Tag: junks

SC junks PIL seeking FIR against Vijayvargiya over his remarks on women’s attire

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL seeking registration of an FIR against senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya and others over his controversial remark on clumsily attired women.
A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna rejected the plea which sought a mechanism at the central and state level to deal with people making such remarks.
The bench said if the petitioner, Delhi resident Anjale Patel, and others had grievances over the statement, they could approach an appropriate forum including the lower court.

On April 6, Vijayvargiya, a BJP general secretary, had said “badly dressed” women looked like “Shurpnakha”. In Ramayana, Shurpnakha is the sister of demon king Ravan.
Vijayvargiya came under fierce attack from women’s groups who called his comments, made at a function in Indore, “sexist and misogynistic”.
Advocate Satya Mitra, appearing for the petitioner, sought registration of an FIR against the BJP leader under section 354 (outraging the modesty of woman) and section 500 (punishment for defamation).
He said there should be a mechanism, either at the Centre or state level or both, to deal with and take action against those making such statements.
The bench said although it is dismissing the petition, it should not be construed that it is approving the statement.

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#junks #PIL #seeking #FIR #Vijayvargiya #remarks #womens #attire
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 21, 2023
SC junks Kerala’s plea against translocation of rogue elephant to tiger reserve

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a Kerala government plea challenging the state high court order asking it to translocate a rogue elephant to the Parambikulam tiger reserve in the state’s Palakkad district.
The Kerala government, earlier in the day, mentioned the plea for hearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and it decided to hear the plea during the day.
During the hearing, the bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, observed that the high court had considered the view of the expert committee and passed a reasoned order. However, the state government pressed that the elephant should be sent to a training centre, since it had killed seven people and destroyed several homes.

The bench told the Kerala government counsel that experts have said that the elephant needs to be relocated, while declining to interfere with the high court order. It further added that the committee has suggested something and the state government cannot go over it.
The state government contended that one week was given by the high court to relocate the elephant to an alternative space, and if the state government fails, then it has to be shifted to Parambikulam. Counsel pressed that the government had decided to relocate the elephant to a training centre against the backdrop that the elephant had killed people and destroyed several homes.
After hearing arguments in the matter, the bench declined to entertain the appeal by the state government against the high court order.
The Kerala High Court, last week, declined to review its decision to translocate the rice-eating tusker to the Parambikulam tiger reserve.
On April 5, the high court had directed relocation of the elephant to the tiger reserve in accordance with the suggestion made by the expert committee.

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#junks #Keralas #plea #translocation #rogue #elephant #tiger #reserve
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 17, 2023
HC junks PIL challenging UP govt’s move to hold religious events during Navratri

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Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a PIL challenging the state government’s decision allocating Rs 1 lakh to each district to hold religious events during Navratri and Ram Navami festivals and pay honorarium to artistes.
Upholding the Yogi Adityanath government’s decision to pay honorarium to the performers at the programmes organised at temples, the Lucknow bench of high Court has held that this does not amount to indulgence of the state in propagation of any religion or religious denomination.
In fact it is a simple secular activity of the state while it indulges in publicising the developmental work undertaken by the state, the court said.

A bench of Justices D K Upadhyaya and O P Shukla dismissed the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Motilal Yadav challenging the state government’s March 10, 2023 decision whereby it had allocated Rs 1 lakh to each district on the occasion of Ram Navami.
The court’s order was passed on March 22 but was uploaded on its website on Tuesday only.
In its order, the bench also observed, “If the state spends some money out of the taxes collected by it from the citizens and appropriates some amount for providing some conveniences or facilities to any religious denomination, it will not be violative of Article 27 of the Constitution of India.”
“We have to always keep in mind that there exits a clear line of distinction between a secular activity and religious activity which may be undertaken by the State, like providing conveniences and facilities and indulgence of a State in maintenance and propagation of religion or religious denomination,” added the bench.
Saying that the petitioner had misunderstood the state government’s order, the bench observed, “The Government order does not make any provision for payment of any amount to any person, be it a priest in a temple or anyone else associated with the activities of the temple; rather, the amount is to be paid to the performers or artisans who may be performing on such occasions.”

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#junks #PIL #challenging #govts #move #hold #religious #events #Navratri
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 12, 2023
SC junks PFI student wing leader’s plea for PMLA case transfer to Ernakulam

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday junked a plea moved by the Popular Front of India’s (PFI) student wing leader, K.A. Rauf Sherif, seeking a transfer of a money-laundering case lodged against him from Lucknow to Kerala’s Ernakulam.
A bench of Justices V. Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal said: “We find no legally valid and justifiable grounds to order this transfer. Therefore, this transfer petition is dismissed. Pending application(s), if any, stands disposed of accordingly.”
The bench noted that the fact that the petitioner was sent to custody by the special judge at Ernakulam under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and that, therefore, the filing of the complaint at Lucknow is impermissible, is not legally well-founded.

