Legal News for Judiciary (1-7th March 2020)

  • Despite SC ruling, veterans’ disability pension gets taxed
    • The raging controversy over the government’s decision to tax disability pension of soldiers has reared its head once again, with many disabled veterans left stunned to receive only token sums as pension credited to their bank accounts for the month of February.
    • Veterans said the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions) had issued a circular on February 20 for “necessary action” on the June 2019 order by the finance ministry/Central Board of Direct Taxes.
    • The order held that disability pension of all military personnel would now be taxed unless they had been forced or “invalidated” out of service prematurely due to injuries.
  • SC refuses to refer petitions on Art 370 to a 7- judge bench
    • The Supreme Court refused to refer to a seven-judge Constitution bench a bunch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of changes in Article 370 for scrapping of special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
    • The court said the issue would continue to be heard by the five-judge bench.
    • The bench said there was no reason to refer the case to a larger bench.
  • HC counts twins as two deliveries
    • The Madras high court has ruled that a woman giving birth to twins counts as two deliveries.
    • It ruled so while denying maternity benefits to a CISF employee when she had a third child after a second pregnancy.
    • According to the rules, a government employee can claim maternity benefits only for the first two deliveries.
  • Nirbhaya convicts to live a little longer
    • Any condemned convict shouldn’t meet his creator with a grievance in his bosom that the courts of this country had not acted fairly in granting him an opportunity to exhaust all his legal remedies.
    • A Delhi court said while deferring, till further orders and for the third time, the hanging of all four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case. 
  • Nirbhaya: SC rejects last plea too
    • The Supreme Court dismissed the curative plea of fourth death row convict Pawan Gupta in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.
    • It had earlier rejected the plea of three other convicts.
    • All of them have now exhausted the legal remedies available to them in court against their conviction and death sentence.
  • Courts not equipped to prevent riots: CJI
    • The courts are ill-equipped to handle riot situations and take action against those who incite and provoke riots, Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde said.
    • It is a function that rests with police and law-enforcing agencies, he added.
    • The remarks came when senior advocate Colin Gonsalves sought urgent hearing on a petition by 10 Muslim riot victims seeking arrest and registration of FIRs against leaders of BJP.
  • SC refuses to cancel bail of Chinmayanand
    • The Supreme Court refused to cancel bail granted to BJP’s Swami Chinmayanand in a sexual exploitation case lodged against him by a law student.
    • But it agreed to hear a plea filed by the victim’s father who has sought transfer of trial from Lucknow to Delhi.
    • The apex court said the HC order granting bail to Chinmayanand did not warrant interference.
  • UN body goes to SC on CAA; ‘internal matter’, says govt
    • For the first time in India’s judicial history, a United Nations body — the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) — sought to intervene as amicus curiae to assist the Supreme Court in adjudicating the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
    • The UNHCHR said while CAA has a “worthy and commendable objective”, it appears to discriminate against persecuted Muslim communities.
    • The ministry of external affairs swiftly hit back, saying it was an “internal matter” and that “no foreign party has any locus standi on issues pertaining to India’s sovereignty” and “the Indian Parliament’s right to make law”.
    • Intervening in a petition filed by former Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh Deb Mukharji, who has challenged CAA.
  • NCLT clears NBCC offer for Jaypee Infra
    • The National Company Law Tribunal approved NBCC’s offer to take over Jaypee Infratech.
    • Jaypee Infratech has to deliver apartments, plots and villas to nearly 21,000 homebuyers.
    • NCLT’s principal bench approved the PSU’s proposal to take over the company, along with the Taj Expressway, with certain conditions.
    • NCLT’s principal bench is headed by acting president BSV Prakash Kumar.
  • HC’s adjournment of hate speech unjustified: SC
    • The Supreme Court asked the Delhi high court to fast-track hearing on PILs seeking registration of FIRs against BJP functionaries Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma.
