Weekend Legal Updates
Saturday & Sunday, 16th & 17th June 2022
Legal Awareness :- CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
Part – V THE UNION
CHAPTER- I THE EXECUTIVE (The President and Vice-President)
Article – 63 The Vice-President of India
There shall be a Vice-President of India
Article – 64 The Vice-President to be ex officio Chairman of the Council of States.
The Vice-President shall be ex officio Chairman of the Council of the States and shall not hold any other office of profit:
Provided that during any period when the Vice-President acts as President or discharges the functions of the President under article 65, he shall not perform the duties of the office of Chairman of the Council of States and shall not be entitled to any salary or allowance payable to the Chairman of the Council of States under article 97.
Weekend Legal Updates :-
- On Saturday Chief Justice of India NV Ramana lamented the acrimonious and hostile nature of politics in the country, as a result of which the space for opposition was diminishing.
- The Chief Justice was speaking at the inauguration of the Digital Museum in Jaipur and a seminar on 75 years of Parliamentary Democracy at the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. He said during his speech
- There used to be a lot of mutual respect between the government and the opposition. Unfortunately, the space for opposition is diminishing. We are witnessing laws being passed without detailed deliberation and scrutiny.
- Instead of engaging in meaningful debates for furthering democracy, politics has become acrimonious. The diversity of opinion enriches polity and society. Political opposition should not translate into hostility, which we are sadly witnessing these days. These are not signs of a healthy democracy.
- Dr Ambedkar cautioned that by Parliamentary democracy we can never form rule by majority. He stated that majority rule is untenable in theory and unjustifiable in practice.
- The contemporary political commentary is generally critical of the fewer sittings of the legislature and under-utilisation of its potential.
- History is a witness, whenever a government fails to stand up to the scrutiny or expectations of the people, they have expressed their will in the form of a change. It is the people who will ultimately set the course for the future of democracy in India.
- The Chief Justice was speaking at the inauguration of the Digital Museum in Jaipur and a seminar on 75 years of Parliamentary Democracy at the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. He said during his speech
- National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore has topped the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF 2022) list of law school rankings, National Law University, Delhi (NLU Delhi) 2nd Topped, Symbiosis Law School (SLS) Pune being ranked third, ahead of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad and West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS), Kolkata in fourth and fifth respectively, Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), Gandhinagar and National Law University, Jodhpur (NLUJ) at ranks 8 and 10 respectively, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi maintained its rank at the 7th position, Siksha `O` Anusandhan in Bhubaneshwar at 9th position.
- The Delhi High Court quashed summons issued by the Jammu & Kashmir Police to two India Today journalists in relation to an investigative story they ran claiming that children orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic were being given up for adoption at a price. (Jamshed Adil Khan and Anr v. UT of Jammu and Kashmir and Anr)
- the Court noted in its order, In view of the above facts and circumstances, the petitioners being residents of Delhi and having their office addresses of Noida, U.P, could not have been summoned under Section 160 Cr.P.C by Sub Divisional Police Officer, Pampore, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The summons issued to them were without jurisdiction and are therefore, quashed.
- On Saturday the Chief Minister (CM) of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot fired a salvo at the Central government, demanding how judges can be expected to function without fear or favour when they are attacked for their observations and judgments.
- Gehlot said, Recently Justices Surya Kant and Pardiwala said something. It is our duty to respect the judiciary. 116 people were made to stand up (against the two judges) including former High Court and Supreme Court judges, bureaucracy, officers and many others. I don’t know how this was managed and an issue was created out of it. Supreme Court judges had observed something but this atmosphere was created.
- Imagine, four Supreme Court judges said ‘democracy is in danger‘, and the ones who said all this even had a CJI among them, (retired) Justice Ranjan Gogoi. I had asked the President of India ‘was Mr Gogoi fine before (during Supreme Court tenure) or is he fine now?’ This is beyond my understanding. Then he became a Member of Parliament.
- State governments are being overthrown. Goa, Manipur, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra. This Tamasha is going on or is there democracy? If elected governments are overthrown due to horse trading then.. I don’t know how my government got saved. I would not be standing before you today. You would have met some other Chief Minister today.
- Situation in the country is riddled with communal strife. Democracy rests on tolerance. People listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that is why people vote for him. Shouldn’t the Prime Minister address the nation and say that unity and brotherhood has to be maintained? He has to say that I will not accept violence at any cost. I believe the Law Minister can convince him. He does not listen to us. Today the situation is such that it’s creating a lot of tension.
