Tag: hearing

Bilkis Bano case: SC posts hearing on July 11, directs to serve notice to convict

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday posted for July 11 a batch of petitions challenging the pre-mature release of 11 convicts who had gang-raped Bilkis Bano and murdered her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots.
Abench of Justices KM Joseph, BV Nagarathna and Ahsanuddin Amanullah adjourned the matter for hearing after the summer break of the top court. The Supreme Court will go on summer vacation from May 20 till July 2.
The bench directed the issuance of notice to the convict, which remained unserved till now.

The apex court directed the publication of notice in local newspapers, including in Gujarati and English, against the convict who could not be served notice.
During the hearing, the bench was informed that the house of one convict was found by the local police to be locked and his phone was switched off also.
The next date of hearing of the matter, i.e. July 11 shall also be published in the notice to be carried in the newspapers, the top court directed.
The bench passed this order saying it’s adopting this process so that time is not wasted on the next date of hearing and it cannot be argued that service is left incomplete.
“Notice to be published in one English newspaper and one vernacular in circulation in the area,” the apex court directed.

On May 2 also the Supreme Court deferred the hearing of the case after some of the counsels for the convicts raised objections about not being served notices on the pleas.
Bilkis Bano and others had approached the top court challenging the premature release of 11 convicts.
Besides filing a petition against the per-mature release of convicts, Bano had also filed a review petition seeking a review of its earlier order by which it had asked the Gujarat government to consider the plea for the remission of one of the convicts.
The review petition was dismissed.
Some PILs were filed seeking directions to revoke the remission granted to 11 convicts.
The pleas were filed by the National Federation of Indian Women, whose General Secretary is Annie Raja, Member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Subhashini Ali, journalist Revati Laul, social activist and professor Roop Rekha Verma and TMC MP Mahua Moitra.
Gujarat government in its affidavit had defended remission granted to convicts saying they completed 14 years of sentence in prison and their “behaviour was found to be good”.
The State government had said it has considered the cases of all 11 convicts as per the policy of 1992 and remission was granted on August 10, 2022, and the Central government also approved the release of convicts.
It is pertinent to note that the remission was not granted under the circular governing grant of remission to prisoners as part of the celebration of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”, it had said.
The affidavit stated, “State government considered all the opinions and decided to release 11 prisoners since they have completed 14 years and above in prisons and their behaviour was found to be good.”
The government had also questioned the locus standi of petitioners who filed the PIL challenging the decision saying they are outsiders to the case.
The pleas said they have challenged the order of competent authority of the government of Gujarat by way of which 11 persons who were accused in a set of heinous offences committed in Gujarat were allowed to walk free on August 15, 2022, pursuant to remission being extended to them.
The remission in this heinous case would be entirely against public interest and would shock the collective public conscience, as also be entirely against the interests of the victim (whose family has publicly made statements worrying for her safety), pleas stated.
The Gujarat government released the 11 convicts, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, on August 15. All the 11 life-term convicts in the case were released as per the remission policy prevalent in Gujarat at the time of their conviction in 2008.
In March 2002 during the post-Godhra riots, Bano was allegedly gang-raped and left to die with 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter. She was five months pregnant when rioters attacked her family in Vadodara.
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#Bilkis #Bano #case #posts #hearing #July #directs #serve #notice #convict
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 9, 2023
Whether anyone has a fundamental right to marry? SC queries while hearing pleas for same-sex marriages

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New Delhi: While hearing a bath of pleas for same-sex marriages, Supreme Court on Tuesday queried whether anyone has a fundamental right to marry, or is there no fundamental right to marry at all and stressed that the Constitution itself is a tradition breaker.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud asked senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the Madhya Pradesh government, “forget the issue of same sex, does anyone have a fundamental right to marry? Or, is there no fundamental right to marry at all? Because your submission is that no one has a fundamental right to marry”.
Dwivedi said that so far the marriage is between two heterosexual individuals.

