LEGAL NEWS 05.05.2010

PIL: Make public report on CJ
http://www.todaynews.in/city/bangalore/pil-make-public-report-on-cj-70543.html
DNBAN24379 5/5/2010 Author : Odeal D’Souza WC :304 Politics & Governance
It is alleged that justice PD Dinakaran encroached government land in Kaverirajapuram in TN
The Karnataka high court on Tuesday adjourned hearing a public interest litigation petition (PIL) that sought a directive to the Survey of India to publish the report submitted to chief justice of India KG Balakrishnan regarding the alleged encroachment of government land by the state chief justice PD Dinakaran at Kaverirajapuram in Tamil Nadu.A vacation bench comprising justices Javeed Raheem and Govindarajalu heard the petition and asked the petitioners to clarify on certain issues in the prayer so that the court could be convinced that there indeed was a case to pass an interim order.The petitioners, KP Venkatesh and three others, are all practicing advocates. The petitioners also sought an inquiry by the CBI into the incidents in the Karnataka high court on November 9, 2009, when striking advocates had locked up two judges and showed disrespect to the judiciary.They also contended that the conduct of the Advocates’ Association of Bangalore in asking the chief justice not to conduct judicial proceedings was highly disgraceful and amounted to interference in the administration of justice. The Supreme Court should take up a suo motu contempt case in this regard, they argued.The petitioners said that though a demand was made before the Supreme Court to publish the Survey of India report and take suitable action against the Advocates’ Association of Bangalore, no action had been taken so far. The petitioners also prayed that chief justice Dinakaran should not be transferred to any other high court and he should be directed to resume judicial work.The petitioners also prayed for a directive to the Supreme Court to initiate suo motu contempt proceedings against the district collector of Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu for his false report against chief justice Dinakaran and misleading the judiciary and public, the petitioners have pointed out. o_dsouza@dnaindia.net





Pawar can be made party in PIL on IPL, says Bombay HC
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article422522.ece
PTI
Raising questions over “conflict of interest” if a minister was a member of a cricket body, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed impleading the Union Government in a PIL seeking levy of entertainment tax on IPL matches and allowed making Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar a party to the case.
A division bench of Justices P.B. Majmudar and R.G. Ketkar, while hearing the PIL filed by Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai seeking a direction to the Maharashtra government to recover entertainment tax from IPL, asked the petitioner to make Mr. Pawar a party if he wanted to make allegations against him.
“If a minister holds a post in a cricket association, and the state cabinet is to decide on granting some exemption to the association...perhaps conflict of interest may arise,” the Bench observed.
“This is a very important issue,” the Bench said, seeking “assistance” of the Additional Solicitor General, who represents the Union, on this.
The court observed that “prima facie this activity (IPL matches) is covered under entertainment tax. If there is no exemption, then State has no option but to recover it“.
It sought the Centre’s view on whether any “conflict of interest” arose if a minister was a member of a cricket body.
According to the petitioner, the State Cabinet decided in January this year to impose entertainment tax on IPL matches, but the decision was never implemented, causing revenue loss to the cash-strapped Government.
BCCI’s senior counsel Raju Subramaniam clarified that Mr. Pawar currently had no connection with the BCCI or IPL, though he had headed the apex cricketing body two years ago.
However, advocate Joshi alleged that since the finance portfolio in the State Government was with NCP’s Sunil Tatkare, the decision not to levy the tax was “politically motivated”. Mr. Pawar is the NCP chief.
The State Government has maintained that no decision has been taken on whether to impose entertainment tax on IPL though the issue was “discussed” in a Cabinet meeting.
The court also allowed the petitioner to implead former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and incumbent Chirayu Amin in the case.
In the last hearing, the court had sought a reply from the State as to whether any code of conduct existed for ministers becoming members of sports bodies.
Dhairyashil Nalavade, representing the State, on Wednesday said he had sought information from the law and justice department on this and the “reply is awaited“.
Mr. Nalavade had also said during the last hearing that sports events, in general, were exempted from entertainment duty since 1964, but in view of a new format such as IPL, the Government would reconsider the exemption.
The case will now be heard on June 22.






Tenure of sport bodies: Centre to file affidavit in Delhi HC
http://news.oneindia.in/2010/05/05/tenureof-sport-bodies-centre-to-file-affidavit-in-delhihc.html
Wednesday, May 5, 2010, 8:41 [IST]
New Delhi, May 5 (ANI): The tug-of-war between Union Sports Minister M S Gill and Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) chairman Suresh Kalmadi over the tenure of sport association heads notwithstanding, the Centre is all set to file an affidavit before the Delhi High Court on Wednesday.
In the affidavit the Centre will explain its stand on the implementation of a regulation clause.
The clause essentially limits the tenure of sporting bosses to 12 years or a retirement age of 70 years.At the last hearing, the Delhi High Court had criticised the government for its indecisiveness on the clause.Earlier Advocate Rahul Mehra had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) demanding more accountability in the functioning of national sports bodies.The PIL states that National Sports Federations (NSFs) are not run by professionals, but by politicians, and added tat elections to these bodies are flawed.Mehra tried to draw the attention of the court to the fact that that the IOA enjoys enormous power, which it misused.Some of those who could be affected by the government's decision are Kalmadi, who has been at the helm of the IOC for 15 years , exceeding his term by three years.Digvijay Singh, who has been the Vice President of the IOC for ten years and has two years left can also be affected by the row.Senior BJP leader V K Malhotra, who has been President of the All India Archery Association for 31 years, exceeding his tenure by 19 years, and Jagdish Tytler, who has exceeded his tenure by two years, are also in the eye of the storm.Another senior BJP leaderYashwant Sinha has also exceeded his tenure as president of the All India Tennis Association by five years. (ANI)






PIL: Make encroachment details public
http://expressbuzz.com/cities/bangalore/pil-make-encroachment-details-public/170923.html
Express News Service
First Published : 05 May 2010 06:04:00 AM IST
Last Updated :

BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court has adjourned hearing of the public interest litigation seeking direction to the Survey of India to publish the report submitted to CJI regarding alleged encroachment of government land at Kaverirajapuram in Tamil Nadu by Chief Justice of the Karnataka PD Dinakaran.
A division bench comprising Justice Javeed Raheem and Justice Govindarajalu instructed the petitioners to come clear about the contents of the PIL. The petitioner should convince the court for seeking interim order, the bench said.
The petitioners KP Venkatesh and three others, all practicing advocates, had sought a direction to the Supreme Court and Survey of India to publish the report. The petitioner also sought CBI enquiry into the incident of November 9, 2009 when advocates locked the two judges of the High Court inside the court hall and allegedly showed disrespect to the judiciary.
The PIL is in support of Chief Justice Dinakaran. The act of the Advocates Association Bangalore asking Chief Justice not to conduct judicial sitting was highly disgraceful and interfering in the administration of justice. The Supreme Court can take up a suo moto contempt case for disobedience of the court order, the petitioners said.
Though a demand was made before the Supreme Court to publish the report and take suitable action against the Advocates Association, no action has been taken so far. Vested interests are indulging in wrong acts in the High Court and the same had to be investigated by independent agencies, the petitioners said.
The petitioner also prayed that the Chief Justice should not be transferred to other High Courts and that he should be asked to resume judicial works in Karnataka, the petitioners said.
They also sought a direction to the Supreme Court to take legal action by way of initiating suo moto contempt proceedings against the district collector of Tiruvallur in Tamil Nadu who gave a false report against Justice Dinakaran and misled the judiciary and the public, the petitioners said.





Insurance firms open to Sebi regulating Ulips
http://www.livemint.com/2010/05/04230742/Insurance-firms-open-to-Sebi-r.html?h=B
Insurers, including ones that got Sebi notices, say it doesn’t matter which regulator they have to register with
Anirudh Laskar
Mumbai: While the capital market and insurance regulators slug it out over unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips), those selling the product say they’re not too perturbed over which agency has oversight.
In a reversal of their earlier stance, life insurance companies are open to seeking prior approval from market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) before launching Ulips.
The war between the two regulators has reached the Supreme Court after the finance ministry had to step in to call a truce between the two sides.
At least five private life insurers told Mint that they were not opposed to registering Ulips with Sebi. The life insurers, among the 14 who received Sebi notices, had previously been strongly favouring the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) as the sole regulator for Ulips.
Yogesh Kumar/Mint
“We do not have any problem in taking Sebi approval for launching Ulips,” the chief executive of a large domestic private sector life insurer said. “We just need to know the modalities if we have to register Ulips with Sebi.”
Also Read Ulips get long-term stamp, but pension products suffer
Ulips are insurance products that invest a part of the premium paid by investors in equity instruments, while another part accumulates as insurance.
“We are just looking for more clarity on the regulation of Ulips, but we do not have any problem with Sebi regulating Ulips,” said the chief executive officer of another private life insurer, which has a joint venture with a foreign firm. “We are ready to comply with the guidelines set by Sebi on Ulips.” All the executives quoted in this story spoke on condition of anonymity.
While the dispute is almost a year-and-a-half old, the row escalated when Sebi sent orders on 9 April to 14 privately held life insurers, banning them from selling Ulips.
Irda hit back immediately, asking the insurers to ignore the order and continue selling Ulips as usual. The insurance regulator, in fact, dubbed Sebi’s action as “misconceived” and said it did not have the authority to pass such an order. Ulips, according to Irda, are essentially insurance products and would continue to be under its jurisdiction.
According to a senior official at one of the fastest growing private sector insurers, firms are now more worried about the final verdict on Ulip regulations rather than the regulatory tussle.
“Irda has already made a number of changes to the norms governing Ulips in recent months and this made us redesign the products. Regulations are meant to enhance transparency and make products investor-friendly,” he said. “We are not worried whether Irda regulates Ulips or Sebi does it, or both. In all cases, norms will keep changing, so we do not have any problem with Sebi regulating us.”
Irda, in its reply to Sebi’s order, had said the ban could lead to a substantial loss to policyholders and insurers, besides destabilising the market. Sebi, which consulted the attorney general before passing its order restricting insurance firms from selling Ulips without its clearance, said the instrument has two parts—investment and insurance, the first of which comes under the capital market’s jurisdiction.
The apex court on Friday issued notices to the Union government and the 14 Sebi-banned life insurers on a petition by the market regulator, seeking transfer of all cases on Ulips from high courts to the highest court.
Two public interest litigation (PIL) suits related to Ulip jurisdiction have been filed so far.
Mumbai-based investor Rajendra Thacker filed one in the Bombay high court, seeking reversal of the Sebi ban. The PIL was filed on the ground that thousands of investors were anxious about their investments due to the Sebi order. Later, Dhruv Kumar, a lawyer and former insurance professional, filed a PIL in the Allahabad high court against Irda, seeking Sebi’s intervention and regulation of Ulips.
The matter is scheduled for hearing in the Supreme Court on 8 July.
anirudh.l@livemint.com





Mumbai’s biggest playground declared silence zone
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/mumbais-biggest-playground-declared-silence-zone_100358878.html
May 5th, 2010 - 6:08 pm ICT by IANS -
Mumbai, May 5 (IANS) The Bombay High Court Wednesday virtually banned noisy political rallies in the historic Shivaji Park, the biggest playground in the heart of Mumbai, by declaring it a silence zone.A division bench of Justice F.I. Rebello and Justice Mridula Bhatkar delivered the interim order over a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by city-based Veckom Trust and Dadar residents Sharad Dixit and J.D. Udeshi.
While declaring Shivaji Park a silence zone, the court said loudspeakers will be allowed in the park during functions related to the Republic Day Jan 26, Maharashtra Day May 1 and death anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar Dec 6.
The petitioners moved the court in September 2009 and sought a complete ban on non-sporting activities in the park.
“This is predominantly a sports ground. Why is it being used for non-sports functions?” questioned Dixit.
“Loudspeakers disturb the calm and peace of the area. Hence, we were forced to file a PIL,” added Dixit.
“It surely is a welcome order for the residents of Shivaji Park area. This will set a precedence for all other locations in the city that have not been notified as silence zones,” said Sumera Abdul Ali, a noise pollution activist from Awaz Foundation.
The PIL said Shivaji Park was shown in the city’s development plan as reserved for sporting activities and, therefore, it cannot be used for any other purpose.
Eminent cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar started their cricketing journey by practicing at this historic ground.
Apart from sports activities, more than 8,000 people come to Shivaji Park every day for jogging and exercise, and morning and evening walks.






