Weekend Legal Updates

Saturday & Sunday, 7th May & 8th May 2022

Legal Awareness :- CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

Part – XIV  SERVICES UNDER THE UNION AND THE STATES

CHAPTER I – SERVICES

Article – 309  Recruitment and conditions of service of persons serving the Union or a State.

Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Acts of the appropriate Legislature may regulate the recruitment, and conditions of service of persons appointed, to public services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of any State:
Provided that it shall be competent for the President or such person as he may direct in the case of services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union, and for the Governor 2*** of a State or such person as he may direct in the case of services and posts in connection with the affairs of the State, to make rules regulating the recruitment, and the conditions of service of persons appointed, to such services and posts until provision in that behalf is made by or under an Act of the appropriate Legislature under this article, and any rules so made shall have effect subject to the provisions of any such Act.

Weekend Legal Updates :-

  1. The Supreme Court that mere suppression of information regarding pending criminal cases does not mean that employers can arbitrarily terminate the service of the concerned employee.  (Pawan Kumar v. Union of India and Another)
    • Mere suppression of material/false information regardless of the fact whether there is a conviction or acquittal has been recorded, the employee/recruit is not to be discharged/terminated axiomatically from service just by a stroke of pen. … What being (sic) noticed by this Court is that mere suppression of material/false information in a given case does not mean that the employer can arbitrarily discharge/terminate the employee from service.
    • the Court said, The power has to be judiciously exercised by the competent authority in a reasonable manner with objectivity having due regard to the facts of the case on hand.
    • the Court observed, The criminal complaint/FIR in the present case was registered post submission of the application form. We have also taken into account the nature of the allegations made in the criminal case and that the matter was of trivial nature not involving moral turpitude. Further, the proceedings had ended in a clean acquittal.
  2. On Saturday  the Rajasthan High Court granted him interim protection from arrest in connection with two First Information Reports (FIRs) lodged against him for allegedly instigating the communal riots in Alwar district on April 22 in a respite for News 18 journalist Aman Chopra.  (Aman Chopra vs State of Rajasthan)
    • The allegation against Aman Chopra is that comments made during the program and which was also posted on his twitter account resulted in communal disharmony and communal riots on 22.04.2022 at Alwar.
    • the judge said in his orders passed on 7th May, Since the subsequent FIRs for same cause of action and their investigation are itself not sustainable/permissible, in view of the judgments of the Supreme Court, there is no question that petitioner need not get protection from being arrested in these cases. As such, he shall not be arrested in FIR, registered with Police Station Kotwali, Alwar and the one registered with Police Station Sadar, Bundi, till further order.
  3. On Sunday Senior Advocate Sriram Panchu said Law is not just a jealous mistress, it is a life-long marriage to which one must show devotion, sacrifice and cherish everyday, while speaking at a Bar Council Enrollment event at the Madras High Court.
    • Other things (in life) may fail you, but the law will never fail you.
    • Any tyranny and any person who wishes to take away the liberty of people fears only one community and that is, lawyers. We are the ones who stand for independence.
    • Law rewards hard work and it does not matter if you have a relative in the profession or not, the profession uniquely rewards the hard work.
    • Judges like to encourage young lawyers, so (every lawyer) must take advantage of that.
  4. On Saturday late night hearing held the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga till May 10, 2022 in the case registered against him by the Punjab Police.
  5. The Delhi Police has told the Supreme Court that it has registered a first information report (FIR) in the alleged hate speech case relating to Delhi Dharam Sansad in a departure from its earlier stance.
    • the affidavit said, It is further submitted that investigation will be carried out as per law.
    • There is no use of such words which mean or could be interpreted as open calls for genocide of Muslims in order to achieve ethnic cleansing or an open call for murder of an entire community in the speech.
    • the Bench asked Delhi Police, We want to know that the senior officer has understood the nuances of other aspects before filing this affidavit. Has he merely reproduced enquiry report or applied his mind? Do you want to take a relook.
  6. On Friday the Kerala High Court called for constant monitoring and enforcement of food safety standards across the State, Following the death of a 16-year-old girl and the hospitalisation of at least 57 others due to possible food poisoning from shawarma.
    • the Court said in its order, No doubt, the Commissionerate appears to be spurred into action on account of the death of the little girl, Devananda. But we are certain that such reactions cannot be merely in response to such horrific incidents or in the manner Pavlovian response, but must be a continuous process around the year because prevention is certainly better than prosecution.
    • the order stated, Prima facie, we believe that had the enforcement been more effective, the incident itself could have been averted particularly because the Commissioner of Food Safety says that the license of the food outlet had been refused to be renewed and they were asked not to operate. It is precisely this that this Court is intending to overview since as found earlier, a continuous monitoring process with stint emphasis on enforcement must be the norm and this should be continuously ensured.