The bench, also comprising Justices S.K. Kaul, S. Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and P.S. Narasimha, said it is not on heterosexual, “does any citizen of this country for whom this court, our society, our polity, has placed the individual at that highest pinnacle. And, we have gone ahead carved and discovered so many rights — to personhood, right of choice, right of left alone, privacy, dignity… with all this, the question is does a person or citizen have a right to marry”.
Justice Bhat asked: “Is it part of Article 21 or not part of it? We have to start with the premise that there is no unqualified right. Right to free speech is not unqualified right, right to association is not unqualified, personal liberty is not unqualified, right to life. Therefore, there is no absolute right, if we start with that premise. Does the right to life have the concomitant right to marry.”
The bench asked Dwivedi to not start the debate that same sex people do not have right to marry, rather start with is right to marry or is there a right to marry.
Dwivedi said heterosexual couples have the right to marry in accordance with their custom, personal law, and religion, and that is the foundation of their right.
The Chief Justice observed: “Therefore, you concede the fact that there is a right to marry under the Constitution, but it is only confined to only heterosexual persons according to you, or is it your argument that there is no right to marry at all as a fundamental right?”

Justice Bhat said: “Custom, culture, religion, rewind 50 years ago inter-caste marriages were not permitted. Even inter-faith marriages unheard of, therefore, the context of marriage has changed.”
Dwivedi said: “these changes have been brought about by legislation and legislature can alter the customs. The Constitution only gives a fundamental right to form relations, associations, which is in Article 19 (1) (c) which can be regulated. He added that marriage over the years has resulted in social institutions as a result of society’s evolution, and the right to marriage which was existing as a part of social institutions will be accommodated in the right to associate in a particular manner.
Justice Bhat said: “The Constitution has not granted anything. It only recognizes and guarantees, nothing is granted. We’re free citizens. We have taken this to ourselves. Right to speak, to associate, these are part of our inherent rights. The Constitution doesn’t grant it… Even legislation has only recognised the right to marry is inherent. If we say the right to marry is inherent then it is part of the Constitution. You may locate it in (Articles) 19 or 21a.”
Justice Bhat said “the moment you bring tradition, the Constitution itself is a tradition breaker. Because the first time you brought in (Articles) 14, you brought in 15, and 17, those traditions are broken”.
The bench queried, “if those traditions are broken, what is held hallowed in our society in terms of caste?”
“We made a conscious (decision)… and said we don’t want ita.outlawing untouchability in the Constitution. But at the same time let us be alive to the fact that the concept of marriage has evolved.”
Dwivedi submitted that the point is that all these reforms are made by the legislature for the interest of women and children and they do not alter the core aspect of the social institution of marriage, “namely that it’s an institution. Hindu marriage is regarded as a Sanskar”.
Dwivedi contended that the core aspect of marriage remains and pointed at alimony, maintenance, divorce, inter caste and added that ultimately the marriages remain heterosexual marriages.
The bench observed that to state at the extreme that there was no fundamental right to marry under the Constitution would be far-fetched.
“What are the core elements of marriage? If you look at each element, each is protected by constitutional values,” it said.
The Chief Justice said one, marriage itself postulates two individuals to cohabit; two, marriage accompanies with it the existence of family; three, marriage has procreation as a very important ingredient; four, marriage in a significant way is exclusionary to all others; and five, social acceptance of existence of marriage.
The top court will continue to hear arguments in the post -lunch session.
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#fundamental #marry #queries #hearing #pleas #samesex #marriages
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 9, 2023
Excise policy case: Delhi HC adjourns hearing on Sisodia’s interim bail plea to May 10

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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing on former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia’s interim bail plea in the 2021-22 excise policy case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to May 10.
Appearing for the probe agency, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju submitted before the bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma that “the change from 5 percent to 12 percent in the interest rate was made to get the kickback money. He (Sisodia) made the policy in such a way that guaranteed return in form of kickbacks came”.
“Sisodia concealed legal experts’ opinion given by eminent personalities as well. He hadn’t mentioned it anywhere. It was ignored completely. They (members of AAP) did not include it in the policy,” the ASG added.

He also said that there was a draft note prepared by a person named Rahul Singh on the instance of Manish Sisodia, which can be proved from their WhatsApp chats.
“The original is missing. Only a part of the draft has been retrieved from the phones,” he said.
Taking note of the submission, the judge adjourned the matter for further submissions to May 10.
Notably, Sisodia had moved the high court on Wednesday seeking interim bail in the case on the ground of his wife’s illness.
Earlier on Thursday, the high court had sought the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) response on Sisodia’s bail plea in the same case.

