Supreme Court Weekly Round-Up

Live Law reported the following judgments/orders of the Apex Court last week:

Judgments:

The Court on Tuesday pronounced the Judgment on the issue of sentencing of Ansal Brothers and another convict, in Uphaar Tragedy case. Although the operative part of the order was pronounced on August 19^th, 2015, shortly after hearing the matter, the court has given the reasons for passing such an order a month later, through this judgment.

The Court on Tuesday dismissed Centre’s plea seeking removal of foreign arbitrator Peter Leaver, in a dispute between Reliance Industries and the Government over Panna Mukta and Tapti (PMT) oil and gas fields. The arbitration was initiated in 2010.

The Court on Thursday dismissed a PIL filed by Foundation for Restoration of National Values, seeking laying down of guidelines for the smooth, unobstructed and unhindered functioning of the Parliament of India. It held that it cannot cross the lakshman rekha or overstep its limits.

The Court ruled in favor of Late Maharani Gayatri Devi’s grandchildren in the long standing legal battle over her assets. The Bench, comprising Justice A.R. Dave and Justice A.K. Goel upheld the decision of the Delhi High Court, allowing transfer of some shares of late Maharani to her grandchildren.

The Court rejected a PIL seeking direction to the Centre to declassify confidential documents on Subhash Chandra Bose. The petitioner referred to the recent disclosure of 64 confidential files by the West Bengal Government and sought a direction to Centre for dispensation to follow the suit.

Other Happenings:

Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu on Monday rebuked the lawyers of the Madras High Court for instilling a “fear psychosis” in the minds of the Judges, with a constant threat that these lawyers with “mob mentality” might enter Court rooms and shout slogans.

The intense power struggle between Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Governor Najeeb Jung figured in the Supreme Court on Monday, when the bench of Justice T.S Thakur and Justice V. Gopala Gowda said it knew that Delhi people suffered. However, it significantly refused to entertain the Public Interest Litigation filed by a businessman Tapesh Bagati on governance deficit leading to deaths from dengue saying.

The Centre told the Supreme Court that here is absolutely no truth in former Special Public Prosecutor in the Malegaon blasts case Rohini Salian’s claim that she was asked to “go soft” on the accused, who belonged to right wing Hindu extremist groups. The Attorney General has been given a week’s time by the court to file a counter affidavit on behalf of the government and the agency on the Public Interest Litigation.

Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association has filed an intervention application in Kamlesh Vaswani Vs Union of India. Mr. Vaswani has petitioned the Court challenging the Constitutional validity of Section 66, 67,69,71,72,75,79,80 and 85 of the Information Technology Act 2000 till amendment and has sought to recognize the harmful effects of Pornography.

The Court exempted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from appearing personally before a Magisterial Court at Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, till further orders. This was in relation to a case filed against him under Section 125 of Representation of People’s Act for allegedly making inflammatory speech during Lok Sabha polls on 2 May, 2014.

The Court on Tuesday deferred the Haryana Panchayat Election Polls till it decided on the constitutional validity of the law. The court stayed the provisions prescribing minimum educational qualifications for Panchayat polls contestants after the petitioner alleged that the Act had discriminatory provisions that restrain persons from contesting elections on ground of educational qualifications.

Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar on Wednesday defended the Gujarat Government before the Supreme Court, trashing the claim of sacked IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt that he was present at a meeting to discuss law and order situation during the 2002 communal violence at residence of the then Chief Minister.

The Court expressed happiness at the steps taken by Kerala in implementing its earlier orders in dealing with acid attacks on women and providing timely relief and compensation A bench headed by justice M.Y. Eqbal, after accepting an affidavit filed by state counsel Ramesh Babu withdrew the threat of contempt proceedings against Kerala Chief Secretary who was present in the court in response to the summons by the court. The court also dropped proceedings against Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram after they filed affidavits after a lot of delay.

A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court for restraining the practice of killing of animals in the name of religion. Petitioner V. Radhakrishnan, a journalist from Tamil Nadu has sought a declaration that the practice of animal sacrifice under the sanction of any religious belief or otherwise is unconstitutional, illegal and is violative of Article 14, 21, 29 and 30 of the Constitution of India.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has approached the Supreme Court to cancel the anticipatory bail granted by Bombay High Court to Teesta Setalvad and her husband in a Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) violation case.