New Delhi Feb 21 PTI This PIL business is stealing attention from other important matters the Supreme Court observed on Monday when a matter related to the expansion of Karwar port in Karnataka was mentioned for urgent listing A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli was urged that an appeal challenging the expansion of the port was numbered in November last year but has not been listed for hearing This is the fresh SLP challenging the expansion of Karbar port According to us no environmental clearance EC has been taken The SLP special leave petition was numbered in November senior advocate Devadatt Kamat said The bench assured that it would look into the submission for listing the plea The senior lawyer sought early listing of the plea saying if the construction starts then nothing will remain in the petition This PIL business is stealing attention from the other important matters the CJI said while moving on to other cases Karwar located in Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka is the only all weather natural port of the state whose expansion plan has been conceived under the Sagarmala project PTI SJK SA

New Delhi Feb 18 PTI Constitutional courts cannot assume the role of an appellate authority in exercising judicial review powers in matters related to disciplinary inquiry and have to see that legal or procedural errors do not lead to manifest injustice the Supreme Court said on Friday The apex court made this crucial observation in a verdict by which it quashed the 2021 judgment of the Allahabad High Court setting aside the disciplinary proceedings and consequential punishment inflicted upon an employee of the UCO Bank So far as the scope of judicial review in the matters of disciplinary inquiry is concernedthe Constitutional courts while exercising their power of judicial review under Articles 226 or 227 of the Constitution would not assume the role of the appellate authority where jurisdiction is circumscribed by limits of correcting errors of law or procedural errors leading to manifest injustice or violation of principles of natural justice At the same time the power of judicial review is not analogous to adjudication of the case on merits as an appellate authority said a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Abhay S Oka Writing the judgement Justice Rastogi allowed the appeal of the UCO Bank against the high court verdict The apex court said it was not the case of Krishna Kumar Bhaardwaj against whom the disciplinary proceedings were initiated even before the high court that the departmental inquiry was not conducted in accordance with the procedure prescribed under the Regulations It said there was no violation of any provision of Regulations or denial of fair opportunity of hearing to the employee in the course of inquiry or there was violation of the principles of natural justice In our considered view the premises on which the high court has proceeded even in reference to charge no 1 is unsustainable and deserves to be set aside Consequently the appeal succeeds and is allowed The judgment of the Division Benchis accordingly set aside it said It was alleged that the employee was the officiating Manager and posted at Taharpur Bhabisa Muzaffarnagar and had committed gross irregularities in discharge of his duties He was found guilty by the inquiry officer The appellate authority upheld the findings but awarded a lesser penalty such as lowering of the pay scale However the high court set aside the findings of the authorities below during the departmental proceedings PTI SJK SA

New Delhi Jan 19 PTI The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to consider listing of a PIL challenging the constitutional validity of a provision of the Representation of People Act which had led to the introduction of electronic voting machines EVMs instead of ballot papers for polls in the country A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana heard the submissions of lawyer M L Sharma who filed the plea in his personal capacity and said that he would consider listing of his case Sharma said Section 61A of the Representation of People Act which permitted the use of EVMs was not passed by Parliament and hence cannot be imposed PTI SJK SA

New Delhi Dec 20 PTI A tribal woman accused of luring and driving her cousin sister into prostitution has been granted bail by the Supreme Court which took note of the fact that she has been in incarceration for last 18 months and delivered a child there A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana termed it as a fit case to grant her bail and rejected the vehement plea of Delhi Police that the accused not be allowed to walk out of jail on bail as she drove her cousin to prostitution The bench also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli took note of the submissions of senior advocate Salman Khurshid and lawyer T K Nayak that the woman herself was a victim and moreover she has already undergone sentence of 18 months and had delivered the child on November 1 2020 The senior lawyer said the accused 21 herself was pushed into flesh trade and was living in the confines of the prime accused and under a constant threat of life Having heard counsel for the parties and taking into consideration the fact that the petitioner has suffered incarceration for a period of 18 months and has also delivered child during custody we deem it to be a fit case to grant her bail the bench noted in its order On December 4 last year the Delhi High Court had rejected the plea for regular bail after taking note of the status report of Delhi Police in two similar cases lodged under the law on human trafficking against her I have perused the status report filed by the State The allegations against the petitioner is she lured her cousin sistercomplainantprosecutrix for a job in Delhi but the prosecutrix was indulged in forced prostitution by the co-accused person where the victim was left by the applicant the high court had said The high court had not agreed with the plea that the accused was also a victim of the circumstances and was also harassed and put in this work by the co-accused Abinash and Neha I failed to understand if this is true why she has called her cousin sistervictim and get her employed so that she may also be forced into prostitution the high court judge had noted PTI SJK SA

