Page 2 - Gujarat High Court

Morbi bridge collapse: SC refuses to cancel bail granted by HC to accused

The Supreme Court has refused to cancel the bail granted by the Gujarat High Court to an accused who had issued tickets to visitors on the day when the Morbi bridge collapsed last year, leaving over 140 dead. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra did not agree to the submissions of the lawyer, appearing for the Tragedy Victim Association, Morbi that the high court wrongly granted bail to the accused. He was just selling the tickets, the CJI said while dismissing the plea for cancellation of the bail granted to accused Mansukhbhai Valjibhai Topia by the high court on June 9. We are not inclined to entertain the Special Leave Petitions under Article 136 of the Constitution. The Special Leave Petitions are accordingly dismissed, the bench said in its order on Monday. The Gujarat High Court had taken note of the fact that the probe was over and the charge sheet was already filed. Since trial will take its own time to conclude, the

2002 riots: HC grants bail to ex-DGP in case of fabricating evidence

The Gujarat High Court has granted regular bail to ex-DGP RB Sreekumar in a case of fabricating evidence to frame people in connection with the 2002 riots, nearly two weeks after the Supreme Court allowed the bail plea of social activist Teesta Setalvad in the same case. The court of Justice Ilesh Vora on Friday gave relief to former director-general of police (DGP) Sreekumar, who is already out on interim bail, on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and directed him to surrender his passport. An interim bail is granted for a short period before the hearing for the grant of regular bail. The HC had earlier rejected the bail plea of Setalvad, one of the three accused in the case registered by the Ahmedabad city crime branch under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offence). The Supreme Court (SC) granted her regular bail on July 19. Granting bail to ..

Modi surname case: Supreme Court stays conviction of Rahul Gandhi

During the hearing on Friday, Abhishek Singhvi, who was representing Gandhi, said that Purnesh Modi's original surname is not Modi but belongs to the Modh Varnika Samaj

Modi surname case: SC to hear Rahul Gandhi's plea against verdict today

Modi surname case in SC: In the last hearing, on July 21, the apex court sought responses from former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi and the state government on Gandhi's plea

Setalvad moves HC to quash FIR for altering evidence of 2002 riots cases

Social activist Teesta Setalvad has moved the Gujarat High Court to quash an FIR filed against her by the Ahmedabad crime branch for allegedly fabricating evidence in the 2002 riots cases. A sessions court recently rejected her discharge plea in the case, even as the Supreme Court granted her bail after the Gujarat High Court denied her relief. On Monday, Setalvad moved a plea in the HC for quashing the FIR and the matter is likely to come up for hearing in a few days. Setalvad and two others former state Director General of Police R B Sreekumar and former Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt were arrested by the city crime branch in June 2022 on charges of forgery and fabricating evidence with the intent to implicate Gujarat government functionaries in the 2002 riots cases. An FIR was registered against them after the Supreme Court last month dismissed the plea filed by Zakia Jafri, whose husband and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was killed during the riots. Setalvad has

Gujarat HC acquits last cop accused in 2003 Sadiq Jamal encounter case

The Gujarat High Court has allowed the discharge plea of a former police official accused in the 2003 encounter of Sadiq Jamal, who the cops had claimed to be a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative. With the acquittal of retired deputy superintendent of police Irshadali Anwarali Saiyed, all seven of the eight accused in the case stand exonerated. One accused died during the pendency of his discharge plea. The court of Justice Gita Gopi on Tuesday allowed Saiyed's discharge plea in the case of the alleged fake encounter of a 19-year-old youth who the police had claimed to be an LeT operative out to kill the then chief minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders. A special CBI court had on December 20, 2022, turned down Saiyed's plea for discharge, prompting the retired cop to move the high court. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) did not challenge the discharge order of any of the six cops who were acquitted in the past. The case pertains to Sadiq Jamal, a youth from Bhavnagar,

SC to hear Rahul Gandhi's plea against Gujarat HC order in defamation case

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Friday Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's appeal against the Gujarat High Court verdict dismissing his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark. A bench of justices B R Gavai and P K Mishra will likely take up the matter tomorrow. A bench headed by CJI D Y Chandrachud had on July 18 agreed to hear Gandhi's plea after senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi mentioned the matter and sought urgent hearing. In his appeal, Gandhi has said if the July 7 HC judgment is not stayed, it will lead to "throttling of free speech, expression, thought, and statement". Purnesh Modi, a former minister in the Gujarat government, had filed a criminal defamation case in 2019 against Gandhi over his "how all thieves have Modi as the common surname" remark made during an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019. He was apparently referring to businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi, two fugitive prominent ...

