New Delhi Mar 30 PTI The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to respond by April 4 to the two reports of a retired judge monitoring the SIT probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case which had sought cancellation of bail to Ashish Mishra son of Union minister Ajay MishraA bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said the monitoring judge had written to the state for cancellation of bail granted by the Allahabad High Court to Ashish Mishra in connection with the caseThere are two letters sent by the SIT to the Additional chief secretary home of the Uttar Pradesh government by the monitoring judge who had written to the state to file appeal in SC to cancel bail of main accused Ashish Mishra said the bench also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani appearing for the state government took instructions and informed the apex court that the Additional Secretary Home has stated now to us that he did not receive the letters The bench then asked him to go through the reports submitted by the SIT and respond to it by April 4 Senior advocate Dushyant Dave appearing for the petitioners submitted that the Uttar Pradesh government has submitted that they had opposed the bail in the High Court It is imminent that the bail be cancelled or set aside in these circumstances as the HC verdict suffers from non application of mind he said Dave also submitted that Ashish Mishra in his affidavit had relied on documents to show he was not present at the scene of crime on October 3 last year The state terms these documents as doctored Dave said and requested the top court to take a serious view of this The bench said that it will hand over the report of the judge and the letters to the petitioners and the UP government counsel and posted the matter for hearing on April 4 The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that decision to challenge the grant of bail by the Allahabad High Court to Ashish Mishra son of Union minister Ajay Mishra in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence that left eight people including four farmers dead is pending consideration before the relevant authorities The state government in response to appeal filed by family members of the victims of Lakhimpur Kheri violence had said that the Allahabad High Court order as well as its counter affidavit would demonstrate it has vehemently opposed the bail application of Mishra The top court had appointed Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to supervise on a day-to-day basis the Uttar Pradesh SITs probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence The state government said that as per the orders of the court the families of all the victims of Lakhimpur violence case and all the witnesses whose Section 164 statements were recorded have been receiving continuous security under the Witness Protection Scheme of 2018 On March 16 the top court had sought responses of the UP government and Ashish Mishra on a plea challenging the grant of bail to him It had also directed the state government to ensure protection of witnesses after counsel appearing for farmers referred to the attack on a key witness on March 10 On October 3 last year eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri during violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Mauryas visit to the area Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV following which the driver and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by angry farmers A journalist also died in the violence that triggered outrage among opposition parties and farmer groups agitating over the Centres now-repealed agri laws PTI MNL The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday had told the top court that the decision to challenge the grant of bail by the Allahabad High Court to Ashish Mishra is pending consideration before the relevant authorities In its reply affidavit filed on the appeal filed by family members of the victims of Lakhimpur Kheri violence the state government had said that the Allahabad High Court order as well as its counter affidavit would demonstrate it has vehemently opposed the bail application of Mishra The state government had said that as per the orders of the court the families of all the victims of Lakhimpur violence case and all the witnesses whose Section 164 statements were recorded have been receiving continuous security under the Witness Protection Scheme of 2018 On March 16 the top court had sought responses of the UP government and Ashish Mishra on the plea challenging the grant of bail to him It had also directed the state government to ensure protection of witnesses after counsel appearing for farmers referred to the attack on a key witness on March 10 On October 3 last year eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri during violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Mauryas visit to the area Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV following which the driver and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by angry farmers A journalist also died in the violence that triggered outrage among opposition parties and farmer groups agitating over the Centres now-repealed agri laws PTI PKS SA

New Delhi Mar 24 PTI The Supreme Court Thursday transferred to CBI the investigation against former police commissioner Param Bir Singh over the allegations of misconduct and corruptionA very murky affair is going on amid echelons of power on who should investigate the matter a bench of Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh saidThe apex court said a thorough investigation is required to regain faith of people in the state policeThe bench said We are unable to accept the contention that an FIR is registered by those who had complaints against the petitioner We are of the view that state itself should have allowed CBI to carry the investigationWe are of the prima facie view that there is some concerted effort which needs the investigation by CBI What is the truth who is at fault how does such scenario come to prevail is something which investigation must get into CBI must hold an impartial inquiry into all these aspectsThe top court said it was not commenting on merits of the allegations as it does not want the investigation to be influenced in any mannerWe do not want the investigation to be influenced by the observation of this court The High Court has treated this as a service dispute which it is not and thus we set aside the HC verdict We allow the appeal and direct the probe into 5 FIRs be transferred to CBI with all records Such transfer to be completed within one week and all officials to extend full cooperation to CBI to try arrive at the truth the bench said PTI PKS SA