New Delhi Nov 24 PTI The Supreme Court Wednesday asked the Centre and the NCR states to continue implementing for few days the measures to ensure improvement in air quality saying that preventive actions are needed in anticipation to curb pollution even as it wondered what signals are being sent to the world When the weather becomes severe then we take measures These measures have to be taken in anticipation and this anticipation has to be based on a statistical model and scientific study and pattern a special bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said This is the national capital Look at the signals we are sending to the world You can stop these activities in anticipation itself so the severe grade does not happen said the bench which also comprised justices D Y Chandarchud and Surya Kant The measures suggested by the Commission for Air Quality Management in the NCR and Adjoining Areas to deal with industrial pollution thermal plants vehicular emissions dust control diesel generators as well as encouraging work from home be continued for the time being the apex court said Take the measures for the next two-three days and we will hear this matter next Monday In the meantime if pollution becomes 100 AQI etc then you can lift some ban it said Referring to the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on automatic graded action plan in view of worsening air pollution the top court said these are ad hoc mechanisms and the commission on pollution will have to undertake a scientific study and take preventive action in anticipation On the stubble burning the bench wondered as to what bureaucrats are doing and said that officials like chief secretaries and others should go and meet farmers experts and scientists As a government lawyer and we judges are discussing this What the bureaucracy has been doing all these years Let them go to villages they can go to field talk to farmers and take a decision They can involve scientists and why cannot this happen the bench observed On the issue of construction workers the bench said the states have huge funds on account of labour cess collected from real estate firms and that can be used for paying the workmen who have been deprived of their livelihood due to the ban Can the construction workers fund be used as long as workers are out of work How much money is there in labour welfare fund You pay the workers from that it said At the outset Mehta referred to measures which are still being in force to deal with the spike in the air pollution and said that the situation which is being monitored will be reviewed in a few days He said the measures like banning the entry of trucks except few exceptions complete closure of all public and private educational institutions and closure of six thermal power plants in the 300 km radius of the national capital are still in force Earlier the bench had directed authorities to ensure implementation of the decisions taken in a meeting to curb air pollution observing that it cannot get into the nitty gritty and the bureaucracy has developed a sort of inertia of not taking decisions which are left to the courts PTI SJK SA

New Delhi Nov 18 PTI The Supreme Court Thursday said the policy prevalent at the time of the death of a government employee would be followed for granting or denying the appointment on compassionate ground to the dependent The observation came in a verdict of the apex court setting aside the judgement of a Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court which had asked the state government to grant a government job on compassionate ground to a person whose father had died in service under the amended policy which provided for such an appointment As per the policy when the employee was working at the time of his death the dependent was not entitled to any appointment on compassionate ground Quashing the appointment the bench of Justices M R Shah and Sanjiv Khanna referred to various apex court judgements and said As per the settled preposition of lawfor appointment on compassionate ground the policy prevalent at the time of death of the deceased employee only is required to be considered and not the subsequent policy It isheld that a claim for compassionate appointment must be decided only on the basis of a relevant scheme prevalent on the date of demise of the employee and subsequent scheme cannot be looked into said Justice Shah writing the verdict for the bench The verdict came on the appeal filed by the Madhya Pradesh government The state government was aggrieved with the judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh Bench at Jabalpur by which it had allowed the plea for appointment on compassionate ground setting aside the single-judge order favouring the administration The father of the beneficiary was working as a Chowkidar in an office at Tikamgarh district and had died on October 8 2015 and his son was given a compensatory amount of Rs 2 lakh as per the policy prevalent at the time of his death That after the death of the deceased employee the policy for appointment on compassionate ground came to be amended vide circular dated August 31 2016 and it was provided that even in case of death of the employee working on work charge his one of the heirs dependents shall be eligible for the appointment on compassionate ground the verdict said The subsequent policy was used for granting the job on compassionate ground by the division bench of the high court The impugned judgment and order passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Madhya Pradeshis hereby quashed and set aside by observing that the respondent shall not be entitled for appointment on compassionate ground on the basis of the subsequent circularpolicy It is reported that the amount of Rs 2 lakhs which was paid to the respondent as compensatory amount pursuant to the policyscheme of 2014 has been given back by the respondent If that be so the same may be paid to the respondent the apex court said PTI SJK SA

