- Weinstein rape trial: actor Rosie Perez backs up Sciorra account
- Actress Rosie Perez took the stand in the rape trial of Harvey Weinstein to bolster the account of friend and fellow actress Annabella Sciorra.
- Sciorra had alleged that she was being raped by the former Hollywood producer in the early 1990s.
- Bengal fourth state to pass House resolution against CAA
- West Bengal became the fourth state – after Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan – to pass a resolution in the Assembly against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
- The resolution was also supported by Congress and Left members.
- Citizenship law rules: Applicants to be asked to submit proof of religion too
- Under the rules for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, applicants will also have to submit ‘proof of religion’.
- Besides proving that they came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh before December 31, 2014.
- The rules are currently being drafted by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- EU distances itself from its lawmakers’ anti-CAA move
- The European Union said the opinions expressed by the European Parliament and its members “do not represent the official position of the European Union”.
- Five key political groupings in the European Parliament had moved resolutions slamming India’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
- ED arrests Kapil Wadhawan in Mirchi PMLA case
- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Kapil Wadhawan in connection with a money laundering probe into late gangster Iqbal Memon alias Iqbal Mirchi.
- Kapil Wadhawan is a promoter of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL).
- Wadhawan allegedly played a ‘crucial role’ in diverting funds from DHFL to shell companies, which were later amalgamated into to Sunblink Real Estate Pvt Ltd.
- Sunblink had bought the three properties in question.
- It bought the three Worli-based properties, allegedly belonging to Mirchi, for Rs 225 crore.
- Draft Bill proposes raising abortion upper limit to 24 weeks
- The Union cabinet is set to consider a host of changes in the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971.
- The Bill proposes to increase the upper limit for termination of a pregnancy from 20 weeks to 24 weeks.
- It also proposes to include “any woman or her partner” from the present provision for “only married woman or her husband”.
- SC grants bail to 14 Gujarat riot convicts: Do spiritual work
- The apex court granted conditional bail to 14 men convicted in a 2002 Gujarat riots case.
- In the said case, 23 people were burnt alive in Ode in Anand district.
- The top court ordered their relocation to Madhya Pradesh.
- It gave a direction that they do social work till a final decision is taken on their appeal against the conviction.
- SC gives its nod to get African cheetah to India
- The Supreme Court cleared a pilot project to introduce the African cheetah from Namibia to India.
- It appointed a three-member committee to oversee it.
- The committee comprises of former Director of Wildlife Ranjitsinh, Director of Wildlife Institute of India Dhananjai Mohan and DIG, Wildlife, Ministry of Environment and Forests.
- It allowed the plea by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
- The top court said that the animal will be introduced at a site identified after due survey.
- The NTCA had approached the court seeking permission saying the Indian cheetah is almost extinct in the country.
- No obligation on airlines to escort flyer to boarding gate: SC
- The Supreme Court said that the flyers are expected to proceed towards boarding gates after check-ins at airports on their own.
- It said that airlines have no obligation to escort every passenger.
- The top court said that if a passenger encounters difficulty to report at the boarding gate, he or she should seek the assistance of the ground-staff.
- Sabarimala reference: SC says finish arguments in 10 days
- The Supreme Court said that the parties to the Sabarimala reference have to finish their arguments within 10 days.
- A five-judge bench of the SC while dealing with review petitions against its judgment lifting age restrictions on the entry of women to Sabarimala temple had decided to keep them pending.
- The reason stated was that it raised some important questions which needed to be answered first.
- It said that these questions should be referred to a larger bench.
- Subsequently, the top court decided to refer the matter to a nine-judge bench.
- JNU student facing sedition charge arrested in Bihar
- Sharjeel Imam was arrested from his village Kako in Jehanabad district of Bihar.
- He is a PhD student in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
- He was arrested days after sedition cases were filed against him in several states for an anti-CAA speech.
- The speech was given by him at Aligarh Muslim University on January 16, 2020.
- SC asks SAT to dilute ‘adverse observations’ made against Sebi
- The Supreme Court directed the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) to dilute “adverse observations” in a November 2019 order wherein it had cast aspersions on markets regulator Sebi.
- The tribunal’s order, dated November 14, 2019, had come in a case related to investor complaints that were not resolved.