Defamation case: SC to hear Rahul's appeal against Gujarat HC verdict

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on July 21 an appeal of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi challenging the Gujarat High Court's July 7 verdict which dismissed his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Mishra agreed to hear the plea after senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Gandhi, sought listing of the appeal on July 21 or July 24. The bench said it would hear it on July 21. In his appeal filed on July 15, Gandhi has said that if the judgment is not stayed, it would lead to throttling of free speech, expression, thought, and statement. He contended that if the high court verdict is not stayed it would contribute to the systematic, repetitive emasculation of democratic institutions and the consequent strangulation of democracy which would be gravely detrimental to the political climate and future of India. Purnesh Modi, a former ministe

Rahul moves SC against HC's refusal to stay conviction in defamation case

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi moved the Supreme Court on Saturday challenging the Gujarat High Court's July 7 order which dismissed his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark. The appeal has been filed by Gandhi through advocate on record Prasanna S. Gandhi was disqualified as a Member of Parliament on March 24, 2023 after a Gujarat court convicted him and sentenced him to a two-year imprisonment on charges of criminal defamation for comments he made about the Modi surname. In a setback to 53-year-old Gandhi, the high court on July 7 dismissed Gandhi's plea for a stay on his conviction, observing that "purity in politics" is the need of the hour. A stay on Gandhi's conviction could pave the way for his reinstatement as a Lok Sabha MP. However, he has not received any relief from either the sessions court or the Gujarat High Court. In his verdict, Justice Hemant Prachchhak also noted that representatives of people should be "men of

The political impact of Rahul Gandhi's legal woes

Going to jail is a rite of passage for politicians, and they tend to emerge stronger if the punishment is seen to be unfair

Will move SC, nothing will stop Rahul Gandhi's mission, says Congress

The Congress on Friday said it would approach the Supreme Court over the Gujarat High Court order dismissing party leader Rahul Gandhi's plea for a stay on his conviction in the case over his "Modi surname" remark, and said nothing will deter Gandhi or the party from their mission to unite the nation. AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal was addressing a party programme organised in Kozhikode district, seeking to restore peace in the strife-torn northeastern state of Manipur, when he spoke about Gandhi's defamation case and the Congress's response to the court verdict. He said there was "no surprise" in the verdict against Gandhi from the Gujarat court, and added, "There is one more option before us...the Supreme Court. Let's see. The Congress party will seek that option too". His statement came soon after the Gujarat High Court dismissed Gandhi's plea and upheld the order of the lower court, describing it as "just, proper and legal". "How can we believe that justice

Cong to move SC against HC order on Rahul's conviction in defamation case

The Congress on Friday said it would move an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court order dismissing party leader Rahul Gandhi's plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark. AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said, "There is one more option before us... the Supreme Court. Let's see. The Congress party will seek that option too". Venugopal said this while addressing a party programme organised in Kozhikode district of northern Kerala. His statement came soon after the Gujarat High Court dismissed Gandhi's plea, upholding the order of the lower court, describing it as "just, proper and legal". A stay of the conviction would have paved the way for Gandhi's reinstatement as a Member of Parliament. A metropolitan magistrate's court in Surat on March 23 sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail after convicting him under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation) in a

Gujarat HC refuses to stay Rahul Gandhi's conviction in defamation case

While dismissing the plea, Justice Hemant Prachchhak noted that Gandhi is already facing 10 cases across India, adding order of the lower court was "just, proper and legal" in convicting Cong leader