Last week, Special Judge M.K. Nagpal of the Rouse Avenue Court had extended Sisodia’s judicial custody till May 12.
The court had also directed the CBI to supply an e-copy of the supplementary charge sheet to Sisodia.
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#Excise #policy #case #Delhi #adjourns #hearing #Sisodias #interim #bail #plea
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 4, 2023
Senate Democrats will excoriate the House GOP debt bill during a Budget Committee hearing on Thursday morning.

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The Senate Budget Committee will meet Thursday morning to hear from several witnesses on Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s opening debt limit bid.

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#Senate #Democrats #excoriate #House #GOP #debt #bill #Budget #Committee #hearing #Thursday #morning
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 4, 2023
Pak court warns Imran of bail cancellation for missing hearing

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Islamabad: A Pakistani court on Wednesday warned former prime minister Imran Khan that it may cancel his interim bail as it expressed its staunch dissatisfaction over the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief’s persistent absence from court hearings in various cases, according to a media report.
Hearing Khan’s interim bail plea in a case involving murder attempt charges filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz parliamentarian Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha last year, Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said that the former premier has made a “joke out of the courts” and asked him to appear in the court on Wednesday itself, the Dawn newspaper reported.
More than 100 cases have been registered against Khan since he was voted out of office through a no-confidence motion in April last year. But he has not been arrested in any of the cases so far.

In a few of the cases, including the mutiny and inappropriate language against the Pakistani Army, the 70-year-old leader has been given anticipatory bail by the High Court with conditions that he would be present in the court hearings without fail to which he has agreed.
On Wednesday, while hearing the case filed by PML-N’s Ranjha, Justice Farooq asked Khan to be present in court the same day itself after expressing his dissatisfaction over the former premier’s persistent absences in various cases.
“If the petitioner, Imran Khan, does not appear during court timings [today], will dismiss the interim bail. The judge added that the former premier has made a joke out of the courts,” the report quoted Justice Farooq as saying.
On October 23, 2022, Ranjha lodged a criminal complaint claiming that the shot fired by a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa policeman outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Constitution Avenue on October 21, 2022, was “an attempt on his life” allegedly at the behest of Khan.
The disqualification of Khan in the Toshakhana case had sparked protests in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, especially at Faizabad, resulting in the arrest of three people — a PTI lawmaker and his two police guards.

The clash between the protesters and police had started outside the ECP soon after the verdict disqualifying Khan when the KP police guard of Member of National Assembly Saleh Mohammad fired a gunshot.
On April 18, the IHC had extended Khan’s bail in eight cases — including those pertaining to violence outside the Federal Judicial Complex — till May 3, the report said.
Accepting the PTI chairman’s request for a bail extension and exemption from court appearance that day, Justice Farooq had made it clear then that Khan’s interim bail in all the cases will be cancelled if he did not appear in court on Wednesday, the report said.
However, shortly after the court proceedings, PTI Senator Shibli Faraz said in a tweet that Imran “respected the courts” and implied that the reason for the PTI chief’s absence was his leg getting “injured again” during his appearance at the Lahore High Court on Tuesday.
He wrote: “Imran Khan’s leg got injured again yesterday at the Lahore High Court due to the jostling brought about because of the lack of security provided by the government.
“Doctors have advised [Imran] to rest for 10 days. Upon recuperating, he will again face the cases filed on political bases. [Imran] Khan sahib respects the courts,” the PTI senator was quoted as saying in the report.
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#Pak #court #warns #Imran #bail #cancellation #missing #hearing
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 3, 2023
Watch: Rahul Gandhi halts campaign speech on hearing sound of Azaan

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Tumkur: Addressing a public meeting in Tumkuru, Karnataka, on Monday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi stopped his speech after hearing the sound of Azaan (Muslim call to prayer).
This is not the first time that Rahul has halted his speech in an act of respect towards Azaan. In Amethi, in 2019, ahead of Lok Sabha Elections, Rahul halted his speech and waited for the Azaan to finish.
Lashing out at the BJP government in the southern state, the former Wayanad MP said, “For the last three years, BJP has only done corruption here. The people of Karnataka call this regime a “40 per cent government”, as they take a 40 per cent cut or commission from contractors.

