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LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS - January 2023

Jan 2023

Nov 15, 2023

Kerala High Court allows medical termination of 32 weeks pregnancy on account of mental health of...

The Kerala High Court has permitted a petition seeking medical termination of 32 weeks pregnancy on the grounds that mental health of the mother was vital to the child, even if he/she was to be born alive.
The order was passed by the single-judge Bench of Justice Devan Ramchandran on a petition filed by the parents of the unborn child, seeking relief under provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.
The petitioners contended that they had definite advice that the baby was suffering from very grievous abnormalities and even if the pregnancy was allowed to continue, the baby would have serious complications, which would not allow a normal life.
The High Court directed that if the baby was to be born alive, then all care and protection would be given.
The single-judge Bench requested the Chairperson of the Medical Board to oversee the processes with respect to medical termination and take a call on how to go on with it, including by performing a C-Section, if it was found to be the most rational one to do in the given circumstances.

Muzaffarnagar slapping incident.

The Supreme Court has pulled up the State of Uttar Pradesh for showing complete 'non-compliance' of its previous order, directing counseling of a Muslim school student, who was slapped by classmates on the instruction of his teacher in Muzaffarnagar in August 2023.
Expressing 'shock' over the approach of the state government in the matter, the Bench of Justice A.S. Oka and Justice Pankaj Mithal on Friday summoned a top official of the Education department for failing to get the victim admitted to a private school on the request of his father, based on an earlier order issued by the Apex Court.
The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh police over the delay in registration of FIR and the omission of communal allegations in the case related to repeated slapping of a Muslim student by his classmates on the behest of their teacher in Muzaffarnagar.
The Bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Pankaj Mithal, while observing that there was a 'prima facie failure' on part of the state government to comply with the mandate of the Right to Education Act, which prohibited physical and mental harassment of students and their discrimination on the basis of religion and caste, directed investigation into the incident by an IPS-rank officer.
Calling it a 'very serious' issue, which should 'shock the conscience of the State' if proven true, the Apex Court said that a teacher telling students to hit a classmate because they belonged to a particular community, could be described as the worst kind of physical punishment imparted by a teacher.
Asking whether this could be called quality education, the top court of the country directed the state government to 'take responsibility' for the education of the victim child.
It further expressed its displeasure over the fact that though the complaint filed by the student's father related to cognisable offences, no First Information Report (FIR) was immediately registered.

Supreme Court for amendment in rules to allow e-copies of trial court records in criminal appeals

The Supreme Court has recently observed that allowing the production of electronic copies of trial court records in criminal appeals, rather than having them produced in physical form, would lead to a more environmentally conscious approach, along with facilitating quicker availability of records.
The Bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Sanjay Karol suggested amendment of sub-rules 2 and 3 of Rule 5 of Order XX of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, noting that the rules presently called for the production of physical copies of original trial court records in criminal appeals involving a sentence of life imprisonment or death penalty.
The calling of such records in other cases was subject to specific orders of the concerned Bench.
The Apex Court proposed that Sub-rule 3 should be amended to insert the words 'soft copy' before the words 'original records', resulting in e-copies of the Original Records being requisitioned.
It said that such requisition of the soft copy of the record, after the amendment, could be extended to cases where leave was granted against an order of acquittal or conviction.
As per the Bench, once received, such soft copy of the records could be provided to the counsel appearing for the parties.

No offence under SC ST Act if remark made within four walls: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that offence under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 cannot be made out if any insulting or intimidating remark has not been made within public view or at a public place.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Deepak Gupta recently passed the order on a petition challenging an order of Special Judge, Ludhiana, wherein the anticipatory bail plea of the appellant had been rejected in a murder case.
The Special Judge had further rejected the plea claiming offence for passing casteist remarks under Sections 302, 307, 323 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 and Sections 3 & 4 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989.
The High Court, while granting anticipatory bail to accused-appellant Rajinder Kaur, observed that in order to constitute an offence under the Act, the insults or intimidation should be on account of the victim belonging to either Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.

Nov 14, 2023

West Bengal Advocate-General Soumendra Nath Mookherjee Resigns

West Bengal Advocate-General Soumendra Nath Mookherjee mailed his resignation to Governor Dr. C. V. Ananda Bose.
Mookherjee was appointed as the AG after Kishore Datta resigned from the post in September 2021.

Central Government Notifies Transfer of Five High Court Judges

The Central government notified the transfers of five High Court judges woh were earlier recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium.
The judges who were transferred are - Justice Vivek Kumar Singh from Allahabad High Court to Madras High Court, Justice Shekhar B. Saraf from Calcutta High Court to Allahabad High Court, Justice Bibek Chaudhuri from Calcutta High Court to Patna High Court, Justice M. Sudheer Kumar from Telangana High Court to Madras High Court and Justice C. Sumalatha from Telangana High Court to Karnataka High Court.

Nov 13, 2023

Centre Notifies Appointment of N. Unni Krishnan Nair as Gauhati High Court Judge

The Central Government notified the appointment of Senior Advocate N Unni Krishnan Nair as an additional judge of the Gauhati High Court.
The Central Government had earlier in November notified the appointment of Senior Advocate Kaushik Goswami as an additional judge of the Gauhati High Court. In doing so, at the time the Central Government had deferred processing the name of Nair, whose name was also proposed in the same Collegium resolution.
The delayed notification of his appointment has now reduced Nair's seniority.

Nov 12, 2023

Centre Appoints Justice Manmohan as Acting Chief Justice Of Delhi High Court

The Central Government announced the appointment of Justice Manmohan as the Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. This decision came after Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma was elevated to the position of a judge in the Supreme Court of India.
The appointment of Justice Manmohan to the position was made in accordance with Article 223 of the Constitution of India.
Justice Manmohan has been a part of the Delhi High Court since his appointment as an Additional Judge in March 2008. In December 2009, he was appointed as a permanent judge.

Nov 11, 2023

Justice MM Shrivastava is Acting Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court

The Central Government notified the appointment of Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava as Acting Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court.
Justice Shrivastava will perform the duties of Chief Justice as Justice Augustine George Masih was appointed as a Supreme Court judge.
Justice Shirvastava enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Madhya Pradesh in 1987.
He was designated Senior Advocate in 2005 and elevated as a judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court in December 2009. He was transferred to the Rajasthan High Court and took oath in October 2021.

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