- Supreme Court restricts the sale of crackers: Short of a complete ban, the Supreme Court restricted the sale of crackers by fixing the time of bursting of crackers, i.e., on Diwali and other religious festivals, crackers could be burst only from 8pm to 10pm, while on Christmas and on New Years, it could be burst only from 11.45pm to 12.45am and that too at designated areas. The Court further directed that only crackers with reduced emission (improved crackers) and green crackers would be manufactured and sold from licensed traders and no crackers would be sold online, while also prohibiting the manufacture, sale and use of joined firecrackers (series crackers or laris). [Arjun Gopal & Ors. v. Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 728 of 2015, date of judgment: 23.10.2018]
- Plea seeking gender neutral rape laws filed in the Supreme Court: A petition challenging the validity of the offence of rape under Section 375, IPC on the ground of being discriminatory, since it excludes men and transgender persons from the protective ambit of the law, has been filed in the Supreme Court. The Petitioner is a NGO, the Criminal Justice Society of India, has accordingly sought gender-neutral rape laws, and relies heavily on the recent judgments of the Supreme Court, including the right to privacy, and the decriminalisation of homosexual acts in India.
- Proceedings continue in Bhima Koregaon case: After the Supreme Court refused to set up a SIT to conduct independent investigation into the arrest of the five activists, the Bombay High Court refused to extend the detention of the first set of activists, including Surendra Gadling, owing to failure of the police to file chargesheet within the stipulated period [Surendra Gadling & Ors. vs. State of Maharashtra, Criminal Writ Petition No. 4148 of 2018, date of decision: 24.10.2018, Bombay High Court], which has now been stayed by the Supreme Court [State of Maharashtra v. Surendra Gadling & Ors. SLP (Crl.) No. 9199 of 2018, date of order: 29.10.2018]. The Supreme Court has issued notice on the appeal of the Maharashtra Government striking down the remand order against Gautam Navlakha [State of Maharashtra v. Gautam Navlakha. SLP (Crl.) No. 8616 of 2018, date of order: 29.10.2018.
- Hearing in Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute adjourned to January, 2019: The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing in Babri Masjid dispute case to January, 2019 for fixing the date of final hearings, despite the insistence of the UP Government to schedule an early hearing. The matter came up, after the Supreme Court had answered the reference that there was no need to reconsider the earlier judgment, which had said that mosque was not an essential feature of Islam.
- Strict proof of marriage not needed for maintenance: The Supreme Court held that in the proceedings under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, such strict proof of marriage is not necessary, as it is summary in nature meant to prevent vagrancy, unlike other matrimonial proceedings. In doing so, it set aside a Karnataka High Court order that had dismissed a maintenance petition for want of proof of marriage. [Kamala & Ors. vs. M.R. Mohan Kumar, Criminal Appeal No. 2368-2369 of 2009, date of judgment: 24.10.2018
- AIADMK MLA’s disqualification upheld: The Madras High Court upheld the decision of the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly to disqualify 18 MLAs of AIADMK party, who were disqualified in September, 2017. When they challenged their disqualification, the division bench of Madras High Court gave a split verdict in June, 2018, and a third judge was appointed by Supreme Court to decide the case.
- Delhi Government’s circular empowering Registrar to quash registered deeds struck down: The Delhi High Court quashed the circular issued by the Delhi government that empowered Registrars to cancel or recall a registered deed on receipt of any complaint that the same has been registered by practicing fraud. The Division Bench held that the Registrars had no power under the law to annul the registration of a document. [Areness Foundation vs. Govt of NCT of Delhi, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 9123 of 2018, date of decision: 22.10.2018]
- Bombay High Court directs speedy trial in Malegaon Blast case: Directing the Special NIA judge to expedite the trial in Malegaon blasts case, the Bombay High Court held that the trial ought to be conducted on a daily basis, which was in consonance with the orders of the Supreme Court too. The High Court had earlier rejected the plea to defer framing of charges against Col. Purohit, and Sadhvi Pragya, the main accused in the case. [Sameer Kulkarni v. State of Maharashtra, Criminal Application No. 1587 of 2018, date of order: 22.10.2018]
(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.