India court bans truth drugs, lie detectors
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j40UwO8liPFoZwVF6BDezyWlgBxA
(AFP) – 6 hours ago
NEW DELHI — India's Supreme Court on Wednesday banned police and intelligence officials from forcing suspects to take "truth drugs" and lie detector tests during investigations to extract information.
Law enforcement agencies in India have recently relied on the tests, including in the 2006 "House of Horrors" case in which 21 people were murdered in the New Delhi suburb of Noida.
"No individual can be forced and subjected to such techniques involuntarily," the judges said according to the Press Trust of India news agency. "It amounts to unwarranted intrusion of personal liberty."
The judgement, which followed petitions from several accused, was welcomed by many lawyers including Mumbai-based attorney Majeed Memon who said it "protected the constitutional right of personal liberty".
Manoj Goel, a lawyer representing one of the petitioners, described the verdict as "a historic judgement and a big boost to human rights."
But some police and intelligence officials expressed concern that they would be denied the chance to use essential tools.
"These techniques are used the world over," Maxwell Pereira, a former top officer with New Delhi police, told AFP. "The ruling is a major setback for law enforcement agencies."
In "truth drug" tests, chemicals such as sodium thiopental are injected into suspects or witnesses, lulling them into a semi-conscious state during which they are questioned.
Senior human rights lawyer and activist Colin Gonzalves described "truth drugs" and lie detectors as "a voodoo science, a kind of torture that is grossly misused by the police."
"I am glad the Supreme Court has done this. In India we have many instances of people being coerced into saying things, admitting guilt," he told AFP.
"These methods generate a form of compelled testimony and our constitution prohibits this."
Information gained through the techniques is already inadmissible in Indian courts but Wednesday's ruling states that police cannot use the tests, or investigate any leads provided by them, unless suspects had volunteered.
In 2007, police in Noida arrested businessman Monindher Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli for the rape and murder of 21 victims.
The trial is ongoing and one murder charge has been proved against Koli after using leads from lie detectors.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved





India to send judgement of Mumbai court to Pak
http://www.ptinews.com/news/639109_India-to-send-judgement-of-Mumbai-court-to-Pak
STAFF WRITER 19:33 HRS IST
New Delhi, May 4 (PTI) India may hand over to Pakistan the judgement convicting Ajmal Amir Kasab and press for the extradition of terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who were also found guilty by a special court for the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.Government sources said the fresh documents will be sent incorporating all the evidence given to the court after receiving the copy of judgement delivered by special judge M L Tahiliyani in Mumbai.New Delhi will tell Islamabad that as the Mumbai Special Court has indicted LeT founder Saeed and operations chief Lakhvi on the basis of solid evidence, they should be extradited to India to face the law here, the sources said.India will also tell Pakistan to expedite its own trial taking into account the Mumbai Court's speedy trial process, which was completed a little over one year.






Delhi High Court stays order of bringing stock exchanges under RTI
http://www.taxguru.in/rti/delhi-high-court-stays-order-of-bringing-stock-exchanges-under-rti.html
May 5, 2010 RTI
The Delhi High Court today stayed its order of bringing stock exchanges within the ambit of the Right to Information Act. A division bench headed by acting Chief Justice Madan B Lokur stayed the operation of a single bench order which had on April 15 held that stock exchanges are “quasi” governmental bodies which are bound to disclose information to the public under the transparency law.
The court passed the order on an appeal filed by National Stock Exchange(NSE) which contended that it cannot be forced to reveal information under the RTI Act as it is a company and the government has no control over it.





HC raps motormen, directs them to start work at once

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2010050520100505030928580a3c46d40/HC-raps-motormen-directs-them-to-start-work-at-once.html
By Bapu Deedwania
Posted On Wednesday, May 05, 2010 at 03:09:28 AM
Expressing displeasure on the strike called by the motormen, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday said that the situation prevailing in the city shocks the conscience of the court that how a few people can hold the entire city to ransom and disturb normal life of civil society.The HC directed the striking motormen of Central Railway and Western Railway to resume duties at once. But after this order was dictated, the HC was informed that the strike had been called off.The division bench of Acting Chief Justice J N Patel and Justice S C Dharmadhikari later asked the union government to confirm about the strike being called off by Wednesday morning and adjourned the matter till then.Earlier in the day, the Centre had moved the HC, seeking an ad interim relief and requesting it to direct the striking motormen to resume duties.Additional solicitor general Darius Khambata told the court that the negotiations with motormen over their demands were on and a sudden strike was called in between the negotiations.
Khambata, after making amendments to the petition and the prayers told the court that the recognised unions of railway workers were not supporting the strike. He also informed the court that to tackle the situation the two general managers were making an appeal to the motormen to resume their duties.Khambata informed the court that a fast track committee was constituted to deal with the issue of demands of motormen. “Between January and February some demands were met.These included: revised rates of running allowance, national holiday allowances without ceiling limits, night duty allowance without ceiling limits and raising of income tax exemption limit from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 for running allowance which has already been referred to Ministry of Finance,” said Khambata.The petitioners also added that the motormen are asking to be paid more than the Sixth Pay Commission.While dictating the order, Justice Patel said: “Workmen who have gone on strike have no right to do so, therefore this court is far from satisfied that an ex-parte ad interim order is required to be passed to restore normalcy.”The court also said that nothing prevents the authorities from seeking police protection for the motormen who want to resume work and are being threatened by other motormen.





HC issues notice to Haryana speaker over favour to kin
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/HC-issues-notice-to-Haryana-speaker-over-favour-to-kin/articleshow/5891364.cms
TNN, May 5, 2010, 03.27am IST
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has sought impleading of Haryana speaker Harmohinder Singh Chatha as party in a writ petition, alleging malpractice in appointment of a liaison officer in the assembly to favour his relative. The HC also issued a notice to the speaker, asking him to file his reply on allegations — of favouritism and ignoring meritorious candidates in the selection process — levelled against him. The next hearing is on July 15. Justice Permod Kohali passed these directions during resumed a hearing of the petition filed by Sirsa resident Ved Parkash, an applicant for the post. Parkash has alleged that according to information received from the state assembly, Gurinder Singh, son-in-law of Chatha's sister had been selected for the post. Alleging that meritorious candidates had been ignored, the petitioner sought quashing of this appointment and directions for considering the candidature of deserving students.





HC urged to scrap TTD's gold malam project
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/HC-urged-to-scrap-TTDs-gold-malam-project/articleshow/5891260.cms
TNN, May 5, 2010, 02.41am IST
HYDERABAD: Courts have got powers to direct governments to bring ancient structures under the ambit of the Archeology Act and hence the Andhra Pradesh High Court should direct the state to notify Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) as an ancient structure so that the ninth-century structure does not get tampered with by goldplating. This was one of the main points raised on Tuesday by the counsel for the petitioner G Raghava Reddy who has challenged the TTD's goldplating project. The TTD cannot be entrusted with handling sensitive religious issues like goldplating the inner Tirumala temple, asserted the counsel. "The abode of god cannot be tampered with like this and this is intrusion into religion and the TTD cannot be allowed to do this," he said. The bench comprising Justice B Prakasa Rao and Justice Reddy Kantha Rao, which resumed its hearing on the goldplating issue, heard the arguments against the project. The advocate for the petitioner said the citizens have an inherent right to seek a direction to ensure that rich cultural heritage is preserved. He cited judgments of the Supreme Court given in 1954 to buttress the argument that religious issues cannot be tampered with by state or a body like TTD. He also cited the Unesco conventions which mandate the preservation of ancient heritage structures for future generations. India is a signatory to this convention and the governments are duty-bound not to tamper with ancient structures, inscriptions etc., he said. The petitioner contended that the engineering department was not consulted about the safety of structure if thousands of holes are drilled into the walls of the old structure to put up heavy plates of copper coated with gold. Arguing against the goldplating, Ramesh Babu, a petitioner who impleaded himself in the case, brought to the notice of the court that an earlier circular supposed to have been issued by the commissioner of endowments making it mandatory for the authorities to obtain an opinion from the archeology wing before going for goldplating was ignored. The arguments would continue again on Wednesday.





HC acquits man accused of murdering wife
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/article421630.ece
Staff Reporter
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday acquitted a murder accused who had confessed to murdering his wife before a head constable at the Sultanpuri police station in Outer Delhi in 2004.
Setting aside the lower court judgment sentencing the accused, Mukesh, to life imprisonment, a Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Suresh Kait said that the prosecution had not been able to prove that at the time of the murder, the accused was with her at their house.
Another vital lacuna in the investigation, which helped the accused, was that the statement of the children of the deceased, who were present in the house on that day, was not recorded.
``The possibility that the children of the couple were present at the house in question at the time of the murder of the deceased cannot be ruled out. It was thus incumbent upon the prosecution to examine the children of the couple, particularly their eldest child. However,the prosecution did not examine any of the children of the couple. In that view of the matter, this court would be entitled to draw an adverse inference against the prosecution,’’ the Court observed.
In his confessional statement before the police, the accused had said that he had murdered his wife as he was disgusted with her illicit relationship with his brother-in-law (sister’s husband).
However, the Court rejected it as the motive for killing his wife because the accused failed to lead to any evidence in support of it.
The trial court had sentenced him to life imprisonment admitting his extra-judicial statement as evidence.
Though the accused had admitted to his crime before the police, he had later retracted it in the trial court. In the court, he said that he found his wife murdered at his house when he returned home.
The police also failed to prove that the accused had not left his house in the morning on the fateful day. Not mentioning of the exact time of the death of the victim in the post-mortem report also helped the accused.





CHANDIGARH NEWS: Probe Charges Against Oil Industry – HC
http://punjabnews.org/chandigarh-news-probe-charges-against-oil-industry-hc.html/
Posted by admin in Wednesday, May 5th 2010
CH­A­NDIGA­RH­: Ju­stice K. Ka­rma­n­ o­f­ th­e H­igh­ Co­u­rt h­a­s directed th­e Punj­ab Di­r­ec­t­o­r­ Gener­al o­f­ Po­li­c­e to­­ l­o­­o­­k into­­ the­ a­l­l­e­g­a­tio­­ns­ a­g­a­ins­t in indus­tria­l­ unit ma­king­ va­na­s­pa­ti a­nd re­fine­d o­­il­ a­nd s­ubmit a­ re­po­­rt.
Pet­it­ion­er M­an­j­it­ Sin­g­h had­ st­at­ed­ t­hat­ Fazilka-based­ Suraj­ Solven­t­ an­d­ Van­aspat­i In­d­ust­ries Lim­it­ed­ was n­ot­ on­ly­ violat­in­g­ provision­s of t­he Preven­t­ion­ of Food­ Ad­ult­erat­ion­ Ac­t­ by­ usin­g­ an­im­al fat­, but­ was also m­an­ipulat­in­g­ balan­c­e­ sheet­s t­o show hug­e losses t­o avail ben­efit­s from­ t­he B­o­ard­ fo­r Ind­u­strial and­ Financial Reco­nstru­ctio­n (B­IFR).
Ma­njit S­ing­h cla­imed he us­ed to­­ wo­­rk­ f­o­­r the indus­try­, s­elling­ o­­il under the bra­nd na­me o­­f­ A­ng­a­n a­nd S­wa­mi, a­s­ p­a­ck­­ a­g­ing­ incha­rg­e.
The co­­mp­a­ny­ wa­s­ f­a­cing­ ca­s­es­ in dif­f­erent co­­urts­ in the reg­io­­n, he cla­imed, a­nd la­bo­­ra­to­­ries­ ha­d decla­red the p­ro­­ducts­ a­s­ no­­t being­ f­it f­o­­r co­­ns­ump­tio­­n.
S­O­­URCE-HT






HC overturns new norms for admission to PG seats in medical college
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hc-overturns-new-norms-for-admission-to-pg-seats-in-medical-college/615098/0
Express News Service
Posted: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 at 2310 hrs Shimla:
Overturning the government’s move of changing the norms for admission to 38 seats in postgraduate courses in Indira Gandhi Medical College Shimla, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Tuesday directed the government to conduct re-counselling on the norms that existed in the previous year.
The petition filed by the affected candidates challenging the new admission norms came up for hearing today before a division bench of Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice R B Mishra. The court in an interim order directed the government to conduct re-counseling on all the advertised seats, before May 26, when the petition is listed next.
The court directed the government to specifically mention the seats allocated for both the categories in various faculties — general duty officers (GDOs), who are serving doctors in the periphery and the direct entrants, who are not serving doctors—¿ that was not mentioned in the prospectus that was challenged in the court, said advocate for the petitioners Shravan Dogra.
The bench noted that the reservation roster will be implemented for each category from the point where it closed in the previous year.
Earlier, the GDOs are given 70 per cent reservation and direct entrants only 30 per cent seats for PG courses. The merit list for both the categories was prepared separately and their allocation in each faculty was also specified in advance.
However, this year the contention arose when the PG prospectus did not specify division of the exact number of seats between both the categories and a centralized (common) merit list for both the categories was prepared.
The doctors pleaded the direct candidates, who had higher merit in the written exam than the serving doctors were favoured with chunk of seats in most demanded faculties, in which they could not get even a single seat.
The counseling for the PG seats on the new norms this year was held on April 23. Of the 38 seats advertised, 27 were for GDOs (21 general and six for SC/ST) and 11 for direct entrants.





'Hike trial court judges' salaries'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Hike-trial-court-judges-salaries/articleshow/5891308.cms
Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN, May 5, 2010, 03.11am IST
NEW DELHI: In what could be the biggest-ever salary hike for lowly paid trial court judges, SC on Tuesday ordered states to implement the new pay scale that could treble their salaries translating into a monthly increase of Rs 20,000 at the entry level. A bench comprising CJI K G Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and B S Chauhan directed that recommendations of the pay commission headed by Justice E Padmanabhan, who had submitted the report on July 27 last year to the SC, be implemented. In his report, Justice Padmanabhan had proposed an average 3.07-fold hike in existing salaries, which was recommended by the first National Judicial Pay Commission.





