Today Legal Updates

Wednesday, 5th January 2022

Legal Awareness:- Women and the Indian Constitution

Equality before law

Article 14 embodies the general principles of equality before law and equal protection of laws.

Prohibition from discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth

  • Article 15(1) and (2)prohibits the state from discriminating against any citizen only on the basis of any one or more of the aspects such as religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.
  • Article 15(3) makes it possible for the state to create special provisions for protecting the interests of women and children.
  • Article 15(4) capacitates the State to create special arrangements for promoting interests and welfare of socially and educationally backward classes of society.

Today Legal Updates :-

  1. On Tuesday three sitting judges of the Allahabad High Court tested positive for COVID-19, According to sources, the three judges have self-isolated themselves in their respective residences.
  2. On Monday the Patna High Court directed the Bihar government to place on record details of the steps taken to deal with the impending third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.  (Shivani Kaushik and Others v. Union of India and Others)
  3. Today the Delhi High Court hear Future Group’s appeal seeking a direction to a Singapore tribunal to deal with its termination applications in relation to its 2019 deal with Amazon.  (Future Retail Limited v Amazon.com NV Investment Holding LLC and Ors.)
    • The appeal is against a judgment passed by single-judge of the High Court on Tuesday dismissing the plea.
    • An arbitration tribunal in Singapore has been hearing Amazon’s case against Future Group related to the 2019 deal between the two companies. While hearing this case, the tribunal had passed an interim order stalling the sale of Future Retail’s assets to Reliance Industries.
    • The CCI had suspended the clearance for the deal, stating that Amazon had failed to notify it about certain crucial details of its acquisition of a 49 per cent stake in Future, as required under Section 6(2) of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act). It had, therefore, also imposed of a penalty of ₹202 crore on Amazon.
  4. Today the Delhi High Court in a major relief to Kishore Biyani and his Future Group stayed the arbitration proceedings in relation to its 2019 deal with Amazon before the Singapore Tribunal.  (Future Retail Limited v. Amazon.com NV Investment Holding LLC and Ors)
    • The Court has also issued notice to Amazon and said that the stay on arbitration proceedings as well as the single-judge’s order will remain in force till the next date of hearing.
      • Next hearing date is scheduled on 1st February 2022.
  5. Today the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) told the Delhi High Court that it will not force Amazon’s employees to appear physically for the ongoing probe into the Amazon-Future Group deal till the COVID-19 situation subsides.  (Amazon Wholesale India Private Limited & Anr v The Directorate of Enforcement & Ors)
  6. On Tuesday the Telangana High Court decided to suspend physical hearing of cases with immediate effect, until further orders, in view of spike in COVID-19 cases in the State.
  7. Today the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) has moved the Supreme Court seeking suspension of limitation period to file cases under all general and special laws in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases across the country.  (In Re: Congizance for Extension of Limitation)
  8. Today the Kerala High Court dismissed the bail applications moved by prime accused in the 2017 Walayar case involving rape and possible murder or suicide of two minor Dalit sisters in Palakkad district.  (Madhu Alias Valiya Madhu v. Central Bureau of Investigation)
  9. Today the Competition Commission of India (CCI) told the Karnataka High Court that it would rather hear the case regarding Google Play Store rules finally, instead of taking on two rounds of litigation.  (Google India Pvt. Ltd. vs. Competition Commission of India)
    • He thus suggested that the petition may be closed, subject to two assurances from Google – firstly, that the company would extend its cooperation to the DG investigation, and secondly, that it would not advance the date of the Google Play Store billing system release.
  10. Today the Uttarakhand High Court asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider holding virtual rallies and online voting in the upcoming assembly elections scheduled to be held amidst the rising wave of Covid’s Omicron variant.  (Sachdanand Dabral v Union of India and Ors)
  11. Today a petition has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging an order of the Bombay High Court which laid down a slew of guidelines to protect identities of the parties in proceedings under the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) and Rules.
  12. Today the Central government has defended its decision to appoint Rakesh Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner in the Supreme Court, stating that the challenge to his appointment was an outcome of a personal vendetta on the part of the petitioner, Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL).
  13. Today a Supreme Court Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna will hear today the case relating to admissions to NEET postgraduate (PG) courses.  (Neil Aurelio Nunes v. Union of India)
    • The case relates to petitions challenging the 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10 per cent reservation for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) introduced by the Central government in the All-India Quota (AIQ) seats in State government medical institutions.
    • One of the aspects the Court is specifically examining is the feasibility of having ₹8 lakh as a cap to avail the EWS quota for PG medical admissions.
  14. A man’s 10-year jail term for raping his 5-year-old relative seven years ago has been upheld by the Delhi High Court, which said that the survivor’s “consistent” testimony was sufficient to prove the crime against him.  (RN v. State)
  15. Today the Bombay High Court deferred hearing of the proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Deepak Kochhar, husband of former Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar, in the ICICI Bank-Videocon alleged money-laundering case.
  16. Today the Kerala High Court held that District Courts are empowered only to appoint a guardian for a minor’s property and not for a minor’s person and it is the Family Court that is empowered to do the latter.  (KS Narayana Elayathu v Sandhya)
  17. Today the Supreme Court held that a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) community in one State is not entitled to claim the privileges and benefits admissible to persons belonging to such SC/ ST community in another State.  (Bhadar Ram vs Jassa Ram)
  18. Today the Gauhati High Court granted anticipatory bail to inventor and Padma Shri awardee Uddhab Kumar Bharali, who was accused of an offence under Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. (Uddhab Kumar Bharali v. The State of Assam)
  19. Today the Allahabad High Court refused to quash a land acquisition notification for construction of a railway bridge even as it noted the minor discrepancies in the process. (Prabha Shukla v/s State of Uttar Pradesh and ors.)
  20. Today the Telangana High Court ordered the release of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State President Bandi Sanjay Kumar after he was taken into custody for conducting a gathering that violated COVID-19 norms. (Bandi Sanjay Kumar v. The State of Telangana)
  21. Today the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sought rejection of the bail application filed by former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh before a Mumbai Sessions Court in relation to the money-laundering case against him.
  22. Today the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) has passed a resolution against ‘Bulli Bai Deals’, an app which put out details of Muslim women allowing users to participate in an ‘auction’.
    • “Resolved that the Delhi High Court Bar Association unequivocally and in the strongest terms condemns the malicious, mischievous and reprehensible act of creating, developing and hosting of the App ‘Bulli Bai’ allowing the users to participate in a false auction of several respectable ladies. The said act not only tantamount to commission of grave criminal offenses but also targets and brings disrepute to the female citizenry.”
  23. Today the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) set aside Vedanta Group’s bid under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) for Videocon Industries.  (Bank of Maharashtra v. Videocon Industries Ltd & Ors)
  24. Today the Karnataka High Court has held that drawing blood sample of a rape accused for the purpose of DNA test to ascertain paternity does not amount to violation of fundamental right against self-incrimination under Article 20(3) of the Constitution.  (Malappa @ Malingaraya vs. State of Karnataka)

Legal Prudent Fraternity