The Madras High Court has directed the Indian Patent Office to allow an inventor to demonstrate his invention, despite the earlier rejection of his patent application. The Court underlined that innovative ideas should not be dismissed solely on theoretical assumptions when a working model is available for evaluation. The case arose from a patent application…
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered an immediate halt on all ongoing construction activities on forest land in the hill districts of Uttarakhand. Taking took suo motu cognisance of unauthorised occupation and alleged illegal alienation of protected forest land in Uttarakhand, the Vacation Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi…
A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court questioning the practice of sending a ceremonial chadar on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Ajmer Sharif Dargah during the annual Urs of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. The plea contends that participation by the Prime Minister or the Union government in a religious…
Senior advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, a familiar figure in the Supreme Court known for filing several high-profile public interest cases, passed away on December 19 at the age of 69. Sharma gained national recognition as the petitioner in the coal block allocation case, which ultimately resulted in the Supreme Court cancelling hundreds of coal block…
The Supreme Court of India has decided to convene a special sitting during the winter vacation to hear matters requiring immediate judicial intervention. The sitting is likely to be held on December 26 or December 29, depending on administrative feasibility. The decision was communicated in open court, where it was clarified that only genuinely urgent…
By Dr Swati Jindal Garg There are moments in a nation’s judicial history when a court does more than interpret the law—it interprets the conscience of society. The Supreme Court’s recent intervention in an order passed by the Allahabad High Court marks one such moment. It is a stark reminder that the law is not…
By Sujit Bhar The rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence has unsettled copyright regimes across the world, and India is now formally grappling with the legal, economic, and philosophical questions it raises. This was made clear in a recent written reply in Parliament by Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada to…
By Kumkum Chadha The three-week Parliament session has concluded. Amid the chaos which is now a constant in parliamentary proceedings, there was some business transacted with of course some heated moments, including Congress MP Renuka Choudhury actually driving into premises with a dog. But that is another story. The winter session started on expected lines:…
By Kenneth Tiven As the United States slips into holiday mode for the remainder of the year, substantial pieces of unfinished government business are converging in ways that could extinguish whatever seasonal cheer exists inside the Donald Trump White House. At the top of the list is Trump’s sweeping tariff regime. A Supreme Court decision…
Two related bits of news triggered the mention of the Nelson Mandela Rules. One concerned Anmol Bishnoi’s incarceration in a high-security cell with 24-hour surveillance and two warders inside the prison to keep him safe from rival gangsters due to a high threat perception. The other was a statement by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta…