Author: NitiRiti Bureau

New Delhi, March 15. In a huge relief for the Tata group and the airlines industry, the Delhi High Court has disposed of a petition filed by Dr Subramanium Swamy almost a decade ago against FIPB approval granted to the low-cost airlines Air Asia. The writ petition had challenged the approval granted to Air Asia on the ground that the FDI Policy, as it existed then, did not permit foreign shareholding in a greenfield airline carrier. The Federation of Indian Airlines also filed a similar writ petition the next year, 2014. The High Court had refused to stay operations of…

New Delhi, March 15. The Supreme Court will examine if women can be called in to the office of the Enforcement Directorate for questioning. The court, dealing with a plea filed by BRS MLC K. Kavitha, said that it would hear the plea on March 24, 2023. She was summoned by ED on March 7 and March 11 and has been summoned again on March 16 in connection with money laundering charges in the Delhi excise case. The daughter of Telangana Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao had appeared before the ED on March 11 and was grilled for 9 hours. Her…

New Delhi, March 13. The central government on Monday urged the Supreme Court not to hear pleas to recognise marriage between same sex couples and instead leave it to the legislature to take a call, but the top court said it would press ahead with its adjudication from April 18. Detailed arguments will be heard by a constitution bench (of five judges) of the top court from April 18, a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, said. He was sitting alongside Justices P.S. Narasimha and JB Pardiwala. It will be live streamed as in case of…

New Delhi, March 2. In a bid to insulate the Election Commission from political interference and further democratise its functioning, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a panel, which includes the Prime Minister, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India, will appoint the election commissioners for now. This system would continue till the government brings in a law to deal with such appointments, a five-judge bench led by Justice K.M. Joseph, said. “Election Commissioners will be appointed by the President on the advice of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister,…

New Delhi, March 2. The Supreme Court on Thursday appointed an expert panel, which will examine ways and means to strengthen the Indian regulatory framework, in the wake of the Hindenburg fallout on Adani shares. The panel will be headed by former top court judge Abhay Manohar Sapre. It will include among others Nandan Nilekani, O.P. Bhatt, J.P. Devadhar, former High Court judge, and K.V. Kamat and Somashekaran Sunderesan. The court decision to set up an expert panel will not impede the existing probe into the incident already being undertaken by market regulator SEBI. A three-judge bench led by Chief…

New Delhi, March 1. The Madras High Court recently ruled that right to demonstrate was part of right to free speech and the right to assemble peacefully without arms, and cannot be taken away completely while allowing the RSS to hold marches and meetings in many places of Tamil Nadu in 2022. “… there is a constitutional difference between reasonable regulation and arbitrary exclusion,” a division bench of the High Court, comprising Justices R. Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq, ruled while giving permission to the RSS to hold peaceful marches outside. A single judge had in an order of Dec 4,…

New Delhi, Feb 28. The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Mumbai’s iconic “Copper Chimney” restaurant to continue operating from its current premises at Kala Ghoda for six months till August 2023. A top court bench, comprising Justices J.K. Maheshwari and J.B. Pardiwala, allowed an appeal filed by the restaurant against the Feb 17, 2023, Bombay High Court order refusing it any relief against the order of eviction served on it. Copper Chimney was represented in the top court by Kavin Gulati, senior advocate, and was assisted by the team from Karanjawala & Co. led by Ms. Ruby Singh Ahuja, Senior…

New Delhi, Feb 28. The Supreme Court on Tuesday rapped both the Punjab Governor and state Chief Minister over the latest impasse over the convening of the budget session of the state Assembly. The state Governor issued an order earlier today convening the budget session for March 3, 2023, after the AAP government moved the top court. This made the petition virtually infructuous. However, a bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud lamented the language used by CM Bhagwant Singh Mann to respond to a letter from the Governor seeking information on recruitment of principals and subsequent training…

New Delhi, Feb 28. The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to give any interim relief to Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia who was arrested recently by the CBI in connection with the Delhi excise policy, 2021. “Not at this stage,” a bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud told senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The bench, which also comprised Justice P.S. Narasimha, said that he could instead of pressing his Article 32 petition in the top court move the appropriate court for bail or seeking quashing of the charges in the High Court. Singhvi argued that the excise…

New Delhi, Feb 27. The Delhi High Court on Monday rejected a host of petitions which had challenged the legality of the central government’s move to introduce the Agnipath scheme, paving way contractual appointments in the army for the youth instead of permanent employment. The High Court ruled that courts normally should not interfere with policies of the government on the national security front as it is not well placed to do so in terms of expertise needed to assess such a scheme. Besides that the court observed that decisions taken on national security usually involve a careful consideration of…