New Delhi [India], September 26 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the petition challenging the Bombay High Court order relating to the 2019 assembly election of Chandrakant Dada Patil.

New Delhi [India], May 24 (ANI): Delhi's Saket Court on Tuesday reserved the order on an appeal regarding the restoration of 27 Hindu and Jain temples in the Qutub Minar complex in Mehrauli.

New Delhi [India], May 16 (ANI): Days after the Supreme Court of India put the trial of sedition cases on hold, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Sharjeel Imam has moved Delhi High Court seeking interim bail in alleged inflammatory speeches given by him at Aligarh Muslim University and in the Jamia area during the anti-CAA agitation in 2019 and 2020.

New Delhi [India], April 29 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice to the Government of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi on fresh appeal moved by Sharjeel Imam challenging a trial court order which refused granting him bail in a larger conspiracy case related to the North East Delhi violence matter.

New Delhi [India], March 24 (ANI): In High Court, Delhi Police opposed an appeal moved by former JNU Student Sharjeel Imam, challenging trial court order in which the bail was denied to him in a case related to alleged inflammatory speeches given by him at Aligarh Muslim University and in the Jamia area during the anti-CAA agitation in 2019 and 2020.

New Delhi Feb 24 PTI The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea seeking stay on the release of Bollywood movie Gangubai KathiawadiThe Alia Bhatt-starrer produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Bhansali Production Private Ltd is scheduled for release on FridayA bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and J K Maheswari dismissed the plea of Babuji Rawji Shah who claims to be the adopted son of Gangubai against the Bombay High Courts order declining him various reliefs such as interim stay on the release of the movieSLP dismissed Reasons to follow the bench saidAt the outset senior advocate A Sundaram appearing for the filmmakers told the bench that it would practically not be possible to change the name of the movie as suggested by it as they will have to go to the censor board againHe submitted that there cannot be an objection to the naming of the film as censor certificate has been given to the movieHe questioned the locus of the petitioner and said that Shah claims to be the adopted son of Gangubai without evidenceThere is no basis for adoption Person is claiming to be the adopted son and theres no prima facie evidence He is a third party and he has only shown a ration card to prove his claim Not even a whisper of proof of the same apart from ration card Sundaram saidThe senior lawyer further said that nothing prima facie has been shown to the court to prove there is anything defamatory in the movieSundaram said the entire case is premised on a book based on 2011 which they didnt consider challenging at that timeThe book was The Mafia Queens of Bombay Our film glorifies the lady as to what she has accomplished he saidThere are judgements to show that the right of defamation dies with a persons death Sundaram saidWhen I produce a film of a public figure who died 40 years ago we are trying to show how great a lady she was I am praising her more if she lived in a red light area achieved great height he submittedThe bench then asked What if there are sensibilities in the family Sundaram replied that they are not familySenior advocate Mukul Rohatgi also appearing for the filmmakers contended that the movie is not derogatory at all and the character Gangubai has been glorified as to how she rose from a background and became an activistWe have certification of the film its set to release Its out of our hands actually he saidRohatgi also questioned the timing of the petition and asked Why is there a gap of nine months challenging the Bombay High Court judgment Advocate Rakesh Singh appearing for the petitioner argued that defamation not only affects the person but family members as wellThey say the movie is in the book and if the book is defamatory then the movie is defamatorythe book says that she was having an affair and then she was pushed into a brothel in Kamathipura The promo also depicts thisdialogue in the movie is also defamatory to the victim The bench then said that he will have to establish a strong prima facie case on locus standi and merits of the caseShah had earlier moved the high court seeking an order restraining the writerspublishers of the novel from creating any third-party rights or writing any other story on the life of his mother Gangubai KathiawadiHe had also sought a stay on release of the movie Gangubai KathiawadiThe high court in its order passed on July 30 last year had rejected the application noting that any content of defamatory nature dies with that persons deathIt is for the appellant Shah to demonstrate that he is the adoptive son of deceased Gangubai Kathiawadi which he has prima facie failed to dothe high court had said adding that in a case of claim for defamation action can be brought by a person in Court of law provided he claimed to be defamedMerely because the Appellant is claiming to be son of such person cannot be prima facie inferred to have the legal right to show indulgence the high court had saidPrior to this a lower court had rejected the defamation lawsuit of Shah leading to filing of an appeal in the high court which also refused to grant any interim relief to him PTI PKS SA

