The Gujarat high court on Tuesday heard a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) on Morbi bridge tragedy and asked the state government as to how no expression of interest was tendered, and how the 'largesse of the state' was given to an individual without floating a tender.
Citing the Official Languages Act, the Madras high court has directed the Centre to give a reply in English if the representation is made in the said language, saying it was the "duty" of the Union government to do so.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli has listed as many as 12 PILs, including the ones filed by Editors Guild of India and veteran journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, for hearing on February 23.
'The RSS has opposed the introduction of GM Mustard tooth and nail, but PM Modi does not give a hoot for what they think.'
The Supreme Court agreed to hear on Friday, instead of Wednesday, a batch of pleas alleging the use of Israeli spyware for surveillance of certain people in India, after taking note of the submissions of the solicitor-general that he would be busy arguing a money-laundering case in another court.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, pointed to the members of the committee that has been formed to investigate the incidents and said, "Can you imagine these people have been appointed to collect the data? Is this a BJP investigating committee my Lords?"
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad granted two weeks' time to the petitioners to respond to the Centre's stand on the matter.
A division bench of Justices R Mahadevan and S Ananthi made an oral observation to this effect when a PIL petition from city-based advocate B Jagannath came up for hearing, on Thursday.
A special CBI court had in 2014 discharged Shah in the case.
The Supreme Court sought the Centre's response on Friday to a plea filed before it challenging the validity of certain provisions of a 1991 law, which prohibit the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.
"If the job profile is same, then how you justify different pay? A lot will depend on the job profile. Get instructions on this and put it on an affidavit," a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad told Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati who was representing the Centre.
The petitioner, Avinash Thakur, had sought a direction to the Chief Election Commissioner to postpone the polls due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the ground that the Representation of the People Act provides for the deferment of polls in extraordinary situations.
Bilkis Bano on Wednesday challenged the remission of sentence and release of convicts in the 2002 rape and murder case filing a plea before the Supreme Court.
A bench said, "We are nobody to say what is to be taught in schools. It is none of our business. How can we direct that."
An appeal has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi high court's split verdict on the issue of criminalisation of marital rape on a batch of petitions challenging the exception in the law that exempts husbands from being prosecuted for non-consensual sexual intercourse with their wives.
The Supreme Court on Monday observed it cannot give a 'judicial diktat' for sending children to schools disregarding the possibility of a fresh spike in COVID cases as it refused to entertain a Class 12 student's plea seeking resumption of physical classes across the country.
The Delhi high court is scheduled to pronounce on Wednesday its verdict on a batch of pleas seeking the criminalisation of marital rape.
In a written submission before the Supreme Court on February 27, Mulayam Singh responded to the allegations against him. And his reply is an eye-opener
"Mahatma Gandhi is the father of nation and people hold him in high esteem, beyond any formal recognition," the bench said. The issue of directing the government to award Bharat Ratna to the father of the nation was not a "justiciable issue", it said.
India's Right-wing has sought to own our democracy by making itself appear the stuff of majority, and sometimes, a national ethos older than the Constitution on which our democracy is based, argues Shyam G Menon.
Calling a "matter of serious concern" the registration of FIRs under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act it had scrapped in 2015, The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the chief secretaries of states concerned to take back the cases within three weeks.
Referring to the deadly second wave of COVID-19, the HC expressed hope the next year would bring a new beginning and that people will never see a repeat of April 2021.
The BMC told the bench that it was adequately prepared to tackle the current situation
The teen, who was with her younger sister when the attack took place at Mohan Garden near Uttam Nagar, has named two persons who could be responsible for the attack.
'By manipulating India's electoral laws, the aim of the Modi government is to weaken democracy to such an extent that it ultimately crumbles.'
After the scheme was unveiled, protests erupted in several states against the scheme.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice T S Sivagnanam of the Madras High Court also orally observed that firing upon the innocent public was a scar on Indian democracy and it should not be forgotten.
A state government affidavit said all convicts were granted parole, furlough and even temporary bail at different points during their incarceration, with the highest being for 1,576 days and the lowest 998 days.
The pleas, which were earlier heard by a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Jyoti Singh, have now been transferred to a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani through an administrative order of January 28.
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 senior lawyer, who contended that the marital rape exception was not constitutional, said that the marital rape exception would be tested on the anvil of its constitutionality and an individual's opinion was not relevant.
'The BJP may no longer be in power after 2024, that doesn't mean we'll stop this campaign against polygamy.'
Hearing a public interest litigation filed by NGO Amguri Naba Nirman Samity, a high court division bench comprising Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Soumitra Saikia asked the Assam government to file a detailed status report on the case.
"The way the hijab imbroglio unfolded gives scope for the argument that some 'unseen hands' are at work to engineer social unrest and disharmony. Much is not necessary to specify," the three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi said in the order.
Mumbai's Covid situation under control, BMC tells HC
Besides the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, a bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian also issued notices to the News Broadcasters Association, the News Broadcasting Standards Authority of India and the Press Council of India on the PIL filed by Delhi-based lawyer Reepak Kansal.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the central government and others seeking gender-neutral, religion-neutral, uniform grounds of succession and inheritance for all citizens throughout the country.
The apex court said it cannot pass an omnibus order preventing authorities from taking action.
The Supreme Court on Friday took note of the Centre's submission that it has evacuated 17,000 stranded Indians from the conflict zone in Ukraine, saying it appreciated the efforts but was concerned about the anxiety of people.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state, told a bench comprising Justices Vineet Saran and Aniruddha Bose that whenever there is an allegation that a probe is not being carried fairly, the court takes the facts into account and then transfers the case to CBI after a prima facie conclusion.