New Delhi Mar 24 PTI The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear next week a plea filed by Maharashtra BJP MLA Girish Mahajan against the Bombay High Court order dismissing his plea challenging the validity of new rules of open voting method to elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the state AssemblyA bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Krishna Murari allowed urgent hearing of the matter after it was mentioned by senior advocate A M Singhvi on behalf of the Maharashtra governmentSinghvi informed the Court the issue related to whether the Chief Minister can recommend fixing of dates in election of a speakerFrom December onwards we are trying to get a date only Meanwhile the other side files SLP and doesnt get it listed Now the Governor says the matter is sub-judice Singhvi submittedHe stated that the Governor says he wont fix a date and sought urgent listing saying the Assembly is headlessMahajan in the PIL has alleged that the notification dated December 23 2021 was illegally and arbitrarily issued by the Maharashtra government amending Rules 6 and 7 of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Rule 1960 under which the secret ballot method was replaced with an open vote system through voice vote and show of handsThe appeal said that the Bombay High Court has dismissed on March 9 the PIL filed by petitioner Mahajan that raised several substantial questions of laws having an impact on the general public at large The appeal questioned whether Maharashtra Assembly Rules 1960 are procedures established by law as held by this court in a plethora of casesMahajans appeal said that the MLA Rules are procedures established by law and cannot be derogated by the Assembly and such rules can only be amended as per the procedure established under the rules as applicable in the Maharashtra AssemblyThe petitioner further submits that the Impugned Notification has been wrongly issued exercising powers under Rule 225 3 of the MLA Rules which envisages a situation that there were no objections received by the committee to the proposed amendments the petition said and termed it erroneous PTI PKS SA

New Delhi Feb 24 PTI The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain 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 said PTI PKS SA

New Delhi Feb 23 PTI A person availing the services of a bank for commercial purpose is not a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act the Supreme Court has saidThe apex court stated that to come within the ambit of the consumer a person will have to establish that the services were availed exclusively for earning his livelihood by means of self employmentA bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai said there cannot be any straitjacket formula and such a question will have to be decided in the facts of each case depending upon the evidence placed on recordWhen a person avails a service for a commercial purpose to come within the meaning of consumer as defined in the said Act he will have to establish that the services were availed exclusively for the purposes of earning his livelihood by means of self employment the bench saidThe apex court said the Consumer Protection Amendment Act 2002 clearly shows that the legislative intent is to keep the commercial transactions out of the purview of the said ActIt said that at the same time the intent of the Act is also to give benefit to a person who enters into such commercial transactions when he uses such goods or avails such services exclusively for the purposes of earning his livelihood by means of self employmentThe top court was hearing an appeal filed by Shrikant G Mantri Ghar challenging the judgment and order passed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal CommissionThe NCDRC had held that the complainant was not a consumer as envisaged under Section 21d of The Consumer Protection Act 1986The complainant a stock broker had filed a complaint against Punjab National Bank which had granted him overdraft facilityThe apex court said the relations between the appellant and the respondent is purely business to business relationshipAs such the transactions would clearly come within the ambit of commercial purpose the bench said in its judgement delivered on TuesdayIt cannot be said that the services were availed exclusively for the purposes of earning his livelihood by means of self employmentIf the interpretation as sought to be placed by the appellant is to be accepted then the business to business disputes would also have to be construed as consumer disputes thereby defeating the very purpose of providing speedy and simple redressal to consumer disputesWe therefore find no error with the findings of the Commission In any case the Commission has already granted liberty to the appellant to avail of his remedy by approaching the appropriate forum having jurisdiction In the result the appeal is dismissed the bench said PTI PKS SA

