Today’s Legal Updates

Friday, 15th June 2022

Legal Awareness :- CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

Part – V THE UNION

CHAPTER- I THE EXECUTIVE (The President and Vice-President)

Article – 62 Time of holding election to fill vacancy in the office of President and the term of office of person elected to fill casual vacancy.

  1. An election to fill a vacancy caused by the expiration of the term of office of President shall be completed before the expiration of the term.
  2. An election to fill a vacancy in the office of President occurring by reason of his death, resignation or removal, or otherwise shall be held as soon as possible after, and in no case later than six months from, the date of occurrence of the vacancy; and the person elected to fill the vacancy shall, subject to the provisions of article 56, be entitled to hold office for the full term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office.

Today’s Legal Updates :-

  1. On Friday the principal bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) at New Delhi will hear cases via physical mode alone from 1st August 2022.
    • Entry into the court rooms, for the purpose of attending physical hearings, shall stand restricted to:
      • Only one advocate per party whose case is listed for hearing that day and whose vakalatnama is on record or who has been duly authorized by such Advocate to appear.
      • Senior Counsel engaged by any such advocate.
      • Registered clerk only for the limited purpose of delivering heavy and bulky case files of such advocates at the designated court room. Such clerk should leave the court room and should enter again only to recollect the same.
  2. On Wednesday the Supreme Court declined to grant bail to Pulsar Suni, the prime accused in the 2017 Kerala actress assault case, in which popular Malayalam cine actor Dileep is also an accused.  (Sunil NS vs State of Kerala)
    • the petition, Invariably there will be much more witnesses to be examined after further investigation and there is no likelihood of the case coming to a conclusion in the near future.
    • the Supreme court clear it, However, if the trial is not concluded within the reasonable time, the petitioner is at liberty to renew his application for grant of bail pending trial before the High Court.
  3. On Friday the Patiala House court, Delhi  while granting bail Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair observed that the Hindu religion and its followers are one of the most tolerant. (State v. Mohammed Zubair)
    • the judge recorded in the order, Hindu religion is one of the oldest religion and most tolerant. The followers of the Hindu religion are also tolerant. Hindu religion is so tolerant that its followers proudly name their institution/ organizations/ facilities in the name of their holy god or goddess.
    • the Court said, The voice of dissent is necessary for healthy democracy. Therefore, merely for the criticism of any political parties it is not justified to invoke Section 153A and 295A IPC.
  4. On Friday the Bombay High Court held that in absence of provisions governing grant of anticipatory bail under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act [JJ Act], a juvenile in conflict with law can file an anticipatory bail application under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).  (Raman S/o. Prakash Mundhe and Anr. vs The State of Maharashtra)
    • As mentioned earlier, the Article 14 of the Constitution of India as well as Sections 3(ii) and 3(x) of the JJ Act give a valuable right to a child to be treated equally with others. A child defined under the JJ Act enjoys equal rights with other persons. Therefore, it would be in violation of all these principles and provisions to deny him an opportunity to exercise his right of preferring an application under Section 438 of the CrPC.
    • the Court noted, It has to be noted that Section 3 (viii) of the JJ Act provides that adversarial or accusatory words are not to be used in the processes pertaining to a child. Keeping in mind the spirit of this principle, the word “arrest” is not used in connection with a child. The CrPC, in fact, uses the words “arrest” and “apprehension” interchangeably.
    • as rightly submitted by Shri Kulkarni, learned counsel for the applicants. The definition of the word “person” mentioned in Section 11 of the IPC, is an inclusive definition. It does not exclude a child. Section 438 of the Cr.P.C. does not exclude a child from the word “person”. Therefore, there is no reason to deny the benefit of the provisions of Section 438 of the Cr.P.C. to a child, who is likely to be apprehended.
    • the Court said, There is no reason why he should be deprived of such protection even for a single minute. At that stage application under Section 438 of the CrPC is the effective remedy available to such child.
    • A ‘child’ and a “child in conflict with law” as defined under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 can file an application under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
  5. On Friday according to authoritative sources, ICICI Bank’s Group General Counsel Pramod Rao is likely to join the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as its Executive Director.
  6. On Friday the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to frame a policy to regulate use of Plaster of Paris (PoP) for making Ganpati idols and oil paints for their decoration.  (Court on its own motion vs Union of India)
  7. On Friday the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has started the process to amend the Registration of Press and Periodicals Bill, 2019 to include “news on digital media” within its ambit.
  8. On Friday the Patiala House Court, Delhi said the Delhi police “failed to establish the identity” of the Twitter user based on whose complaint the Delhi Police had registered a first information report (FIR) against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair. (State v. Mohammed Zubair)
  9. On Friday the Himachal Pradesh High Court held while hearing a case seeking compassionate appointment, merely because a daughter is married, she would not lose her identity as a member of her father’s family for assessment of family income. (Rakesh Humar v State of Himachal Pradesh)
