LEGAL NEWS 01.05.2010

Man files PIL under Senior Citizens Act
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Man-files-PIL-under-Senior-Citizens-Act/613683
Express News Service
Posted: Saturday , May 01, 2010 at 0216 hrs Chandigarh:
A 66-year-old man has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking directions to the Central government to issue a notification for summoning children, living outside the country, who refuse to pay maintenance to their parents. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Jasbir Singh has issued notices to the Centre and director, department of Justice, on the PIL filed by Baldev Singh Gill, a resident of Moga. Gill has submitted that the Centre had enacted The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, in order to provide care and social security to elderly persons who are neglected by children. The petitioner referred to Section 6 (5) of the Act which reads “where the children or relative is residing out of India, summons shall be served by the Tribunal through such authority, as the Central government may by notification specify in this behalf”. The government is yet to issue any such notification, Gill claimed.




PIL against commission on bus
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100501/jsp/calcutta/story_12399638.jsp
OUR LEGAL REPORTER
A high court division bench on Friday asked the state transport department to file an affidavit stating whether abolition of the commission system for drivers and conductors of private buses would lead to fewer road mishaps in and around the city.
The affidavit, to be filed in three weeks, must also mention the rate of commission paid to the drivers and conductors by the owners of the buses, said Chief Justice M.S. Shah and Justice K.J. Sengupta.
The order was passed on a public interest litigation by Tanmoy Goswami, an advocate of the high court, who claimed that there would be fewer road mishaps in the city and its suburbs if drivers and conductors did not work on commission.
“Most accidents result from buses and minibuses race each other in an attempt to ferry more passengers and earn more commission,” stated the petitioner.
The department has already started a process to abolish the commission system, said a government lawyer.
The matter will come up for hearing when the court reopens on June 9 after summer vacation.






GVK sees power sector margins improving
http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_gvk-sees-power-sector-margins-improving_1377453
KV Ramana / DNA
Saturday, May 1, 2010 2:29 IST
Hyderabad: Despite expanding its presence in airports and roads segments, GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd (GVK PIL) is likely to remain focused on the energy sector.
“We will continue to have about 70-80% of revenues coming from the power sector. In fact, the power sector margins are likely to improve in the days to come,” Isaac George, GVK group’s CFO, told DNA.
The company in FY10 had revenues of Rs 1,787 crore, of which 90%, or Rs 1,603 crore, came from power. In 2008-09, the power sector’s contribution was at about 69%. The road sector’s contribution to the topline dropped from FY09’s 28.39% to 9.55%.
“As a percentage of our total revenues, the contribution from road sector has dropped. But on its own the revenues from this sector too have grown from Rs 146 crore in FY09 to Rs 171 crore,” he said.
However, the company has seen its operating margins contract from 18.7% in FY09 to 18.05% in FY10.
“The contraction was primarily due to the huge expenditure we had on two projects,” George said.
Net margins too have undergone significant change during FY10. Within the power sector, the margins expanded from 2.77% in FY09 to 14.26% in FY10. Similarly, the net margins in road sector dropped from 56% in FY09 to 45.28% in FY10.
“Our focus continues to be on power. Though the revenues from power sector are going to be between 70% and 80%, the margins from this area are going to improve,” he said.
GVK has interest in Bangalore and Mumbai airports. “The airport revenues are not taken into the consolidated accounts of GVK PIL. But the profits from these operations get added to the balance-sheet,” he said.
Attempts are being made to consolidate the airport shareholding into a single holding company.
The airports holding company will jointly own and operate the two airports.





