Page 6 - Supreme Court

SC raises concerns over Senthil Balaji's ministerial appointment post-bail

Court to review potential witness intimidation, but refuses to overturn bail decision; next hearing scheduled for December 13

Grap IV hardly enforced? SC questions Delhi govt on air pollution crisis

The Supreme Court emphasised the need for a 'downward trend' in air pollution levels in Delhi NCR before considering easing restrictions under Grap-IV

SC refuses to relax Grap-4 restrictions unless AQI shows 'downward trend'

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to relax emergency measures under Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) dealing with air pollution in the national capital till it noticed a downward trend in the AQI level. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih further sought the presence of the chief secretaries of NCR states to appear through video-conferencing to inform it whether or not any compensation was paid to the construction workers who were without work owing to the restrictions. Notably, there has to be a downward trend before the Supreme Court relaxes GRAP 4 restrictions. The bench said the chief secretaries of NCR states including Delhi, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan will have to appear through video-conferencing at 3.30pm on December 5. "There is hardly any implementation of stage 4 of GRAP to deal with air pollution in the national capital, remarked the bench, questioning the Delhi government on the number of officers deployed by it to implement the

We grant bail, you become minister next day: SC slams DMK's Senthil Balaji

Expressing its concern over the appointment of DMK leader V Senthil Balaji, as a minister in the Tamil Nadu government days after he was granted bail in the money laundering case related to the cash-for-job scam, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea raising apprehensions on independence of witnesses in the case. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih, however, refused to interfere with the September 26 order of the apex court granting bail to Balaji on a plea filed by one of the complainants seeking its cancellation. "We granted you bail and days after you go and become minister. Anybody will be bound to be under the impression that now with your position as a senior cabinet minister, witnesses will be under pressure. What is this going on?" the bench asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Balaji. The bench, however, said it would not recall the September 26 order as the law laid down by the apex court was benefitting several other ...

SC adjourns hearing on Partha Chatterjee's plea in cash-for-jobs scam

A bench of justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan adjourned the hearing observing that it has to go through the files relating to custody being served by Chatterjee

Docket explosion preventing quality judgments, timely justice: SC judge

Docket explosion is preventing the delivery of quality judgments as well as timely justice in the country, Supreme Court judge Justice Hrishikesh Roy said on Saturday. Justice Roy made the remarks after inaugurating a two-day zonal conference on 'Court Dockets: Explosion and Exclusion' organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Judicial Academy under the aegis of the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, at the SKICC here. Several judges from the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of the High Court of J-K and Ladakh, Justice Tashi Rabstan, and ex-Supreme Court judge and Director of National Judicial Academy, Justice Anirudhha Bose, attended the conference, among other legal representatives from the region. Emphasising that docket explosion is preventing the delivery of quality judgments and timely justice, Justice Roy said in his inaugural address, "It is a significant concern in a developing country like India, which is the world's largest democracy, with millions of court cases pending at differen

Sambhal violence: Samajwadi Party calls for 'truth-based investigation'

Further talking about the party's delegation he said that they do not wish to deteriorate the tense situation in the area, and if the district administration have a problem with the delegation

SC criticises HC orders fixing time limits for trial while denying bail

Deprecating the orders passed by the high courts fixing a time-bound schedule for conclusion of trial while rejecting bail applications, the Supreme Court has said such directions were difficult to implement and give a false hope to the litigants. The apex court said such directions adversely affect the functioning of the trial courts as in many trial courts, there may be pending older cases of the same category. "Before we part with this order, every day we notice that in several orders passed by different high courts while rejecting the bail applications, in a routine manner, the high courts are fixing a time-bound schedule for the conclusion of the trials," said a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih. The top court passed the order while granting bail to a man, who has been incarcerated for two and a half years in a case of alleged counterfeit currency notes. While granting him the relief, the bench noted that trial was not likely to conclude in a reasonable

Supreme Court bars Aakash from diluting rights of minority investors

Minority stakeholder Blackstone had appealed against the Karnataka High Court order that allowed Aakash to go ahead with the proposed amendments

SC directs Aakash Educational Services not to implement AoA amendment plan

Minority shareholders of Aakash have alleged that the company was trying to dilute their shareholding in the company by amending the Articles of Association (AoA)

SC rejects appeal challenging Trai tariff orders, upholds HC decision

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an appeal challenging the telecommunication tariff orders of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and affirmed the Kerala High Court verdict that such matters should be dealt by telecom tribunal TDSAT. The Kerala High Court had refused to entertain the plea of Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) against certain provisions of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017 and the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (Eighth) (Addressable Systems) Tariff Order, 2017 issued by TRAI. The high court had said that IBDF should have approached the TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal) to review the tariff orders. A bench comprising Justices P S Narasimha and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the plea, saying "Tariff orders can be challenged before TDSAT under the regulations." The challenge to the regulations themselves can later come to this

GDP at 7-quarter low, markets rebound, Sambhal case, Raj Kundra ED case & more

SC declines to examine plea on regulating prasad quality in temples

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to examine a plea seeking regulations over the quality of "prasad" or food offerings being distributed at temples, observing its prayers were within the state's domain. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan told the petitioner's counsel that Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 26 said the executive was discharging its function within its limits. "We are not inclined to entertain the present petition in as much as the prayers made in the petition are within the domain of policy of the state," the bench noted, "if the petitioner so desires, he may make an application to the appropriate authority which would be considered in accordance with law". The petitioner's counsel asserted that the PIL did not seek publicity while referring to news reports over people falling ill after the consumption of food offerings or "prasad" at various temples. "Why only restricting it to prasadam? File it for food in hotels, food items that we purchase

