Today’s Legal Updates

Tuesday, 18th October 2022

Legal Awareness :- CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

Part – V THE UNION

CHAPTER- II  PARLIAMENT  (General)

Article – 84 Qualification for membership of Parliament

A person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in Parliament unless he —
(a) is a citizen of India, and makes and subscribes before some person authorised in that behalf by the Election Commission an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule;
(b) is, in the case of a seat in the Council of States, not less than thirty years of age and, in the case of a seat in the House of the People, not less than twenty-five years of age; and
(c) possesses such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by Parliament.

Today’s Legal Updates :-

  1. On Tuesday the Delhi High Court issued notice to its Registrar (Listing) to explain why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him after he failed to before it despite express directions by the Court.  (Sh. Dilbagh Singh & Ors. vs Govt of NCT of Delhi and Ors.)
    • Such type of conduct of the Registrar (Listing) is neither warranted nor appropriate. The concerned officer has not only failed to discharge his official duty but also caused difficulty in proceeding with the instant matter by outrightly demeaning the authority of this Court. This negligence on his part has prima facie led to obstruction of administration of justice. Such conduct in the face of the order of this Court is nothing but contumacious.
    • Court recorded, The Court waited for a few minutes to enable the concerned officer to appear before the Court; however, the Registrar (Listing) has failed to be present before this Court despite express communication being duly made in this regard.
  2. On Tuesday the Bombay High Court granted anticipatory bail to a man accused of fraudulently collecting donations for his NGO, ‘The Little Shine Foundation’.  (Dashrath Arjun Kamble v The State of Maharashtra)
    • the Court said, it is also necessary for the Police Department, which is an important organ of the State Government, to recognize and uphold the services carried out by such NGOs and, if possible, to assist them in taking their ventures further, as there are several areas where the State machinery is unable to reach.
    • As can be seen from the working of this particular NGO, several operations of needy and destitute children have been carried out at the expenses, which are collected through crowd fund. The panorama of activities refect it’s wide canvass and, instead of moving the needle of suspicion to such NGOs, who are widely engaged in social service and catering to the needs of the weaker section of the society, it is expected that we should focus on good deeds being carried out by such NGOs,
    • The Court opined that custodial interrogation would not be necessary in the present case and, therefore, granted the applicant anticipatory bail on furnishing a personal bond of of ₹25,000 with one or two sureties in the like amount.
  3. The special judge hearing the bail plea filed by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut in a money laundering case, assured both Raut and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that he will hear both parties at length since he knows the repercussions of the order well.
    • Singh complained, It is not that they were taken by surprise. What I had stated in my reply, that only I argued. But he is putting all these fresh materials when we are in a rejoinder stage.
    • the judge said, You (ASG) take another day and argue. I am not in hurry and I will not leave any party unheard. But all I am saying is that within 3 days it is not possible to complete and pass the judgement. So, it will take long time.
    • the judge candidly said, I know the repercussions of the order that I will pass. For me, you both are parties and nothing more than that. So I will hear you both. Even after your arguments if there are queries, then I will also ask questions. We are only trying to arrive at the truth.
  4. On Tuesday the Punjab & Haryana High Court Bar Association resolved to abstain from work to protest a raid conducted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at the home and office of one Advocate Shelly Sharma.
    • The NIA cannot raid lawyer’s residence cum legal office in this manner and seek privilege communication between the lawyer and the client. Such raids tantamount to direct interference in the judicial proceedings and is nothing but a criminal contempt of court.
    • Such act on the part of the NIA reminds us of the colonial days when lawyers who were fighting for cause of justice were targeted. Sadly, the same tactics seems to have come back again.
    • the resolution said, Till the aforementioned demands are not accepted, District Bar Association, Chandigarh in solidarity while condemning such abuse of power will abstain from work with immediate effect indefinitely.
  5. On Tuesday the Centre government has told the Delhi High Court that its Agnipath scheme for recruitment into Army, Air Force and Navy will make the forces young and recruits who exit after their tenure will prove to be a nationalist, disciplined and skilled manpower to the society.
  6. On Tuesday the Senior Advocate CS Vaidyanathan expressed grave concern at rumours that the Supreme Court Collegium is likely to only propose those names for elevation that are likely to be approved by the Central government.
