Today’s Legal Updates

Saturday & Sunday, 29th & 30th January 2022

Legal Awareness :- Voting Rights In India

Role of Election commission

The committee of India (ECI) is an autonomous and permanent constitutional body liable for organising free and fair elections within the Union and States of India. The committee operates under the authority of the Constitution per Article 324 and subsequently enacted the Representation of the People Act.

The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, state Legislative Assemblies, state legislative councils, and therefore the offices of the President and vice chairman of the country. The ECI doesn’t affect the elections to the urban bodies like Municipalities and Panchayats within the states. The State committee deals with the function of conducting free, fair and impartial elections to the local bodies within the state.

Martyrs Day

The Anniversary of the Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

Martyrs’ Day (India), is observed on January 30, the anniversary of the assassination of Mohandas Gandhi in 1948. On Martyr’s Day the president, the vice president, the prime minister, the defence minister, and the three Service Chiefs gather at the samadhi at Raj Ghat memorial and lay wreaths decorated with multi-colour flowers. The armed forces personnel blow bugles sounding the Last Post. The inter-services contingent reverse arms as a mark of respect. A two-minute silence in memory of Indian martyrs is observed throughout the country at 11 AM. Participants hold all-religion prayers and sing tributes.

Mahatma Gandhi, was assassinated at the Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti) in New Delhi on 30 January 1948. Gandhi was outside on the steps where a prayer meeting was going to take place, surrounded by a part of his family and some followers, Nathuram Godse, approached and shot him three times in the chest at close range. Gandhi was taken back inside the Birla House, where he died. Godse was arrested, convicted in court and later executed.

Saturday, 29th January 2022

  1. Today the Kerala government has issued an order clarifying that hijab or anything which highlights religious symbols cannot be allowed as part of the uniform of Student Police Cadet (SPC) project.
  2. Today the Kerala High Court ordered Malayalam cine actor Dileep to hand over his mobile phone to the Court registry in a sealed cover in connection with a case registered against him by the Kerala Police.  (P Gopalakrishnan alias Dileep & Ors. v State of Kerala & Ors.)
  3. Yesterday the Supreme Court held that an order of externment is an extraordinary measure and must, therefore, be used sparingly since it takes away the fundamental right to free movement under Article 19(1)(d) of the Constitution. (Deepak v. State of Maharashtra)
    • Appellant challenged an order of externment passed under Maharashtra Police Act, which had been upheld by the Bombay High Court.
    • The externment order was based on three stale offences, two offences against individuals and the two confidential witness testimonies
    • The Supreme Court said that an externment order infringes the fundamental right under Article 19(1)(d) to move freely throughout the territory of India and must, therefore, stand the test of reasonableness.
    • Competent authority must be able in a position to show application of mind, the Bench stressed.
    • The order in the present case was found to be passed casually and thus, quashed.
  4. Yesterday Advocate Nina Gupta was elected to the Supreme Court Gender Sensitization and Internal Complaints Committee (GSICC).
  5. Today A Delhi court has issued summons to Times Now in a civil defamation suit filed by the Popular Front of India (PFI) alleging false reporting and damage to goodwill.  (Popular Front of India v Times Global Broadcasting Co Ltd (Times Now) and Ors)
  6. Yesterday the Supreme Court held that there cannot be overarching State control over public trusts and the government instrumentalities cannot dictate what decisions can be taken and what cannot be taken in the context of such trusts.  (Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman, Mhow v. The Sub Divisional Officer/The Registrar Of Public Trusts)
  7. Today the Karnataka High Court rejected a bail petition of a man who had allegedly abducted, confined, physically assaulted and stripped another man.  (N Manjunath v State of Karnataka)
  8. The Bombay High Court has issued practice directions to trial court judges with respect to the trial of cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.
  9. On Thursday the Supreme Court reiterated that the equation of posts and determination of pay scales is the function of the executive, and the judiciary should refrain from entering upon the task of job evaluation generally left to expert bodies.  (State of Madhya Pradesh v. RD Sharma and Another)
    • “It may be noted that this court has consistently held that the equation of post and determination of pay scales is the primary function of the executive and not the judiciary and therefore ordinarily courts will not enter upon the task of job evaluation which is generally left to the expert bodies like the Pay Commissions,”
    • “Such job evaluation exercise may include various factors including the relevant data and scales for evaluating performances of different groups of employees, and such evaluation would be both difficult and time consuming, apart from carrying financial implications. Therefore, it has always been held to be more prudent to leave such task of equation of post and determination of pay scales to be best left to an expert body,”
  10. Today the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA) has completed five years of creating a space in international arbitration since its inception in 2016.
  11. Yesterday the Supreme Court observed that the difficulties faced by a decree holder in execution of a decree continue to remain the same as it was in the 19th century.  (Messer Griesheim Gmbh (Now Called Air Liquide Deutschland Gmbh) v. Goyal Mg Gases Pvt. Ltd.)
    • the Court said “It is an old saying that the difficulties of the litigant in India begin when he has obtained a decree. The evil was noticed as far back in 1872 by the Privy Council in relation to the difficulties faced by the decree holder in execution of the decree. After more than a century, there has been no improvement and still the decree holder faces the same problem what was being faced in the past,” 
    • the order said “Instead, what he primarily wants from the Court of Justice is the relief and if it is a money decree, he wants that money what he is entitled for,” 
  12. The Madhya Pradesh High Court held that moral policing cannot be allowed in matters where two major adults have willingly decided to live together whether by way of marriage or in a live-in relationship.  (Guljar Khan v. State of Madhya Pradesh and Others)
    • the Court observed “No moral policing can be allowed in such matters where the two major persons are willing to stay together whether by way of marriage or in a live-in relationship, when the party to that arrangement is doing it willingly and not forced into it,” 
  13. The Allahabad High Court dismissed another public interest litigation (PIL) petition which sought postponement of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh (UP) Assembly elections in view of rising COVID-19 cases in the State.  (Rishi Kumar Trivedi v. Election Commission Of India Through Chief Election Commissioner and Another)
    • the Court stated while dismissing the plea “We have already dismissed PIL No. 17 of 2022 (Atul Kumar and another v. Election Commission Of Bharat and another) by putting on record the reasons that merit for rejecting misconceived prayers impeding election process in the State assembly as is the case at hand. We reiterate the reasons already put on record and are not convinced to interfere on the basis of a ground i.e. Pandemic which the Commission, being a constitutional body, must have taken into consideration, with utmost responsibility,”
  14. A convict in an Aurangabad prison, who was in solitary confinement for over two years, has been moved to a regular cell after the Aurangabad Bench of Bombay High Court ordered a judicial and medical enquiry into the mental health condition of the convict.  (Shaikh Ruheena v. State of Maharashtra & Ors.)

