The Supreme Court said on Friday the developments that followed the unsavoury incident of slapping of a Muslim schoolboy by his classmates at the behest of their teacher in Uttar Pradesh were the result of the State not doing what was expected of it after the offence was committed.
"Is this kind of goon supposed to work in the CM's residence," the Supreme Court asked on Thursday as it came down heavily on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar who allegedly assaulted AAP MP Swati Maliwal earlier this year.
"When an authority does not have the jurisdiction to deal with a matter or it is not within the powers of the authority i.e. the State of Gujarat in the instant case, to be the appropriate Government to pass orders of remission under Section 432 of the CrPC, the orders of remission would have no legs to stand," it added.
The plea came up for hearing before a bench comprising Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan.
Kejriwal has filed two separate petitions challenging the denial of bail and against his arrest by the CBI in the corruption case filed by the central agency.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday defended in the Supreme Court the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying it was necessary as he chose to remain evasive and non-cooperative in his replies to questions about his role in the alleged excise policy scam.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, informed the bench that the issue of single unmarried women opting for surrogacy is pending before a larger bench.
In a setback to the Centre, the Supreme Court on Thursday held that states have the legislative competence to impose taxes on mines and minerals-bearing lands under the Constitution.
The Supreme Court on Monday said it would like to examine the plea of the Maharashtra government, challenging the remission granted to gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli who is serving a life sentence in a murder case.
The Supreme Court said on Friday it will hear on May 2 the matter involving a Calcutta high court verdict wherein the judges had advised adolescent girls 'to control sexual urges'.
There are some convicts who are "more privileged", the Supreme Court said on Thursday while hearing pleas challenging the grant of remissions to 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said when an accused appears before a court in pursuance of a summons, the agency will have to apply to the court concerned to get his custody.
While Justice Kant and Bhuyan delivered the majority verdict, Justice Datta dismissed Ansari's appeal against the Allahabad high court order.
The Gujarat government was "complicit and acted in tandem with one of the convicts", the SC said.
The top court said the faith of people in the efficacy of law is the saviour and succour for the sustenance of the rule of law.
The Supreme Court on Thursday observed that certain paragraphs in a Calcutta high court verdict, which advised adolescent girls to "control sexual urges", were "problematic" and writing such judgments was "absolutely wrong".
Commencing arguments on the plea challenging the remission granted last year to all the 11 convicts, advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bilkis Bano, submitted she was brutally gang-raped while she was pregnant and her first child was smashed with a rock to death.
'The Supreme Court has now demonstrated its capacity to right its own wrongs, and to place the rule of law above all else.'
The Supreme Court on Monday held as maintainable the PIL filed by Bilkis Bano, who was gang-raped while seven of her family members were killed during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, against the state government's decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in the case.
The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the Gujarat government's decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in the case of gangrape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 riots in the state, saying the orders were "stereotyped" and passed without application of mind.
In a special sitting on a Saturday, a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan observed that there should be a sense of urgency in such cases and not a 'lackadaisical attitude' of treating the matter as any normal case and just adjourning it.
"Why are our jails overcrowded? Why is the the policy of remission being applied selectively?"
Observing that pregnancy outside marriage is injurious and a cause of stress, the Supreme Court on Monday allowed a rape survivor to undergo medical termination of her over 27-week pregnancy.
The Supreme Court on Monday fixed August 7 for the start of the final hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the remission granted last year to all the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
"Law is supposed to be a noble profession," the Supreme Court observed on Thursday, and voiced surprise over how can one of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and murder of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots practise law after his conviction, the remission of his sentence notwithstanding.
"Public outcry will not affect our judicial decisions," the Supreme Court asserted on Tuesday, as it began weighing the legality of the remission granted to all the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside the Kerala high court order suspending the conviction and sentence of Lakshadweep Lok Sabha MP Mohammed Faizal in an attempt to murder case and remanded the matter back to the high court for fresh adjudication in six weeks.
A division bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Riyaz Chagla noted that while Goswami's comments targeted the Congress and its president Sonia Gandhi, he did not make any statement that would cause public disharmony or incite violence between different religious groups.