Today’s Legal Updates

Tuesday, 22nd March 2022

Legal Awareness :- CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

Part – XII FINANCE, PROPERTY, CONTRACTS AND SUITS

CHAPTER – I FINANCE

Distribution of Revenues between the Union and the States

Article – 268A Service tax levied by Union and collected and appropriated by the Union and the States.

268A. (1) Taxes on services shall be levied by the Government of India and such tax shall be collected and appropriated by the Government of India and the States in the manner provided in clause (2).
(2) The proceeds in any financial year of any such tax levied in accordance with the provisions of clause (1)
shall be—
(a) collected by the Government of India and the States;
(b) appropriated by the Government of India and the States,
in accordance with such principles of collection and appropriation as may be formulated by Parliament by law

Ins. by the Constitution (Eighty-eighth Amendment) Act, 2003, s. 2 (which is yet not in force, date to be notified later on)

Today Legal Updates :-

  1. Today the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has opposed the plea before Supreme Court seeking extra attempt for candidates who could not appear in Civil Services Mains exam held in January 2022 owing to COVID-19.  (Ajit Shukla vs Union of India)
  2. Today the Central Government has notified the appointment of 5 advocates and 5 judicial officers as judges of the Telangana High Court.
    • The five advocates are:-
      • Kasoju Surendhar @ K Surender
      •  Surepalli Nanda
      • Mummineni Sudheer Kumar
      • Juvvadi Sridevi @ Kuchadi Sridev
      • Natcharaju Shravan Kumar Venkat
    • The five judicial officers are:-
      • Gunnu Anupama Chakravarthy
      • Maturi Girija Priyadarsini @ Priyadarshini
      • Sambasivarao Naidu
      • Anugu Santhosh Reddy
      • Dr. Devaraju Nagarjun
  3. Today the Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate Court rejected an application filed by Kangana Ranaut seeking permanent exemption from personal appearance in the defamation proceedings initiated on complaint of Javed Akhtar.
  4. Justice SJ Kathawalla of the Bombay High Court was given a grand farewell by two advocates’ associations on Tuesday as he is slated to demit office on Wednesday after more than a decade on the bench.
    • At the farewell event organised by the Advocate Association of Western India (AAWI), Justice Kathawalla spoke of how his “pilgrimage” was ending.
      • he said, “To me, Judgeship was never a savvy career move or a professional high point. But in fact, it has been a pilgrimage that is coming to an end tomorrow,”
      • “Is money everything? When you come with nothing, and leave this world with nothing, should money be your master? What about soul satisfaction and the warmth in your heart when you realise that those cheated, defeated, miserable litigants who came vexed, crying and begging for justice before you are leaving with a smile, basking in the sheer delight of having their faith restored in the rule of law? Or their joy when they realise that the legal system is fair, just, humane and gives them their due when most needed it,” 
    • While speaking at the farewell organised by the Bombay Bar Association, Justice Kathawalla spoke of how he cultivated the practice of wiping his mind clean of any and all prejudices that he may have harboured against opponents.
    • While speaking at both events, he dispensed the following pearls of wisdom to young and budding advocates who aspire to join the Bench:-
      • This profession calls for burning the proverbial “midnight oil,” as not only fortunes of litigants, but sometimes their life and liberty, depends on the hard work.
      • One may attempt to escape the blame of defeat, especially where it is on account of not doing one’s best by blaming the judge or calling it a bad case, but deep down, your lack of effort will be your real defeat.
      • An over simplified principle – do your best and leave the rest. He described one’s “best” as being till you can honestly tell yourself that you cannot do more or better.
      • Answer the higher calling and move from Bar to the Bench in the larger interest of justice.
      • One cannot fall prey to either fear or favour, nor is one sitting on the dais to win a popularity contest. “It is a tightrope walk and there will always be many who you will displease, including the powers that be – whoever they may be!”
      • Nobody will remember us for our fancy cars and designer watches. We will be remembered for our dynamic work ethic, our uncompromising quest for righteousness and aptitude for empathy.
      • The legal profession is thriving, but we need to safeguard against the quantity versus quality dichotomy. There needs to be more pro bono work. “Just because some people cannot afford the high costs of litigation does not mean that justice should be denied to them,”
  5. Today the Delhi High Court has restrained the manufacturers of ‘Black Fort’ and ‘Power Cool’ beers from using the recycled bottles of Budweiser to sell their products.  (Anheuser-Busch LLC v Mr Surjeet Lal and Anr)
  6. Today the Kerala High Court held that moral policing is an offence which involves mental depravity and such cases cannot be quashed on the ground of settlement between the accused and complainant.  (Muhammed Nazar & Ors. v State of Kerala)
  7. Today Justice Rajiv Shakdher of the Delhi High Court recused himself from hearing Amazon’s appeal against a single-judge order in its ongoing dispute with Future Retail.  (Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC v Future Retail and Ors)
    • The case was listed for hearing before a Division Bench of Justices Shakdher and Jasmeet Singh. When the case was taken up, Justice Shakdher said that he could not hear the matter.
    • Amazon has challenged the December 2020 order by Justice Mukta Gupta. While the order had refused to restrain Amazon from making representations before statutory authorities against the Future Group-Reliance deal, it also made certain observations on whether the American e-commerce giant’s rights and investments in Future amounts to control.
  8. Today the Madras High Court directed the State to frame a scheme in consultation with the State Bar Council for the allotment of houses on rent with preference to young advocates after considering their financial status. (P Subbura v The Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department)
  9. Today the Karnataka High Court directed a passport officer to consider the renewal of a passport without insisting on permission from the trial court since the criminal proceedings against the concerned person had been stayed.  (Kasturi Rajupeta v. Union of India and Ors)
  10. Today the Madras High Court dismissed Twitter’s application to strike off its name from the suit filed by director Susi Ganesan against filmmaker Leena Manimekalai and others seeking damages and a permanent injunction to restrain them from making defamatory statements against him. (Susi Ganesan v. Leena Manimekalai)