Gas row judgment likely before CJI retires
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gas-row-judgment-likely-before-cji-retires/615132/0
Krishnadas Rajagopal , Maneesh Chhibber
Posted: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 at 2352 hrs New Delhi:

In the last one week, shares of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and his younger brother Anil Ambani's Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL) as well as Reliance Power have fluctuated heavily.
While nobody knows for certain the real cause of the upheaval, most experts believe that this could be linked to the fact that the much-awaited judgment of one of India's biggest and dirtiest corporate battles over supply of gas and gas pricing, which was being staged inside courtroom Number 1 of the Supreme Court, would be announced in the next few days.
While no date has been set for pronouncing the judgment, it would be before May 11, the last working day of present Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, who presided over the three-judge Bench, which reserved its judgment on December 18 last year.
The subject of the dispute is whether RIL is bound to honour a family pact to supply 28 million units of gas for 17 years at $2.34 per unit to RNRL from the Krishna-Godavari basin gas fields. Last year, the Bombay High Court had ruled in favour of RNRL.
However, a legal expert said in case the judgment was not pronounced before the retirement of Balakrishnan, the matter would have to be heard afresh by a new Bench.
The gas dispute is just one of the many cases wherein judgments have been reserved by the Benches headed by the outgoing CJI.
Another important case whose outcome could be known before May 12, the day the CJI retires, is the issue of constitutional validity of MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) funds.
A Constitutional Bench headed by the CJI had on January 21 last year reserved its judgment on the issue. Earlier, a Bench of the apex court had reserved its verdict in November 2009 on the same issue, but had to conduct some more hearings after the government requested permission to make some more submissions.
The SC is also expected to deliver its judgment in the next few days on whether law enforcement agencies were allowed under the Constitution to use modern scientific techniques such as polygraph test, brain mapping and narco-analysis tests during investigation in criminal cases.
On January 24, 2008, a three-judge Bench headed by the CJI had reserved its verdict in the matter.
The petitioners, who include the so-called Godmother of Rajkot Santokben Jadeja, have questioned the validity of suspects being subjected to intrusive scientific investigative tools without their consent.
Another important issue on which the CJI-led Bench's final word is likely before he demits office is the subject of removal of Governors with the change of government at the Centre.
In 2004, then BJP MP B P Singhal had filed a PIL, challenging the removal of Governors of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Orissa by the previous UPA government. The judgment in the case was reserved in September 2009.
On Tuesday, an apex court Bench headed by the CJI reserved its verdict in a case pertaining to alleged illegal mining by the Obulapuram Mining Company Ltd owned by Karnataka's Reddy brothers in Bellary reserve forests in Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh has challenged the decision of the High Court allowing mining activities by Obulapuram Mining Company, which was later stayed by the apex court in an interim order.





Esma Act India
http://news.puggal.com/esma-act-india-34535/
Posted on 04 May 2010
The motormen strike in Mumbai, India clogged the city as the suburban train services, the back bone of the metropolis, remained closed for the second day. The strike was initiated on the 3rd of May 2010, as the motormen demanded hike in their grants and pay scales.
The railway spokesperson reported that motormen from Western Railways and Central Railways have been dismissed because they rejected to work. The police also confiscated twelve protesters who denied performing their duties, stated Sunil Ariya, the Central Railways’ Assistant G. Manager.
The paralysis of the city caused the Maharashtra Government to call up the ESMA (Essential Services Maintenance Act) on the 4th of May 2010. Following the act more than hundred and fifty motormen have been taken into custody till now by the law enforcing agency for illegal assemblage.
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chavan is likely to address an emergency meeting aiming to scrutinize the burning affair of the motormen strike.
RR. Patil, the Home Minister of Maharashtra stated that the government has taken full control of the situation and is now looking forward to interfere with the matter to facilitate the commuters.
The eastern and western freeways were congested as the travelers

were left with no other mode of travelling except for roads.
Reports from the authorized personnel at the Railways suggest that only twenty percent of the trains served today. According to the Commissioner of the Railway Tukaram Chavan, more than hundred and seventy motormen remain in custody at the CST (Chatrapatti Shivaji Terminus). The motormen were apprehended for hindering the employees of the Railway from work and for creating illicit congregation.







'No Bapu image on Mont Blanc pens'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/No-Bapu-image-on-Mont-Blanc-pens/articleshow/5887858.cms
TNN, May 4, 2010, 03.29am IST
NEW DELHI: Can Mahatma Gandhi be the poster boy for driving home the message that a super-expensive Mont Blanc pen is "mightier than the sword"? Certainly not, said the Centre on Monday. Solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam told a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan that the Centre had refused permission to Mont Blanc to use Gandhi's image on their pens, the cheapest of which cost around Rs 1.5 lakh. "We have rejected their two applications seeking permission to use Gandhiji's image on their pens saying national emblem cannot be used for commercial purposes," said the SG, which significantly meant that Gandhi's images have been regarded by the government as national emblem. Appearing for the Swiss pen major, counsel Hari Shankar told the Bench that after permission was refused, Mont Blanc discontinued sale of the pens and withdrew the advertisements. But PIL petitioner Harsh Vardhan Surna alleged that the pens manufactured by Mont Blanc were sold and they should be penalised for misuse of the national emblem. But the court decided to dispose of the case after the counsel for Mont Blanc gave an undertaking that the remaining pens and advertisements would be withdrawn forthwith. Attaching Mahatma Gandhi's name with the expensive pen rebelled against the values and ideals which the Father of the Nation believed in and fought for throughout his life, the petitioner had said. When this blatant commercial use of Mahatma Gandhi's name and insignia in violation of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950, was taking place, "the government, the ruling political party and the Opposition were silent," the petitioner had said. The PIL pointed out that Entry A of the Schedule to the Act listed that "the name or pictorial representation of Mahatma Gandhi" as an item cannot be categorically used for the purpose of any trade, business or profession.





SC raps Centre for delay in disclosing soft drinks’ contents
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article421595.ece
PTI
The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Centre for delaying the notification making it mandatory for soft drinks manufacturers like Coca Cola and Pepsi to disclose actual contents of their products.
“Should people gulp down poison till then?” Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra, the sole woman judge in the apex court, snapped at the Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSA) counsel, who submitted that it would take at least three months for the draft regulations to be issued.
Justice Mishra, who was part of the bench headed by Justice Dalveer Bhandari, also told the Government that it was improper to appoint top executives of the Cola and other food products manufacturers to the “scientific panels” of the authority appointed to determine the quality of the products.
“How can they be made members of the panel? How can a person judge his own case?” Justice Mishra told Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising appearing for the Centre.
Concurring with her views, Justice Bhandari said the petitioner Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) had a valid apprehension that appointment of executives from private companies in the scientific panel of the government body would lead to “conflict of interest”.
“People must have faith in the panel. People with vested interests cannot be part of the panel,” Justice Bhandari said.
The apex court made the remarks while granting three months time to the Food Safety and Standards Authority to finalise the draft regulations to regulate the sale and distribution of soft drinks and other food products throughout the country.
The CPIL had filed the PIL in 2004 seeking regulations and quality checks on the sale of soft drinks and cited various purported findings that they contained harmful substance.
Counsel for FSSA submitted that the proposed regulations under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 would not only regulate the quality of the soft drinks but also other food products in the markets like jams, jellies, etc.
CPIL counsel Prashant Bhushan alleged the general public was exposed to gastro-intestinal and other ailments due to heavy contents of pesticides, phosphoric acid and other dangerous substance present in the soft drinks.
However, K.K. Venugopal and Mukul Rohtagi, appearing for soft drink makers, submitted the manufacturers were taking all necessary steps to inform the general public by appropriately printing on the bottles or the caps the relevant contents of the products.
The apex court posted the matter for further hearing on August 3.





HC relief to man denied appointment
http://www.todaynews.in/city/jaipur/hc-relief-to-man-denied-appointment-70170.html
DNJAI15682 5/4/2010 Author : DNA Correspondent WC :363 Crime & Law
The aspirant was selected as constable in 1996 but was denied job due to a pending case
An aspirant who was denied appointment as constable despite clearing the requisites like interview, physical test and medical examination got a breather after almost 14 years on Monday from the Rajasthan high court. The single bench comprising justice Mohammad Rafiq directed the state government to appoint the affected person and also provide him his notional benefits. Giving details of the case and the judgment, Dharmveer Tholia the counsel for the petitioner Yonendra Sharma, told DNA on Monday, “The petitioner Sharma appeared for an interview on September, 8, 1996 after the state government had advertised for 69 posts of constables in Dholpur district. Later, he appeared for the physical test which was conducted from October, 23-26, 1996. The petitioner was subjected to medical examination conducted on November, 7, 1996 at Police Lines, Dholpur.”“He was finally declared successful in all the tests. Yet in a verification that was conducted by the concerned authorities although the character of the petitioner was reported good yet it was noted that a challan was filed against him in an FIR at police station, Sirmathura for various offences and the petitioner was acquitted by a court on November, 15, 1996. He was falsely implicated in the case and thus was acquitted by the trial court,” Tholia added. “We also argued before the court that the state government has given appointment to a few other applications against whom murder cases were pending. The court too found it quite strange on part of the state government and the concerned authorities,” Tholia added. “Following our arguments the court has not only asked the state government to appoint Sharma but also asked the state government and concerned authorities to relate back the appointment to the selection held in the year 1996. Thus petitioner is also entitled to enjoy the seniority as per his merit placement of that selection,” Tholia added. Asked if he would also get the salary since 1996, he said, “ No, he would only be entitled for the benefits including the seniority.”FactfilePetitioner had applied for the post of constable in 1996Had cleared the interview, physical test and medical examinationBut was denied job after his verification report mentioned a challan against him






Gujarat HC snub for Dinesh MN, bail plea rejected
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_gujarat-hc-snub-for-dinesh-mn-bail-plea-rejected_1378822
DNA
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 12:36 IST
Ahmedabad: Justice HB Antani of Gujarat high court on Monday rejected the bail application moved by Rajasthan cadre IPS officer Dinesh MN who is lodged in the Sabarmati jail in connection with the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.
The IPS officer, who was SP in Udaipur in Rajasthan, had moved the bail application on the grounds that the trial was getting delayed. He stated that he has been in the jail for the past three years. His application said that the investigation in the case was earlier done by the Gujarat CID and now that it was transferred to the CBI, it will take the agency more time to probe it.
Opposing the bail plea, the government pleader said that the officer should not be given bail as he is accused of committing a serious offence and investigation is still going on. "Delay in trial" cannot be ground to grant bail, the pleader said.
After hearing both side, justice Antani rejected the application. Dinesh MN, along with two Gujarat cadre IPS officers - DG Vanzara and Rajkumar Pandiyan, was arrested for their alleged role in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. The state CID had earlier arrested 14 police officers in the case.





Bombay HC to hear RIL-NTPC case on 26 July
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/bombay-hc-to-hear-ril-ntpc-case26-july_455576.html
Published on Tue, May 04, 2010 at 12:15 Updated at Tue, May 04, 2010 at 12:41 Source : Moneycontrol.com
The Bombay High Court will hear the high profile case between Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and NTPC on 26 July. NTPC is locked in a legal battle with RIL to get gas at $2.34 per British thermal units.
Earlier, in the long-drawn battle RIL had said that it had no choice but to sell the gas at $4.2 per mmbtu to RNRL since that was the government approved price while RNRL maintained that it had to be the same as NTPC's bid price of $ 2.34 a unit, as agreed upon in the Ambani family MoU.
RIL said even the NTPC bid was subject to government approval and attempted to prove this with various draft contracts between the two firms. Meanwhile, the third party, the government argued that it was the owner of the gas fields and that two brothers had no right to merge or demerge govt property. The solicitor general Gopal Subramanium even went on to say that the EGoM approved price and allocation policy cannot be challenged in this case, lashing out at RNRL's stand.
The judgement could be more crucial for ADA Group as it will have an impact on the stocks of other group companies.
Meanwhile, CNBC-TV18 had learnt from sources earlier that the Supreme Court may pronounce a judgement on the sale of natural gas by RIL to Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL) in the next few days, bringing to conclusion India's most fiercely fought corporate battle.





Probe case of illegal detention: Bombay HC to cop
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_probe-case-of-illegal-detention-bombay-hc-to-cop_1378714
Hetal Vyas / DNA
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 2:21 IST
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Monday directed additional commissioner of police (south region) K Padmanabhan to conduct an inquiry against two officers of Matunga police station in an alleged case of illegal detention.
“Considering the nature of allegations, we deem it appropriate to direct the additional CP (South) to conduct an inquiry into the allegations made by the petitioner,” observed the court.
A division bench of justice Dilip Bhosale and justice ARJoshi has directed Padmanabhan to conclude the inquiry against senior police inspector Deshmukh and police sub inspector Arjun Sawant at the earliest.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Abhaychandra Yadav, 28, a Chunabhatti-based businessman.
“How can we then expect citizens to come forward and help the police? This is the reason citizens are reluctant to come to police. If such incidents keep surfacing, who will trust the police?” the court remarked.
The court also questioned additional public prosecutor Sangeeta Shinde if any inquiry has so far been done against the police officers concerned.
Yadav, an automobile consultant, moved court last year alleging that he was illegally detained at Matunga police station for about 18 hours in August 2009. Yadav also alleged that he was beaten up by officers at the police station.
Yadav further stated that he was allowed to go home after 4.35pm on August 13, 2009. The additional CP had then directed DCP (Zone IV) to conduct an inquiry in this regard.