SC stays revival of corruption case against former TN CM Panneerselvam

In a relief to former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed an order of the Madras High Court restoring a disproportionate assets (DA) case against him and his family members. A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti issued notice to the Tamil Nadu police and others on a plea filed by Panneerselvam. "In the present matter concerned, the challenge is to the impugned order of single judge of the High Court judicature at Madras exercising powers of suo motu criminal revision, under Section 397 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. Issue notice," the bench directed. In the meantime, the operation of the judgment was stayed by the top court. The high court, on October 29, set aside a trial court order allowing the prosecution to withdraw the DA case against Panneerselvam and others while discharging the accused. The high court set aside the order of the chief judicial magistrate/special judge, Sivaganga, passed on December 3, .

SC bars Sambhal court from taking action on mosque survey until Jan 8

Supreme Court restrains Sambhal court from taking further action on the Shahi Jama Masjid survey until January 8, directs the mosque committee to approach Allahabad High Court

SC defers bail plea against Chandrababu Naidu in skill development case

The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned till January, 2025, the hearing on an appeal filed by the Andhra Pradesh government against the order of bail to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the skill development corporation scam case. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi an S C Sharma deferred the matter after senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the state government, sought the adjournment. "There is no point in adjourning the matter from time to time. By way of a last opportunity list in the second week of January," the bench said. Seeking a direction to set aside the bail, the state government called Naidu an "influential person" alleging he ensured that two of his key associates (including a government servant) flee the country. "The accused is therefore clearly obstructing the conduct of the investigation and, therefore, ought not to be granted bail," its plea stated. On November 20, 2023 the Andhra Pradesh High Court granted bail to Naidu while noting the discretion to

Mathura Shahi Idgah dispute: SC to hear plea of mosque committee on Dec 9

The Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear on December 9 a plea of the mosque committee against the Allahabad High Court rejecting its petition challenging the maintainability of 18 cases of the Hindu side related to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura. A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said it will accord a detailed hearing on the plea at 2 pm on December 9. "This we will hear at length. We will take it up on December 9, at 2 pm... We have to decide what is the legal position," the CJI said. Speaking for the bench, the CJI said he prima facie felt that an intra-court appeal would lie against the single judge bench order of August 1 of the high court. "We will certainly give you an opportunity to argue," the bench said. On August 1, the high court rejected the plea of the Committee of Management, Trust Shahi Masjid Idgah challenging the maintainability of 18 cases related to the temple-mosque dispute in Mathura, and ruled

All Grap 4 restrictions to stay until Dec 02, except those on schools: SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to relax emergency measures under Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to deal with air pollution in the national capital, ordering it to continue till December 2. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih said the second report submitted by the court commissioners showed an "abject failure" of authorities in implementing the GRAP IV curbs in letter and spirit. "We make it clear that all GRAP IV measures except the measures which are modified in respect of the schools will continue to operate till Monday. In the meantime, Commission for Air Quality Management will hold a meeting and come out with the suggestion about moving from GRAP IV to GRAP III or GRAP II. We also make it clear that it is not necessary that all measures which are provided in GRAP IV should be dispensed with," the bench said. Action against officials for a "serious lapse" in ensuring the GRAP-IV curbs needed to be expedited, it added. The bench

Govt says no plans for law requiring SC, HC judges to disclose assets

The government on Thursday told the Rajya Sabha that it had no plans to bring a law mandating Supreme Court and high court judges to furnish their property returns, as recommended by a parliamentary committee. In a written reply, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal also said that details of the declaration of assets by the judges of high courts and the Supreme Court were not centrally maintained. The minister replied in the negative to a sub-question on "whether the government is contemplating to enact a law mandating judges of the higher judiciary to furnish their property returns as recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee in its report titled 'Judicial Processes and their Reform' of August, 2023". At the same time, the minister said the "Restatement of Values of Judicial Life", adopted by a "full court" meeting of the Supreme Court on May 7, 1997, laid down certain judicial standards to be followed by the Supreme Court and high court judges. The full bench on August

Lower courts have over 5,000 vacancies; no forward movement in AIJS: Govt

The subordinate and district courts face shortage of over 5,000 judges, while the 25 high courts have collective vacancies of over 360, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. In a written reply, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwwal also said the Supreme Court, with a sanctioned strength of 34 judges, including the chief justice of India, has two vacancies. Following the retirement of Justice D Y Chandrachud as the CJI and Justice Hima Kohli earlier, the top court has two vacancies. The minister also said that amid divergence of view among states and high courts, there is no forward movement in the creation of an all-India judicial service. He said as on November 21, the lower judiciary had a shortage of 5,245 judicial officers while the HCs were short of 364 judges. The sanctioned strength of the 25 HCs is 1,114 judges. Responding to a sub question, Meghwal noted that Article 312 of the Constitution provides for the establishment of an All India Judicial Service (AIJS), which will n