    • Vaidynathan said, One very important point I want to highlight about independence of judiciary – there are whispers, and I hope they are not true, that the Collegium is thinking of sending recommendations only if they are going to be accepted by the government. This I think is a very dangerous proposition. I hope this does not ever come to be true!
    • the senior lawyer said, It is very, very topical and I thought I must mention since the CJI is here.
    • The seeds planted by Shri Nambyar have now resulted in such a huge Banyan Tree that under the shadow of that tree, every citizen can have solace that it is your efforts due to which our constitutional history has brought us here.
  7. On Tuesday the Supreme Court stayed a Bombay High Court full-bench judgment that had held that the constitution of a special bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) at Delhi was illegal.  (National Green Tribunal vs Goa Foundation)
    • Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave appearing for the NGT he asked, Should environmental degradation be allowed if government cannot appoint officers on time.
    • Issue is whether parties should be without remedy or not.
    • With virtual hearings, there are no boundaries as such. But otherwise we have something called territorial jurisdiction. Pune Bench will have specific judges allotted. Where [else] will you file the case then?
    • We are on a larger thing. Can you keep the Pune Bench vacant? There should not be chaos in the garb of convenience towards settled principle of territorial jurisdiction. Calcutta people will not file it in Pune.
    • Justice Nagarathna opined, Where will the litigant go then? Else Order 7 Rule 11 will apply, like in suits.
    • Datar ended by saying, Do we hold up our hands and keep waiting instead of hearing old urgent cases in other benches through VC? The Bombay High Court order prevents this. All Eastern Bench sittings will only be allowed in Calcutta [now]. There an expert member is retiring.
    • Senior Advocate Indira Jaising appearing for the respondents stated. Only special bench hearing at Delhi was quashed … What is happening here is my lords, that matters of Goa are being decided by the northern Bench. Members of that bench sitting on matters. Where is the authority of law for that? There is none.
    • the Court ordered, Paragraph 56 of the High Court order is stayed.
    • All matters pertaining to Western Zone will only be heard by the Pune Bench.
    • Every day we have to stay at least three orders of these tribunals. We unnecessarily wasted more than an hour with this. We were under the impression that [there are] no members in Pune.
  8. On Tuesday the Supreme Court tayed a Bombay High Court full-bench judgment that had held that the constitution of a special bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) at Delhi was illegal. ( National Green Tribunal vs Goa Foundation)
    • Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave asked, Should environmental degradation be allowed if government cannot appoint officers on time.
    • Justice Gavai then asked, Issue is whether parties should be without remedy or not.
    • Justice BV Nagarathna slightly, With virtual hearings, there are no boundaries as such. But otherwise we have something called territorial jurisdiction. Pune Bench will have specific judges allotted. Where [else] will you file the case then?
    • Justice Nagarathna said, We are on a larger thing. Can you keep the Pune Bench vacant? There should not be chaos in the garb of convenience towards settled principle of territorial jurisdiction. Calcutta people will not file it in Pune.
    • Justice Nagarathna opined, Where will the litigant go then? Else Order 7 Rule 11 will apply, like in suits.
    • Datar ended by saying, Do we hold up our hands and keep waiting instead of hearing old urgent cases in other benches through VC? The Bombay High Court order prevents this. All Eastern Bench sittings will only be allowed in Calcutta [now]. There an expert member is retiring.
    • Only special bench hearing at Delhi was quashed … What is happening here is my lords, that matters of Goa are being decided by the northern Bench. Members of that bench sitting on matters. Where is the authority of law for that? There is none.
    • the Court ordered, Paragraph 56 of the High Court order is stayed.
    • All matters pertaining to Western Zone will only be heard by the Pune Bench.
    • Every day we have to stay at least three orders of these tribunals. We unnecessarily wasted more than an hour with this. We were under the impression that [there are] no members in Pune.
    • Justice Nagarathna then said, Their [respondent’s] contention is VCs should not change jurisdiction.
  9. On Tuesday the Madras High Court observed that persons who were not accused in the predicate offence, i.e, the original criminal activity that resulted in the generation of the proceeds of the crime, could still be prosecuted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). (P Rajendran vs The Assistant Director, Directorate of Enforcement)
  10. On Tuesday a Special Court warned while disposing of a plea filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking cancellation of his bail in the IRCTC scam case, Tejashwi Yadav, being the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, should act responsibly while choosing his words.
