- SC ordered
the reopening of Sterlite plant set aside – The Supreme Court
set aside the National Green Tribunal order, which had permitted the reopening
of the Sterlite plant at Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. The plant had not complied with
conditions prescribed by the Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control Board so the Forests
and Environment Department of the state government directed that the plant be
shut down. The Court observed that the NGT had gone beyond its jurisdiction in
giving the decision, even taking up matters which were still pending in lower
courts, against specific procedure under the Act. The NGT could not have
claimed that the doctrine of necessity would apply if an appellate authority
under the Act was not properly constituted so that no appeal can then be
preferred to it. [Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board v Sterlite Industries,
Civil Appeal Nos. 4763-4764 of 2013, date of order: 18.02.2019]
- Anil
Ambani held guilty of contempt – The Supreme Court has found Anil
Ambani guilty of defaulting on his payments to Ericsson in clear violation of
the Supreme Court order. Apart from Ambani, the chairman of Reliance
Communications, the Court also held RCom, Reliance Telecom and Reliance
InfraTel guilty. The Court has given them the last opportunity to pay ₹453 Cr
to Ericsson within 4 weeks, failing which Anil Ambani will be sent to jail for
3 months. Ericsson is owed a total of ₹530 Cr. Reliance was supposed to pay
this amount in instalments and it missed the instalments dated 30 September and
15 December leading to the filing of the complaints. [Reliance Communication
Limited v State Bank of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 845 of 2018, date
of order: 20.02.2019]
- Petition
against Nageshwar Rao’s appointment dismissed – Supreme Court
refused to interfere with the appointment of Nageshwar Rao as the interim chief
of the CBI, noting that a full time director of the CBI had already been
appointed. The Court also did not answer the petition to pass directions to
make the process more transparent. The petition claimed that the appointment of
Nageshwar Rao was against an earlier order of the Supreme Court. [Common
Cause v Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 54 of 2019, date of
order: 19.02.2019]
- Ex-CMs not
entitled to government bungalows – The Patna High Court struck down a
provision to the Bihar Special Security Group Act, 2000, which allowed
allotment of government premises to ex-CMs. The High Court noted that the
provision could not find any basis in the Constitution – elected
representatives cannot claim a privilege after they have demitted their office.
The Court also criticised the heavy security provided to the ex-CMs, pointing
out the heavy cost borne by the tax payers. The Court quashed all the
allotments made under the Act and asked the allottees to vacate the premises
unless they were entitled to them under some other law. [In Re Life Time
Allotment of Bungalows to Former Chief Ministers of the State of Bihar with
Unlimited Financial Maintenance Facilities,Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case
No.690 of 2019, date of order: 19.02.2019]
- Accused of
making derogatory remarks about the Prophet, man granted bail – The
Madras High Court while granting bail to a man accused of making derogatory
remarks against Prophet Mohammed, observed that freedom of speech and religion
would always be at odds. The Court held that the article only reflected the
accused’s understanding of history of Mohammed and did not contain any
derogatory remarks. While the prosecution claimed that the remarks could incite
disharmony, the Court explained that there is a difference between making
reckless remarks and commenting on the historical characters revered as gods
after looking into their history and express an opinion. Not every expression
can qualify as derogatory. The Court relied on an earlier judgment of the
Madras High Court, which laid down guidelines to be followed in such cases and
reiterated that the law cannot clamp down on the freedom of artists and nor can
non-state entities declare what is permissible or not. The State should ensure
proper protection to such artists. [R. Kalyanaraman v State, CR No. 490
of 2018, date of order: 21.02.2019]
- Anand
Teltumbde’s bail extended till February 27 – The Bombay High
Court has extended Anand Teltumbde’s interim bail till February 27. The court
was to hear his petition for anticipatory bail, but the matter was adjourned
causing the court to extend his protection. Pune Police had earlier arrested
him against specific orders of the Supreme Court. [Anand Teltumbde v State of
Maharashtra, Anticipatory Bail Application No. 314 of 2019, dated 22.02.2019]
- Manipur
student leader not to be sent to police custody – The Chief Judicial
Magistrate, Imphal refused to remand Veenom Thokchom, the Manipur activist who
had criticised the Citizenship Amendment Bill in a Facebook post, to police
custody in the sedition case filed against him. The CJM also allowed the bail
application. The post had criticised the non-availability of internet for five
days, when the Citizenship Amendment Bill was to be discussed in the Rajya
Sabha. He was arrested from Delhi, where he is studying. The judge held that
the contents of the post did not excite disaffection towards the government. He
had further claimed that during his arrest, the police did not follow DK Basu
guidelines as they did not identify themselves. [State of Manipur v Thokchom
Veenom, FIR Case No. 13(02)2019 LLI-PS, date of order:19.02.2019]
(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.