The petitioner was arrested on December 12, 2020, in Kerala and he was produced before the magistrate on December 13, 2020, who sent him to judicial custody till December 24, 2020. “Therefore, the NIA moved an application under Section 167 of the Code before the Principal Sessions Judge, Ernakulam for the grant of Enforcement Directorate custody for a period of 14 days. An order under Section 167(2) of the Code had to be passed necessarily by the magistrate to whom an accused person is forwarded. In fact, Section 167(2) contains the words whether he has or has not jurisdiction to try the case. Therefore, the argument revolving around Section 167(2) of the Code also fails,” said the bench.
It stressed that a special court in Lucknow dealing with cases lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot be said to be lacking in territorial jurisdiction to entertain the complaint. “In any case, the lack of jurisdiction of a court to entertain a complaint can be no ground to order its transfer. A congenital defect of lack of jurisdiction, assuming that it exists, inures to the benefit of the accused and hence it need not be cured at the instance of the accused to his detriment. Therefore, the first ground on which transfer is sought, is liable to be rejected,” it said.
The bench noted that the second ground on which transfer is sought is that 7 out of 10 accused persons are residents of Kerala. “But this can hardly be a ground for ordering the transfer of investigation. Similarly, the third ground that a majority of witnesses are also from Kerala/south India is also no ground to order the transfer of the complaint,” it held.
The ED had contended that Sherif had received huge amounts of money in his bank accounts through suspicious transactions.
The Lucknow court had framed charges against Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan and six others in the PMLA case in December 2022. In October 2020, Kappan was arrested with three others on their way to Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras to report on the alleged gang rape and killing of a 19-year-old woman.

Besides Kappan, the other accused in the case is Sherif and others. Sherif claimed that he was the General Secretary of Campus Front of India, which is now banned as an unlawful association, vide notification issued by the Union of India, Ministry of Home Affairs dated September 27, 2021 under Section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967
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#junks #PFI #student #wing #leaders #plea #PMLA #case #transfer #Ernakulam
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 10, 2023
Court junks Nirav Modi sister’s plea for ED intervention in US bankruptcy matter

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Mumbai: A special court on Monday rejected a plea of Purvi Mehta, sister of fugitive diamond trader and PNB scam accused Nirav Modi, seeking a direction to the Enforcement Directorate to intervene in bankruptcy proceedings underway against him in the United States where she has been made a defendant.
In the plea, filed in April last year before the special court for cases under the Fugitive Economics Offenders (FEO) Act, Mehta (47) had said the ED should be directed to intervene in the case before a US court and seek injunction at least with respect to assets concerning her.
She has turned an approver in the bank fraud case filed under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Special judge S M Menjoge, after hearing prosecution and defence sides, rejected Mehta’s plea, saying there was no provision in the FEO Act by which the relief sought by her can be granted.
This court cannot prevent any person from prosecuting any matter either in India or outside the country, the judge observed.
Nirav Modi, a key accused in the Rs 13,000-crore scam at state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB), was declared a fugitive economic offender in December 2019. The 51-year-old diamantaire is currently lodged in a UK prison.
In June 2020, a special PMLA court in Mumbai ordered confiscation of his properties which the ED claimed had been bought using proceeds of crime.
In her plea, Mehta, who has turned an approver in the PMLA case against Nirav Modi and others, said she had been made a defendant in bankruptcy proceedings against her brother in a US court.

It means her properties are also being considered by the US court and its proceedings overlap with those in India related to her, Mehta’s plea had said.
The ED should be directed to intervene in the case before the US court, and seek an injunction at least with respect to assets concerning her, said the plea.
Lawyers representing PNB, which is the victim of the multi-crore fraud, submitted before the court that Mehta’s plea was not maintainable.
The ED also strongly objected to her plea, saying Mehta’s properties had been already attached as per provisions of the FEO Act.
There was no provision in the FEO Act to direct the central agency to intervene in US court proceedings, it told the court.
The special court, while rejecting Mehta’s plea, pointed out that she’s an approver in the PMLA case and not in this matter (filed under the FEO Act) and therefore she cannot claim be an interested party.
Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, owners of prominent jewellery firms, are accused of cheating the nationalized bank to the tune of Rs 13,000 crore by fraudulently obtaining Letters of Undertaking which act as bank guarantee while taking loans in foreign countries.
Purvi Mehta and her husband Maiank Mehta were made approvers in the bank fraud case in January 2021 on condition of making full and true disclosure before the PMLA court.
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#Court #junks #Nirav #Modi #sisters #plea #intervention #bankruptcy #matter
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 13, 2023