Delhi HC summons Delhi law secretary for delaying judicial processhttp://www.indlawnews.com/Newsdisplay.aspx?5e6fb52f-1ffe-4478-9d6e-58ad1072882f
5/4/2010
Taking strong note of the non-appearance of the Government Counsel in several cases, the Delhi High Court summoned the Law Secretary of the Delhi government to explain its laxity in attending to the cases causing delay in the judicial process. A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Valmiki S Mehta directed the Law Secretary to appear personally in the court on May 11, and explain why, after repeated notices, the counsel was not appearing in the court. Earlier also on several dates, the Government Counsel did not mark his attendance leaving the other parties handicapped as they cannot argue in absence of one party. The court was hearing a matter filed by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) in which the Central Government, Delhi Government and MCD are the parties. Though the MCD lawyer and Central Government lawyers were present in the court during each date, Delhi Government counsel was not present on several occasions leaving no option for the court but to defer the case to the next date. DIAL’s counsel Bharat Bhushan Jain, told the court that an advance copy of the writ petition was served to the city government’s office but no one appeared on their behalf causing delay in the case, he added.UNI





6 HC judges appointedhttp://www.indlawnews.com/newsdisplay.aspx?b2b9b0db-3450-495a-b301-3c61ad748d6f
5/4/2010
Six High Court judicial appointments by President Pratiba Patil were announced to fill some of 273 vacancies reported in 895 judgeships across India eight weeks ago. The announcements included two Kerala High Court Additional Judges made permanent and four Additional Judges appointed to the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Kerala High Court Additional Judges Mavulli Cholakkode Hari Rani and Thomas Puthenpura Joseph have been appointed Judges in that order of seniority. Appointed Madhya Pradesh High Court Additional Judges for two years each: Brij Kishore Dube, Gulab Singh Solanki, Naresh Kumar Gupta and Anil Kumar Sharma. All appointments take effect from the respective dates of assumption of office, the Ministry said. But experts say the appointments may not make much of a dent in 30.50 per cent vacancies-- 273 of 895 judgeships in the nation’s 21 High Courts-- reported by Law and Justice Minister M Veerappa Moily. A count last month showed the vacancies have continued to rise from 265 or 29.61 per cent reported by the Justice Department on December 31, 2009 or from 26.41 per cent on July 1, 2009. Those and 2,800 vacancies in 16,746 District Courts have been a cause of concern in a nation facing serious discipline issues compounded by court delays and mounting pendency. The courts between them have an estimated 31.34 million cases pending, reflecting unresolved conflicts citizens live with and putting vacancies in a perspective. The government knows that vacant judgeships contribute to increasing case arrears in courts. Dr Moily told Parliament some time ago that ‘delay in filling up the vacancies of Judges is one of the main reasons for accumulation of pending cases in courts.’ A 1993 Supreme Court judgement turned over the function of appointing Judges to the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court. The government ‘is periodically reminding’ the Chief Justices to initiate proposals in time to fill up existing vacancies as well as those anticipated six months ahead, Dr Moily said.Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has emphasised the urgency of filling up Court vacancies. ‘The existing vacancies in High Courts are quite high in number and need to be filled up urgently,’ Dr Singh told a Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices almost nine months ago. Dr Singh stressed not only ‘quickly filling up these posts,’ but appointing ‘meritorious individuals.’ His remark about merit reflected a concern voiced by professionals, even though the Indian judiciary has been appointing its own since the 1990s. Supreme Court Bar Association President M N Krishnamani asserted at a Bar meeting some weeks ago that the appointment system since 1990s suffered without a ‘machinery to search for good candidates.’ ‘The authors of 1993 judgement dreamt that when judges discharge the function of appointing judges through a collegium, the quality of judiciary would improve and that we would have only the best. ‘This dream stands shattered neck and crop today,’ Krishnamani said, saying ‘the collegium has no machinery to search for good candidates for judgeship.’ Dr Moily has repeatedly spoken of government desire to steer clear of tainted persons in naming judges. But scholars say persistent vacancies may in effect be stifling merit. ‘It is very unfortunate,’ said Prof S N Singh, dean of Delhi University Law Faculty, ‘that the Chief Justices and senior Judges do not find time to fill the vacancies. ‘The process perhaps results in bypassing many Judges with merit,’ Prof Singh pointed out. Effort to fill vacancies is supposed to begin six months before a retirement is due a date known the moment a judge is appointed. But the government acknowledged in Parliament in 2009 that eleven High Courts were yet to initiate proposals to fill up all posts ‘that were vacant in 2007.’ Opacity has been a major issue, notwithstanding a clamour for transparency. Even provisions of a Right to Information notified in 2005 and projected by Dr Singh as a major United Progressive Alliance achievement, have been questioned by the judiciary. Asked about the 1993 Supreme Court judgement by then Justice J S Verma, Prof Singh said the situation became worse after the judgement which placed the selection process in the domain of judiciary. ‘Assuming, of course, there was merit in reducing executive role, it could well have been a move towards transparency and perhaps public participation in the process. ‘I see no reason why the system should not allow public input by circulating names of proposed candidates before appointment. Such measures do not require any Constitutional or legislative amendment.’ Experts agree that with some 31 million plus cases pending, many for decades, and just 17,602 judges sanctioned against a recommended 55,000 strength, vacancies may be the last thing Indian courts can afford. Vacancies are indeed hard to explain considering that a pool of qualified candidates can be created to draw on. ‘There is no question of vacancy,’ says former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan. ‘The process of appointment is scheduled to begin six months or so ahead of a vacancy and should not take more than a couple of weeks. So where is the question of vacancy?’ The former Law Minister now practising as a senior advocate stresses transparency. ‘I see no reason except perhaps a lack of seriousness, unless there is an inclination to try to push favourites, which benefits from having vacancies to accommodate them.’UNI





HC moved against CAT order on Thachankary
http://expressbuzz.com/states/kerala/hc-moved-against-cat-order-on-thachankary/170490.html
Express News Service
First Published : 04 May 2010 01:59:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 04 May 2010 09:27:13 AM IST

KOCHI: Raising serious allegations against suspended IG Tomin J Thachankary, the state government on Monday filed an appeal before the Kerala High Court against the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which stayed the government order suspending him as Kannur IG.Thachankary was suspended for travelling abroad without prior permission of the state government.
"Tomin Thachankary has a controversial career record and there has been a series of allegations against him including, vigilance inquiry, criminal cases and disciplinary actions. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau registered a case against him in connection with amassment of wealth around Rs 1 crore which was disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Pending Vigilance cases, he was placed under suspension for 15 months from July 10, 2007." "It has also been revealed that he illegally imported electronics goods from Singapore. Other allegations against him include misuse of official vehicle, publishing photograph in uniform unauthorisedly, frequent foreign trips, possession of multiple passports, lock-up torture,’’ the state government submitted in its appeal.
‘’It was stated that Tomin Thachankary applied for leave travel concession(LTC) from February 15 this year to March 20.
Later, in a letter dated March 25 he sought LTC postponement and requested it from April 3 to April 9 for going to Gangtok in Sikkim.
On March 30, the government passed the order sanctioning his LTC. However, in total violation of permission granted for availing LTC and keeping it in the dark about his whereabouts, he went abroad on April 2 instead of going to Gangtok. He returned to India on April 12 after visiting UAE, Muscat Bahrain and Kuwait,’’ the government submitted.
‘’Besides, he did not travel with his family as claimed. He went abroad and came back alone.
It is revealed that his wife and children travelled abroad during this period. Thachankary also did not respond to the communique from ADGP Sibi Mathews requesting him to submit travel details from April 1 to 9,’’ the government said.
"Thachankary who sent a request to the Chief Secretary to ratify his visit to foreign countries did not produce the same before the CAT,’’ the government said.
The govt has also refuted Thachankary’s allegations that no disciplinary action was taken against P C Sanal Kumar, a retired IAS officer, and Sreelekha IPS, who also went on trips abroad without informing the govt. ‘’Disciplinary action was taken against Sanal Kumar. He was issued a charge memo due to which he lost two promotions. Action against him was dropped on June 15 last year as he was to retire the same month.
In the case of Sreelekha too disciplinary proceedings were dropped after it was found that due to her trip to Thailand for preparing a project report the Rubber Marketing Federation could save about Rs 25 lakh and the company had to bear only her travel expenses,’’ the appeal said.




Pappu Yadav to go back to jail: SC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Pappu-Yadav-to-go-back-to-jail-SC/articleshow/5887845.cms
TNN, May 4, 2010, 03.31am IST
NEW DELHI: Former RJD MP Pappu Yadav will be arrested and taken back to jail more than a year after being out as the Supreme Court on Monday cancelled the bail granted to him by Patna High Court in the Ajit Sarkar murder case. The Patna HC was criticised by a Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and A K Patnaik, which said it was in breach of the apex court's April 2006 order clearly laying down that no court would entertain Pappu's bail plea in public interest. Setting aside the HC order granting him bail on February 18, 2009, the Bench said, "Despite clear orders passed by us in 2006 and 2007 that no bail should be granted by any court, it is a matter of regret that the HC has gone ahead and granted bail." In its November 16, 2006, order, the SC had said, "We are of the opinion that while it is true that Article 21 is of great importance because it enshrines the fundamental right to individual liberty, but at the same time a balance has to be struck between the right to individual liberty and the interest of society." Noting that Pappu had been in custody for a long period, the SC had said, "It would, in our opinion, be wholly inappropriate to grant bail when not only the investigation is over but even the trial is partly over, and the allegations against the appellant are serious." Pappu was convicted under IPC Section 302 (murder) and Section 120(b) (criminal conspiracy) for plotting the murder of Sarkar, a CPM leader, in June 1998. His appeal against conviction is pending in the HC.




Exemption to CJI among proposed RTI amendments
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/05/04/stories/2010050459510100.htmhttp://www.thehindu.com/2010/05/04/stories/2010050459510100.htm
Vidya Subrahmaniam
New Delhi: It is official. The government is contemplating amendments to the Right to Information Act, 2005.
The Department of Personnel and Training, which admitted to considering about a dozen amendments to the Act in an April 30, 2010 letter to RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal, was upfront about the nature of at least two of the amendments: exempting the office of Chief Justice from the RTI Act and barring applications which could be deemed to be “frivolous or vexatious.” Other amendments proposed relate to “disclosure of Cabinet papers”; constitution of “benches” of the Central Information Commission; and exemptions for organisations possessing sensitive information.
Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan recently wrote to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking exemption of the office of CJI from the Act.







Details of cancelled visit of CJI to US can't be given: SC
http://www.zeenews.com/news624012.htmlUpdated on Tuesday, May 04, 2010, 00:31 IST
Tags:
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has refused to disclose the details of the proposed foreign visits of the Chief Justice of India, which were later cancelled, saying it will be a breach of personal information. Replying to an RTI application filed by S C Agrawal, the Supreme Court Registry said that information was exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.
The section cited by Chief Public Information Officer Raj Pal Arora says: "Information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information. "Provided that the information which cannot be denied to Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person," it said. Agrawal had sought information about the proposed visit of a high-level delegation comprising CJI K G Balakrishnan, Law Minister Veerappa Moily and Attorney General G E Vahanvati to Georgia University from April 2 to 4 to participate in a discussion. He had asked for the copy of the invitation by the Dean, Rusk Centre for International Legal Studies at University of Georgia to the Chief Justice of India, copy of requisition by CJI or his office for a foreign-trip to visit the University. He had also asked for the copy of a caution-letter against the proposed visit by Secretary (West) Vivek Katju in External Affairs Ministry along with inputs from Indian consulate at Atlanta and letter of opting out of the proposed visit by the CJI. -PTI





Lawyers and Judges asked to update knowledge
http://www.stockwatch.in/lawyers-and-judges-asked-update-knowledge-25629
Submitted by Sunil Kashyap on Mon, 05/03/2010 - 13:24
In a recent development Chief Justice of India designate Sarosh Homi Kapadia cautioned today against judicial activism and made it clear that judges who judge comment on ethics of politicians should themselves is ethical morality. Justice Kapadia, who takes over as CJI from Justice K G Bal Krishnan on May 12, said, “When we talk of ethics, the judges normally comment upon ethics in the politicians, students and professors and others. But I would say that for a judge also, ethics, not only constitutional morality but even ethical morality should be the base of the judge”. He also added, “If the judge is clear on concepts... he will be able to decipher the difference between judicial activism and judicial restraint”.
He criticized senior lawyers of the Supreme Court for not sparing time to teach students while in other countries senior lawyers contributed to journals and taught students. He said, “Unfortunately, I don't see that kind of dedication from senior lawyers of the Supreme Court. If the goal of legal education reforms was to be achieved, efforts had to be made by all sides”, he said. He said that the interpretation of the production sharing contract was a difficult area and we are not up to the mark in it.





