (D) vs Devendra Prasad Jaiswal Varun | SLP(C) 9172/2020 | 13 Feb 2023

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 112

An order of remand prolongs and delays the litigation, the Supreme Court observed while setting aside a High Court order remanding a case to the trial court. In this case, the Patna High Court passed an order of remand observing that the judgment of the trial court was not written as per the mandate of Section 33 and Rule 4(2) and 5 of Order XX of the Code of Civil Procedure, as the discussion and reasoning on certain aspects was not detailed and elaborate.

Case Title: NMC vs Annasaheb Chudaman Patil Memorial Medical College & Ors | Civil Appeal No 966 of 2023

Citation : 2023 LivLaw (SC) 113

The Supreme Court recently asked Annasaheb Chudaman Patil Memorial Medical College, Dhule to deposit Rs 2.5 crores with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi for flouting its orders pertaining to the admission of MBBS students.

Case Title: Pushan Majumdar vs Union of India | CA 369-378 OF 2023 | 16 Jan 2023

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 115

The Supreme Court held that the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science [IACS] is a "State” within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India.

Case Title : Subhash Desai versus Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra and others | W.P.(C) No. 493/2022 and connected cases

In the cases related to rift within Shiv Sena, a 5-judge of the Constitution Bench observed that it will decide the plea for reference to a larger bench after hearing the merits of the matter.

Case Title: P Sivakumar vs State | CrA 1404-1405 OF 2012 | 9 Feb 2023

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 116

The Supreme Court observed that the conviction under Section 498-A IPC would not be sustainable when the marriage was found to be null and void.

Case Title : Shelly Oberoi and other vs Office of Lieutenant Governor of Delhi

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 119

Ending a major controversy over the election of Mayor of Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Supreme Court held that nominated members of the municipal corporation cannot vote in the elections for mayor.

Case Title : Ram Gopal S/o Mansharam vs State of Madhya Pradesh

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 120

A recent judgment rendered by the Supreme Court has a notable discussion on the application of "last seen theory" in murder cases. Upholding the conviction of an accused in a murder case, the Court explained that once the prosecution has shown that the victim was last seen together along with the accused, then the accused has to give explanations.

Justices Rajesh Bindal and Aravind Kumar, formerly the Chief Justices of Allahabad and Gujarat High Courts respectively, took oath as Supreme Court judges. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud administered the oath of office to them in the presence of all the judges.

The Supreme Court dismissed a petition which challenged the delimitation exercise carried out for redrawing the Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.

While giving a go-ahead to the construction of railway overbridges in West Bengal as part of the Setu Bharatam project, the Supreme Court observed that protection of human life is also equally important as protecting the environment.

The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of the bail applications of Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, both of whom have been lodged in jail since August 2018 after their arrest over alleged Naxal links in Bhima Koregaon case. The accused are facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

The Supreme Court said that it still has some concerns regarding the appointment of the judges and told the Central Government to "make sure what is expected is done".

The bike-taxi aggregator, Roppen Transportation Services Pvt Ltd (Rapido), approached the Supreme Court of India in an intervention application in Uber's challenge to March 7, 2022 order of the Bombay High Court which directed that cab aggregators should comply with Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020.

The Supreme Court issued notice to the Bar Council of India in a plea seeking to quash directions passed by the National Law University, Tripura to cancel the admission process initiated for the Academic session 2022-23.

The Supreme Court directed the Nagaland State Election Commission to notify local body elections and place before it the official notification by 14th March, 2023.

The Supreme Court issued notice on a petition seeking the enforcement of Clause (c) of Sub-section (1) of Section 12 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, that requires non-minority private unaided schools to reserve at least twenty-five per cent of their entry-level seats for children belonging to disadvantaged sections of society.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stated in court that the E-Committee of the Supreme Court of India has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Common Service Centre Corporation (CSCC) under the government of India.

The Supreme Court observed that Article 170 of the Constitution deals with only the State Legislature and thus has no application to the Legislatures of Union Territories.

The Supreme Court issued notice to the Union of India and five states in a PIL which highlighted that the elections for Deputy Speakers for Lok Sabha and for State legislatures of five states had not yet taken place.

While upholding the delimitation exercise carried out in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Supreme Court has rejected the arguments raised by the petitioners on the basis of comparisons with the Telangana-Andhra Pradesh and North Eastern states.

The Supreme Court of India allowed two life convicts, a husband-and-two duo, to be shifted from an open jail in Jaipur to a similar facility in Udaipur, in order to allow the 45-year-old woman to undergo medical treatment to conceive a child, besides urging the concerned authorities to consider their request for parole ‘sympathetically’.

While upholding the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir, the Supreme Court observed that the Parliament has the power to convert an existing state into a Union Territory.

A writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking investigation against the Adani Group in the light of the report published by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research which alleged that the ports-to-power conglomerate has inflated share prices of its companies through manipulations and malpractices.

The Supreme Court closed proceedings in a petition filed in 2020 seeking to ban the usage of the software application "Zoom" over security and privacy concerns.

Only regular hearing matters, apart from ten each transfer petitions and bail applications, will be heard on Wednesdays and Thursdays in the Supreme Court from now onwards.