“The PM was also aware of this. So I would like to ask him why he didn’t take any action on it.”
Rahul was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha after being convicted and sentenced in connection with a criminal defamation case.
The case pertained to a comment he made using the surname ‘Modi’ at a campaign ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, in Kolar, Karnataka.
The Congress leader later moved a higher court in Surat, Gujarat, challenging his conviction for criminal defamation. But the Surat court upheld the lower court verdict.
The matter has now moved to the Gujarat High Court, which will take up the plea filed by the Congress leader for hearing on May 2.

Addressing a rally in Kolar in April 2019, Rahul, in a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?”
As per an earlier Supreme Court ruling, any MP or MLA is automatically disqualified if convicted and sentenced for two years or more.
(with inputs from ANI)
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#Watch #Rahul #Gandhi #halts #campaign #speech #hearing #sound #Azaan
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 1, 2023
Delhi court adjourns hearing in Shraddha Walkar murder case for May 9

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New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday adjourned the hearing of the Shraddha Walkar murder case to May 9.
The court was to pronounce its order on framing charges against Aaftab Amin Poonawala, who is accused of strangling his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar to death and then chopping her body into several pieces.
Additional Sessions Judge Manisha Khurana Kakkar, after having reserved the order on framing charges on April 15, had posted it to April 29 for its pronouncement.

Moreover, the Delhi Police was also scheduled to file its reply to Vikas Walkar’s (Shraddha’s father) application seeking the release of his late daughter’s remains to perform the last rites.
Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad had, during the last hearing, said the police will file a reply on the application on the next date of hearing.
Arguments on charges were also completed last time.
The Delhi Police had earlier told the court that incriminating circumstances are clearly revealed through reliable and clinching evidence and they form a chain of events.
Poonawala has been booked for the offences under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the IPC.

A charge sheet running over 6,000 pages was filed in the case.
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#Delhi #court #adjourns #hearing #Shraddha #Walkar #murder #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 29, 2023
Telangana HC adjourns hearing on Kadapa MP’s anticipatory bail plea

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Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday adjourned, to June 5, the hearing on the anticipatory bail petition of Kadapa MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy in former Andhra Pradesh minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy’s murder case.
While the MP’s counsel pleaded to the court to pass an order restraining CBI from taking any harsh measure against him in the case, Justice K. Surender made it clear that it’s not possible to hear the arguments and pass an order immediately.
As the court has summer holidays from Saturday, the judge adjourned the hearing to June 5.

Avinash Reddy’s lawyer Niranjan Reddy requested the court to hear the case during holidays as the CBI is likely to arrest the MP. The judge suggested that in case of any emergency, they may make a request to the Chief Justice.
Counsel then requested the court to at least pass an order restraining the CBI from arresting him for two weeks. The High Court, however, made it clear that in view of the Supreme Court’s judgement, it can’t pass such an order.
The MP’s counsel was suggested to approach a special vacation bench, if necessary.
The Supreme Court had last week set aside Telangana High Court’s interim order, staying his arrest by the CBI till April 25.
The apex court pronounced the order on a petition filed by Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Suneetha Reddy.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha also extended the deadline for completing the investigation into the case till June 30.
The Supreme Court had earlier fixed April 30 as the deadline for the CBI.
Avinash Reddy, cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Redddy, appeared before the CBI as per the interim order of the Telangana High Court on his anticipatory bail petition.
Vivekananda Reddy, brother of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, and uncle of Jagan Mohan Reddy, was murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019, weeks before the elections.
The 68-year-old former state minister and former MP was alone at his house when unidentified persons barged in and killed him.
The CBI took over the investigation into the case in 2020 on the direction of Andhra Pradesh High Court while hearing a petition of Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Suneetha Reddy, who raised suspicion about some relatives.
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#Telangana #adjourns #hearing #Kadapa #MPs #anticipatory #bail #plea
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 28, 2023
‘It’s not fair’: Simona Halep unhappy over delayed doping hearing