NSF chiefs slam govt for tenure limit regulation
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/SPORTS/More-Sports/Others/NSF-chiefs-slam-govt-for-tenure-limit-regulation/articleshow/5884011.cms
PTI, May 2, 2010, 09.06pm IST
NEW DELHI: National Sports Federation (NSF) chiefs were up in arms against the Government regulation to limit their tenure, saying they would move Supreme Court to thwart the move. The Sports Ministry on Sunday modified a 1975 regulation which seeks to end the prolonged reign of a number of politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats who have been running the NSFs for more than a decade. The regulation means Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi and several NSF chiefs including V K Malhotra (archery), Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (cycling), V K Verma (badminton), captain Satish K Sharma (aero club) and B S Adityan (volleyball) cannot seek a re-election after their present term expires. While Kalmadi could not be contacted despite repeated attempts, Malhotra termed the move as "ridiculous" and said IOA, of which he is also the senior vice president, could go the Supreme Court if the Delhi High Court, which is hearing a PIL in the matter, rules in favour of the government. "It is a ridiculous decision. These guidelines first came out during emergency in 1975 and court had issued notice asking under what law the government was to implement them. "They were never implemented and after 35 years they have been brought in now, that too in a year when India is hosting Commonwealth Games," Malhotra said. The regulation suggests NSF Presidents cannot continue beyond 12 years, with or without break, while a Secretary or a Treasurer can serve two terms of four years each and can seek a re-election only after taking a four-year break. "I have spoken to Kalmadi and have asked to call an IOA Executive Committee or office bearers' meeting very soon. It will be in two or three days' time. I have suggested him if Delhi High Court decides in favour of government IOA should go to Supreme Court," he added. Malhotra, who has been Archery Association of India chief for more than three decades, said India could face action from the International Olympic Council and Olympic Council of Asia if the Ministry order is implemented. "IOC and OCA don't allow government interference and may take action if they come to know this. Commonwealth Games Federation members are now here and it's the most inopportune time to take the decision," Malhotra said. "It was a one-sided decision. The Ministry could have called all the NSFs to a meeting and then decide. It should be prerogative of the NSFs to decide on this," Malhotra said. Malhotra was aghast at the guideline that all members and officials of NSFs should retire at 70 years of age. "In the name of good governance if the minister wants us above 70 years of age to retire then why was he (M S Gill) still minister?" he asked. Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader and Table Tennis Federation of India President Ajay Singh Chautala also criticised the regulation and said NSFs should be judged only by performance. "Performance should be the sole criterion, not how long we have been in charge. Before introducing such regulations, the government should have looked at how the current federation is doing, how many medals we have won, how much progress we have made," he said. Former players and athletes, however, welcomed the regulation with athletics legend Milkha Singh calling it a step in the right direction. "I think this is a step in the right direction. So far, neither IOA nor the NSFs cared about the 1975 regulation and this new modified clause would right the wrong. I think it would lead to a situation where better people would join administration and the standard of sports would rise," he said. Hockey Olympian Aslam Sher Khan felt the Ministry guideline would encourage former athletes to join sports administration. "More and more former players should come and join administration. Some of us always spoke against it but few took note. I think it's time for former players to come out and join administration," said Aslam. Rakesh Mehra, the lawyer who filed the PIL in Delhi High Court in the matter, felt it was time for politicians and bureaucrats to leave NSFs for professionals. "Why sports like hockey, football and tennis could not be marketed? Why is it so that these federations, years after years, go back to the government for 90-100 per cent of fund? "On top of that these people hold on to honorary posts. Why cannot federation be run by the professionals? Why is it so that cutting across political lines, politicians make a beeline to head national sport bodies?" he asked.





Judgement Day for 26/11 terrorist (Lead)

http://www.legalindia.in/judgement-day-for-2611-terrorist-lead
Almost one-and-a-half years after 10 Pakistani terrorists struck in the heart of India’s financial and entertainment capital, the country is waiting anxiously for the verdict Monday on Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone gunman captured alive in the bloody 60-hour siege whose live TV coverage had much of the world in thrall.
Mumbai Special Judge M.L. Tahilyani will deliver his judgement in the case that has seen as many as 653 witnesses being examined, a 675-page written submission being filed and several ups and downs – even as Kasab stayed in a high security cell.
On Monday, Kasab will be pronounced guilty or otherwise. Then the quantum of sentence will be argued before the court and the actual punishment will be awarded. The maximum punishment Kasab can get is death penalty.
The case may or may not go into the higher courts depending on the judgement.
The audacious attack Nov 26, 2008, targeted sites like the World Heritage building of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, Hotel Oberoi-Trident, the Cama Hospital and the Chabad House, a Jewish prayer centre, and the favourite haunt of foreigners, Leopold Café.
The assault and the massacre that followed stunned the world and left 166 people dead and 244 injured.
Kasab’s trial, which started April 15, 2009, was completed March 31 this year, after nearly seven months of hearing, excluding breaks and vacations. The prosecution case was led by Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.
The witnesses included many survivors of the terror attacks, eyewitnesses, family members of the victims, police officials, several foreign nationals, Indian security officials and officials from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The high-profile trial revolved around Kasab and two Indian co-accused, Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed.
Kasab has been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including waging war against the nation. Besides, he faces charges under the Explosives Act, the Arms Act, the Passport Act, the Prevention of Damage to Public Properties Act, the Customs Act, the Explosive Substances Act, the Bombay Police Act, the Foreigners Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The two Indian co-accused have been charged with conspiracy in the terror attacks – preparing maps of the targeted locations and handing these to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives.
The trio was lodged in Arthur Road Central Jail premises in south Mumbai where an air-conditioned Special Court was also set up for the trial, as part of security measures.
Kasab was lodged in a solitary ‘anda’ (oval) cell which was reinforced with layers of cement and steel capable of thwarting any major attacks or bomb blast.
Several roads outside the jail were made out of bounds for the general public or limited access was granted to vehicles after a thorough security check even before the trial as Kasab and his cohorts were lodged there.
A small section of the ongoing Mumbai metro railway project was also held up as it was close to the jail premises.
Kasab had come to Mumbai via the Arabian Sea route with nine other associates, all of whom were killed during the 60-hour operation by combined security forces. Their bodies were preserved in the morgue of Sir J.J. Hospital, barely a couple of kilometres away from Arthur Road Central Jail.
The Maharashtra government quietly disposed of the bodies in January this year. So far details of how and where the bodies were disposed of continue to elude the media.
Kasab seemed to enjoy the trial. At various times, he was seen laughing and giggling in court. He also complained of bad food, illness and attempts to poison him.
He made demands for things like perfumes, soaps, newspapers, permission to offer ‘namaz’ and new clothes – many of them rejected by the Special Court. All this prompted Nikam to call Kasab “an actor par excellence” several times.
The accused showed all his moods – sombre at times, jovial and cheerful often, crying at times, shocked and awed when shown some of the evidence or by the accounts of witnesses.
In July last year, Kasab grabbed headlines by ‘confessing’ to his crimes in the 26/11 attacks.
“Hang me, please,” Kasab pleaded two days after he made a dramatic confession and gave a chilling blow-by-blow account of his part in the attacks.
“I have committed the crimes on this earth and the people of the world should punish me. I don’t want god’s punishment. But, if somebody feels that I have confessed to escape the death penalty, the court can definitely hang me,” Kasab pleaded.
Later, he demanded a trial in an international court of justice, saying he had no faith in the Indian courts, while co-accused Ansari demanded video-recording of the entire trial.
The special judge promptly dismissed the pleas on grounds that they were “mischievous” and intended to “delay the proceedings”.
Besides Nikam, the defence lawyers, including Kasab’s lawyer K.P. Pawar, Ansari’s lawyer R.B. Mokashi and Ahmed’s lawyer Ejaz Naqvi, were involved when the final arguments were completed.
While one lawyer – S.G. Abbas Kazmi – was removed, another representing Fahim, lawyer Shahid Azmi, was killed during the trial in early February.




Two extra shifts can cut court backlog, says judge
http://sify.com/news/two-extra-shifts-can-cut-court-backlog-says-judge-news-national-kfcu4cbjfja.html
2010-05-02 20:30:00Last Updated: 2010-05-03 03:00:21
Ahmedabad: Supreme Court's Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan has stressed the need for running courts in two extra shifts in addition to the normal court hours to reduce backlog of cases.
'The judiciary in Gujarat runs evening courts in various districts of the state for just this purpose,' he said on Saturday night at a function here to mark the golden jubilee of the Gujarat High Court.
Apart from normal court hours, the judiciary should also run morning and evening courts to reduce pending cases and for prompt and effective disposal, said Justice Radhakrishnan, who headed the high court before his elevation to the apex court.
Speaking on 'Bar - next decade', Gujarat High Court Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya outlined his vision for computerization and introduction of an e-judiciary system that will help courts over the next decade to clear cases fast.
'It will be timely and efficient, ensuring prompt disposal of cases,' he added.
'With the help of internet, people will be able to see their case status, orders and judgments online which would save a lot of time,' he said.
A software will be introduced which will scrutinize cases as the registry does now. With the help of this software, research could be done on pending cases, reasons for frequent adjournment, and other statistical data, he said.
'Such steps will go a long way in restoring public faith in the judiciary's ability to deliver timely justice,' he said.
The Gujarat High court, which was established May 1, 1960, started operations from a building meant for children's hospital with five judges and 94 advocates. Today, it has 42 judges and about 1,100 regular practising advocates.
Former chief justice of India P.N. Bhagwati hoped the high court, which is a pioneer in public interest litigations, will do its best to ensure that the common man can enjoy his fundamental rights.
Chief Justice of Kolkatta High Court Mohit Shah, who considers the Gujarat High Court as his knowledge bank, said he was convinced the judicial institution would continue to deliver path-breaking judgments as it has done in all these years.
Advocate General Kamal Trivedi said that besides the education in a law school, junior advocates should be trained at the bar and practicing advocates should continue legal education for updating their knowledge in various areas of law.





HC to hear quota dispute today
http://www.todaynews.in/city/jaipur/hc-to-hear-quota-dispute-today-69835.html
DNJAI15651 5/3/2010 Author : DNA Correspondent WC :303 Politics & Governance
Israni panel’s report to the state on Gurjar reservation demand likely to be made public
The Rajasthan high court would hear the reservation dispute on Monday after which the ongoing Gurjar protests for quota in government jobs are expected to change course of action.The Justice IS Israni committee’s report to the state government about suggestions on the controversial quota demand is also expected to be made public on Monday.The same day the Gurjars have called a mahapanchayat at Mehrawar near Bayana where agitation leader Kirori Singh Bhainsla would be announcing the protest’s future course of action. Hardly a kilometre from Mehrawar is Pilukapura where the Gurjars’ violent agitation of 2008 started. “If the Justice Israni committee report recommends prompt grant of 5% quota to Gurjars and three other communities, the agitation might end. Otherwise, the agitation that is going on for more than a month now shall be intensified,” warned Roop Singh, a close Bhainsla aide and spokesperson for the Gurjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti.Bhainsla had set May 3 as the deadline for the state government to allow 5% quota for Gurjars. Even as the community leader has sought 5% quota within the 50% overall limit of reservation in the state, last week he made a representation before the Justice Israni committee seeking 5% quota within the 21% reservation allowed to other backward classes (OBCs). This sparked off strong protests from members of various communities falling under the OBC category. Among others, the Jat and the Yadav communities, registered strong opposition to any division within the OBC quota.Meanwhile, the Meena community leader Kirori Lal Meena supported the Gurjars’ demand for quota. On Sunday, the Meena leader reached Sikandara where the Gurjars have been staging a mass sit-in for the past 16 days. Addressing the protesters gathered along the Jaipur-Agra national highway at Sikandara, Meena said he would fight with “his blood” for the Gurjars’ right.