The Supreme Court upheld the order of National Consumers Disputes Redressal Commission Directing Canara Bank to pay Rs. 5 lakhs to a lawyer, who was kept in the loan defaulter’s list as per CIBIL, for about 7.5 years after discharging his loan obligations.

The Supreme Court appointed retired Supreme Court judge, Justice L. Nageswara Rao as a single-member committee to oversee the process of election of the Hyderabad Cricket Association.

In a plea seeking enforcement of fundamental duties as enshrined in Part IV-A of the Constitution of India, the Supreme Court, expressed displeasure that the State Governments are not filing their counter affidavits within the time period stipulated by it.

The Supreme Court observed that Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh are bound to adhere to the standards prescribed by the regulatory authority, National Medical Council such as infrastructural facilities, faculty etc. while setting up government medical colleges in the respective states.

A constitution bench of the Supreme Court commenced hearing the pleas concerning the constitutional issues arising out of the rift within Shiv Sena party between Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray groups. In the last hearing, the bench heard arguments on why the judgement in Nabam Rebia v. Deputy Speaker (2016) should be referred to a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear on February 17 the petition filed by Congress leader Dr Jaya Thakur seeking investigation against the Adani Group in the light of the report published by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research which alleged that the ports-to-power conglomerate has inflated share prices of its companies through manipulations and malpractices.

Taking note of the fact that the night shelters at Sarai Kale Khan, Delhi have been demolished under the orders of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), the Supreme Court said that it will now consider the issue of rehabilitation.

While hearing the case related to the rift within the Shiv Sena party, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court orally observed that one of the issues is a "tough constitutional issue to decide".

The Supreme Court will hear on February 24 a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking menstrual leave for female students and working women across India. The petition has been filed by Advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi.

In the PIL regarding iron ore mining in certain districts of Karnataka, Senior Advocate Shyam Diwan, Amicus Curiae, told the Supreme Court that the Amicus was appointed in view of the "serious environmental dimensions" to the matter which are no longer involved as such, and that moving forward, it is the common consensus that the collection of 10% of the sale value from all the mining lessees towards the Special Purpose Vehicle for taking ameliorating and mitigating measures may no longer be needed.

The Supreme Court of India continued hearing the pleas concerning the constitutional issues arising out of the rift within Shiv Sena party between Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray groups.

In an unusual development in the Supreme Court, a Bench of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice CT Ravikumar closed the virtual hearing link to Courtroom 6 after observing that lawyers are misusing the facility.

The Supreme Court has directed the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India to consider whether claims by family members, friends, or such persons other than the registered owner driving or riding borrowed vehicles, could be the beneficiaries of personal accident cover, where the accidents could not be attributed to other ‘offending’ vehicles or the drivers’ own negligence, but other intervening circumstances.

The Supreme Court indicated that it is to commence with the hearing of the petition filed by Senior Advocate Indira Jaising seeking reforms in the process of designation of Senior Advocate on 22nd Feb, 2023.

A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court reserved judgment on whether the judgment delivered by a 5-judge bench in the case Nabam Rebia vs Deputy Speaker (2016) should be reconsidered by a larger bench.

With a view to ensure that trial in the Lakhimpur Kheri case goes on smoothly, the Supreme Court of India has allowed the accused and one family member of each victim along with their lawyers to attend the court proceedings.

Chief Justice of India, Justice DY Chandrachud said that the arbitral space in India can do well to foster diversity in terms of source and experience and emphasized that a “gender diverse arbitral pool” would bring experiential learning to the entire process.

The issues in the case related to Shiv Sena rift, which led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi Government in Maharashtra, are not "academic" and have wide ramifications for the future of democracy in India, said Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal in the Supreme Court.

A Registrar Court at the Supreme Court said that service of notice on a party via instant messaging platform WhatsApp or e-mail is not valid.

The Supreme Court recently sought the stand of the Centre and Reserve Bank of India in a plea seeking to exempt resident Overseas Citizens of India from the purview of the Foreign Exchange Management Act regulations.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that he will take a call on listing the batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370.

The Supreme Court of India ordered the State governments to file an affidavit giving a list of details including the number of students with special needs and the number of teachers required.

The Telangana Police assailed the transfer of the investigation of the case pertaining to the alleged attempt to poach BRS MLAs to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Senior Advocate, Mr. Dushyant Dave appearing for the State Police told the Supreme Court that the allegations are against the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and hence transferring the matter to CBI would not serve the ends of justice as, he submitted, ‘the Central Government controls the CBI’.

The Supreme Court heard a contempt petition arising from the judgement of the Supreme Court in Swami Achyutanand Tirth v. Union of India in which directions were issued for the implementation of Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.

The Supreme Court said that it will pass orders to constitute an expert committee to review the regulatory mechanism in the light of the Adani-Hindenburg issue.

In a temporary relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Supreme Court stayed the trial proceedings in a 2014 case registered against him for allegedly saying "those who believe in 'Khuda' won't be pardoned by 'Khuda' if they vote for BJP" during an election campaign.

