Today’s Legal Updates

Thursday, 3rd February 2022

Legal Awareness :- CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

PART II CITIZENSHIP

Article -6 Rights of citizenship of certain persons who have migrated to India from Pakistan

Notwithstanding anything in article 5, a person who has migrated to the territory of India from the territory now included in Pakistan shall be deemed to be a citizen of India at the commencement of this Constitution if—
(a) he or either of his parents or any of his grandparents was born in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935 (as originally enacted)
(b) (i) in the case where such person has so migrated before the nineteenth day of July, 1948, he has been ordinarily resident in the territory of India since the date of his migration
(ii) in the case where such person has so migrated on or after the nineteenth day of July, 1948, he has been registered as a citizen of India by an officer appointed in that behalf by the Government of the Dominion of India on an application made by him therefor to such officer before the commencement of this Constitution in the form and manner prescribed by that Government:
Provided that no person shall be so registered unless he has been resident in the territory of India for at least six months immediately preceding the date of his application.

Parliament Session :-

  • Today the first three days of the ongoing 2022 Budget Session of Parliament saw questions answered on topics ranging from the criminal law reform process to the status of undertrials in the country.
    1. Amendments to Criminal Laws
      • A question by CPM Member of Parliament from Kerala John Brittas, Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra said that the Central government has initiated the process for comprehensive amendments to Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 “in consultation with all stakeholders”.
      • the reply “The legislation of such laws is a complex and lengthy exercise given the spectrum of divergent views of stakeholders. The entire procedure is a long drawn out one and no time-limit can be fixed or given for this legislative process,”
    2. State-wise details of undertrials
      • BJP MP from Maharashtra Vikas Mahatme asked for the state-wise number of undertrial prisoners in the country as well as the detention periods they have undergone.
      • The answer revealed that across the country, there are 3,71,848 undertrials, with 52,925 of them having been behind bars awaiting completion of trial for more than two years.
      • Uttar Pradesh has 80,557 undertrials, while Bihar had 44,187. The numbers are as on December 31, 2020.
    3. Terror in the Kashmir Valley post Article 370 abrogation
      • Congress MP from Rajasthan Neeraj Dangi asked about the spate of terror activities in Kashmir, as well as lives lost after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India.
      • Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai revealed that that there have been 541 terror incidents, with 98 civilian lives lost, 109 security force lives lost, and 439 terrorists killed.
    4. Cases heard during the pandemic
      • BJP MP Sanjay Seth tabled a question before the Rajya Sabha on the number of cases heard across courts since the pandemic.
      • Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, responding to the question, mentioned that 17 virtual courts set up to hear traffic challan cases have heard more than 1.2 crore cases, and in over 20 lakh cases, “online fine of more than ₹212 (212.01) crore has been realised till January 19, 2021.”
      • “The Supreme Court of India has emerged as a global leader by conducting 1,81,909 hearings till January 8, 2022 since the beginning of lockdown period. The High Courts (57,39,966 cases and Subordinate Courts (1,08,36,087 cases) have conducted 1.65 crore virtual hearings till November 30, 2021.”
    5. SC/ST/OBC Judges in lower judiciary
      • A question by Congress MP from Madhya Pradesh Rajmani Patel, the following annexure was shared with regards to district judges across States.
      • It was stated that there are 606 district judges belonging to the Scheduled Castes, 199 from the Scheduled Tribes, and 1,321 from the Other Backward Classes.
SC-ST-OBC judges in subordinate judiciary

