- Supreme Court seeks information on the Rafale deal: The Supreme Court asked the Central Government information on the steps in the decision making process followed in the procurement of the 36 Rafale fighter jets from France, but did not issue notice in the petition. The Court also clarified that it would not look into the issue of pricing or other technical aspects, owing to the sensitivity of the issue. The information is to be filed in sealed cover by 29th October, 2018. [Manohar Lal Sharma vs. Narendra Damodardas Modi, Writ Petition (Crl). 225 of 2018, date of order: 10.10.2018]
- Kamal Nath’s plea for revision of electoral rolls for the upcoming MP election dismissed: The Supreme Court dismissed the petition filed by the Congress leader, Kamal Nath, random verification of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail(VVPAT) machines in the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, and found no difficulty in the procedure followed by the Election Commission of India. The petition had contended that there were around 60 lakh duplicate voters in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, and furnishing of electoral roll in word format was necessary to verify authenticity, but the Court disagreed with the same. [Kamal Nath v. Election Commission of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 935 of 2018, date of judgment: 12.10.2018]
- Plea for reinstatement of woman district judge who had resigned due to sexual harassment heard in Supreme Court: In the midst of #MeToo movement, the Supreme Court issued notice on the petition filed by the Additional District Judge who was forced to resign in July, 2014 from the Madhya Pradesh lower judiciary, owing to alleged sexual harassment by a High Court judge. The Petitioner contended that she was constrained to resign, which in effect amounted to ‘constructive termination’, since she was facing punitive transfer to a remote area for rebuffing the advances of a high court judge. [X v. Registrar General of Madhya Pradesh High Court, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1135 of 2018, date of order: 12.10.2018]
- Contempt Notice issued to the Directors of the Amrapali Group: The Supreme Court issued formal notice and directed the Registry to register a separate cause as “Suo Motu Contempt” against the directors of the Amrapali Group for violating the court’s orders and interfering with the course of justice. The Court further issued several directions for the purpose of categorising and cataloguing the documents by the police and forensic auditors, for which the applicants would remain present during the day. [Bikram Chatterji & Ors. v. Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 970 of 2017, date of order: 12.10.2018]
- Delhi High Court allows CBI to close investigation in Najeeb’s case: Almost two years after the disappearance of JNU student, Najeeb Ahmed, Delhi High Court strangely permitted the Central Bureau of Investigation (‘CBI’) to file a closure report in the case. CBI informed the Court that it had found no evidence of Najeeb being assaulted allegedly by the ABVP goons on 14th October, 2016. After Najeeb’s disappearance, FIR was filed on 16th October, 2016, and thereafter, Najeeb’s mother filed petition in the High Court seeking the appointment of a ‘Special Investigation Team’ to investigate the case, since it was a ‘political case’, with the alleged involvement of ABVP, the student group of the ruling BJP party, and the Delhi Police would not conduct a free and fair investigation. Accordingly, the investigation was transferred to CBI in May, 2017, but even the CBI showed no interest to investigate the matter in an impartial way. [Fatima Nafees vs. State, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 3391 of 2016, date of judgment: 08.10.2018]
- Petition for closure of online pharmacies sought: The Delhi High Court issued notice on a plea seeking urgent steps for closure of websites offering drugs and prescription medicines online, which were operating in contravention of the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetic Act and its rules, Indian Medical Act, 1956; Code of Ethics Regulations, 2002; Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954. The petition alleges several risks pertaining to online pharmacies, including fake and illegal pharmacies, drug abuse on account of fake or forged prescriptions. [South Chemists & Distributors Association v. Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 10611 of 2018, date of order: 05.10.2018]
- Calcutta High Court refrained from interfering with the State government giving funds for Durga Puja: Disposing of a petition, the Calcutta High Court refrained from interfering with Mamta Banerjee Government’s decision to grant Rs 10,000/- to all durga puja committees in West Bengal, amounting to Rs 28 crore. The High Court observed that it was an executive decision to disburse funds, which did not merit a judicial review.
- Defamation suits filed against MeToo survivors: The backlash has begun. Refuting the allegations levelled against 14 women, the Union Minister, M.J. Akbar, filed a criminal defamation case in Patiala House, Delhi, against Priya Ramani, one of the women who accused him of sexual harassment. On the other hand, actor Alok Nath filed a civil defamation suit against Vinita Nanda in Mumbai seeking damages of Rs 1 for alleging that he had raped and assaulted her in early 1990s.
Other Developments
- ASG Tushar Mehta appointed as Solicitor General of India: After remaining vacant for almost one year, the Central Government finally appointed Tushar Mehta, Additional Solicitor General of India, as the Solicitor General of India. He succeeded Ranjit Kumar, Senior Advocate, and would hold office till 30.06.2020. (IPA Service)
Prepared by Amritananda Chakravorty (amritananda.c@gmail.com) and Mihir Samson (mihirsamson@gmail.com), Delhi based practicing Advocates.
The post Weekly Round-Up of Major Decisions of the Courts in India as also Legal Policy Developments appeared first on Newspack by India Press Agency.