A Division Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Manoj Misra, adjourned the hearing of the plea filed by former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, assailing order of Gujarat High Court to complete the trial in the two-decade old drug seizure case within a stipulated time period. As per the Special Leave Petition, the order of the High Court has been impugned, inter alia, on the basis of the well settled principle that ‘justice hurried is justice buried’.

The Union Government has recently filed an application in Senior Advocate Indira Jaising’s petition seeking reforms in the process of designation of Senior Advocate.

It is not as if this Court approved of adultery, the Supreme Court observed in its order clarifying that its 2018 judgment striking down Section 497 IPC [Joseph Shine v. Union of India (2019) 3 SCC 39 ] will not impact court martial proceedings initiated against personnel serving the armed forces for adulterous conduct.

The Election Commission of India has recognised Eknath Shinde group as official "Shiv Sena", and allowed them to use official "Bow & Arrow" symbol and "Shiv Sena" name.

In the 2017 case related to abduction and sexual assault of a Kerala actor, the Supreme Court refused to pass any order to interfere with the examination of witnesses in the ongoing trial before the Court at Ernakulam.

Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case withdrew his application filed in Supreme Court seeking permission to remain in house-arrest in Delhi instead of Mumbai. When the matter was called up first, an advocate assisting Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought a pass over.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has recognised Eknath Shinde group as official "Shiv Sena", allowing them to use the official "Bow & Arrow" symbol and "Shiv Sena" name. The Uddhav Thackeray faction has been allowed to use the name "Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)" and the symbol of "flaming torch" for the upcoming bye-elections in Maharashtra assembly.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has recognised Eknath Shinde group as official "Shiv Sena", and allowed them to use official "Bow & Arrow" symbol and the "Shiv Sena" name. While applying the tests laid down in the 1971 Supreme Court judgment in Sadiq Ali v. Election Commission of India, the ECI noted that there was a "democratic deficit" in the amended Party Constitution of Shiv Sena and the process of its amendments and its workings.

The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing in a plea against a 2017 ruling by the Allahabad High Court, directing the removal of a mosque called Waqf Masjid High Court from its premises for encroachment.

The Supreme Court strongly disapproved of the practice of disposing of various criminal writ petitions by passing same-format orders, saying, “This approach of the High Court only burdens this court, and we thus cannot commend on the manner of disposal of the petitions in this manner.”

Former Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit opined that there is no better system available at present to appoint judges than the existing collegium system.

Senior Advocate Aditya Sondhi expressed concerns about the impression which is gaining among the members of the bar that they have to be aligned in a particular political way to be considered for judgeship.

Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave, speaking at a seminar organized by Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), raised concerns about increasing executive interferences in judicial appointments and urged the judiciary to assert its independence.

The Supreme Court Bar Association has filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking deletion of certain conditions in the points system introduced by the Supreme for conferring senior designations.

Renowned legal academician Dr Mohan Gopal delivered a speech at a seminar organized by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) on "Executive Interference in Judicial Appointments." In his speech, Dr. Gopal raised concerns about the appointment of judges with political bias . He urged the collegium to protect the institution by consciously appointing judges committed to the Constitution alone.

Speaking at the Seminar on Judicial Appointments and Reforms, organised by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court expressed his opinion about the controversial appointment of Justice Victoria Gowri as Additional Judge of the Madras High Court.

The State of Tamil Nadu has filed an original suit in the Supreme Court under Article 131 of the Constitution of India against the Union of India challenging the provisions of law which prescribe National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination (NEET) as the condition for medical admissions.

While speaking on the issue of building a transparent and accountable collegium, at the Seminar on Judicial Appointments and Reforms, organised by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), Justice Deepak Gupta, former Judge of the Supreme Court, expressed his views on how judicial independence is compromised by post-retirement benefits.

There is no reason why the recommendations of a collegium cannot be reconsidered, if, on the basis of material on record, it has doubts regarding the correctness of the decision, said former Supreme Court judge, Indira Banerjee.

Speaking on the issue of building a transparent and accountable collegium, at the Seminar on Judicial Appointments and Reforms, organised by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), Justice Madan Lokur, former Judge of the Supreme Court expressed strong opinion on holding the Government accountable for its role in the process of judicial appointment.

While speaking on the issue of building a transparent and accountable collegium, Ms. R. Vaigai, Senior Advocate at the Madras High Court, disagreed with the recent Supreme Court judgment in the Victoria Gowri case which held that collegium decisions are beyond judicial review.

Judges have to remember their oath of discharging their duties without fear, favour, affection, or ill will, even when discharging administrative duties, such as nominating judges or prospective judges for appointment or elevation to constitutional courts, said former Supreme Court judge, Indira Banerjee.

Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala issued notice in a petition seeking for Carrying Capacity studies to be conducted in 13 Himachal States/UTs.

Amid strikes in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur led by a local ‘Bar Association Committee’ and a ‘Bar Sangharsh Samiti’ against the National Legal Services Authority’s ‘Legal Aid Defence Counsel Scheme’, a number of public defenders in the district have alleged that the district bar associations and its office-bearers have been illegally restraining them from discharging their duties