  11. Today the Delhi High Court directed the Central Registrar of Multi State Co-operative Societies to examine the genuineness of all the complaints and applications filed by investors against the Sahara group societies.
  12. Today A plea has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging a Central government notification excluding persons with disability from the Indian Police Service (IPS), the Indian Railways Protection Force Service (IRPFS) and the Delhi, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Police Service (DANIPS).  (National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled vs Department of Empowerment for Persons with Disabilities)
  13. Today the Supreme Court reserved its verdict in a plea seeking disclosure of clinical trial data of COVID vaccines and a declaration that making vaccination mandatory is unconstitutional.  (Dr Jacob Puliyel vs Union of India)
  14. Yesterday the Gujarat High Court came down heavily on the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for its affidavit filed in a case pertaining to a 10th standard student who was missing since 2011. (Nagjibhai Ranchhodbhai Jadav (Mochi) v. State Of Gujarat)
    • “You must realise you are dealing with human life! All authorities in this country exist because of the Constitution and the foremost aspect is to safeguard the interest of every citizen, every person for that matter! Nobody should feel their task is such that even the human beings, no matter what happens to them.”
    • The Court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by the parents of a 10th standard student who had been been missing for the last ten years. Hailing from a small village called Diyodar, they had very limited resources and limited knowledge of law. The parents attempted to find the boy on their own, and when they did not succeed, they approached the High Court.
    • “These details are to be shared with the Superintendent of Police who is of IPS cadre and with requisite seriousness has supervised this task of tracing the corpus,”
    • the UIDAI told the Court that the matching data was missing in the record, and therefore, it was to be presumed that the missing boy was never issued an Aadhaar card.
    • “If you say it is not matching, fine. Fair enough. We also understand. To say that we will not do it, you cannot force us… don’t show us the law. Once your counsel has shown it, then the party has no business to come and tell this Court they will not abide.”
    • The Bench also said, “We are giving it to the IPS officer. The senior most officer of the district, we know that he is conducting himself with all responsibilities. Then also, how do you arrogate yourself that you will not trust anybody?”
  15. Today the Bombay High Court reserved its verdict in the plea filed by three accused Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves in the Bhima Koregaon case seeking review of the High Court’s December 2021 judgment refusing them default bail.  (P Varavara Rao & Ors. v. State of Maharashtra & Anr.)
  16. Today the Delhi High Court expressed its displeasure over the “delinquent” manner in which the petitions seeking prosecution of politicians for their alleged hate speech during the Delhi Riots was being dealt with by lawyers.  (Shaikh Mujtaba Farooq and Ors v. Union of India and Ors)
  17. Today A single-judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has referred a case to Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha for initiation of departmental action against Yamuna Nagar Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Arvind Kumar. (Puran Chand Sharma v State of Haryana)
  18. Today the Members of the Kerala High Court Advocates’ Association (KHCAA) unanimously passed a resolution to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to deal with sexual harassment complaints in accordance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act).
    • KHCAA President Rajesh Vijayan commenced his address by stating that the Executive Committee members are unanimous and steadfast in their support for the proposal to constitute an ICC.
    • “It was unanimously resolved by General Body of the KHCAA. It was further resolved to constitute a committee to study the resolution and propose amendments to the byelaws of the Association.“
    • the resolution stated, “Having regard to the Constitutional right of gender equality and right to practice profession, it is imperative to formulate a mechanism which aims at prevention of sexual harassment of women in legal profession,”
    • it was proposed that the KHCAA may pass a resolution in the following manner :-
      • Resolve to formulate and constitute an Internal Committee as contemplated under POSH Act to address the complaint of sexual harassment against women members and other aggrieved women in its precincts.
      • Resolve that a comprehensive mechanism be formulated for inquiry into allegations of sexual harassment and to take appropriate disciplinary action against the members who are found guilty.
      • Resolve and authorize the Executive Committee of KHCAA to make necessary changes and amendments in the Rules and Regulations, 1971 of the Kerala High Court Advocates Association for the effective implementation of the different provisions of POSH Act.
  19. Today the Bombay High Court directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) not to take any coercive action against Union Minister Narayan Rane and his family, in furtherance of their notices and orders against Aadish Bungalow located at Juhu, Mumbai where Rane resides.  (Kaalkaa Real Estates Pvt. Ltd. v. Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai & Ors.)
  20. Yesterday the Supreme Court held that courts should be reluctant in interfering with contracts involving technical issues as there is a requirement of the necessary expertise to adjudicate upon such issues.  (M/S NG Projects Limited v. M/S Vinod Kumar Jain)
  21. Today the Kerala High Court declined to grant any interim relief to the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) in a petition moved by it against increase in prices of bulk diesel sold by State-owned oil marketing companies.  (Kerala State Road Transport Corporation v Union of India & Ors)
  22. Today the Calcutta High Court dropped charges of rape and penetrative sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 against an accused owing to the absence of a medical examination report of the victim.  (Subrata Pradhan v. State of West Bengal)
  23. Today the Karnataka High Court extended the interim protection from arrest to directors and officials of JSW Steel for offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) till disposal of the petition before the single-judge.  (JSW Steel v Deputy Director and Anr)
  24. Today A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court set aside an order of the single-judge granting interim injunction in favour of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited in an appeal filed by its largest shareholder, Invesco Developing Markets Fund, in the ongoing dispute between the two entities.

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