Guj HC to deliver verdict on Rahul Gandhi's plea seeking stay on conviction

The Gujarat High Court will deliver on Friday its verdict on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his Modi surname remark. As per the cause list issued by the HC on Thursday, the court of Justice Hemant Prachchhak will deliver the verdict at 11 am. A stay on conviction would pave the way for Gandhi's reinstatement as a Member of Parliament (MP). In May, Justice Prachchhak, while hearing Gandhi's plea, had refused to grant any interim relief saying it will pass a final order after the summer vacation, which ended three weeks back. During a hearing on April 29, Gandhi's lawyer had argued that a maximum punishment of two years for a bailable, non-cognisable offence meant his client could lose his Lok Sabha seat "permanently and irreversibly", which was a "very serious additional irreversible consequence to the person and the constituency he represents". A metropolitan magistrate's court in Surat sentenced the former .

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Guj HC rejects Setalvad bail plea, says she tried to unsettle elected govt

The Gujarat High Court Saturday rejected the regular bail plea of social activist Teesta Setalvad and directed her to surrender immediately, observing she made attempts to unsettle a democratically elected government and sully the image of the then chief minister and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi and tried to send him to jail. Rejecting Setalvad's plea in a case of fabricating evidence to implicate innocent people in the 2002 post-Godhra riots cases, the court of Justice Nirzar Desai said that enlarging her will send a false signal that everything in a democratic country is lenient. The court directed Setalvad, who is currently out on interim bail, to surrender immediately. It also rejected her lawyer's request to give her 30 days to surrender. Setalvad was arrested in June last year along with former Gujarat Director General of Police R B Sreekumar and ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in an offence registered by Ahmedabad crime branch police for allegedly fabricating evidence to

Gujarat HC rejects bail plea of Teesta Setalvad, asks her to surrender

The Gujarat High Court on Saturday rejected the regular bail plea of social activist Teesta Setalvad and directed her to surrender immediately in a case pertaining to the alleged fabrication of evidence to frame innocent people in 2002 post-Godhra riots cases. The court of Justice Nirzar Desai rejected Setalvad's bail plea and directed her to surrender immediately as she is already out of jail after securing interim bail. As the applicant is out on interim bail granted by the Supreme Court, she is directed to surrender immediately, the court said in its order. Setalvad and co-accused and former Director General of Police R B Sreekumar were taken into custody by Gujarat police on June 25 last year and a court sent them in judicial custody on July 2 after their police remand ended. She walked out of jail in September 2022 after being granted relief by the apex court. The Ahmedabad crime branch registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Setalvad, Sreekumar and jailed former

Election Commission takes stock of EVMs ahead of general elections in 2024

The EC issues a calendar for such exercises and there are standing instructions that are to be followed by state chief electoral officers

Gujarat HC judge sites Manusmriti in rape survivor's abortion plea hearing

It was once normal for girls to marry at a young age and deliver a child before they turned 17, a judge of the Gujarat High Court has remarked while hearing a minor rape survivor's plea for permission to terminate her pregnancy. While indicating that he might not allow the petition if both the girl and foetus were healthy, Justice Samir Dave of the high court also referred to the Manusmriti during the hearing on Wednesday. The rape survivor is 16 years and 11 months old and carrying a seven-month-old foetus. Her father moved the HC seeking permission for abortion as the pregnancy had crossed the 24-week threshold up to which abortion can be performed without a court's leave. On Wednesday, his lawyer sought an early hearing, saying the family was concerned because of the girl's age. Justice Dave said there was anxiety because "we are living in the 21st century". "Ask your mother or great-grandmother. Fourteen-fifteen was the maximum age (for marriage), and girls used to give birth

SC to hear Gujarat judicial officers' plea whose promotions it stayed

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear in July a plea of several Gujarat judicial officers whose promotions were stayed by it. A bench headed by Justice M R Shah, now retired, on May 12 had stayed the promotion of 68 Gujarat lower judicial officers, including Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma who had convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala took note of the submissions of senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the judicial officers, that they have been reverted back to their original lower cadre by the Gujarat High Court in pursuance of the apex court's decision of May 12. Several judicial officers are suffering humiliation due to the demotion and moreover, six states in the country follow the principle of seniority-cum-merit for promotion, said the senior lawyer. We will list it after the summer vacation in July, the CJI said, adding