SC junks petition seeking action against comedian for show 'Bas Kar Bassi'

From trying to find a middle ground in DERC appointments to hearing plea against police encounters in Assam, here's a list of important developments in the apex court today

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking action against stand-up comedian Anubhav Singh Bassi for allegedly humiliating lawyers in his comedy show ‘Bas Kar Bassi’.

The apex court while dismissing the plea asked, “What’s this? Why should we entertain this against some stand-up comedy show?"

Advocate Farhat Warsi submitted that Bassi, in his show ‘Bas Kar Bassi’, has insulted the advocate community and that some action should be taken against him.

Following are the important cases heard by Supreme Court on July 17

-SC may refer Delhi govt's plea against Centre's Delhi ordinance to a constitutional bench

The Supreme Court on Monday hinted that it was contemplating referring the Delhi government's petition against the Centre's recent ordinance on control of services to a constitutional bench for adjudication.

-SC asks CM, LG to meet to deliberate on the appointment of a new DERC chairperson

Amid differences over the appointment of the new DERC chairperson, Supreme Court asks Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena to discuss the names of former judges who could head the national capital's power regulator, saying the two constitutional functionaries have to rise above "political bickering".

-SC fixes Aug 7 for final hearing on pleas against remission to convicts on Bilkis Bano case

The Supreme Court fixed August 7 for the start of the final hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the remission granted last year to all the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

-SC rejects plea seeking direction to ensure Vande Bharat train stops at Tirur in Kerala

The apex court dismissed a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to ensure that the Vande Bharat train stops at Tirur railway station in Kerala, saying the matter falls under the policy domain of the government.

-SC seeks EC's reply in 3 weeks on NGO's plea for cross-verification of EVMs with VVPAT by voters

The Supreme Court sought the response of the Election Commission of India to a plea by an NGO seeking cross-verification by the voters of votes cast by them as "counted as recorded" in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).

-SC seeks Assam govt's response on plea against Gauhati High Court order dismissing PIL on police encounters

SC sought the response of the Assam government and others on a plea against an order of the Gauhati High Court which dismissed a PIL on a series of police encounters since Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma assumed power in May 2021.

-Stopping court from functioning not acceptable, says Supreme Court

Preventing courts from functioning is "not acceptable", the Supreme Court said and asked the Bar Council of India (BCI) to file an affidavit setting forth what action has been taken when bar associations have called for a strike in the last one year.

-SC to hear on July 21 Bengal's plea against HC order handing over the probe to NIA

The apex court said it will hear on July 21 the West Bengal government's petition challenging the Calcutta High Court order handing over the probe of incidents of violence during Ram Navami celebrations in the state to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

-SC extends stay on proceedings against Kejriwal in UP over election law violation

The Supreme Court extended its interim stay on proceedings against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a case lodged against him for allegedly making objectionable remarks against the BJP and Congress in Uttar Pradesh during the 2014 Lok Sabha poll campaign.

-SC asks Manipur govt to raise its grievance before HC on internet restoration

The Supreme Court asked the Manipur government to raise its grievance before the high court with regard to an earlier order passed by the High Court on the limited restoration of the internet in the state.

 -SC extends protection from arrest for woman lawyer by 4 weeks

 The court extended by four weeks the protection from arrest it has granted to a woman lawyer in connection with an FIR lodged by Manipur police over alleged utterances of the members of a fact-finding mission to the strife-torn state she was part of.

-SC asks Centre to notify the appointment of 9 presiding officers of industrial tribunals by August 3

The court directed the Centre to appoint nine shortlisted candidates as presiding officers of industrial tribunals by August 31, after it was told the names were cleared by a panel headed by an apex court judge recently.