New Delhi Oct 25 PTI The Supreme Court Monday said that a court can exercise its power to quash proceedings where it appears that the alleged offence although covered under the SCST Act is primarily private or civil or where it has not been committed on account of the caste of the victimThe Courts have to be mindful of the fact that the Act has been enacted keeping in view the express constitutional safeguards enumerated in Articles 15 17 and 21 of the Constitution with a twinfold objective of protecting the members of these vulnerable communities as well as to provide relief and rehabilitation to the victims of caste-based atrocitiesOn the other hand where it appears to the Court that the offence in question although covered under the SCST Act is primarily private or civil in nature or where the alleged offence has not been committed on account of the caste of the victim or where the continuation of the legal proceedings would be an abuse of the process of law the Court can exercise its powers to quash the proceedings a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana saidThe observation came while quashing criminal proceedings against a man convicted under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities ActThe top court was hearing an appeal filed by a man challenging an order of the Madhya Pradesh high court which had upheld his conviction under the SCST ActA civil dispute over the ownership and possessory rights of a piece of land between the man and his neighbour took an ugly turn when he allegedly not only threw a brick on the woman but also made filthy and slur remarks on her caste which prompted her to lodge an FIRThe man and the other co-accused were subsequently tried which led to his conviction under the SCST Act and consequential sentence of six months rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs1000 The man challenged his conviction and sentence before the High Court but his appeal was dismissedThe bench also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said the SCST Act has been specifically enacted to deter acts of indignity humiliation and harassment against members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes however it will be extremely circumspect in its approach when dealing with offences arising out of special statutesThe top court said the Act is a recognition of the depressing reality that despite undertaking several measures the Scheduled CastesScheduled Tribes continue to be subjected to various atrocities at the hands of upper castesThe apex court said it cannot be understated that since members of the SCST belong to the weaker sections of the society they are more prone to acts of coercion and therefore ought to be accorded a higher level of protectionIf the Courts find even a hint of compulsion or force no relief can be given to the accused party it saidIn the case in hand however the bench noted that the matter had been settled between the parties and the complainant had filed an application for compromiseReiterating the same plea counsel for the accused canvassed that the parties are residents of the same village and there is no existing enmity between themNoting this the apex court said if the court is satisfied that the objective of the Act would not be contravened or diminished even if the felony in question goes unpunished the mere fact that the offence is covered under a special statute would not refrain it or the High Court from exercising their respective powers under Article 142 of the ConstitutionWe may hasten to add that in cases such as the present the Courts ought to be even more vigilant to ensure that the complainant victim has entered into the compromise on the volition of hisher free will and not on account of any duress the bench saidHaving considered the peculiar facts and circumstances of the present case in light of the aforestated principles as well as having meditated on the application for compromise we are inclined to invoke the powers under Article 142 and quash the instant criminal proceedings with the sole objective of doing complete justice between the parties before us the bench saidThe apex court said the very purpose behind Section 31x of the SCST is to deter caste-based insults and intimidations when they are used to demean a victim on account of heshe belonging to the SCST communityIn the present case the record manifests that there was an undeniable pre-existing civil dispute between the parties The case of the appellant from the very beginning has been that the alleged abuses were uttered solely on account of frustration and anger over the pending dispute Thus the genesis of the deprecated incident was a civilproperty disputeConsidering this aspect we are of the opinion that it would not be incorrect to categorise the occurrence as one being overarchingly private in nature having only subtle undertones of criminality even though the provisions of a special statute have been attracted in the present case Secondly the offence in question for which the Appellant has been convicted does not appear to exhibit his mental depravity the apex court saidThe bench said the SCST Act aims to protect members of the downtrodden classes from atrocious acts of the upper strata of societyPTI PKS RKS RKS