Today’s Legal Updates:

Friday, 19th November 2021

  1. Today Morning the Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Central Government will take steps in the upcoming Parliament session to repeal the three controversial farm laws.
  2. Today the Central government has decided to repeal the three controversial Farm Laws against which farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh have been protesting for more than a year.
    • The three laws are the Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance & Farm Services Act 2020, Farmers Produce Trade & Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation) Act 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.
  3. Today the Madhya Pradesh High Court referred to a larger bench the question as to whether a Division Bench of the High Court can entertain intra-court appeals against orders other than those passed under Article 226 jurisdiction.  (State of Madhya Pradesh v. Jaipal Singh)
  4. Today the Orissa High Court denied the request of a gang-rape survivor who sought permission to terminate her 26-week-old pregnancy, even as it acknowledged that the situation of the petitioner and what lay ahead for her was heart-wrenching.
  5. On Wednesday the Delhi High Court issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for physical hearings starting from Monday (22nd November 2021).
    • The notice listed out the precautions to be taken by advocates/party-in-persons for attending physical hearings and virtual court rooms. As per the notice, only the following persons are allowed to enter the court block:-
      1. Only one Advocate accompanied by one Junior/lntern per party whose vakalatnama is on record or who has been duly authorized by such Advocate to appear and whose case is listed for hearing that day.
      2. Senior Counsel engaged by any such Advocate.
      3. Registered Clerk only for the limited purpose of delivering heavy and bulky case files of such Advocates at the designated point. Such -Clerk shall leave the court block and shall enter again only to recollect the same.
      4. Standing/Nominated counsel for any of the party/entity whose cases are listed for physical hearing that day.
      5. Party-in-person where such party is pursuing the case himself/herself without any legal assistance.
  6. Yesterday the Supreme Court held that a relative of a deceased employee cannot claim compassionate appointment after the lapse of a substantial time period.  (Steel Authority of India Limited V. Gouri Devi)
  7. Today the Delhi High Court has sought replies from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) on a plea filed by one of the convicts in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case seeking UPSC Forms and several other documents of 12 IPS Officers who were part of the investigation into the blasts.  (Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddique v CPIO, DOPT)
  8. Today the Kerala High Court held that grazes upon the concept of enthusiastic consent, that there is conspicuous difference between ‘consent’ and ‘submission to compulsion’ to have sexual intercourse. (Syam Sivan v State of Kerala)
  9. Today the Allahabad High Court stayed the arrest of a law intern who was charged with impersonation and cheating after he had appeared before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT) and sought an adjournment in a case in which the lawyer under whom he was interning was appearing for one of the parties.  (Abhay Kumar Gupta v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Others)
  10. Today the Delhi High Court issued notice to the Central government on three petitions challenging an order by which more than 80 officers holding the rank of Income Tax Commissioners or Directors of Income Tax were transferred.  (Cobol Technologies Pvt Ltd v UOI and Anr)
  11. Today Television news channel AajTak has moved the Delhi High Court seeking quashing of an order dated July 26, 2021 passed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting declaring a text it displayed in one its broadcast as violative of section 6(1)(i) of the Programme Code the order had also issued a warning, to be careful in future.
  12. A petition has filed by actress Rakul Preet Singh in the Delhi High Court, alleging false reportage by AajTak in relation to a drugs case being probed by the Narcotics Control Bureau.
  13. Today the hearing before the Tripura High Court in the case related to communal violence in the State witnessed some interesting remarks by Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty on the decision of the Central government to repeal the contentious Farm Laws.
  14. On Wednesday the Kerala High Court issued notice on a plea filed by an 8-year-old Dalit girl who approached the Court after she was allegedly publicly humiliated by a police officer who falsely accused her of stealing a mobile.
  15. Today Senior Advocate Deepinder Singh Patwalia has been appointed as the new Advocate General of Punjab.
  16. Today A writ petition has been filed before the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the appointment of Subodh Kumar Jaiswal as Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). (Rajendrakumar V Trivedi v. Union of India & Ors.)
  17. Today Mehul Choksi (Indian-born businessman) has moved the Bombay High Court seeking abeyance of the proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) before a Mumbai court seeking to declare him as a fugitive economic offender.  (Mehul Choksi v. State of Maharashtra & Anr.)
  18. Yesterday The Supreme Court held that an arbitrator is bound by the terms of the arbitration agreement between parties regarding any award of interest from the date of cause of action to the date of the award.  (Union of India vs. Manraj Enterprises)
  19. Today the Delhi High Court imposed a fine of ₹10,000 on a man who appeared for a virtual hearing in his vest, terming his conduct “totally unacceptable”.  (Saurabh Gogia and Others v. The State and Anr)
  20. Today the Kerala High Court observed that the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (the Act) effectively gives the concept of “Apat Dharma“, statutory recognition and that in times of disasters, the Act will and should override the provisions of other laws as it is intended to protect lives. (MH Vijayan v. State of Kerala)
  21. Today Dhananjay Shahi has joined Bharti Enterprises as Head – Corporate Legal after leaving Flipkart.
  22. Yesterday in a shocking incident from Bihar, two police officers allegedly assaulted and abused an Additional District and Sessions Judge inside his chamber.

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