- Sebi had moved the court against the order, which had come on an appeal filed by Ashok Dayabhai Shah and others.
- Anticipatory bail: SC eases terms, says no time bar
- The Supreme Court ruled that no time restrictions should ordinarily be fixed for anticipatory bail and that it can continue even until the end of the trial.
- A five-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra was deciding a reference made to it following “conflicting views” of some other benches of the court.
- The bench said that the protection granted under Section 438 CrPC (anticipatory bail) “should not invariably be limited to a fixed period”.
- Citing CAA, HC grants bail to Christian immigrant from Bangladesh
- The Karnataka High Court has granted a bail to a Bangladeshi woman who was arrested by Bengaluru police in November 2019 on charges of being an illegal immigrant.
- The bail was granted while considering her eligibility for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
- This may be the first case of an alleged illegal immigrant being granted bail under the new citizenship law.
- Cabinet nod to raise upper limit for abortions from 20 to 24 weeks
- The Union Cabinet approved the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
- It seeks to increase the upper gestation limit from 20 weeks to 24 weeks for termination of pregnancy.
- The Bill will amend the existing MTP Act, 1971, and will be introduced in the coming Budget Session.
- For unmarried woman, the Bill seeks to relax the contraceptive-failure condition for “any woman or her partner” from the present provision for “only married woman or her husband”, allowing them to medically terminate the pregnancy.
- The Bill also has a new provision under which “name and other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated shall not be revealed except to person authorized in any law for the time being in force”.
- EU Parliament defers vote on citizenship law resolutions
- The European Parliament decided to defer the voting on a sharply worded condemnation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act till March.
- The European Parliament will now take up the resolutions for voting during the March plenary session between March 30 and April 2.
Chhattisgarh HC asks CBI to probe 15 officers for embezzlement
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- Chhattisgarh High Court asked the CBI to lodge an FIR and investigate allegations of corruption against 15 senior government officers.
- The officers have been accused of forming fake government departments and withdrawing salaries of non-existing employees.
- Sabarimala: 9-judge bench to decide relevant questions
- The Supreme Court expressed disappointmentregarding the current state of affairs.
- The lawyers for the various sides in the matter had not been able to arrive at a consensus on the questions to be decided by its nine-judge bench.
- CJI S.A. Bobde said that nine-judges would look into the questions suggested by the various sides.
- Then the bench would take a final call on deciding the relevant questions that need to be answered, and fix modalities for the hearing.
- SC allows transport of iron ore mined before deadline
- The Supreme Court allowed mining companies to transport iron ore mined in Goa before March 15, 2018, provided royalty is paid to the state
- The iron ore which may be lying at jetties, stockyards or pitheads.
- A 3-judge bench said that on earlier two occasions, another bench had allowed transport of the mineral already lying at the jetties.
- The statement was made while deciding the appeals challenging an order of Bombay High Court.
- Amended RTI Act: SC seeks Centre’s reply on Jairam’s plea
- The Supreme Court sought response from the Centre on a plea by Congress MP Jairam Ramesh.
- He has challenged the constitutional validity of the Right to Information (Amendment) Act, 2019.
- The Act gives powers to the government to prescribe tenure, allowances and salary to information commissioners.
- A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and K.M. Joseph issued notice to the Centre directed it to file a response within four weeks.
- Fundamental rights not for OCI card holders: Govt to HC
- Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holders do not enjoy fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
- TheDelhi High Court was informed by the government.
- The OCI card holders do not even enjoy right to freedom of speech and expression, the government said.
- The government’s response came in a plea filed by former Ranbaxy executive Dinesh Thakur.
- The plea sought the right to information under the RTI Act.
- Aircel-Maxis: Court revives case involving Chidambaram, Karti
- A Delhi court has revived the Aircel-maxis case involving senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram and his son Karti.
- The court revived the case observing that keeping this matter ‘adjourned sine die’ would not be conducive to the interest of justice.
- SC to hear Centre plea on changes to mercy plea proceedings
- The Supreme Court agreed to hear the Centre’s plea.
- The plea sought modifications to the procedure to be followed with respect to mercy pleas of death row convicts.
- The Union Home Ministry’s application wants the court to fix a time limit for death row convicts to file curative petitions.
- It also wants the court to give the convicts only seven days from the date of issue of death warrant for filing mercy petition.