Today’s Legal Updates:-

  1. The District Court at Prayagraj has issued notice to the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) on a plea filed against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for wearing Indian Army uniform last year on his visit to Kashmir.
  2. Today the Supreme Court rejected a batch of petitions seeking postponement of the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) exam scheduled to be held physically this month.  (Sachin Tanwar and ors vs Union of India and anr)
  3. Today the Bombay High Court allowed founder of Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) Rakesh Wadhawan, who is presently admitted in KEM hospital, to be transferred to a private hospital for a period of six weeks. Wadhawan was arrested under charges of money laundering in the multi-crore Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank fraud case. Both the Enforcement Directorate and the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police registered offences against him.
  4. Today a Mumbai Court observed that while directing the first bail recipient in the Clubhouse App case Yashkumar Parashar to undergo counselling as a bail condition irresponsible use of social media is becoming rampant and people belonging to younger generation are insulting members of society from every corner of social life.
  5. Today the Allahabad High Court issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on a plea moved by Dr Kafeel Khan challenging his termination from the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur. Dr Khan, who is an accused in the case relating to the death of children due to lack of oxygen in Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College in 2017, was terminated from service in November 2021 on the ground that he was in charge of the Encephalitis ward, where the tragedy occurred.
  6. Today the Supreme Court will hear a batch of pleas seeking postponement of the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) exam scheduled to be held on February 5, 6, 12, and 13 physically.
    • The plea by eleven GATE candidates, has sought directions from the top court to the Union government and IIT-Kharagpur (organisers of GATE) to postpone the exam in light of the surge in COVID-19 cases.
    • The petition pointed out that 20 exams conducted by different government bodies were postponed in recent times due to COVID.
    • it claimed has instructions that violate Articles 14 and 21.
  7. Today Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana observed that election petitions are not matters that need to be heard on an urgent basis.
    • the CJI had remarked while hearing the anticipatory bail plea of Shiromani Akali Dal leader, Bikram Majithia, “Sorry to say there was another mentioning regarding Simarjit Singh Bains where a case has been registered against him. Sorry to say suddenly these criminal cases are coming up before elections,” 
  8. The Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford has selected Supreme Court lawyer Dr Saif Mahmood as a Visiting Research Scholar under its Research Visitor Programme for 2022.
  9. Today the Allahabad High Court sought a status report on the magisterial inquiry ordered in the Kasganj custodial death case, in which 22-year-old Altaf was killed. (Chand Miyan v. State of Uttar Pradesh)
  10. Today A Delhi Court hearing the bail applications of Umar Khalid and others in a Delhi riots case said that while the media is welcome to report on court proceedings, it should not take screenshots of virtual hearings and share it on social media platforms and websites.
    • “Mr Prasad shared certain screenshots (with the Court). Numbers were shared. Media took screenshots and put it up on social media This is far beyond our court system. High Court had warned media. (This is) violation of privacy of a lot people.”
    • Judge subsequently remarked, “Whatever is being argued in court can be reported but do not put screenshots. Report, but don’t take screenshots.”
    • John also pointed out that the screenshots had private information of both the accused and non-accused persons.
  11. Today the Supreme Court came down heavily on Punjab Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and Lok Insaaf Party leader Simarjeet Singh Bains, taking exception to his conduct in a rape case against him.  (Simarjeet Singh Bains v. State of Punjab)
  12. Today the consortium of banks seeking initiation of insolvency proceedings against Future Retail Limited (FRL) urged the Supreme Court to allow Amazon and Reliance to bid for the company.  (Future Retail Limited v. Reserve Bank of India & Ors)
  13. Today the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020 which grants 75 percent reservation to Haryana domiciles in private sector jobs.
  14. Today the Karnataka High Court dropped proceedings initiated against a man who had appeared semi-nude during a virtual hearing in the case related to the Ramesh Jarkiholi sex scandal.
    • “I confirm that a semi-naked man was visible on the screen for a full 20 minutes despite my objection. I am making an official complaint for contempt of court and sexual harassment. It’s extremely disturbing in the middle of an argument in court,”
    • “Considering the unconditional apology, proceedings would be dropped against him with the observation that he should be careful in the future,”
  15. Today the Karnataka High Court dismissed a batch of 11 contempt petitions filed by one Jeetendra Kumar Rajan after noting that he himself had prima facie committed criminal contempt of court. (Jeetendra Kumar Rajan v. TG Shivashankare Gowda)
  16. Today the Director General of Police (DGP), Tamil Nadu has moved Supreme Court against the order of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court which transferred the investigation into the suicide of Thanjavur girl Lavanya to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).  (Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu v. Muruganantham)
  17. The Tamil Nadu (TN) government has told the Supreme Court that the State of Kerala has been repeatedly thwarting the efforts by TN to carry out the strengthening work of the Mullaperiyar dam.  (Dr. Joe Joseph v. State of Tamil Nadu)
    • “There is neither deformation nor abnormality in the Dam. Further, silting of the Dam is very minimum. In this water year 2021-22, water was stored in the Dam at a level of +142 ft. from November 30, 2021 for about 18 days, and all the parameters of the Dam were found to be within limits,”
  18. The Central government has asked the Delhi High Court to defer the hearing in marital rape petitions for a ‘stipulated time’ within which it will “conduct an effective consultative process“, after which it would be in a better position to assist the Court.  (RIT Foundation v Union of India)
    •  the affidavit by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said, “It is respectfully reiterated that if the matter which is pending since 2015 awaits such fruitful exercise for some time, no prejudice would be caused and it will be possible for the Centre Government to assist the Court meaningfully and would be possible for this Hon’ble Court to take holistic view rather than deciding such a sensitive issue as a mere legal question based upon the submission of few lawyers,”
    • the affidavit said, “Both the executive and the legislature are equally concerned and committed to the protection of fundamental rights of its citizens. However, it is the considered opinion of the Central Government that this Hon’ble Court can be assisted only after a consultative process is undertaken by the Central Government with all stakeholder including all the State Governments,”
  19. The Supreme Court has held that an award passed by a Lok Adalat under Section 20 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 cannot form the basis for re-determination of compensation contemplated under Section 28A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.  (NOIDA vs Yunus)
  20. Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has returned to the Legislative Assembly a Bill seeking to exempt the State from the purview of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam for medical admissions.
  21. Today the Supreme Court has been told that a total of 4,984 criminal cases against former and sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) are awaiting trial before various sessions and magistrate courts across the country.
    • “It is submitted that despite a series of directions by this Hon’ble Court and continuous monitoring, as many as 4,984 cases are pending out of which 1,899 cases are more than 5 years old. It may be noted that the total number of cases pending as on December 2018 were 4,110; and as on October 2020 were 4,859. Even after disposal of 2,775 cases after December 4, 2018, the cases against MPs/MLAs have increased from 4,122 to 4,984,”
  22. Today None of the conspirators, but the public at large suffered as a result of the Delhi Riots, the prosecution argued while concluding its response to the bail pleas of Umar Khalid and others in the cases filed against them under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
  23. Yesterday the Calcutta High Court observed that a  First Information Report (FIR) is information made at the first instance and not an encyclopedia and courts must not be scrupulous about omissions in the FIR, while upholding a conviction under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. (Md. Israil v. The State of West Bengal)
  24. Yesterday the Gujarat High Court issued notice in a petition seeking directions to the Central government for the appointment of a Presiding Officer (PO) for Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT)-I, Ahmedabad. (Nipun Praveen Singhvi v Union of India)

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