The term of the 22nd Law Commission, which is without a chairperson for the past few months, ends Saturday with its key report on the uniform civil code still in works. The report prepared by the law panel on simultaneous elections is ready and is pending submission to the law ministry.
The panel noted that it may be argued that criminal prosecution for defamatory statements is opposed to the right to freedom of speech and expression.
The Lokpal has been working without its regular chief after Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose completed his term on May 27, 2022.
Masood Manna, who is known to Shifa, claimed in a tweet that a mob of 150 people attacked Saif.
Sources said the Law Commission held a meeting with the government and sought some information on the matter of age of consent.
Taking a very serious note of alleged defiance of court's orders by the Uttar Pradesh government, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court on Thursday even went to the extent of suggesting that there was breakdown of Constitutional machinery in the state.
Two applications were filed before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Monday seeking the inclusion of earlier chief ministers in the ambit of the probe into the National Rural Health Mission funds scam. A division bench comprising Justice Pradeep Kant and Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi were hearing arguments on a PIL moved by journalist Sachidanand Gupta, demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the irregularities.
In a major relief to cell phone users and service providers, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has directed Noida authority to open the seal of over 100 mobile towers immediately.
The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the murder of jailed Lucknow deputy chief medical officer Dr Y S Sachan.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said the high court is seized of the case and should be allowed to continue with the hearing and decide it.
The hijab protests began on February 4 at the Government Girls PU college in Udupi district in Karnataka when some students alleged that they had been barred from attending classes.
"We will pass an order. Let the schools-colleges start. But till the matter is resolved, no student should insist on wearing religious dress," the CJ said.
Defending the panel's recommendation to retain the law, which is at present under abeyance following directions of the Supreme Court issued in May last year, he said enough safeguards have been proposed to prevent its misuse.
The Commission, under Justice (retd) Ritu Raj Awasthi, would recommend an amendment to the Constitution to add the "new chapter or part" on simultaneous elections, the sources said.
According to the procedure, all reports of the law panel are submitted to the Union law ministry, which then forwards those to the ministries concerned.
"We are making it very clear that whether a degree college or a PU college, if a uniform has been prescribed, that has to be followed so long as the matter is pending before the court," Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi told advocate Mohammed Tahir who is the counsel for one of the petitioners seeking permission to wear hijab in the classrooms.
During the hearing on Monday, the court observed that officers were not taking court orders seriously.
The Lokpal was functioning without its regular chief since Pinaki Chandra Ghose completed his term on May 27, 2022.
The girls insisted that they should be allowed to write the exam wearing hijab but the college authorities citing the High Court order denied them entry.
Such a legislation, the panel said, should be made applicable not only to the NRIs but also to those individuals who come within the definition of 'Overseas Citizens of India' as laid down in the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The Law Commission had on June 14 invited views from all stakeholders, including people and recognised religious organisations, on the politically sensitive issue.
In the first phase, Lok Sabha and assembly polls can be held and in the second phase, local body polls can be organised.
The Ameer-E-Shariat Karnataka, Maulana Sagir Ahmad Khan Rashadi, has called for a state-wide bandh on Thursday over the verdict of the high court ruling that the hijab was not essential to the practice of Islam.
The Bench, constituted on February 9 and comprising the Chief Justice, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice Jaibunnisa M Khazi, heard on a day-to-day basis over the last two weeks a batch of petitions filed by some girls seeking permission to wear the hijab in educational institutions where a uniform has been prescribed.
The Law Commission on Friday told a parliamentary panel that there was a need to define as to what amounts to "lynching" in the proposed Bharat Nyay Sanhita, sources said.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said that schools in the state will reopen on Monday for classes up to Class X.
The Commission also suggested changes to the phrasing of Section 124A and added words "a tendency to incite violence or cause public disorder".
Senior counsel S S Naganand, representing the Government PU College for Girls, its principal and a teacher, on Wednesday told the full bench, comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice J M Khazi and Justice Krishna S Dixit, that the hijab row was started by some students owing allegiance to CFI.
The Karnataka high court on Thursday asked the counsels in the hijab case to wind up their arguments by Friday as it indicated that it will shortly deliver the order.
Desai and members of the Uttarakhand panel met the Law Commission chairman, Justice (retired) Ritu Raj Awasthi, and members KT Sankaran, Anand Paliwal and DP Verma.
The Law Commission is working on a formula to synchronise all assembly polls by extending or reducing the tenure so that all state elections can be held along with the Lok Sabha polls 2029 onwards, sources said on Friday.
The Government First Grade College at Uppinangady on Wednesday suspended six students for a week, after the principal held a meeting with faculty members in this connection.
In view of the high court verdict, the Kalaburagi district administration has imposed Section 144 effective from 8 pm Monday till 6 am on March 19.
The Supreme Court collegium headed by CJI N V Ramana has learnt to have recommended eight names of judges, including acting chief justice of Calcutta High Court Justice Rajesh Bindal, for their elevation as chief justices of different high courts.
Stating that the issue has been closed after the syndicate meeting at Mangalore University, he asked students to focus on education instead of getting into such issues.
The panel headed by Justice (retired) Ritu Raj Awasthi has submitted its report to the government, calling for an exhaustive overhaul of the law.
"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.
According to the lawyers appearing for the petitioner girls from Udupi district, the matter pertaining to hijab case has been listed for Tuesday as serial No. 1 and the court may spell out the operative part of the verdict from 10.30 am onwards.
In its interim order issued by the three-judge full bench led by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, the court also made it clear that the order was confined to such of the institutions wherein the College Development Committees have prescribed the student dress code or uniform.
Condemning the incident, Bommai said, "Being in favour of community is not secularism, that is communalism. I condemn this, we all should stand together. The government will condemn this."
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