  7. A court in Punjab’s Mohali has issued arrest warrant against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga in connection with case of promoting enmity between religious groups.
    • Bagga has been booked by the Punjab Police for offences under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between religious groups), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
  8. On Friday a man who was convicted and sentenced to death by the trial court for murder of a couple by pouring acid over them, was acquitted by the Bombay High Court on the ground that the evidence against him was filled with inconsistencies.  (The State of Maharashtra v. Guddu Krish Yadav)
    •  the High Court said, Whether the trial was just and fair in a capital punishment case is a question remaining unanswered. The quality and credibility of the evidence adduced is not even upto the mark as observed by us. The evidence led by the prosecution is fraught with major inconsistencies.
    • There is absolutely no question of awarding death sentence to the accused, rather, it is the case wherein the accused must be given the benefit of doubt, nay, it would be a travesty of justice.
  9. The Central government has told the Supreme Court that the 1962 verdict of the top court in Kedar Nath Singh vs State of Bihar upholding validity of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on sedition is binding on a 3-judge bench.  (SG Vombatkere vs Union of India)
    • The remedy would lie in preventing such abuse on a case-to-case basis rather than doubting a long standing settled law declared by a constitution bench since about six decades.
    • In every writ petition there is a prayer to strike down Kedarnath and strike down 124A. You have to pursue us that even after 5-judge bench in Kedar Nath judgment, we (3-judge bench) can proceed to hear this.
  10. A petition has been filed before the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court seeking a direction to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to open doors of over 20 rooms inside the Taj Mahal premises so that the alleged controversy related to the “history of Taj Mahal” can be put to rest.  (Dr Rajneesh Singh v Union of India and Ors)
    • It is said that Taj Mahal was named after the name of Shah Jahan’s Wife Mumtaz Mahal however in many books the name of the wife of Shahjahan was described as Mumtaz-ul-Zamani not Mumtaj Mahal, also the fact that the construction of a mausoleum takes 22 years for completion is beyond the reality and totally an absurdity.
    • It is there in many History books that in 1212 AD, Raja Paramardi Dev had built Tejo Mahalaya temple palace (presently Taj Mahal). The temple was later inherited by Raja Maan Singh, the then Maharaja of Jaipur. After him, the property was held and managed by Raja Jai Singh but was annexed by Shah Jahan (in 1632) and later it was converted into memorial for the wife of ShahJahan.
    • It is respectfully submitted that since Taj Mahal is the ancient monument, and crores of money is being invested for the preservation of the monument, the correct and complete historical facts about the monument should be disclosed to the public.
  11. On Tuesday the Punjab and Haryana High Court adjourned the petition against Haryana government alleging that 12 Punjab Police personnel, who were involved in the arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tajinder Bagga, had been detained by Haryana Police in Kurukshetra. (State of Punjab v State of Haryana)
  12. The Delhi High Court expressed a prima facie view that the use of a registered mark like ‘MakeMyTrip’ as a keyword on Google Ads by a competitor like Booking.com would amount to trademark infringement.  (MakeMyTrip India Pvt Ltd v. Booking.com BV and Ors)
  13. The Delhi High Court restrained a website by the name of ‘Hindustan Times Marathi’ from using a logo, mark or domain name that was deceptively similar to that of Hindustan Times.
  14. The Central government has notified the appointment of Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Gujarat High Court judge Justice JB Pardiwala as judges of Supreme Court.
  15. The Supreme Court, while upholding the penalty imposed on a judicial officer for misconduct, stated that a judge must always remain above suspicion, “like Caesar’s wife”.  (Muzaffar Hussain v State of UP & Anr.)
  16. The Madhya Pradesh High Court held that asking a husband to produce his salary slip during maintenance proceedings will not amount to violation of his right to privacy under Article 21. (Rashi Gupta v Gaurav Gupta)
  17. On Thursday the Madras High Court exempted advocates from wearing a black gown while appearing in court during the summer vacation this year.
  18. A Mumbai District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission imposed over ₹35,000 costs on a store of ESBEDA, a premium leather accessories selling company, for charging ₹20 for a carry bag over and above the price paid by a customer for an item purchased from the store.  (Rima Chawla v. Manager, ESBEDA showroom, Phoenix marketcity)
  19. The Delhi Unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a Delhi-based hawkers union have approached the Supreme Court with separate petitions challenging the South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s planned anti-encroachment drives.  (CPIM Delhi State Committee v South Delhi Municipal Corporation & ors.)
  20. On Friday the Calcutta High Court directed videography of the post-mortem of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) West Bengal youth leader who was found found hanging in a room of a railway quarter. (Smt Amrita Pandey v Union of India)
  21. On Friday the Bombay High Court held Publishing a news article about rift within two sections of police department would not amount to an offence under Section 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
  22. The Bombay High Court imposed costs of ₹5 lakh on a non cooperating society member for stalling a redevelopment project by filing a frivolous case and wasting public time.  (SM Magnate Constructions v. New Saket Co-op. Hsg. Scty. Ltd. & Ors.)

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