    • Allegedly, they had made inflammatory speeches which petitioners say went viral and caused riots in Delhi.
  • SC quashes RBI order
    • The Supreme Court quashed RBI’s 2018 circular preventing banking and financial institutions from providing services to any individual or business entities dealing in cryptocurrency or virtual currency.
    • It quashed the circular saying it was a disproportionate measure taken by the regulator.
    • The verdict would allow companies in the sector to use the banking platform to trade and transact in cryptocurrency.
    • The central bank had contended that allowing cryptocurrency (bitcoins) compromised the integrity of the banking system.
  • Explain ‘no confidence in Parl and SC’ remark: Apex court to activist
    • Social activist Harsh Mander faced rough weather in the Supreme Court for his speech at an anti-CAA gathering of Jamia students.
    • There he had allegedly said, “India’s future will be decided not in Parliament or in Supreme Court but on the streets”.
  • SC: Take Sajjan Kumar to AIIMS for check-up
    • Supreme Court ordered that former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar be taken to All India Institute of Medical Sciences for a check-up to ascertain whether he suffered from any major ailment requiring hospitalisation.
    • He was sentenced to life imprisonment in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
  • Nirav’s son says painting belong to trust, but HC refuses to stay ED sale
    • Granting no relief to the son of Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam accused Nirav Modi, Bombay high court refused to stay an Enforcement Directorate (ED) auction of paintings belonging to Rohin Trust.
    • The court, however, directed ED to place the auction proceeds into a separate account, and not use it for any other purpose.
  • Death of rape survivor’s father: Sengar convicted of culpable homicide
    • Expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and six others, including two UP policemen, were convicted of “culpable homicide not amounting to murder” in the death of the Unnao rape survivor’s father.
  • SC defers hearing on plea over separate hangings
    • In view of the fresh warrant issued by a trial court to execute the death sentence of Nirbhaya case convicts on March 20, the Supreme Court deferred hearing on the Centre’s plea to allow separate execution where there are more than one death row convict. The court posted the matter for March 23.
  • Expedite Yamuna cleaning
    • National Green Tribunal ordered Delhi Development Authority to constitute a special purpose vehicle within two weeks to clean and rejuvenate the Yamuna.
    • The bench asked the Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to take expeditious action on sewage management, industrial pollutants and solid waste being discharged into the river.
    • NGT chairperson: Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel
  • ICC allows war crime probe against US military, Taliban
    • Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court gave the green light for prosecutors to open an investigation targeting the Taliban, Afghan forces and US military and CIA personnel for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
    • The decision marked the first time the court’s prosecutor has been authorised to investigate US forces.
  • NCLT allows govt to reopen CG Power’s a/cs for 5 fiscals
    • The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has allowed the corporate affairs ministry to reopen the books of CG Power for the last five financial years.
    • The permission was granted so that it could probe the alleged fraud at the equipment manufacturer.
    • The NCLT has also ordered the ministry to initiate action against company executives, past and present, if found guilty after the probe.
  • HC dismisses Kochhar’s plea against termination
    • In a setback to ICICI Bank’s former CEO and managing director, Chanda Kochhar,the Bombay high court dismissed her petition, as “not maintainable”, challenging the validity of her January 2019 termination for cause.
  • SC order paves way for faster land acquisition, reduced litigation
    • The Supreme Court has cleared the air over validity of land acquisition that was initiated but could not be completed in the stipulated five-year period.
    • The court ruled the process will be deemed lapsed only if the possession of land is not complete and no compensation been paid.
    • The SC further clarified that delay due to an interim court order has to be excluded from the computation of five years.
    • The ruling will help speed up land acquisition and reduce litigation.
  • SC ex-judge to head panel on northeast, J&K limitation
    • The Centre constituted the Delimitation Commission for carrying out fresh delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in the Union Territory of J&K and in four states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland.
    • Former SC judge, Justice (Retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai, has been appointed as chairperson of the panel.