NATION BRIEFS
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100501/jsp/nation/story_12401745.jsp
Muscle blow
New Delhi, April 30: The Supreme Court today revived a PIL on an arms-landing case related to the 1993 Bombay blasts spiked by a judge allegedly because the petitioner had complained about his posing outside a private gym.
Gujarat High Court will now rehear the plea, dismissed over three years ago by Justice B.J. Sethna, against a government panel’s clean chit to top police officers in the landing of ammunition and RDX on the Porbandar coast. The cache was smuggled a little before the chain blasts and was reportedly used in the explosions.
The petitioner, lawyer Yatin D. Oza, alleged in his appeal to the apex court that a two-judge bench headed by Sethna had dismissed his plea only because he had complained to the President about the judge’s “improper” behaviour of flexing his muscles outside the gym.
Oza, a former president of the High Court Advocates’ Association and a two-time BJP MLA, had sought a CBI inquiry into the arms landing case. Sethna had said the PIL was just a “camouflage to foster personal disputes” and “purely a private interest litigation”. The judge also fined Oza Rs 25,000 for filing the PIL on flimsy grounds.
Delhi mayor
New Delhi (PTI): Prithvi Raj Sawhney, a councillor of the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi, has been elected the capital’s mayor, defeating his nearest rival Tulsi Ram Sablania of the Congress by 90 votes.
Census plea
Madurai (PTI): A PIL has been filed in Madras High Court seeking a direction to the registrar-general of the census to collect data on communal and social status of citizens for the 2011 census.
Polio dip
New Delhi (PTI): There has been a sharp decline in polio cases across the country this year after the introduction of the bivalent vaccine, according to a health ministry report. Uttar Pradesh has reported nine cases compared with 602 last year.
Crash kills 8
Hyderabad (PTI): Eight people were killed when their autorickshaw collided with a lorry in Vizianagaram on Friday.






HC admits PIL seeking provision of phones for prisoners
http://www.ptinews.com/news/634282_HC-admits-PIL-seeking-provision-of-phones-for-prisoners
STAFF WRITER 21:58 HRS IST
Madurai, Apr 30 (PTI) The Madras High Court has admitted a PIL seeking a direction to the Tamil Nadu government to provide telephone facility to prisoners as recommended by the committee of the Union Government's Bureau of Police Research and Development.Justices F M Ibrahim Kalifulla and K B K Vasuki of the Madurai bench ordered notice to the state Home Secretary and the IG of Prisons and posted the case for hearing after 15 days.Petitioner K Kesavan, an advocate and Joint Secretary of Centre for Protection of Civil Liberties, an NGO organisation, submitted that the model prison manual draft was prepared by the committee after inspecting various prisons, and it contained many good features.The recommendation to install phones had been implemented by Karnataka, Kerala, Delhi, West Bengal and Punjab.






Chidambaram's reply on tapping frightening: Jaitley
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Chidambarams-reply-on-tapping-frightening-Jaitley/articleshow/5878937.cms
1 May 2010, 0407 hrs IST,Devesh Kumar,ET Bureau
Arun Jaitley led the Opposition charge against the government on phone-tapping allegations in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Citing relevant provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, and a 1996 Supreme Court judgement, he contended that the laws were clear on the circumstances in which a person’s telephone could be tapped by government agencies. The government, he argued, did not have absolute powers in this regard. In an interview with Devesh Kumar, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha elaborated his theme: Were you satisfied with home minister P Chidambaram’s reply? What could be the repercussions of the government’s stand? I’m absolutely dissatisfied with several parts of Mr Chidambaram’s reply. First, the government claims that they have not authorised the tapping of telephones of four politicians. At the same time, they are unable to deny that they were not being tapped. Why do you need an inquiry to look into the factual position when the details of the tapping exercise are available in the software of the bugging system. The second part of his speech, which is even more frightening and intimidating, arises when he says that tax violation can be a ground for bugging a phone. The law does not permit this. Every corporate entity and millions of assesses will have tax disputes with the income-tax department. Can their phones be bugged ? Neither the Telegraph Act nor the 1996 Supreme Court judgement permits this. The occurrence of public emergency and interests of public safety are the only necessary condition precedent for bugging a phone. But the home minister admitted that the government would be willing to look into the infirmities... It was a frightening speech where a promise of future reasonableness cannot act as a sweetener. Don’t you think that by saying this the home minister conceded that there could be drawback in the rules and that they could be susceptible to misuse? Not only can it be misused, people won’t get to know of the misuse since the consequences of the law are operated in secrecy. You said in your speech there were 17,000 registered lobbyists in Washington, and that as much as 45% of the US Congressmen who retired since 1998 had taken up lobbying as a profession. Do you think that India is moving in that direction? Politics in India still doesn’t measure up to the best standards of probity. If you legitimise the role of lobbyists, it’ll only make it worse.