- On Saturday A criminal defamation complaint has been filed before a Mumbai court against filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma for his tweet on the nomination of Draupadi Murmu as the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate.
- Varma had tweeted on 22nd June : If Drapaudi is the President who are the Pandavas? And more importantly, who are the Kauravas?
- Two days later Varma had clarified that : This was said just in an earnest irony and not intended in any other way…Draupadi in Mahabharata is my favourite character but since the name is such a rarity I just remembered the associated characters and hence my expression. Not at all intended to hurt sentiments of anyone.
- The said false statement does not mention all the Facts and it rather carries an ill and deceitful intention on his part to just gain and fame the film industry, disrespect proposed Presidental candidate Smt. Draupadi Murmu.
- The Bombay High Court observed that national interest is above any other interest including personal interest while refusing to entertain a prayer by an Army officer seeking extension of his present posting in Mumbai in order to give special medical treatment to his disabled son. (Lt. Col. Anil Kumar Yadav v. Military Secretary Branch & Ors.)
- the order, We, countrymen, take pride in having a defence force comprised of personnel who are willing to lay down their lives without any sense of fear or feelings as to what might happen if they are not there. For them, national interest is above any other interest including self-interest. As an officer associated with the defence of the country, which is of paramount importance, we expected the petitioner to be rational in his approach and actions and place national interest in the forefront.
- the Bench said, Having expressed our mind in Court that the petitioner was not being reasonable in his approach, despite having stayed in Mumbai for over a decade, and that he ought to realize that there are other officers (number is in excess of 100 as per the reply affidavit of MSB) waiting in the queue for a posting in Mumbai on grounds similar to those for which the petitioner seeks continued posting in Mumbai, we did not find the petitioner, who was present in Court, to provide any instructions that he would be satisfied if MSB considers his future posting in terms of the policy.
- A petition has been filed before the Delhi High Court to stop all flying services of budget airline SpiceJet in view of the recent safety issues that the airline has encountered.
- He said that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has not taken any action against the airline despite several incidents and narrow escapes. This amount to violation of right to life under Article 21 of the passengers.
- A family court order allowing an application for restitution of conjugal rights to be amended into a plea for dissolution of marriage was set aside by the Bombay High Court. [Ariz Kohli vs Tehzeeb Kohli)
- The National Democratic Alliance has nominated former West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its candidate for the post of Vice President.
- On Saturday the Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana bemoaned the lack of progress on his proposal for a dedicated national-level authority towards improving judicial infrastructure.
- On Saturday the Central government has cleared the names of nine advocates as judges of the Bombay High Court.
- On Friday the Andhra Pradesh High Court has asked the State government to frame statutory rules or enact a law within a short time on the issues of surveillance, since there was a need to gather information and intelligence to prevent crimes. (Udathu Suresh v State of Andhra Pradesh)
- On Friday the Andhra Pradesh High Court held that Standing Orders of the Andhra Pradesh Police Manual for opening and continuation of rowdy sheets, and surveillance on their basis was unconstitutional and thus, void. (Udathu Suresh v State of Andhra Pradesh)
- Last Week the Bombay High Court denied bail to 23-year-old Shree Jogdhankar, the applicant accused of murdering his girlfriend, Janhvi Kukreja, at a New Year’s eve party in Khar, a suburb of Mumbai. (Shree Ambadas Jogdhankar vs The State of Maharashtra)
- On Friday the Bombay High Court observed while granting bail to a person convicted in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case, merely attending a meeting of militants or being exhorted to join Jihad is not sufficient to hold that the concerned person was willing to play a major role in Jihad.
- On Friday the Delhi High Court refused to allow a 25-year-old unmarried woman to terminate her pregnancy of 23 weeks.
- On Thursday News of a Madras High Court ruling that removal of thali (Mangalsutra) by one’s wife would amount to subjecting the husband to mental cruelty of the highest order has taken social media by storm, with various factions weighing in with their views. (C Sivakumar v A Srividhya)
- On Thursday A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed before the Karnataka High Court seeking directions to the State to provide adequate security to High Court judge Justice HP Sandesh who had revealed in open court that he was threatened with transfer for monitoring a case.
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