The Madras High Court has observed that the fundamental right to practise and profess religion does not confer a right to pollute rivers or other water bodies, expressing serious concern over the large-scale dumping of clothes and other ritual waste into the Thamirabarani river during obsequies and death-related ceremonies. In an order passed on July…
The Supreme Court on Monday held that the determination of citizenship and foreigner status must be undertaken through a fair, lawful and reasonable process, while setting aside judgments of the Gauhati High Court affirming the declaration of 27 individuals as foreigners. The Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta allowed a batch of…
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant relief to Dr M Kodanda Ram, a professor at Kannur Dental College accused of verbally harassing Dalit student Nithin Raj, who died by suicide in April, holding that the allegations against him warranted no interference at this stage. The Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep…
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the operation of a Madras High Court judgment that had set aside the appointments of 17 Personal Assistants (PAs) to High Court judges over alleged irregularities in the recruitment process. The Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta granted interim relief to nine of the affected appointees…
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a batch of writ petitions filed by teachers and non-teaching employees of recognised Madrasas in West Bengal challenging the rejection of their claims for regularisation and grant-in-aid benefits by a court-appointed committee. The Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Augustine George Masih held that none of the petitioners…
The Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) has approached the Calcutta High Court seeking permission to hold its annual Martyrs’ Day rally on July 21 at its traditional venue near Victoria House in central Kolkata after the Kolkata Police denied permission for the event. The petition comes in the wake of the Kolkata Police’s…
The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to grant interim relief to the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA), the Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA) and the International Trademark Association (INTA) in their challenge to the ongoing process examining the proposal to enhance the pecuniary jurisdiction of Delhi’s District Courts from Rs 2 crore to…
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta has said that it is factually incorrect to state that Hindu law is based on the Manusmriti, asserting that the legal framework followed by most parts of India is founded on the Mitakshara school of Hindu law, which derives its authority from the Yajnavalkya Smriti. Mehta made the remarks…
The parties to the Gyanvapi mosque dispute in Varanasi, the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Eidgah dispute in Mathura and the Shahi Jama Masjid dispute in Sambhal have declined the Supreme Court’s proposal to resolve the matters through mediation, choosing instead to pursue adjudication through the regular judicial process. The decision means that the three high-profile temple-mosque…
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant has constituted four special Division Benches of the Supreme Court to exclusively hear the court’s oldest pending civil and criminal matters, as part of a major administrative reform aimed at reducing the judicial backlog through structured docket management. The new roster, which came into effect on July 13,…