Supreme Court decides to shift Justice Dinakaran to Sikkim HChttp://www.indlawnews.com/Newsdisplay.aspx?a341d7d4-96c3-4551-8300-0a405408bc14
5/1/2010
The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan has finally decided to shift Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, who is facing charges of corruption and land grabbing, to Sikkim High Court where he will be allowed to carry on judicial functions also. In Karnataka High Court, Mr Justice Dinakaran was not performing any judicial work since December last year after Vice-President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairman Mohammad Hamid Ansari constituted a three member committee headed by sitting Supreme Court Judge Justice V S Sirpurkar to hold inquiry into the allegations of corruption against him as part of impeachment process. Sikkim High Court Bar Association has, however, protested against transfer of the controversial judge saying that Sikkim High Court is not a ‘dumping ground’.Earlier, the Supreme Court collegium which also comprises of Justices Mr Justice S H Kapadia, Mr Justice Altamas Kabir, Mr Justice R V Raveendran and Mr Justice Dalveer Bhandari, had transferred Justice Barin Ghosh to Sikkim High Court who has now been shifted to Uttarakhand High Court as Chief Justice. The decision to transfer Mr Justice Dinakaran to Sikkim High Court was taken on April 8 after he refused to abide by the advice of the collegium to go on leave. The latest decision was taken by the collegium. Meanwhile, Patna High Court Chief Justice, Mr Justice Deepak Mishra will be the new Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. Present acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Justice Madan B Lokur will be shifted to Gauhati High Court as a Chief Justice in June when the present Chief Justice, Mr Justice Garg retires. Sikkim has the smallest High Court in the country having only three judges, including the chief justice and the total pendency of cases in that High Court is only 88. Justice F I Rebello will be the new Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court.UNI




Delhi HC directs government to allow kidney transplanthttp://www.indlawnews.com/Newsdisplay.aspx?ba1b750d-a0be-4e37-86e9-2ad1d9ed1129
5/3/2010
In a bid to save lives, the Delhi High Court directed the Union Government to immediately frame a policy to legalise kidney transplant. Justice S Murlidhar, hearing a petition of a patient Dinesh Gupta who is awaiting a donor from his family member for his kidney transplant, said that the Government should adopt a policy that should be able to save lives rather than a cumbersome policy which adds to the wes of the people. Proper treatment should be given to such patients without harassing them in the name of the laws, the court held. Gupta alleged that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) referred him for the treatment to Safdarjung Hospital. AIIMS denied him the maintenance hemodialysis during the pendency of the availability of a donor, as part of his ongoing treatment. Last week, Justice Muralidhar had directed Safdarjung Hospital to give treatment to Gupta and only after the court’s intervention the dialysis was given to him. The court directed the Centre and the Health Ministry to frame a policy in this regard and place on record its outcome by May 11. The absence of any concrete rules is leading to the harassment of the patients, the court held. The Government had imposed a ban on kidney transplant after a Kidney racket surfaced where private hospitals were illegally trading the organ. Thereafter, only blood relations or close relatives of the patient could donate their kidney causing a lot of problems to the patients, who in absence of a relative, has no option but to suffer.UNI





Allahabad HC directs UP, Uttarakhand governments on Ganga pollutionhttp://www.indlawnews.com/newsdisplay.aspx?96f0e58e-e134-44f5-b5d7-79daaf9b0340
5/2/2010
The Allahabad High Court directed the Uttar Pradesh and the Uttarakhand governments to hold a chief secretary level meeting to ensure adequate water level in the river Ganga. The court asked the governments to hold a meeting of the Chief Secretaries on the issue of pollution in the Ganga and dearth of water in the river and find its solutions. Passing this order, a division bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and Arun Tondon put a ban on use of polythene on the banks of the Ganga. The court directed Ganga Basin Authority to make sure that the use of ploythene is banned near Ganga completely. The Court, in its order, directed the Allahabad Municipal Corporation to check the flow of dirty water in the Ganga and asked why the electric crematoriums in Rasulabad and Daraganj were not functioning. The Court directed the corporation to submit its report in this regard on May 21. The court would next hear this case on May 21.UNI




Recommendation to transfer HP HC CJ kept on hold?
http://www.ptinews.com/news/636303_Recommendation-to-transfer-HP-HC-CJ-kept-on-hold-
STAFF WRITER 23:9 HRS IST
New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) The Law Ministry is learnt to have kept on hold a recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium to transfer Himachal Pradesh Chief Justice Kurian Joseph to the Jharkhand High Court.Sources said the Ministry's move to put the recommendation on hold was made as Justice Joseph had taken over as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court only in February this year.





Govt opposes judge transfer by SC panel
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/newdelhi/Govt-opposes-judge-transfer-by-SC-panel/Article1-538569.aspx
Nagendar Sharma, Hindustan Times
Email Author
New Delhi, May 03, 2010
Deviating sharply from accepted practice, the government has turned down a recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium — the panel of its five senior most judges that decides judicial promotions and transfers.
It wants the transfer of Himachal Pradesh High Court chief justice Kurian Joseph to Jharkhand, within three months of his appointment at Shimla, recommended by the collegium, cancelled.
Perturbed by a slew of transfers of high court judges suggested by the collegium, days before the Chief Justice of India (CJI) K.G. Balakrishnan retires on May 12, the law ministry has sent back Justice Joseph’s file, Hindustan Times has learnt.
Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily, in a two-page letter to the CJI has pointed out it would not be correct to transfer Justice Joseph so soon. Joseph was sworn in as the chief justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court on February 8.
“The process of improvement initiated by Justice Kurian Joesph in Himachal is being widely appreciated. In case he is transferred now the process will suffer,” Moily wrote to the CJI Balakrishnan.
Moily’s letter suggests Justice Meenakumari, acting chief justice at the Andhra HC, whom the collegium wanted in place of Justice Joseph in Himachal, be sent to Jharkhand instead.
How the collegium will react is anybody’s guess. The rules say the government can return the collegium’s recommendation once, but if the collegium reiterates it, the government must fall in line.

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.

LEGAL NEWS 30.04.2010

Bombay HC dismisses PIL against ban on motorcycles on J J flyoverhttp://www.indlawnews.com/Newsdisplay.aspx?10dba023-0cc6-45c8-a361-fb88f437f0c5
4/30/2010
The Bombay High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), challenging the ban on riding motorcycles on the JJ Flyover bridge in South Mumbai. A Division bench, consisting of Justices FI Rebello and justices J N Patel, while dismissing the petition, agreed with the notice by traffic department imposing ban on motorcycles on the ground that a large number of motorcyclists had died while using the flyover. The petition was filed by a social activist Salim Shaikh, challenging the notification stating that imposing ban on motorcycle, while allowing four wheelers to use the flyover, amounted to discrimination against motorcyclists. The petitioner urged the court to direct the traffic department to cancel the said notification and allow the motorcyclists to use the JJ Flyover. Notably Samsher Khan Pathan, Senior Inspector of Paydhuni police station, had recommended the traffic department to impose ban on motorcyclists in view of large number of accidents on the flyover. Between 2002 and 2010, there have been 254 accidents on the 2.4 kms stretch of which 183 involved two-wheelers. Of the 33 people who lost their lives, 31 were bikers. Following the recommendations of Pathan, the traffic department had issued the notification.UNI




Corrected story Sebi moves apex court
http://www.livemint.com/2010/04/30105633/Corrected-story--Sebi-moves-a.html

Capital market regulator approaches SC to settle dispute over jurisdiction with Irda
Manish Ranjan
New Delhi: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has independently moved the Supreme Court through a transfer petition asking the court to settle its dispute with insurance regulator, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda), over jurisdiction.
Sebi’s petition sought the transfer of two pending cases before the Allahabad and Bombay high courts, which had named the insurance regulator and the Union government among the respondents.
Also See Clarification by Mint editor R Sukumar on Sebi-Irda story
Sebi’s move precluded the need to approach the judiciary jointly with Irda, as envisaged in the temporary truce hammered out by the finance ministry that had stepped in to sort out the dispute between the two regulators over jurisdiction over (Unit-linked insurance plans) Ulips, a hybrid product sold by insurers.
The matter is to come up for hearing on Friday and the court will either provide immediate relief or seek a detailed hearing, wherein status quo will prevail. This will be the first instance in which the court will intervene in a dispute between two regulators.
Mint had reported on 23 April that the legal battle between Sebi and Irda over the regulation of Ulips is set to be fought in the country’s highest court.
In its petition, Sebi has argued that since different high courts across the country could rule differently in the cases, it made sense for the regulators to escalate matters to the apex court. Accordingly, it has requested the apex court to pass appropriate orders restraining the high courts from entertaining any cases over the regulation of Ulips.
The long-festering controversy erupted after Sebi directed that insurers selling Ulips will have to be registered with it and sought to act against 14 insurers for issuing Ulips. Irda reacted adversely and claimed that since the hybrid product included insurance, it had jurisdiction over it and the insurer; the regulator then issued a statement challenging the Sebi order. After the finance ministry brokered peace, Sebi issued another order saying that the registration condition would apply only for the sale of new Ulip schemes.
Ulips are hybrid products that comprise investments in both debt and equity and life insurance cover. The existing law permits insurers to pay commissions of up to 40% to their agents for selling Ulips, motivating insurance agents to aggressively sell Ulips. In fact, Ulips account for up to 90% of the new business premium for some of the private sector life insurers.
The Sebi move comes at a time when its efforts to jointly move the courts with Irda was not making headway. While Sebi believes the existing civil code does not permit a joint permission before a high court, Irda argues otherwise.
Advised by its legal counsel, Sebi chairman C.B. Bhave on Wednesday wrote to Irda saying the plan to jointly move a high court to settle the dispute was not legally feasible as under Section 90 of the Civil Procedure Code, regulators cannot do so. This section deals with special proceedings if any particular law or regulatory decision affects the public at large. The capital markets regulator had sought the views of the attorney general, the highest law officer of the country, on this.
Irda has not yet formally responded, but seems to be disputing the Sebi claim. A senior Irda official, who did not want to be identified, said: “There is still a valid case of filing a joint application with a high court, according to our legal counsel.”
“If that’s the case, why hasn’t Irda shared with us its legal counsel’s opinion?” asked a Sebi official, who, like the Irda executive, did not want to be identified.
Meanwhile, Irda chairman J. Harinarayan said in Hyderabad: “Sebi has written a letter to us that, according to their legal counsel, the joint application is not valid in this (Ulip) case under Section 90 of Civil Procedure Court.”
Even as the Sebi-Irda disagreements continued, on 13 April, Mumbai-based investor Rajendra Thacker filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay high court over the Irda-Sebi spat. The PIL seeks the reversal of the Sebi ban on the sale of Ulips. The PIL has been filed on the ground that several hundred thousand investors were suffering from anxiety and uncertainty about their investments due to the Sebi order.
On the same day, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee brokered a temporary truce between the two regulators, asking them to maintain status quo and approach the courts. A day later, Sebi said its ban on the sale of new Ulips remained.
Dhruv Kumar, a lawyer and former insurance professional, filed a second PIL in the Allahabad high court against Irda, seeking Sebi’s intervention and regulation of Ulips.
Anirudh Laskar in Mumbai and PTI contributed to this story.






Bombay high court allows unveiling of mural at Shivaji Park
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_bombay-high-court-allows-unveiling-of-mural-at-shivaji-park_1377134
Hetal Vyas / DNA
Thursday, April 29, 2010 22:58 IST
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday allowed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to inaugurate the partly beautified Shivaji Park on Friday to kick start the state’s golden jubilee celebrations.
The order comes as a relief to the Shiv Sena, which wanted to unveil a mural of Chhatrapati Shivaji at the Dadar park as part of the celebrations of Maharashtra Day.
A division bench of justices FI Rebello and Amjad Sayed allowed the corporation’s prayer considering its importance for the state. “I used to play on that ground as a child and then a youth,” said justice Rebello when the BMC counsel started explaining the layout of the park to the judges.
The court, however, clarified that the entire beautification work will be subject to the final outcome of the PIL.
On Wednesday, the high court had had stayed the work on beautification of the park as well as construction of murals depicting the coronation of Shivaji Maharaj.
However, on Thursday the BMC filed an urgent affidavit seeking modifications to the order. The affidavit, filed by Narayan Pai, assistant municipal commissioner of the G-North Ward, said the corporation had completed construction of one wall and one mural. “Only the cleaning and polishing of the mural is remaining,” it stated.
Prabhadevi residents, Durgesh Warty, 47, a businessman, and Manoj Govekar, 31, an art designer, had initiated the PIL alleging that the municipal corporation had awarded contracts for beautification of Shivaji Park without inviting tenders. They also alleged political influence in awarding the contracts.
The next hearing on the PIL is scheduled for May 5.



Penalty for silly PIL: Rs 5 lakh
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100430/jsp/nation/story_12397512.jsp
Mumbai, April 29 (PTI): Bombay High Court today imposed Rs 5 lakh as cost on a petitioner for filing a frivolous public interest litigation that sought action against top bureaucrats and police officers for failing to avert the 26/11 terror attacks in the city.
Petitioner Goldie Sud had contended that top government officers, including the director-general of police and the chief secretary, failed to protect citizens from terrorists and action should be taken against them.
The high court held that the petition had no “foundation or basis” and amounted to “abuse of the process of court”.
The court has directed the petitioner to pay the cost within four weeks.
In case Sud fails to pay up, the collector of the Mumbai suburban district may take action to recover the amount.
On November 26, 2008, ten Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists attacked two hotels and a Jewish prayer house, killing over 170 people.






Guj HC issues notice to Western Railway over PIL
http://www.ptinews.com/news/632657_Guj-HC-issues-notice-to-Western-Railway-over-PIL
STAFF WRITER 23:46 HRS IST
Ahmedabad, Apr 29 (PTI) The Gujarat High Court today issued notices to the General Manager, Western Railway, and its Divisional Managers at Vadodara and Ahmedabad, while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on railway toilet disposal system.The Division Bench of Chief Justice S J Mukhopadhaya and Akil Kureshi, hearing the PIL, posted the matter for the second week of June.One Joseph Chelliah from the city has filed the PIL demanding that the Railways need to change its open toilet disposal system.He has contended that due to the present form of toilets in railway coaches, traffic gets jammed wherever there are roads under railway bridge.Joseph cited a couple of examples in the city saying the traffic under railway bridge in Ellisbridge comes to a standstill whenever a train passes through the bridge.