Now, HC quashes cases against Suhasini
http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/56637.html
IndiaGlitz [Saturday, May 01, 2010]
Two days after the Supreme Court quashed all the 23 cases against Kushboo for her interview to a magazine on pre-marital sex, the Madras High Court on Thursday quashed criminal proceedings pending before magistrate courts in Tamil Nadu against Suhasini Mani Ratnam, who had spoken up for Kushboo.
Justice C S Karnan quashed the proceedings against Suhasini, who came under attack from some organisations for making comments on pre-marital sex in a magazine interview. Earlier, in her petitions, filed by counsel C Seethapathy, the actress sought to quash the proceedings before the lower courts.
Expressing happiness over the verdict, Suhasini said, “Kushboo was courageous in facing the cases against her. I am equally courageous. I got summons every day. The situation I faced then was traumatic. People around me were so scared.”
In her interview years before, Suhasini apologised on behalf of Tamils to Kushboo who was facing a slew of cases for her remarks. “I was neither in agreement nor disagreement with Kushboo's remarks on pre-marital sex,” she said.





HC paves way for fresh selection of ASIs
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hc-paves-way-for-fresh-selection-of-asis/613667/0
RAGHAV OHRI
Posted: Saturday , May 01, 2010 at 0200 hrs Chandigarh:
In a significant development, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has paved the way to hold examinations for the post of assistant sub-inspector.
Shouldering the stain of the police recruitment scam, which came to light in 2008, the Chandigarh Administration had decided not to hold the examination.
A division bench, headed by Justice M M Kumar, has stayed the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Chandigarh, which had said that a fact-finding inquiry will be held by the UT Home Secretary.
Admitting a bunch of petitions, the division bench stayed the order, which means the Home Secretary will not need to hold any inquiry into the matter.
The recruitments made in 2008 were nullified by the Chandigarh Police after Newsline carried a series of news items exposing the scam. Certain selected candidates, however, who had not indulged in any malpractices, had moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). The Tribunal had also ordered the Chandigarh Police to separate tainted selected candidates from non-tainted ones.
As a matter of transparency and propriety, the Administration had decided not to hold the examination. Aggrieved over the CAT directions, the Administration had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Appearing on behalf of the Administration, senior standing counsel Advocate Sanjay Kaushal argued the petitions, which continued for three days.
Two constables of the Chandigarh Police — Shamsher Singh and Amardeep Singh — were arrested on charges of facilitating paper-leak and paying Rs 10 lakh to the prime accused Joginder Dahiya to get the solved question paper.
Amardeep Singh had appeared in the ASI recruitment exam and was selected. The Chandigarh Police’s own men, allegedly in connivance with a few “conmen”, who were already facing similar charges, took lakhs from aspiring candidates to provide them with the question papers.






No sand mining along Ganga & Yamuna: HC to UP Govt
http://newstiger.in/?p=23305
Posted on May 01st, 2010 in India
By Manohar ChoudharyThe Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh Government to ensure an immediate stop to mechanised sand mining along the rivers Ganga and Yamuna and take appropriate action against contractors found involved in such activities.
A Division Bench of the courts comprising Justice Sunil Ambawani and Justice Kashi Nath Pandey has passed the order on a Public Interest Litigation filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties. The court has fixed 5th of this month for hearing in the matter.
The Court has also asked the UP government to have a dialogue with the Uttrakhand Government for release of adequate water in Ganga river.






