Today’s Legal Updates

Monday, 10th January 2022

Legal Awareness :- Women and the Indian Constitution

Reservation of seats for Women in Panchayats and Municipalities

Article 243 D (3) and Article 243 T(3) provide for reservation of not less than one third of total number of seats in Panchayats and Municipalities for women to be allotted by rotation to different Constituencies.

Article 243 D(4) T(4) provides that not less than one third of the total number of officers of chairperson in the Panchayat and Municipalities at each level to be reserved for women.

Today Legal Updates :-

  1. Today the Supreme Court relaxed the limitation period to file cases under all general and special laws across the country till February 28, 2022 in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases.
  2. On Thursday the District and Sessions Judge at Buxar, Bihar issued a notice asking judicial officers of courts and their court staff to clean temples on January 9, 2022 if they were not engaged in special sitting.
    •  judicial officers and other court officials arrived at the spot on the morning of January 9 and cleaned the temple near the circuit house
  3. Today the Supreme Court observed while dealing with certain applications for condonation of delay in making deposit and restoration of the application for exemption from surrendering Registry officers must know the Supreme Court Rules like the back of one’s hand.  (Mahavir Arya v State Gov. NCT of Delhi)
  4. Today the Delhi High Court reserved its judgment in a petition challenging the Delhi government’s policy for doorstep delivery of rations to beneficiaries under the Public Distribution System (PDS).  (Delhi Sarkari Ration Dealers Sangh v. Commissioner of Food and Supplies, Govt. of NCT of Delhi)
  5. Today the Delhi High Court observed that there is a qualitative difference between a married and an unmarried couple, since after marriage, each party has an expectation or even a legal right of conjugal relations.  (RIT Foundation v. Union of India and Ors)
  6. Today the Supreme Court observed that the competent authority is duty-bound to consider a representation made against an order of preventive detention with utmost urgency.  (S Amutha v. Government of Tamil Nadu and Others)
  7. Today the Bombay High Court’s principal bench has reduced its working hours in view of COVID-19 and will sit to hear cases for only three hours a day from 12 noon to 3 pm without lunch breaks, with effect from January 11 till January 28, 2022.
  8. Today the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has informed the Delhi High Court that it has a little over ₹6,200 crores in its bank accounts.  (Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited v. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation)
  9. Today A petition has been filed before the Delhi High Court seeking the regulation of the conduct of private detectives in India on the grounds of being violative of the fundamental right to privacy.  (Radha Bisht v Union of India)
  10. The first arrested accused in Bulli Bai case, Bangalore-based student Vishal Sudhirkumar Jha, has moved approached a Mumbai court seeking bail in the matter.
  11. Today the Supreme Court berated the Gujarat government for not filing an appeal against an order of the Gujarat High Court granting bail to two persons charged under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act) for the murder of a Dalit person.  (Jayaben vs Tejas Kanubhai Zala)
  12. Today the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record (SCAORA) Association has written to the Secretary General of the Supreme Court and the Delhi Police Commissioner seeking immediate action against anonymous callers who had taken taking responsibility for the security breach of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hussaninwala flyover in Punjab.
  13. Today the Bombay High Court pondered over the extent of judicial review powers available to courts in matters pertaining to the health of citizens, While hearing pleas challenging the Maharashtra government’s policy to not permit unvaccinated persons to travel by local trains and avail of other services.
  14. Today Malayalam cine star, Dileep has approached the Kerala High Court seeking anticipatory bail in the new case registered against him by the Kerala Police, in which he has been booked for conspiring to kill police officers who were investigating a sexual assault case against him.
  15. Today Bangalore based student Vishal Sudhirkumar Jha, the first person to be arrested in the Bull Bai case, has contracted COVID-19 and was remanded to judicial custody.
  16. Today the Supreme Court has restrained the Tripura Police from taking any further action against activist-journalist Samiullah Shabbir Khan for his tweets on the violence that took place in the State in October last year.
  17. Today the Supreme Court rejected a plea which alleged tampering/ fabrication of OMR sheets by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) undergraduate examinations for the year 2021.  (Prabhnoor Singh and Ors v National Testing Agency)
  18. Today A plea by a man claiming he cannot pay interim maintenance to his estranged wife since he was without any income, was rejected by a Delhi court on the ground that the company where he worked as the Director has Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador, which showed that the petitioner-husband was a “man of means”.
  19. Today the Kerala High Court held that permitting educational institutions to collect advance annual fees during COVID pandemic for any academic year other than the ongoing one, is unjust and inequitable.  (Sanju Simon & Ors. v State of Kerala & Ors.)
  20. Today An Australian court morning quashed the decision of the Australian government to cancel the visa of Tennis player Novak Djokovic to play in the upcoming Australian Open grand slam.
  21. Today Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel India has filed a contempt petition before the Bombay High Court related to a previous order in which Essar Services India Private Limited (ESIPL) and Essar House Private Limited (EHPL) were directed to deposit ₹80 crore as security deposit in an arbitration dispute.
  22. Today the Kerala High Court held that Existence of a toddy shop in a residential area in compliance with all laws cannot be said to be an infringement of right to privacy of the inhabitants of the locality.  (SK Pavithran & Ors. v Laisy Santhosh & Ors.)
  23. Today the Supreme Court constituted a Committee headed by a retired apex court judge to probe the security lapse that took place during the recent Punjab visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  (Lawyers Voice v. State of Punjab and Others)
  24. Today the Allahabad High Court observed that judicial inquiry in custodial death cases cannot be dragged on for long.  (Suresh Devi and Another v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Others)

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