New Delhi Feb 21 PTI The Supreme Court Monday directed states and the Union Territories UTs to implement the suggestions for formulation of rehabilitation policy for street children and said it should not remain on paperA bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai noted that till date information regarding only 17914 street children has been provided while their estimated number is 15-20 lakhThe apex court reiterated that the authorities concerned have to update the material required on the web portal of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights NCPCR without failThe top court also said that rescuing children has not be a temporary exercise and it should be ensured that they are rehabilitatedWe have carefully examined the suggestions which are comprehensive in nature dealing with all conceivable situations Subject to certain modifications that may be suggested by the state governments the suggestions made by NCPCR shall be implemented by the state governmentsUnion TerritoriesNCPCR is directed to conduct periodical reviews preferably once a month to monitor the implementation of the suggestions the bench saidThe top court said the collection of information is for implementation of certain schemes for destitute children in street situations and directed states and UTs to extend full cooperation to NCPCR for the purposeAdditional Solicitor General K M Nataraj appearing for NCPCR alleged that officers of the states were not cooperating during inspection and scrutinyAdvocate T K Nayak appeared for one of the parties in the caseThe matter has been listed for next hearing after four weeksThe top court had earlier directed that testimony of children who are victims of child trafficking be recorded through video conferencing either at the district court complex or the office of the District Legal Services Authority in the district where the child is residing It had said it was concerned with obviating difficulties to victims of trafficking concerning travelling long distances to give evidence in trial courts PTI PKS SA

New Delhi Jan 21 PTI The Supreme Court Friday sought the Centres reply on a plea for creation of The Indian Environment Service on the lines of All India Service for environment safeguards at the ground levelA bench comprising Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh while issuing notice to the Union Environment Ministry expressed doubt whether it could issue a mandamus for creation of a separate all India serviceThe apex court said however that an inquiry can be made whether the Centre intended to implement recommendations of the committee headed by a former Cabinet SecretaryThe top court was hearing a plea filed by advocate on record Samar Vijay Singh who referred to the report submitted by the High-Level Committee formed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests under the chairmanship of former Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramanian in 2014 which recommended creation of a new All-India service the Indian Environment Service However the Parliament Standing Committee PSC rejected T S R Subramanian Report that reviewed various Acts administered by the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change inter-alia noted that the three-month period given to the HLC for reviewing six environmental Acts was too short and recommended that the government should constitute a new committee to review the laws the plea said Senior advocate K Sultan Singh argued for the petitioner The plea further stated that there is a lack of trained personnel involved in the administration policy formulation and supervising the implementation of policies of the state and central governments However due to problems of implementation and enforcement many of the set goals have not come to fruition Given the turmoil all over the country concerning environmental issues the creation of the All India Service The Indian Environment Service is the need of the hour the plea said The constant degradation of our ecosystem needs special attention from the Civil Service as well as from the part of the government it said However looking at the current administrative setup it can be inferred that the government servants might not be able to spare special time for environmental causes Now it becomes imperative to create an independent All India Service Indian Environment Service in order to bring relief to the masses at large the plea said The plea has also sought setting up an Indian Environmental Service Academy to train officers for environmental law enforcement PTI PKS SA

New Delhi Jan 19 PTI The Supreme Court Wednesday directed the Maharashtra government to submit data on Other Backward Classes OBCs to the SBCC to examine its correctness and make recommendations on their representation in elections for the local bodies The top court also directed the State Backward Classes Commission SBCC to submit the interim report to the authorities concerned in two weeks of receiving information from the state government Maharashtra has asked this court to permit elections based on data already available to the state concerning other backward classes Instead of examining the data the appropriate step would be to present this data before a state appointed dedicated commission which can examine the correctness If it deems it appropriate make recommendations to the state based on which further steps can be taken by the state or State Election Commission The commission may submit the interim report if so advised to concerned authorities in two weeks from receipt of informationdata from the state government a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar said The apex court clarified however that the list to be prepared by the state government concerning socially and educationally backward classes would be independent of the census carried out by the Centre The information and data available to the state can be furnished to the dedicated commission which can take decisions about efficacy thereof and make recommendations to state government as may be necessary This obviously would not complete the triple test exercise which has to be completed as per 2010 judgement before providing reservation of seats in local government for OBC category said the bench also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and C T Ravikumar This observation must also govern different states which are to proceed for elections of local govt the top court adding that until the triple test is complete these seats will be treated as open category Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade appearing for Maharashtra submitted that the state has some data on the basis of which reservation can be sustained He said there are elections in March and data is already before the commission Your lordship may tell the commission to submit a report in two weeks so we can act on the March elections Otherwise a large section of the community might go unrepresented he said With regard to Madhya Pradesh Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj appearing for the state stated that the Election Commission has cancelled the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Raj Evam Gram Swaraj Amendment Ordinance 2021 and assured that the new ordinance would be in accordance with apex courts directions Senior advocate P Wilson appearing for one of the intervenors said the OBC category does not have adequate representation We are happy with your lordships decision to leave it to the commission The top court on December 17 2021 had directed the state election commissions of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to re-notify the seats reserved for the OBCs in the local bodies under the general category The order referred to the Constitution bench verdict of 2010 that had mentioned three conditions including the setting up of a dedicated commission to conduct a contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness qua the local bodies in the states which are required to be followed before provisioning such reservation for the OBC category It had also said that subsequently a three-judge bench of the court had reiterated the same The apex court had observed on December 17 that it had passed an order on December 15 directing the State Election Commission of Maharashtra to notify the seats in the local bodies that were reserved for the OBCs as general category seats In March last year a three-judge bench of the apex court had said the reservation in favour of the OBCs in the local bodies in Maharashtra cannot exceed 50 per cent of the total seats reserved for the SCs STs and OBCs taken together It had referred to the three conditions noted in the constitution bench verdict of 2010 The conditions included specifying the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned local body-wise in light of the recommendations of the commission so as not to fall foul of overbreadth and in any case such reservation shall not exceed an aggregate of 50 per cent of the total seats reserved in favour of the SCs STs and OBCs taken together PTI PKS SA