HC tells cops to extradite Kumar killer by June 20

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2010050120100501032050198d8979ef/HC-tells-cops-to-extradite-Kumar-killer-by-June-20.html
By Bapu Deedwania
Posted On Saturday, May 01, 2010 at 03:20:50 AM
The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the City Police Commissioner D Shivanandan to ensure that cassette king Gulshan Kumar’s killer Abdul Rauf Daood Merchant is brought to Mumbai and produced before the court. A division bench of Justice B H Marlapalle and Justice Mridula Bhatkar has given Shivanandan time till June 20 to produce Merchant before the court.
The judges expressed extreme displeasure and anguish about this and said that no efforts were being made to bring back the convict, who jumped parole and fled to Bangladesh. Merchant was serving a life term in the Gulshan Kumar murder case in Aurangabad Central Prison. In April 2009, he jumped parole and fled the country.On May 27, 2009, he was arrested in Dhaka by Crime Branch sleuths. Mumbai Mirror first reported about this on May 23, 2009. Public prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh told the judges that the Crime Branch was in touch with the CBI Interpol and obtaining information about Merchant. She, however, could not answer a court query whether Merchant was still in custody of the Dhaka police or released. The prosecution’s case had been that the business rivalry between Kumar and Ramesh Taurani, boss of competing company Tips, was the motive for the murder. It also cited differences between Kumar and music director Nadeem Saifee, who allegedly decided to kill Kumar by hiring gangster Abu Salem. However, Saifee left for London in June 1997 and has not returned since. Kumar’s killing came to symbolise the free run the underworld had in Mumbai in the late 1990s. Conspirators whose involvement could never be proved hired three hitmen to execute a brazen daylight killing. Rauf Merchant, his brother Rasheed Merchant and one Anil Sharma were accused in the case. Each was allegedly paid Rs 25. The HC is hearing the appeal filed by Merchant challenging his conviction in Gulshan Kumar murder case. During the course of hearing, it was revealed that the convict had jumped parole and fled the country.






HC reserves decision on Kashmiri leader detention
http://www.sananews.net/english/2010/05/01/hc-reserves-decision-on-kashmiri-leader-detention/
SRINAGAR, (SANA): High Court reserved its decision into a habeas corpus petition challenging the detention of senior Kashmiri leader and National Front Chairman Nayeem Khan under Public Safety Act (PSA).
Nayeem Khan, who was booked under PSA in February, is presently lodged at Central jail, Srinagar.
The writ petition challenging Khan’s detention came up for final arguments before Justice Yaqoob Mir. On behalf of the petitioner, the case was pleaded by Bar Association President Advocate Mian Qayoom.
Terming the allegations leveled in PSA dossier against Khan as ‘false, fabricated and baseless’, Qayoom prayed that court should quash his PSA and set aside the detention order passed against him.
As per the PSA dossier, the detaining authority has accused Khan of ‘inciting youth to resort to stone pelting by launching vicious media campaign’.
After hearing arguments of both the sides, Justice Mir reserved his final verdict into the petition.
Earlier, while deciding an interim application by the petitioner, HC had in its February 22 order directed the authorities to shift Khan from Kotbalwal Jail Jammu to Central Jail, Srinagar.




HC upholds TN Act on uniform education
http://www.ptinews.com/news/634315_HC-upholds-TN-Act-on-uniform-educationhttp://www.ptinews.com/news/634315_HC-upholds-TN-Act-on-uniform-education
STAFF WRITER 22:21 HRS IST
Chennai, Apr 30 (PTI) Madras High Court today upheld a Tamil Nadu Government Act on uniform system of education from class one to six but imposed a condition that relevant norms should be laid down before May 15 for implementing it from this academic year.The court initially postponed the implementation of the common syllabus till academic year 2011-12 or until the state makes known the norms and syllabus and prepared the textbooks in advance.However, after a plea by the Advocate General that a great deal of expenses had been incurred in preparation of text books and postponing its implementation would cause a huge loss, the court said it would allow the state to bring in the Uniform System of School Education Act, 2010.




