The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to grant interim protection from arrest to Ali Abbas Zafar, director of the web series Tandav, and others seeking the quashing of FIRs against them for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Hindus, and issued notices Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and other states on their pleas.
"Let the matter be listed for the Chief Justice for appropriate orders," the bench said.
None of the four judges -- Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- feature in the list of members of the 5-judge constitution bench.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra asked the parties concerned to file their written submissions within a week.
The assertion by the Congress came after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, citing concerns raised by three BJP MPs over the spread of coronavirus, urged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to consider suspending the Bharat Jodo Yatra if adherence to Covid protocols cannot be followed.
The bench said final hearing in all Aadhaar-related issues would start before another bench in the last week of this month.
The top court asked how a state can challenge the mandate of Parliament.
The top court also expressed pain over certain people trying to give its order a political colour, after advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for one of the parties, referred to certain statements made by some political leaders.
The Supreme Court had on Thursday said "nobody would like to be told what to eat or how to dress" while ruling that these activities come under the realm of the right to privacy.
The Akhara counsel told the apex court that their suit was basically for belongings, possession and management rights.
The Supreme Court has dismissed a batch of pleas seeking review of its 2018 verdict upholding the Centre's flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid but striking down some of its provisions, including its linking with bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions.
The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it is taking all measures to extradite fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, accused in bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines from United Kingdom, but the process is being delayed due o some legal issues involved in the matter. A bench of Justices U U Lalit and Ashok Bhushan posted the matter for further hearing on March 15, after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought some time to file report on the status of extradition of Mallya. At the outset, Mehta shared a letter of the ministry of external affairs' official Devesh Uttam written to him on the status of extradition of Mallya from the United Kingdom.
The execution of death warrants of these convicts have been deferred thrice so far due to delays by them in exhausting their legal remedies.
The Sports Ministry on Saturday suspended Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) assistant secretary Vinod Tomar, a fallout of the grapplers' allegations of sexual harassment and corruption against the sports body's chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan and comprising justices R S Reddy and M R Shah said that voluntary contribution can always be made to the NDRF as there is no statutory bar under the Disaster Management Act.
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition challenging the discharge of Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah in Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
In its order, the high court was critical of the delay caused by the authorities in seeking issuance of death warrants for the convicts as also of the "delay tactics" adopted by the convicts.
The apex court said the death row convicts failed to point out 'error apparent on the face of record' in the judgment.
The move comes following a recent verdict by the Supreme Court in this regard.
Thackeray said people should be aware of how religious issues are raked up to distract their attention from core issues.
It was submitted that section 235 of the CrPC provides that an accused, in the event of conviction, would be heard by on the question of sentencing individually before the trial judge passes the order awarding punishment.
It also granted protection from arrest to Amazon Prime Video's India head Aparna Purohit in first information reports lodged over web series Tandav.
A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said the 'drastic order' passed by the high court without hearing the chief minister has taken 'everybody by surprise' as there was no prayer in the plea by the journalists to lodge a first information report against Rawat.
The submissions were made during the eighth day hearing in the case before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
The apex court, which delivered a historic verdict and put the curtains down on the vexatious legal battle that had torn the social fabric of the nation, said that dividing the land would not subserve the interest of either of the parties or secure a lasting sense of peace and tranquillity.
He claimed the people of Delhi were facing "injustice and humiliation" since independence because the government elected by them lacked power to work for them.
In a U-turn, the Left Democratic Front government of Kerala on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it favoured the entry of women of all age groups in the historic Sabarimala temple in the state.
In an affidavit filed by Union finance ministry on behalf of the Union of India, it said that the relief to all borrowers in respect of compounding of interest during the period of moratorium would be admissible to the categories specified irrespective of whether the borrowers had availed the moratorium or not.
The plea, filed by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, termed the notification "illegal, unconstitutional and ultra vires to the law".
The top court granted two weeks to the Centre and RBI to file the affidavit and place before it the decisions taken in this regard.
The Gandhis and senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes have challenged the Delhi high court's September 10 verdict by which their plea against the re-opening of their tax assessments for 2011-12 was dismissed.
The BJP hailed the order as a "resounding blow to the nefarious designs" of Rahul and the Cong described it as a "body blow to transparency".
The court then asked Prasaran if question of this nature about birth of a religious figure has ever arisen in any court.
The following is the chronology of events related to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute in which, after the Supreme Court verdict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday conducted the 'Bhoomi Pujan' or ground breaking ceremony and laid the foundation stone for the temple's construction.
The apex court said the parties in the matter should be ready to start the hearing on the appeals which are before it.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra framed several questions to be dealt with by the Constitution Bench, including whether the temple can restrict women's entry.
...She is no Anushka Shetty, observes Moumita Bhattacharjee.
It also opposed the suggestion that the contributions be transferred to the National Disaster Response Fund.
The bench laid down guidelines as to who would execute the will and how the nod for passive euthanasia would be granted by the medical board.