Sunday, 30th January 2022

  1. Senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla who was Commissioner of Pune Police, has filed an affidavit before the Bhima Koregaon Inquiry Commission probing the violent clashes between Dalit and Maratha groups on December 31, 2017 around the time of the Elgar Parishad event.
    • “Due to tactful and professional handling of the situation and effective controlling of mob, there was no incident anywhere in Pune city where the police used force to disperse the mob,”
    • “Due to professional intelligence collection and precise planning done by me and my team there was no major law and order incident in Pune city though adjoining neighbouring area was the epicenter of entire major law and order situation,” 
  2. Sitting judge of Pakistan Supreme Court, Justice Qazi Faez Isa and his spouse, Sarina Faez Isa appeared and successfully argued their case in-person before a 10-judge Bench of Pakistan Supreme Court.  (Justice Qazi Faez Isa v. President of Pakistan)
    • “Every citizen of Pakistan, notwithstanding his status or position, is entitled to due process of law in any action detrimental to his life, liberty, body, reputation or property under Article 4 of the Constitution and safeguarding of his fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 9 to 28 of the Constitution,”
    • “Nothing is there in any law or in the Judges’ Code of Conduct which could possibly be stretched to hold a Judge liable for the conduct of his spouse and children, or for that matter of anybody else, without there being any evidence to connect him with, and hold him responsible for such conduct. Needless to remind the salutary principle of law that everybody is responsible for his own deeds or misdeeds, acts and omissions, and nobody incurs any liability on account of any wrong committed by any other person,”
  3. A case of domestic violence and cruelty involving a slew of complaints and cross complaints by the husband and the wife prompted the Bombay High Court to remark in exasperation about how the two had made their lives hell for each other and that marriages are not always made in heaven.  (Shivek Ramesh Dhar v. State of Maharashtra)
    • the Court said in its order “FIR shows that how the applicant (husband) and informant (wife) just cannot live together. They were constant quarrels between them,” 
    • Justice Kotwal emphasized in the order “Even for the purpose of investigation his custodial interrogation is not necessary. He can be asked to co- operate with the investigating agency. There are allegations and counter allegations, which can only be decided during the trial,” 
      • The factual matrix in brief was that the wife had lodged a complaint in December 2021 making the following allegations:
        • That during their marriage in 2017, the husband’s family wanted a gold coin for each family member; due to non-fulfilment of the demand, there was harassment to the wife.
        • That the wife gave ₹13,50,000 for purchasing a flat in which the couple resided with their 3-year-old son.
        • That the husband inflicted some wounds on himself to show that the wife had assaulted him.
        • That he retained jewellery worth ₹4,20,000
      • The husband meanwhile made counter-allegations:
        • That he spent ₹90,00,00 by raising loan for the flat.
        • That after the marriage he had taken his wife to Mauritius and also gifted her an expensive cell phone.
        • That there are Whatsapp chats of how he was constantly harassed by his wife.
        • That there was a complaint lodged by him against her, and her FIR was a counter blast against the same.
  4. Delhi highlighted that trial courts across the country handed down 144 death sentences in the year 2021, nearly double the 77 death sentences imposed during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a report by research organization Project 39A of National Law University.
  5. Delhi highlighted:- The Supreme Court of India did not confirm a single death sentence in the year 2021, a report by research organization Project 39A of National Law University.

Legal Prudent Fraternity