HC restricts business in subways
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/66892/hc-restricts-business-subways.htmlhttp://www.deccanherald.com/content/66892/hc-restricts-business-subways.html
Bangalore, April 30, DHNS
The High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the cancellation of contracts awarded to exhibit commercial products in showcases at subways connecting Sangam theatre and City Railway Station with Kempegowda Bus Terminus.
The petitioner, Venkatesh had alleged that despite granting permission to carry on the trade for one year, the BBMP withdrew the permission even before completion of the term. He claimed that the permission to display goods and sell them was valid up to December.The BBMP counsel, K N Puttegowda, in his submission said that there was no need of even issuing a notice to withdraw the permission as the vendors had violated certain conditions of the agreement entered into between them and the BBMP. He said that the the permission was granted to fix showcases to the walls of the subway and display only those products at showcase which are meant to be sold there. The vendors, however, encroached five feet of the ground and set up shops to sell their products, affecting the movement of pedestrians. Accordingly, the permission granted to 44 shops in the subways were withdrawn and the showcases were demolished.Directing the BBMP to file an undertaking that it will not permit any vendors in the subways, Justice Manjula Chellur dismissed the petition. TheCourt has also directed the BBMP to refund the deposit of the vendors. Bail refusedThe Sixth Fast Track Court rejected the bail application of Anand, accused of cheating a girl on the promise of marriage, on Friday.Judge Basapura observed that there was no sufficient ground to grant the bail and rejected the bail plea. The case came up for hearing on April 24 and the order was reserved for Friday, said Anand’s advocate Prabhu. He said that they would appeal to the High Court against the order.A PUC drop out, Anand and a first year MBA student Priyanka were neighbours in Nandini Layout. Priyanka created a ruckus in a marriage hall in Rajajinagar and tried to prevent Anand's wedding November 13, last. She claimed that she was Anand’s lover and was pregnant. Anand told her that he could convince his parents for marrying her only if she became pregnant. The police registered a case under Section 493 of the IPC (deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage) and arrested near Nelamangala on November 16.




PF scam-tainted judges forgiven?
http://www.hindustantimes.com/rssfeed/newdelhi/PF-scam-tainted-judges-forgiven/Article1-537816.aspx
Nagendar Sharma, Hindustan Times
Email Author
New Delhi, May 01, 2010
First Published: 00:51 IST(1/5/2010)
Last Updated: 02:02 IST(1/5/2010)
Three high court judges who were transferred last year after they were allegedly named in a list of beneficiaries of a multi-crore Ghaziabad Provident Fund scam of 2008 are likely to return to their old jobs.
The panel of five senior-most judges in the country (Supreme Court collegium) is learnt to have recommended the transfer of Justice Sushil Harkauli and Justice Tarun Agarwal back to the Allahabad High Court, and of Justice JCS Rawat to the Uttarakhand High Court.
The move comes barely a fortnight before the Chief Justice of India (CJI), KG Balakrishnan, retires on May 12. It was the CJI who had publicly stated in December 2008 that judges whose names figured in the PF scam would be transferred.
“We will deal with the errant judges. Many transfers will be effected. Every step will be taken to rid the judiciary of corrupt elements,” Balakrishnan had said in December 2008.
Harkauli and Rawat were transferred to the Jharkhand High Court in July and October last year respectively. Agarwal was sent to the Uttarakhand High Court in September. The judges were among the 36 high court and district level judges named in his confessional statement by the main accused-turned-approver, Ashutosh Asthana before a magistrate. They were understood to have been questioned by the CBI.
The SC had ordered a CBI probe in Sep 2008 following a petition by the Ghaziabad Bar Association and Transparency International India. The CBI’s final report is expected to be submitted to the top court soon.
In a major blow to the entire case, Asthana died in the Ghaziabad district jail under mysterious circumstances in October last year.
The only casualty in the scam, which rocked the country’s higher judiciary, was an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court, Justice AK Singh. Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily declined to comment on the issue. “I’m not aware of the details,” he said.