The Bombay high Court on Friday initiated a judicial inquiry into the building collapse incident in Malwani area of Mumbai on Wednesday, which claimed 12 lives.
The court said some reportage by Republic TV and Times Now in the aftermath of the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput were "contemptuous".
The Bombay high court on Saturday directed the central government to file an affidavit detailing the manner and methods of allocating COVID-19 vaccines to states.
In an affidavit submitted before a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik, PMO Under Secretary Pradeep Srivastava said the PM's photograph, name and national emblem were also used in the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF).
A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking that drugs being used to treat COVID-19 patients be made available directly at hospitals, and isolation and quarantine centres where such patients are treated.
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday told the Bombay high court that it would soon start home vaccination against COVID-19 for people who are immobile or bedridden on an experimental basis, and would not wait for an approval from the Centre.
The court has now tagged all the three pleas together for a joint hearing on October 8. The latest plea, filed by NGO 'In Pursuit of Justice', sought that the court widen the scope of the Contempt of the Court Act to include any obstructions that could hamper the administration of justice from the time a first information report is registered in a case.
The Bombay high court on Friday said it will have to hear senior IPS officer and current acting director general of police of Maharashtra, Sanjay Pandey before passing an order on a petition seeking permanent appointment of an officer to the post.
The Bombay high court on Thursday directed the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to look into allegations of irregularities in toll collection on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
Salian, 28, died on June 8 this year after falling off the 14th floor of a residential building in suburban Malad, following which the the city police had registered an Accidental Death Report.
'Judges have families; they have their future to worry about.' 'In an atmosphere of fear, the judges are constantly under some kind of psychological pressure.' 'I have seen this is happening across the board in the country today.'
Referring to differences between Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Governor B S Koshyari over various issues, the Bombay high court on said Wednesday it was "unfortunate" that the two highest constitutional functionaries in the state "did not trust each other".
The PIL, filed by law student Vaishnavi Gholave and Solapur-based farmer Mahesh Gadekar, claimed the fundamental right to life and the right to lead a healthy life stand above the fundamental right to privacy in the present situation where public interest and morality are important.
The state also said that the police had recorded the statements of 400 witnesses so far and the investigators were in the process of finding the whereabouts of a doctor, who was an accused in the incident that took place at a housing society in suburban Kandivali, where one such camp was held.
Hearing PILs about "media trial" in the case, the court remarked that the media has become "polarised".
The HC, though, refrained from prohibiting such cabs from plying in the meanwhile saying it was aware such a move would adversely affect commuters.
The decision to prohibit people, who were yet to receive both doses of COVID-19 vaccine, from using public transport in the state had been taken to ensure those unvaccinated do not endanger the lives of others, it said.
A government lawyer told the Bombay high court on Friday that though prison inmates can talk to their relatives or lawyers on phone, she was not sure if the facility could be granted to activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
The Centre told the Bombay high court on Tuesday that a door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination programme for senior citizens, specially-abled, bed-ridden and wheelchair-bound people is currently not possible, but it has decided to start 'near-to-door' inoculation centres.
Singh had initially approached the Supreme Court, alleging he was transferred from the post of Commissioner Police of Mumbai on March 17 and shunted to the Home Guards department after he complained to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and other senior leaders about the "corrupt malpractices" of Deshmukh.
CJI Lalit concurred with the minority view of Justice S Ravindra Bhat who held the EWS quota as "unconstitutional" for excluding poor among SCs, STs and OBCs.
Referring to the state's submission that it does not plan to resume regular suburban train services as yet, a bench headed by Chief Dipankar Datta said, "We have to now live with the virus. How long will this go on? It has been six months."
The Bombay high court on Thursday asked the Union government to reconsider its stand that door-to-door Covid-19 vaccination was not feasible, saying it must consider the plight of old people and the disabled.
The Bombay high court on Friday said the Union government should look at the door-to-door vaccination programme carried out 'successfully' by Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir, and take a 'sound decision' on its present policy that states door-to-door vaccination was not possible.
Singh said in his plea before the high court that Deshmukh held meetings at his residence with several Mumbai police officials, including Waze, in February this year.
The Bombay high court on Saturday granted an interim stay to the operation of parts of the recently notified Information Technology Rules, 2021 which require that all online publishers follow a "code of ethics" and norms of conduct.
The Bombay high court on Friday asked the Union government what was the need to introduce the recently notified Information Technology Rules, 2021 without superseding the existing IT Rules that came into effect in 2009.
The Bombay HC on Monday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct a preliminary inquiry within 15 days into allegations of corruption and misconduct made by former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
"Is it duty of media to advise an investigating agency? It is the duty of the investigating officer to apply his mind (in the probe)," the court said. The judges made the comment when advocate Malvika Trivedi, representing a news channel which has been made a respondent, opposed the PILs.
'The government there at one point did not even permit migrant labourers to return...we do not want to say anything against anyone but the situation there was not handled properly'
The Bombay high court on Thursday said the Union government's allocation of Amphotericin-B, a key drug used in the treatment of mucormycosis or black fungus, appeared to be irrational, and the supply to Maharashtra was not adequate considering the number of cases in the state.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni said the Union government's new "near to home" vaccination programme was like waiting for the virus carrier to come to the Centre. "Coronavirus is our biggest enemy. We need to strike it down. The enemy is residing in certain areas and in some people who are unable to come out. Your (government) approach should be like a surgical strike. You are standing at the borders waiting for the virus carrier to come to you. You are not entering the enemy territory," Chief Justice Datta said.
The Bombay high court on Thursday said it was disheartened and disappointed with the Centre's insensitivity and with the Mumbai civic body for not starting door-to-door Covid-19 vaccination for senior citizens and specially-abled, bed-ridden and wheelchair-bound persons.
'Is the idea of a committed judiciary once again being floated, though surreptitiously, unlike in the past when it was direct?'
The Centre and the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra are locked in a tussle over ownership of the land earmarked by the state for constructing the car depot which was earlier planned at Aarey Colony, a green belt in suburban Goregaon.
The court said people are losing jobs, while hearing a plea by lawyers seeking permission to board suburban trains.
"At least for 15 days if people stay strictly indoors, like last year, we may expect better results. Please advise your government," the high court said.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni said since the NBSA had detailed code of ethics and guidelines that all member channels are expected to adhere to, the same could be given some teeth and made enforceable by the government.
Presently only persons working in essential services are permitted to use the local trains that are running in limited numbers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bombay High Court on Friday said the Maharashtra Governor has a "constitutional obligation" to either accept or reject "within reasonable time" the proposal sent by the state cabinet to nominate 12 persons as Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs).