Today’s Legal Updates

Tuesday, 11th January 2022

Legal Awareness :- Women and the Indian Constitution

Voting rights/Electoral law

  • Not less than one-third seats shall be reserved for women. Such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat.
  • The office of the chairperson in the Panchayat at the village or any other level shall be reserved for SCs, STs and women in such manner as the legislature of state may, by law provide.
  • Reservation of seats for women in Municipalities is provided

To uphold the Constitutional mandate, the state has enacted various legislative measures intended to ensure equal rights, to counter social discrimination and various forms of violence and atrocities and to provide support services especially to working women. Although women may be victims of any of the crimes such as ‘Murder’, ‘Robbery’, ‘Cheating’ etc, the crimes, which are directed specifically against women, are characterized as ‘Crime against Women’.

Today Legal Updates :-

  1. Today the Bombay High Court held that under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence (DV) Act, the right to seek remedy is an exclusive right of an ‘aggrieved person’ and therefore, it is necessary for her to be alive at the time of filing of petition.  (Kanaka Kedar Sapre v. Kedar Narhar Sapre and Others)
  2. Yesterday 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)
  3. Today the Delhi High Court issued notice in the petition filed by journalist Aarti Tikoo challenging Twitter’s decision to lock her account for allegedly tweeting in violation of its Rules on Hateful Conduct.  (Aarti Tikoo v. Union of India and Anr)
  4. Today the Supreme Court said that parties before the Court in the the Mullperiyar dam case should not treat the matter as an adversarial litigation, considering the fact that the primary object of the case before the Court is to ensure the safety of people living downstream.   (Dr Joe Joseph v. State of Tamil Nadu)
  5. Today the Supreme Court expanded the scope of vulnerable witnesses under Section 3 of Delhi High Court Guidelines to include victims of sexual assault and those with mental illness, among others. (Smruti Tukaram Badade v. State of Maharashtra)
  6. Today the Delhi High Court remarked that Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Infrastructure and its subsidiary Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL) were playing hide and seek with the Court and have not come before it with clean hands.  (Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited v Delhi Metro Rail Corporation)
  7. Today the prosecution in the Delhi Riots case strongly contested the claims by accused Umar Khalid that the investigating officer (IO) in the case was communal and prejudiced.
  8. On Monday A Mumbai court refused anticipatory bail to a Mumbai lawyer accused of outraging the modesty of a woman member of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
  9. The Buxar District and Sessions Judge has recalled his earlier notice asking judicial officers and their court staff to clean temples on January 9, 2022,  in a new notice issued on Monday, the judge has stated that the earlier order is being withdrawn since no such directions towards cleaning temples were issued by the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court.
  10. Today a plea has been filed at the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court seeking a stay on the order of the Chief Secretary, Tamil Nadu which permitted the conduct of Jallikattu, a traditional bull-taming sport, amid the spurt of COVID-19 cases in the State. (B Ramkumar Adityan v. Chief Secretary)
  11. Today Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, accused in the Malegaon Blast case of 2008 has filed an application before the Special Court under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act seeking that proceedings of the trial against him be conducted strictly “in-camera” with immediate effect.
  12. On Monday the Rajasthan High Court passed an interim order directing the National Testing Agency (NTA) to allot seat at an appropriate medical college to a Pakistani candidate in accordance with his position in merit list in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), thought he does not hold a long-term visa.  (Sandeep Kumar v. Union of India and Others)
  13. Today the Allahabad High Court has decided to adopt the ‘CISCO WebEx’ Events platform for video-conferencing (virtual) hearings at its Lucknow Bench in order to make virtual court proceedings more efficient and user friendly.
  14. Yesterday the Calcutta High Court made it clear that only fully vaccinated persons would be allowed to attend the annual Gangasagar Mela in West Bengal.  (Dr Avinandan Mondal v. State of West Bengal and Others)
  15. Today A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed before the Kerala High Court seeking to restrain the pre investment activities including land acquisition for the Silverline rail project of the Kerala government.  (MK Thankappan v Union of India & Ors)
  16. Yesterday the Supreme Court issued notice to the High Commissioner of Malaysia in a habeas corpus petition filed by a wife seeking to trace her husband who had gone to Malaysia for a job and has been missing since 2015.
  17. Today Malayalam actor Dileep opposed the allegations against him on the basis of which a new first information report report (FIR) was registered 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.  (P Gopalakrishnan alias Dileep & Ors. v State of Kerala & Ors.)
  18. Today the Supreme Court observed that the resolution passed by the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly suspending 12 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs, is prima facie unconstitutional since such a suspension cannot operate beyond six months owing to a constitutional bar.  (Ashish Shelar vs Maharashtra Legislative Assembly)
  19. Today the Delhi High Court questioned the rationale in discriminating between married and unmarried women when it comes to non-consensual sex and the impact it has on their dignity.  (RIT Foundation v The Union of India)
  20. The Supreme Court will hear tomorrow the public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a probe into hate speech targeting the Muslim community delivered at the Haridwar Dharam Sansad.  (Qurban Ali and Another v. Union of India and Others)
  21. Today the seven-member Committee set up to develop a set of scientific and policy guidelines to govern decision making with respect to cutting of trees for developmental projects, has submitted its report before the Supreme Court.  (Association for Protection of Democratic Rights v. State of West Bengal)
  22. Today Taxi aggregator Uber India has told the Bombay High Court that around 3.5 lakh cab drivers use their app a week in the State of Maharashtra and each of them earn ₹7,500 to ₹15,000 a week through rides booked through the app.
  23. Today the Supreme Court held that when an Indian prisoner convicted and sentenced in a foreign country, is transferred to India under the Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003 based on an agreement between that foreign country and India, the duration of sentence imposed on such person shall be subject to such terms and conditions agreed to between India and that country.  (Union of India & Anr. v. Shaikh Istiyaq Ahmed & Ors.)
  24. Today the Madras High Court dismissed an appeal by SpiceJet challenging the order of company court admitting a winding up petition and appointing an official liquidator. (SpiceJet Ltd. v. Credit Suisse AG)
  25. Today the Supreme Court has held that the High Court exercising supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 does not act as a court of first appeal to re-appreciate or reweigh the evidence and facts upon which the matter under challenge is based.  (M/S Garment Craft vs Prakash Chand Goel)

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