New Delhi Jan 18 PTI The Supreme Court Tuesday granted protection from arrest to actress Poonam Pandey in porn films racket case A bench of Justices Vineet Saran and B V Nagarathna issued notice to the Maharashtra government on an appeal filed by Pandey against a Bombay High Court order rejecting her anticipatory bail Issue notice In the meanwhile no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioner the bench said Pandey has been arrayed as an accused in the FIR along with actor Sherlyn Chopra The high court had rejected her anticipatory bail application on November 25 2021 In December the apex court had granted protection from arrest to Raj Kundra in connection with an FIR registered against him for allegedly distributing pornographic videos Kundra had been booked under certain Sections of the Indian Penal Code Indecent Representation of Women Prevention Act and Information Technology Act for allegedly distributing transmitting sexually explicit videos Fearing arrest Kundra first sought anticipatory bail from the sessions court but it was refused He then moved the high court claiming that he had been framed PTI PKS SA

New Delhi Nov 18 PTI The Supreme Court Thursday junked a plea filed by former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh seeking records including file notings and internal correspondence of the preliminary enquiry PE report in the corruption case saying should we entertain this because he has been a ministerA bench headed by Justice S K Kaul dismissed Deshmukhs plea and said he can argue on this before the competent court and they have the liberty to do soThe petition under 32 is based on the premise that the orders passed by the court on the rationale that the PE may have been material against the petition But as per certain newspaper reports the petitioner is stated to have been given clean chit in the enquiry The prayer is to call for all the records to look into the PE We are not inclined to exercise our jurisdiction under Article 32 In the given scenario it is always open to the petitioner to plead before the competent court said the bench also comprising Justice M M Sundresh Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for Deshmukh submitted that the court had earlier said that let the PE be completed as the commissioner of police has made these allegations Now the commissioner of police is going to be declared an absconder They said in FIR that a PE report says a cognisable offence is made out India Today has assessed the report As per certain reports the petitioner is given a clean chit The PE on the orders of the Bombay High Court has recorded statements of many key players If this is true then it takes the whole basis of the record Then there is political motivation in this All family members servants are being called everyday to admit that you are leaking this report Sibal submitted The court however said We dont know how much credence can be given to all this material Should we entertain this because he has been a ministerThe investigation can carry on Why should this court entertain this petition under Article 32 Competent courts are already looking into this We are not inclined A special PMLA court here on Monday had sent Deshmukh to 14-day judicial custody as the Enforcement Directorate ED did not seek his further remand in connection with a multi-crore money laundering case Deshmukh 71 was arrested by the ED on November 1 after questioning in the case under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA The ED had initiated a probe against Deshmukh and his associates after the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI filed its FIR against the NCP leader on April 21 this year on charges of corruption and misuse of official position The money laundering case against Deshmukh and others was made out after the CBI booked him in a corruption case related to allegations of at least Rs 100 crore bribery made by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh The ED case is that Deshmukh while serving as the states home minister misused his official position and through dismissed police officer Sachin Waze collected Rs 470 crore from various bars and restaurants in Mumbai Deshmukh has refuted these allegations saying the agencys whole case was based on malicious statements made by a tainted cop Waze The agency had also submitted its prosecution complaint equivalent to a charge sheet against the duo before a special court PTI PKS SA