New Delhi Nov 17 PTI The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Tripura police not to take any coercive action against the three civil society members including a journalist in connection with an FIR lodged under the harsh UAPA provisions against them for allegedly bringing facts through social media posts about targeted violence against the minority community in the state A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli also issued a notice to the Agartala police on the plea filed by advocates Mukesh and Ansarul Haq and journalist Shyam Meera Singh against lodging of the FIR The three persons who were part of a fact finding committee have also challenged the Constitutional validity of some provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967 on the grounds that the definition of unlawful activities is vague and wide moreover the statute makes grant of bail to accused very difficult The FIR took note of a tweet of one of the members of the civil society which had stated that Tripura is burning Recently the north-eastern state witnessed incidents of arson looting and violence after reports emerged from Bangladesh that the Hindu minorities there had been attacked during Durga Puja on allegations of blasphemy On November 11 the top court had taken note of the submissions of advocate Prashant Bhushan and agreed to hear the plea seeking quashing of the FIR lodged against the three civil society members Bhushan had said that the two lawyers and the scribe have been proceeded against by the Tripura police under the UAPA for their social media posts and an FIR has been lodged and a notice under the CrPC has been issued to them The plea alleged targeted political violence against Muslim minorities in Tripura in October as also the subsequent efforts by the state to monopolise the flow of information and facts emanating from the affected areas by invoking UAPA provisions against members of civil society including advocates and journalists who have made the effort to bring facts in relation to the targeted violence in the public domain The three persons have been accused in the FIR lodged at the West Agartala Police Station under the IPC and the UAPA provisions for allegedly disseminating information about communal violence in the state If the state is allowed to criminalise the very act of fact finding and reporting -- and that too under the stringent provisions of the UAPA in which anticipatory bail is barred and the idea of bail is a remote possibility -- then the only facts that will come in the public domain are those that are convenient to the state due to the chilling effect on the freedom of speech and expression of members of civil society If the quest for truth and reporting thereof itself is criminalised then the victim in the process is the idea of justice the plea said It said that around October 14 reports emerged from Bangladesh about the violence against Hindu minorities during Durga Puja on allegations of blasphemy and in a perverse counterblast political right wing forces in the state of Tripura started fomenting religious passions against the Muslim minorities Processions by right wing political forces were led ostensibly to protest against the violence in Bangladesh but that led to violence against Muslim minorities in the state the plea said In a targeted and orchestrated manner there were incidents of arson looting and violence on the establishments of Muslim citizens and attacks and burning of mosques at various places in Tripura There was major violence during a rally by right wing forces such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on October 26 News of the ensuing violence that followed have been widely reported in international media it said Later a four member fact finding team of advocates went to Tripura and on the basis of their interaction with the persons affected by the violence they put in the public domain a fact finding report titled as Humanity Under Attack in Tripura Muslim Lives Matter This has led to the registration of the FIR and the petitioners have been asked to delete their posts and take part in criminal investigation This is ex facie an attempt to curb the free flow of information from the riot affected areas given that there is nothing in the report which even remotely supports any secessional activity or questions the sovereignty or territorial integrity of India or causes any disaffection against the State of India The ingredients of the definition of unlawful activities under section 21o of UAPA are not even remotely made out it said The report does not exaggerate any of the facts and accurately documents what was learnt and seen by the fact finding team it said adding that there were no deaths therefore no deaths were reported It only corroborates with further specifics and in greater detail what has also been broadly reported by national and international media The report and contents thereof do not fall within any of the restrictions on freedom of speech and expression under Article 192 of the Constitution and is covered by Article 191a of the Constitution the plea said The absurdity is further compounded by the fact that though the FIR refers to 102 social media posts which are alleged to have intended to cause communal disharmony and intended to cause disaffection against the State and the notice under Section 41a calls upon the Petitioners No 1 2 to delete the offensive posts -no post actually referred to in the FIR have in fact been made by the Petitioners No 1 2 advocates it said PTI SJK SA

New Delhi Sep 27 PTI A day after CJI N V Ramana exhorted women lawyers to strongly seek 50 per cent reservation in higher judiciary the Supreme Court Bar Association SCBA on Monday hailed the statement and urged him to appoint them as judges being the head of the collegium The Chief Justice of India speaking at the event organised by the Women Advocates of Supreme Court here to felicitate him and the nine new apex court judges on Sunday exhorted women lawyers to strongly raise demand for 50 per cent reservation in the judiciary and assured them of his total support I dont want you to cry but with anger you have to shout and demand that we need 50 per cent reservation Justice Ramana said SCBA President and senior advocate Vikas Singh in a press statement said I have seen the comments attributed to the Honble CJI exhorting women lawyers to ask for 50 per cent reservation in the higher judiciary I am extremely happy that the CJI took out time to meet the lady lawyers At the same time I feel as the elected body the CJI should meet the Executive Committee of the SCBA more frequently as through several letters we have been requesting for a meeting which has not been granted to us Moreover the CJI being the head of the institution and the appointments being done by the collegium system he can easily provide for more and more representation of women lawyers without any representation in this regard The statement issued on Monday said the SCBA has always been urging for a larger representation of women in higher judiciary and the search committee of the bar body has recommended names of Supreme Court lawyers for elevation to high courts and the list contained the names of 13 lady lawyers Singh said that the list of suitable candidates for being considered for elevation to the high courts was pending with the CJI With this statement of the Honble CJI we are sure that steps if not already taken would be taken immediately and as a first step the recommended names would be sent for consideration especially the names of lady lawyers the SCBA President said The statement raised the allegation that several women lawyers practising in the top court were neither informed nor invited to the felicitation function and moreover they are alleging that there is no such lady lawyers association in existence The SCBA in its earlier press statement had sought an audience with the CJI for its Executive Committee members to discuss issues such as elevation of apex court lawyers as high court judges their designation as seniors physical hearing and allotment of chambers in the premises here PTI SJK SA