  11. On Tuesday the Madras High Court said that parents going through matrimonial acrimony must let go of their egos for the sake of the welfare of their children. (Karthika v. Superintendent of Police)
    • the Court said, Insofar as the present case is concerned, the parties should bear in mind that ego is just a small three letter word, which can destroy a big twelve letter word called relationship, as ego and love will not travel together.
    • the order, Be that as it may, this goes without saying that this Court cannot decide about the custody of the child and it is for the petitioner, being a mother to work out her remedy before the appropriate forum for custody of the child. This Court in exercise of its jurisdiction can at the most see whether the detenu is in illegal custody of anyone or not and in this case, it cannot, at any stretch of imagination, be said that the child is in the illegal custody of the 3rd respondent (husband) for the reason stated above.
  12. On Tuesday the Delhi High Court observed that the protest planned by Umar Khalid and others against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) was a premediated plan and would prima facie be covered by the definition of ‘terrorist act’ under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).  (Umar Khalid v State of National Capital Territory of Delhi)
  13. On Monday Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the politics within the judiciary when it comes to appointment of judges is not visible to the common man, and that the Collegium system is too opaque.
  14. On Tuesday a Division Bench of Delhi High Court also dealt with, in the detail, the phraseology of “Inquilabli Salam” (Revolutionary Salute) and “Krantikari Istiqbal” (Revolutionary Welcome) in its 52-page-order denying bail to former JNU student and activist Umar Khalid.
  15. On Tuesday the Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court Opposition by Godrej & Boyce to the land acquisition proceedings for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project was a major reason for delays in the project and the company should, therefore, not be permitted to milk its own wrong.
  16. On Tuesday the Delhi High Court rejected the bail plea filed by former Jawaharlal Nehru University student Umar Khalid in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.
  17. On Tuesday the Delhi High Court denied bail to former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student and activist Umar Khalid in the Delhi Riots conspiracy case.  (Umar Khalid v. State of National Capital Territory of Delhi)
  18. On Tuesday Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested abolishing irrelevant laws and framing laws in regional languages for the benefit of citizens.
  19. On Monday the Supreme Court asked the Nagaland government to prepare a fresh list of eligible IPS officers for appointment to post of Director General of Police for the State.  (Prakash Singh and ors vs Union of India)
  20. On Monday the Allahabad High Court granted bail to politician Shrikant Tyagi in the case registered against him under Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986  (Srikant Tyagi v State of UP)
  21. On Tuesday the Supreme Court rejected a fresh plea by alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar to transfer him from Mandoli jail, where he is currently lodged, to some other prison.
  22. On Tuesday the Supreme Court observed that the response filed by the Gujarat government to the plea challenging the release of eleven convicts in Bilkis Bano gang rape case, is very bulky.
    • the Court orally remarked, It is a very big reply….So many judgments in a reply. Where is the factual statement, where is the application of mind.
    • Solicitor General Tushar Mehta responded, It could have been avoided, I agree.. but the idea was to have easy reference.
    • the Court directed, Let counter be made available to all lawyers. List matters on November 29, 2022.
  23. On Monday the Supreme Court sought responses from the Central government and the Union Territory administration in a plea against orders reducing the speed of internet services from 4G to 2G in several districts of Jammu & Kashmir.  (Private Schools Association J&K v. Home Department and ors)
  24. On Tuesday the Bombay High Court granted bail to a man accused in a rape case subject to the condition that he marries the survivor, currently untraceable, if she is located within a year.  (Chetan Chandrakant Tambatkar v. State of Maharashtra & Anr.)
  25. On Tuesday the Delhi High Court has appointed retired Supreme Court judge Justice Vineet Saran as Returning Officer (RO) to conduct elections to the Executive Council (EC) of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).  (Ms Manika Batra v Table Tennis Federation of India Through The President and Ors)
  26. On Tuesday the National Green Tribunal (NGT/ tribunal) has set aside the Draft Development Plan, 2041 prepared by the Town and Country Planning Department, Himachal Pradesh for the city of Shimla.  (Yogendra Mohan Sengupta vs The State of Himachal Pradesh and Ors.)
  27. On Tuesday the Delhi High Court granted an interim injunction in favour of coaching institute Triumphant Institute of Management Education (T.I.M.E), restraining one ‘Times Coaching Centre’ from using its registered mark for educational services.  (Triumphant Institute of Management Education Pvt Ltd v. Times Coaching Centre)

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