    • the judge emphasised, In case the criteria so fixed by the Government is given the stamp of approval by the Court, then the Court will also become a party to this gender inequality, being practiced by the State.
  10. On Thursday the Supreme Court said, A woman, who was in a relationship with a man and was willingly staying with him, cannot subsequently file a rape case once the relationship turns sour. (Ansaar Mohammad v. State of Rajasthan)
    • the order said, The complainant has willingly been staying with the appellant and had the relationship. Therefore, now if the relationship is not working out, the same cannot be a ground for lodging an FIR for the offence under Section 376(2)(n) IPC.
    • recorded the Bench, The appellant is ordered to be released on bail to the satisfaction of the competent authority.
    • It is an admitted position that petitioner had made the relation with complainant by promising to marry her and due to their relation, one female child was born. So, looking to the gravity of offence, I do not consider it a fit case to enlarge the petitioners on anticipatory bail. Hence, the anticipatory bail application is dismissed.
  11. On Friday Justice AM Khanwilkar of Supreme Court said in open court that the judgment on the plea challenging the provisions of the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), is “almost ready”.
  12. On Friday the Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice UU Lalit began proceedings at 9:30 am, in a break from the norm to usually start hearings at 10:30 am.
  13. On Wednesday the Delhi High Court asked the Central and Delhi governments and the Commissioner of Delhi Police to respond to a plea alleging that more than 53,000 police officials are drawing cycle maintenance allowance ‘fraudulently’.
  14. On Friday the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) have told the Bombay High Court that all requisite permissions were obtained and procedures followed before allotting land for constructing a memorial for Shiv Sena supremo late Bal Thackeray.
  15. On Friday Students of the Tamil Nadu National Law University (TNNLU), Tiruchirappalli are at loggerheads with the administration over its refusal to fully re-open since it shut down on account of the COVID-19 pandemic which hit in March 2020.
    • you have not understood the concerns and practical problems of the University administration and the faculty. The decision to reopen the campus does not require consultation with the student body as it involves administrative issues and concerns about feasibility of conducting classes on the campus. The decision to reopen the campus for classes has been left to the Vice Chancellor by the University’s Governing Bodies. I have, However, taken the decision in consultation with the Registrar and the faculty members of TNNLU and the Executive Council of TNNLU and based on the current pandemic situation.
    • You’re right that the Government of Tamil Nadu has permitted institutions to reopen their campuses based on the advice of medical experts who said that this particular variant of the virus is not causing too many hospitalizations. Permitted means, if we wish to reopen we may…but the virus seems to be more virulent than the previous variants such that one in two persons can be infected.
    • I am tired of responding to students who are barely 20 years old advising me as to how to run the university and what decisions to take… I am a leader and not a follower, never in my life have I followed anyone other than Jesus. I create the trail and not follow the one someone else has trod. By God’s grace I have not gone wrong in nearly 40 years of service and I know that I am not wrong in this either.
    • “The problem is that the odd semesters are short with a duration of 3.5 months. The first month will go in online classes, which is totally ineffective and a waste – both the authorities and students will agree with this. When we explained this to the Vice=Chancellor and the Registrar, they expressed unwillingness to bring the senior batches on campus as it will increase their pressure.”
    • “I have about 6 months to maximum of a year for the end of my term. I don’t want to spend it by responding to emails and meeting with students about being permitted to go out of the campus to watch a movie, go to a mall or some such trivial thing when here I am overseeing the processing of the application forms for admission…Do you think that I also need the stress of students arguing about going out of the campus in the middle of the pandemic and bringing infection to the campus…? The pandemic is not over…”
  16. The Delhi High Court has said that time has come for the Domain Name Registrars (DNRs) to create a mechanism for trademark owners to raise objections and seek cancellation of registration granted to any infringing domain name.  (Snapdeal Private Limited v GoDaddyCom LLC and Ors)
    • the order, Thus, there ought to be a mechanism where the abuse policy is not merely dealing with suspension/locking but should also be able to cancel/transfer the infringing domain names. Such an abuse policy should also be implemented by the DNRs through a specified set of officials based in India, to ensure that if in a case, the transfer/cancellation is not permitted under the abuse policy, the trademark owner would be able to avail of their remedies before the Courts in India, against such a decision of the DNR.
    • the Court said, The question that arises is as to whether the intervention of the Court would be required in every case involving registration of infringing domain names, particularly considering that they are registered in respect of lakhs and lakhs of domain names, especially for well-known trademarks. In fact, DNRs offer alternate domain names on their own, without anyone seeking the same.
  17. On Thursday the Supreme Court observed that an appeal filed under Section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) by the accused against his conviction cannot be dismissed on the ground that he is absconding.  (Dhananjay Rai @ Guddu Rai v. State of Bihar)

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