SC Judges: We were misquoted on live-in relationships in Khushboo casehttp://www.indlawnews.com/Newsdisplay.aspx?0e767496-23b5-434e-95b9-e7a33b49f649
4/30/2010
The three Supreme Court Judges, who had heard the case of Tamil actress Khushboo, have said they were misquoted regarding their remarks on live-in relationships. A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justices Deepak Verma and B S Chauhan, in their judgement, had said ‘ ...it is, therefore, not only desirable, but imperative that electronic and news media should also play a positive role in presenting to the general public as to what actually transpires during the course of the hearings and it should not be published in such a manner so as to get unnecessary publicity for its own papers or news channels. We hope and trust, in future, they would be little more careful, responsible and cautious in this regard.’ Justice Chauhan also took note of the fact that they were flooded with letters from the public with a request to review their orders on live-in relationships, ‘while in fact no such order was passed by us and only during the course of hearing, we had either given some instances or put some questions to the learned counsel which were answered by them.’ The Judges further said, ‘this hyperactive attitude of the common men was indeed not called for. Some have even gone to the extent of telling us that we should have known Indian mythology before putting such questions. ‘Since all those persons who have sent such letters could not have been present in the court on that particular date, they must have got information from the print and electronic media. ‘Morality and criminality are far from being cextensive. An expression of opinion in favour of non-dogmatic and non-conventional morality has to be tolerated as the same cannot be a ground to penalise the author,’ they said. Khushboo had made some controversial remarks on pre-marital sex which were subsequently denied by her. She also sent a legal notice to some Tamilian papers seeking withdraw of the remarks attributed to her after which 23 criminal complaints were filed against her. The high court refused to quash the criminal proceedings against her. The Supreme Court, however, cautioned the lower judiciary that the process of criminal trial should not be set into motion unless and until strong prima facie evidence is there. It is the reputation of an individual person which must be in question and only such a person can claim to have a legal beg for justifiable claims to hang on. The apex court also cautioned the magistrates to use their statutory powers to direct an investigation into the allegations before taking cognisance of the offences alleged as the criminal trial carries an implicit degree of cersion and it should not be triggered by false and frivolous complaints, amounting to harassment and humiliations of the accused. The judgement was pronounced and the copies of the judgement were made available to the media.UNI



Supreme Court to have a woman judge after four years
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Supreme-Court-to-have-a-woman-judge-after-four-years/articleshow/5876165.cms
30 Apr 2010, 0055 hrs IST,AGENCIES
NEW DELHI: Former Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice, Gyan Sudha Mishra, will take oath as a Supreme Court Justice on Friday.
She will be the fourth woman judge in the apex court. Mishra (61) was initially appointed as judge of the Patna High Court in March 1994, but was transferred to the Rajasthan High Court. After 14 years there, she was elevated to the post of Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court in Ranchi in July 2008. Mishra enrolled as an advocate in the Bihar State Bar Council in November 1972 at a time when women entering the legal profession was a rarity. She was appointed a government advocate for Bihar in 1982. Alongwith Mishra, Tamil Nadu High Court Chief Justice H L Gokhale and Bombay High Court Chief Justice A R Dave will also be sworn in. The number of Supreme Court judges will rise to 30 after Friday's swearing-in.




Housefull restrained by Calcutta High Court


http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/news/2010/housefull-high-court-300410.html
The much-hyped film Housefull has been hit hard from the very outset. The Calcutta High Court has ordered the makers of Housefull not to use the 1981 hit song “Apne To Jayse Tayse” from the film Laawaris starring Amitabh Bachchan.
The High Court has ruled in favour of Anandji and the heirs of music directors Kalyanji, who had filed a suit claiming that the makers of Housefull had used the song without their permission. Meanwhile, the heirs of Prakash Mehra, producer of Laawaris, have also filed a separate suit, claiming that the song was written by the late Mehra, and thus the copyright of the song belonged to them.
Justice Patherya has ordered an interim stay on the use of the song till June 2. He has also directed both the parties to file affidavits in two weeks and the matter would be heard after three weeks.Housefull directed by Sajid Khan releases today and is expected to open big. It features Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, Riteish Deshmukh, Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta and Jiah Khan in the lead roles.





Except adultery, consensual sex no offence, says SC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Except-adultery-consensual-sex-no-offence-says-SC/articleshow/5873672.cms
Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN, Apr 30, 2010, 03.39am IST
NEW DELHI: Consensual heterosexual relation between adults, including pre-marital sex, is no offence except in cases where the partners are liable to be charged for "adultery", ruled the Supreme Court. It said the courts attach a lot of importance to personal autonomy and a person indulging in an immoral act need not necessarily be a culprit in the eyes of law. "Morality and criminality are non co-extensive," said a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and B S Chauhan on Wednesday. The SC said in the present social milieu, some view pre-marital sex as an attack on the centrality of marriage while a significant number see nothing wrong in it. This conflict of opinion on morality did not make pre-marital sex an offence, it ruled. "Notions of social morality are inherently subjective and criminal law cannot be used as a means to unduly interfere with the domain of personal autonomy," it said. This clear finding and the judicial logic supporting it got substantial space in the apex court's judgment on Wednesday quashing 23 complaint cases against South Indian actress Khushboo, who was harassed through litigation for her remarks on prevalence of pre-marital sex in cities. Justice Chauhan, writing the 41-page judgment for the Bench, said, "While it is true that the mainstream view in our society is that sexual contact should take place only between marital partners, there is no statutory offence that takes place when adults willingly engage in sexual relations outside the marital setting, with the exception of `adultery' as defined under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code." Section 497 provides, "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case, the wife shall be punishable as an abettor." The Bench also did not understand the uproar over its comments on pre-marital sex and live-in relationships saying the apex court had in 2006 held that a live-in relationship between two consenting adults of opposite sex did not amount to any offence with the obvious exception of adultery. It said there was an urgent need for reactionary forces to tolerate unpopular opinions expressed on sensitive issues by writers, authors and other persons and not hound them by instituting complaint cases against them. "It is not the task of criminal law to punish individuals merely for expressing unpopular views. The threshold for placing reasonable restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression is indeed very high and there should be a presumption in favour of the accused in such cases," the Bench said. It said Khushboo's remarks did provoke a controversy since the acceptance of pre-marital sex and live-in relationships was viewed by some as an attack on the centrality of marriage. "While there can be no doubt that in India, marriage is an important social institution, we must also keep our minds open to the fact that there are certain individuals or groups who do not hold the same view. To be sure, there are some indigenous groups within our country wherein sexual relations outside marital setting are accepted as a normal occurrence," the SC said. dhananjay.mahapatra@timesgroup.com







College girl's murder: HC upholds life term for accused
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/College-girls-murder-HC-upholds-life-term-for-accused-/articleshow/5874484.cms
Asseem Shaikh, TNN, Apr 30, 2010, 07.59am IST
PUNE: The Bombay high court on Wednesday upheld the 2002 order of the Pune district and sessions court awarding life imprisonment to Satish Bhavbande, the accused in the sensational murder of city college girl Neeta Hendre in 1999. The judgement was delivered by a high court division bench of justices Mridula Bhatkar and B H Marlapalle. Neeta (16) was a Std XI student of Garware College of Commerce while Bhavbande, who was then 27, was a resident of Rakshalekha housing society at Dattawadi and worked as a part-time electrician. He first accosted Neeta, who lived in the neighbourhood, in the first week of September 1999. Six days later, he threatened to kill her if she did not marry him. On September 23, he took Neeta to a small alley behind the Swargate police lines and brutally murdered her. Bhavbande was absconding for four days even as Neeta's father lodged a complaint of kidnapping against him. The accused was not tracked down by the police till residents of Dattawadi staged a protest march and pelted stones at the local police chowky. Students of several colleges too had staged protests demanding action against Bhavbande. Bhavbande was arrested on September 26. The state government had appointed special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam in the case. The case was based on circumstantial evidence, but the prosecution examined 28 witnesses to prove the guilt of the accused. Former additional sessions judge N V Deshmukh, who had conducted the trial, sentenced Bhavbande to life imprisonment on April 2, 2002. The court, however, acquitted Bhavbande of the kidnapping charges even as it passed severe strictures against the police. Bhavbande challenged the conviction before the high court. Arguing before the division bench, Bhavbande's lawyer S V Kotwal said his client had been falsely implicated in the case, merely on suspicion. He contended that the prosecution could not prove that Bhavbande was in love with the victim and that he had expressed his intention to marry her. He said there was no material evidence to connect Bhavbande with the crime as the prosecution had not examined material witnesses. Additional public prosecutor S V Gajare, while seeking confirmation of the trial court order, said there was sufficient evidence against the accused. Dismissing the accused's appeal and confirming the sessions court order of life sentence, the division bench said the prosecution case that no one other than the accused had committed the crime had been rightly accepted by the trial court, despite the prosecution not being able to prove certain circumstances. "Having re-appreciated the evidence of the prosecution case and the reasoning set out by the trial court, we are satisfied that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against the accused that he committed Neeta's murder," the bench said.




HC extends stay on Indage Vintners liquidation
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/cons-products/liquor/HC-extends-stay-on-Indage-Vintners-liquidation/articleshow/5874639.cms
30 Apr 2010, 0107 hrs IST,ET Bureau
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday extended stay on the liquidation of Indage Vintners, formerly Champagne India, till June 15. The division
bench of Justice FI Rebello and Justice Amjad Sayed has granted the extension while hearing the company’s appeal against the winding up order. Last month, the winding up order was passed by a single judge of the High Court after some unsecured lenders sought Indage Vintners’ liquidation. In the course of his argument on Thursday, Indage counsel Dinyar Madon told the court that the promoters, Chougule family, will infuse Rs 75 crore into the troubled company as part of the corporate debt restructuring scheme. The corporate debt restructuring cell, comprising local banks, approved the company’s proposal to rejig loans on Wednesday. Indage MD Ranjit Chougule told ET that the company will file a petition under section 391 of the Companies Act, 1956 by June to compromise and restructure debts. If the compromise scheme is approved by 75% lenders, the package will be binding on all the creditors. Mr Chougule said a few unsecured creditors are opposing the CDR proposal, whereas most banks, including ICICI Bank and SBI, have approved the package.






Can’t control bird hit menace, shift airport: HC
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cant-control-bird-hit-menace-shift-airport-hc/613219/0
Mohan Kumar
Posted: Friday , Apr 30, 2010 at 2358 hrs Mumbai:
Concerned over the menace of bird hits threatening air traffic and lack of action from the municipal corporation against slaughter houses and garbage near the airport, the Bombay High Court on Thursday said that the best solution would be to shift the airport.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by lawyer Datta Mane pointing out that slaughter houses, meat shops and dumping grounds cannot be allowed within a 10 km radius of the airport premises.
Division bench of Justice J N Patel and Justice S C Dharmadhikari pulled up the corporation for sleeping over this “serious matter” which has been going on for years. “You are aware of all illegal slaughter houses which have been operating for years,” justice Patel said, asking the corporation what steps they are going to take. If you don’t do anything then “Bombay does not require a corporation,” the judge added.
Talking about the slaughter houses and the garbage that it generates, the court said that it was a menace to airport security. The court also pointed out the event in which a bird hit might cause a plane crash. “Who all will die if the place crashes in the vicinity,” the court asked.
“Best solution would be to shift the airport,” Justice Patel said.
Arguing for the petitioner, advocate Kunal Cheema, said that cleanliness has to be maintained around the airport.
The petition states that as per regulation 31 of the Development Control rules “the location of the slaughter house/abattoir/butcher houses or other areas for activities like depositing of garbage which may encourage the collection of flying birds, like eagles and hawks, shall not be permitted within 10 km from the aerodrome reference point.”
“Has your municipal commissioner never gone to the airport?” justice Patel asked. The court said that let the municipal commissioner and chief secretary go to the airport and see for themselves.
“Otherwise they will never realize it,” the court said.
The bench has directed Municipal Commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya, principal secretary of civil aviation and state chief secretary to file an affidavit in this regard by June 30.
The petition also states that as per media reports, the airlines industry has lost around Rs 7 crore because of “bird hits” in the year 2009. The petition also says that till October 2009, there were 241 bird hit cases.
Petitioner has urged the court to direct removal of all open garbage dumping areas/bins, including the Deonar dumping ground.






Provogue gets HC approval for Nagpur property dvpt, stk up
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/buzzing-stocks/provogue-gets-hc-approval-for-nagpur-property-dvpt-stk-up_454892.html
Published on Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 12:12 Updated at Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 12:13 Source : Moneycontrol.com
Provogue (India) has touched an intraday high of Rs 52.35 and an intraday low of Rs 49.80. At 11:49 hours, the share was trading at Rs 51.80, up Rs 2.30, or 4.65%.
Provogue has received HC approval for development of retail infrastructure project on Nagpur property. Honerable High Court set aside the proceedings of State Government of Maharashtra initiated against the said property under the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976. By virtue of the said Order, the said property is free from all ULC proceedings, as per notice available on BSE website. It was trading with volumes of 510,843 shares, compared to its 5-day and 30-day average of 909,926 and 538,064 shares, an decrease of -43.86% overs its 5-day avg / decrease of -5.06% over its30-day avg. Yesterday the share closed up 0.92% or Rs 0.45 at Rs 49.50.