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Simona Halep has criticised tennis’s anti-doping bodies for repeatedly delaying her independent tribunal hearing and not allowing her the chance to defend herself against a rule violation.
Halep, a two-time grand slam champion and former world No 1, has been provisionally suspended since August after testing positive for the drug Roxadustat following her US Open first-round loss. Roxadustat is primarily an anti-anaemia medicine that catalyses red blood cell creation in the body. Halep denies knowingly taking the banned substance.
According to Halep, her hearing was initially scheduled for 28 February, which gave her hope that she would know whether or not she could compete at Indian Wells. Anti-doping tests have been administered by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) since 2022 but Halep appeared to indicate that her case is under the remit of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Speaking publicly for the first time since announcing she had received the anti-doping rule violation, Halep said that the February hearing was eventually postponed to 24 March as the ITF required more time for additional testing, but the subsequent date was also postponed. Halep’s tribunal hearing is now scheduled for 28 May, the first day of the French Open.
“The next step is a hearing at the end of May, the 28th, but it is very fragile because the ITF said that they might cancel it as well,” she said. “If they do that, it will be almost eight months since I’ve been provisionally suspended for the first time and I believe that it’s not fair to spend eight months without even being judged by the tribunal.
“Emotionally, the whole period has not been easy and I just felt the need to speak out loud to my fans, to my supporters, and actually to the whole public,” continued Halep in an interview with Tennis Majors, which lists Patrick Mouratoglou, Halep’s coach, as a member of its staff.
Halep says that she sought the advice of “experts” who provided her with evidence that she unknowingly took contaminated supplements due to a mistake from the company that sells the supplements. Halep says she presented her evidence to the ITF in December, but the organisation chose to proceed with an anti-doping tribunal. Halep declined to name the experts as she has retained them for her tribunal.
“I had never heard about it so I didn’t know how I could take it, and actually how it could be in my urine. After a lot of work they found out that there was a contamination, a supplement contamination, and that’s why the quantity was so, so low in my body,” said Halep.

Halep says she has continued to train and she remains motivated to return to professional tennis and re-establish herself at the top, but at 31 years old every passing day on the sideline makes a comeback more difficult. Halep says she is primarily concerned with finally having the opportunity to defend her case.
“It’s been seven months since I’ve been originally suspended even though I’ve had all the evidence since December,” she said. “I’m not asking for special treatment. I just ask to be judged. How much longer is this going to take?”
Tennis Majors reported that the ITF said it was not in a position to comment on Halep’s criticism. The ITIA has been contacted for comment.
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#fair #Simona #Halep #unhappy #delayed #doping #hearing
( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

April 27, 2023
Viveka murder case: Telangana HC completes hearing on CBI plea

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Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court posted Thursday orders on the CBI petition to cancel the bail of Yerra Gangi Reddy, the main accused in former Andhra Pradesh Minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy’s murder case.
The court completed a hearing on the petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and adjourned the case to Thursday for judgement.
The judgement is eagerly awaited as the CBI investigation in the case has entered a crucial phase.

The Supreme Court recently extended the deadline for completing the investigation into the sensational case till June 30.
The CBI sought the cancellation of the bail on the ground that Gangi Reddy is the main accused and has been influencing key witnesses in the case.
During the previous hearing, the CBI counsel had argued that Gangi Reddy is having political backing and is trying to put pressure on the witnesses through his connections.
Justice D. Ramesh had asked the CBI to submit some evidence that Gangi Reddy is influencing witnesses.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Andhra Pradesh police, which was then investigating the murder case, arrested Gangi Reddy on March 28, 2019

Gangi Reddy was granted default bail by a local court at Pulivendula in October 2021 on technical grounds as the CBI failed to file the charge sheet within 90 days of registering the FIR. Later, the Andhra Pradesh High Court also upheld the decision of the lower court.
The CBI had approached the Supreme Court, challenging the order of the High Court.
The Supreme Court in November last year transferred the trial in the murder case from Andhra Pradesh to CBI court in Hyderabad. Consequent to this, the apex court asked the CBI to approach the Telangana High Court for cancellation of bail of Gangi Reddy.
Vivekananda Reddy, brother of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and uncle of present Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, was murdered at his residence in Pulivendula of Kadapa district on March 15, 2019, weeks before elections.
The 68-year-old former state minister and former MP was alone at his house when unidentified persons barged in and killed him.
The CBI took over the investigation into the case in 2020 on the direction of Andhra Pradesh High Court while hearing a petition of Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Suneetha Reddy, who raised suspicion about some relatives.
The Supreme Court transferred the case to Hyderabad while observing that doubts raised by Suneetha Reddy about getting a fair trial and investigation in Andhra Pradesh were reasonable.
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#Viveka #murder #case #Telangana #completes #hearing #CBI #plea
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 26, 2023