Madras HC asks P&G to modify 'Tide Naturals' ad again
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/madras-hc-asks-pg-to-modify-/tide-naturals/-ad-again/393428/

BS Reporter / Mumbai April 30, 2010, 0:56 IST

The Madras High Court, in an interim order today, directed Procter & Gamble (P&G) to modify its ‘Tide Naturals’ advertisement again, with a prominent disclaimer that ‘Tide Naturals does not contain lemon and chandan’ in all scenes of the ad.
On December 1, 2009, P&G began airing a Tide Naturals commercial, which said the product could provide cleanliness and whiteness without too much effort. It also said that while other washing powders caused harm to the hands and skin, ‘Tide Naturals’ caused no harm due to the presence of lemon and chandan (sandalwood).

Rival Hindustan Unilever (HUL) moved court on February 25 this year, objecting to the claim of natural ingredients in the product. On March 1, P&G was directed to make modifications to the ad for the first time, displaying the disclaimer — Tide Naturals does not contain lemon and chandan — which it did in select scenes.
HUL had also objected to the use of the word ‘Naturals’ in the brand name, packaging, advertisement and sales promotions of Tide Naturals. The court, however, is yet to take a decision in this regard.
When asked, a P&G spokesperson said: “We are pleased with the interim order of the Madras High Court that has not accepted the contention of HUL to modify the Tide Naturals brand name or packaging in any way. The interim court order further allows us to continue the airing of our Tide Naturals commercial, with certain modifications.”
The spokesperson added: “We have never tried to communicate in our Tide Naturals advertising that our product contains lemon and chandan. Our packaging continues to say ‘The freshness of lemon and chandan’, which we do have in the product through the fragrance of lemon and chandan. Usage of terms like these are industry practice and P&G is not drifting from the norm. The Madras High Court prima facie believes that a few frames in our TV commercial misrepresent the presence of these ingredients and therefore need to be dropped from the commercial. We respect the court order and will fully comply with the actions and modifications requested of us.”
A HUL spokesperson could not be reached for comments.




HC Asks Why No Entertainment Tax On IPL Matches
http://www.indiajournal.com/pages/event.php?id=10858

Date Submitted: Thu Apr 29, 2010
MUMBAI - The Maharashtra government on April 22 faced tough questions from the Bombay High Court over non-levy of entertainment tax on IPL matches and wondered why there was special exemption especially if industrialists are involved.“If industrialists are party to it, why special exemption is being given by the state to the IPL? This is a serious issue,” the court said.While asking the state government to clarify whether it intended to impose entertainment tax on IPL, a Division Bench also commented upon consumption of electricity due to the day-night matches.“Government should have some control on this...such a waste of electricity, only for this entertainment?” the judges said, referring to power cuts in neighboring townships while a semi-final match took place in Navi Mumbai on April 21.Earlier, during the arguments, judges quipped, “Is this(IPL) an entertainment or a sports activity?”Seeking to know whether Indian Premier League was a profiteering activity, the judges asked Board of Control for Cricket in India and IPL to give information on the income generated from T-20 matches that were played in Maharashtra.The court’s directive came in response to a PIL filed by Shiv Sena MLA Subhash Desai, demanding that the state collect entertainment tax from the IPL.The judges also asked the IPL to maintain accounts of remaining matches in current season to take place in the state.The Court also directed both the cricket bodies to furnish copies of their respective constitutions, and memorandum of articles at the next hearing.Among other things, court has sought information as to “whether IPL is a profiteering activity...the manner in which IPL and BCCI are functioning in organizing T20 matches”, as well as how BCCI “controls IPL”.Shocked to hear that IPL tickets are priced at as high as Rs 40,000, the court also sought to know the ticket rates.Desai’s petition alleges that the government decided to levy tax on IPL at a cabinet meeting in January, but the decision was not implemented.The court also expressed dissatisfaction about BCCI not instructing its lawyer properly.The court warned that if it accepted the petitioner’s argument eventually, it would ask the state to recover tax from the IPL “retrospectively”, i.e. even for the last two tournaments. (PTI)








AAU ‘corruption’: SC disposes of plea against HC stay
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/aau-corruption-sc-disposes-of-plea-against-hc-stay/613335/
Express News Service
Posted: Friday , Apr 30, 2010 at 0131 hrs Ahmedabad:
The Supreme Court has disposed of the special leave petition (SLP) filed against the stay granted by the Gujarat High Court in the matter of inquiry against Anand Agriculture University (AAU) Vice-Chancellor M C Varshneya and Registrar A J Pandya.
Vinodchandra Bhatt, a senior clerk at AAU, had filed the petition against the stay on Thursday.
Bhatt had filed the complaint against the duo for relaxing the norms regarding the National Eligibility Test (NET) and alleging corruption in recruitment and other matters before the Anand district magistrate. The district magistrate had ordered an inquiry by the deputy superintendent of police. Against this order, the university appealed in the High Court and was granted a stay, said a statement.
According to the AAU, the regulation to pass NET was recommended by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), making it mandatory for the posts of assistant professor. But looking at the shortage of staff in Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), it had to relax this rule for the recruitment.
A total of 28 universities out of 45 have relaxed this clause. The statement further said that based on these facts, the SC disposed of the SLP and directed the HC to expedite the matter.






Govt violated HC order by issuing challans: Autorickshaw union
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/govt-violated-hc-order-by-issuing-challans-autorickshaw-union/613379/
Anupam Bhagria
Posted: Friday , Apr 30, 2010 at 0214 hrs Ludhiana:
Following yesterday’s drive by the district transport office and traffic police against 150 illegal autorickshaws, the Autorickshaw Workers’ Federation held a meeting with Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tiwari and District Transport Officer (DTO) Ashwani Kumar on Thursday.
Kulbir Singh Khalsa, president of the federation, said: “We clarified that issuing challans against autorickshaws is a violation of the stay orders of Punjab and Haryana High Court. The hearing in an ongoing case in this regard is scheduled for May 3. It is not justified to take action against the autorickshaws till the court gives its decision.”
Ashwani Kumar, however, said: “We are not challenging the stay orders of the High Court. Issuing challans to illegal autorickshaws is my inherent power and we will continue our campaign. The court did not ask us not to challan an illegal vehicle.”
Meanwhile, Khalsa said, “The Federation will safeguard the rights of all auto owners and will honour the decision of the High Court.”
The srate Transport department ordered the district administration to stop plying diesel autos from May 1. But the district Autorickshaw Workers’ Federation succeeded in getting a stay order from the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 15. The next date of hearing in the case is May 3.
The DTO further said: “We tried to convince the autorickshaw owners to switch over to LPG, but they are adamant to run the vehicles on diesel.”






HC upholds PU rule on vacant NRI seats
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hc-upholds-pu-rule-on-vacant-nri-seats/613234/0
RAGHAV OHRI
Posted: Friday , Apr 30, 2010 at 0009 hrs Chandigarh:
In a judgment which will have far-reaching consequences, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday ruled that seats reserved for Non-Resident Indian (NRI) in Panjab University cannot be converted into general category seats, in case these were left vacant.
Justice Permod Kohli passed the judgment, which would be applicable to all seats reserved for NRI students.
The decision comes as a breather for PU, as the High Court has upheld the university rule in this regard.
Justice Kohli observed, “In any case, (the university) prospectus also achieves the status of binding law and should not be casually and lightly interfered with. I find no valid reason to strike down the condition in the prospectus merely because there are candidates desirous to seek admission against the NRI seats...in the event the seats are converted into general category. Conversion of such seats is impermissible.”
Justice Kohli further ruled: “The object and purport of NRI seats is to provide opportunity to non-resident Indians to unite their children with Indian culture and to explore the possibility of their return to India at some stage.”
The directions were passed on a petition filed by one Rajiv Chugh, who had applied for admission to the LLB course in 2009. The petitioner could not get admission, as all seats in the general category were filled up, except 27 NRI seats which remained vacant.
Appearing on behalf of PU, advocate Anupam Gupta had submitted that there was a specific embargo on conversion of NRI seats into general category seats in the ‘Handbook of Information and Rules for Admission’. Gupta had said it was not permissible to convert these seats and give admissions to candidates from general category.
On the other hand, the counsel for the petitioner had said if NRI seats were allowed to be taken up, the university would not have to expand its infrastructure to accommodate more students.
Justice Kohli, however, observed that there was no merit in the petition and dismissed it.
Later, while talking to Newsline, Gupta said, “The NRI quota is an island of privilege. It is an unfortunate exception to the Constitutional mandate of equality. Any attempt to enlarge it must be stoutly resisted. I look forward to the day when the Supreme Court will overrule itself and reject the NRI quota as unconstitutional.”
50% NRI seats go vacant every year
In the 65 departments and three regional centres of Panjab University, 453 seats are reserved for NRIs. Officials said nearly 50 per cent of these seats go vacant every year.






HC bans sand mining machines, stays arrest of workers
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hc-bans-sand-mining-machines-stays-arrest-of-workers/613364/0
·
Express News Service
Posted: Friday , Apr 30, 2010 at 0149 hrs Allahabad:
The Allahabad High Court has imposed a ban on the use of machines in sand mining on the riverbeds of Ganga and Yamuna in Allahabad and Kaushambi districts, and stayed the arrest of sandmine workers who held pro-tests against the use of machines.
On Wednesday, a Division Bench of Justice Sunil Ambawani and Justice KN Pandey passed the order on a PIL filed by People’s Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL). The Bench asked the government to take action against the contractors using the machines, and ordered that the state Human Rights Commission be made a party to the case.
In its petition, the PUCL had contended that the contractors were using JCB machines and other equipment for sand mining in violation of government orders. Traditionally, the fishermen who lived on the riverbank are hired for sand mining, but the use of machines has deprived them of a job.
According to the petition, on January 24, the Kaushambi police raided several houses and arrested over three dozen people as they had held a meeting to demand removal of the machines. Eighteen FIRs were lodged by the Allahabad and Kaushambi police. The counsel for PUCL, Ravi Kiran Jaini, told the court that the use of machine created a serious problem for livelihood for these workers who have begun an agitation under the banner of All Indian Kisan Mazdoor Sabha.
Appearing on behalf of the government, Additional Advocate General S G Hasnain said the protestors had assembled with arms despite prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC and did not disperse despite repeated warnings by the police.
“The court has stayed the arrest of sand workers,” said Jaini. The court also requested the Human Right Commission to help the workers and the government resolve the issue.





Under RTI issue SC issues notice on CJI
http://supari.org/cji-under-rti/
By Sunita ⋅ April 29, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment
The Supreme Court sought a response on Monday from Delhi resident Subhash Chandra Agrawal on an appeal it had filed to itself challenging the high court order bringing the office of the chief justice of India within the ambit of the Right to Information Act.
Acting on Agrawal’s plea, the high court gave on January 12 the landmark judgment which is considered to be a setback to the chief justice K.G Balakrishnan who has been opposing the opening up of the affairs of the higher judiciary to the public gaze.The apex court has given Agrawal four week’s time to send his written arguments.
Siniority criteria for promotion of HC Judges to SC
The Centre has admitted that seniority is a criterion for promotion of high court judges to the Supreme Court, after having maintained that it was not a factor for consideration in their elevation.
The contradiction came to light in the law ministry’s reply to Right to Information (RTI) queries on why former Delhi High Court Chief Justice AP Shah was overlooked for elevation to the top court despite being “one of the finest judges”.
The Department of Justice, in response to RTI queries by Delhi-based activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal, informed him on February 21: “Seniority is not a criteria prescribed for elevation of judges to the Supreme Court in terms of Article 124 (3) of the Constitution of India and Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of judges to the Supreme Court.”
Asked whether Justice Shah was denied promotion (superseded) ignoring seniority, the department replied, “The question of supersession does not arise. Nor was any complaint received against Justice Shah. Due process was followed and since the process is initiated by the Chief Justice of India, further queries may be referred to the Supreme Court.”
However, in response to fresh queries, the department admitted seniority was a criteria. “As per the Memorandum of Procedure, the CJI initiates proposal and forwards the recommendation to the government to fill up the vacancies of judges arising in the Supreme Court and of chief justices in the states. Consideration is given to the merit, ability, suitability and seniority of the recommendees,” the April 21 reply said.
It added that the rules reinforced by the advisory opinion of the top court in 1998 “make it clear the senior most judge would be considered for the post of the Chief Justice of India”.The procedure for appointment and promotion of judges based on recommendations of a panel of top judges (collegium) has been criticised for its secretive style of functioning. It does not give any reasons for selection or rejection of judges.
Justice Shah retired in February, and jurists such as Fali S. Nariman and Ram Jethmalani described him “as a good judge who could not make it to the Supreme Court”.