Tag: pleas

Godhra train burning case: SC to hear pleas of Gujarat govt, convicts on March 24

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear on March 24 the appeal of the Gujarat government and the bail pleas of several accused who are serving life imprisonment in the 2002 Godhra train burning case.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, meanwhile, directed the counsel for the Gujarat government and the convicts to provide a soft copy of the consolidated chart containing details such as actual sentences awarded to them and the period spent in jail till now.
The bench adjourned the hearing after it was apprised that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the state government, was then unavailable.
“We will have it on Friday,” the bench said.
On February 20, the state government had told the top court that it will be seeking award of death penalty to 11 convicts whose sentences in the 2002 Godhra train burning case were commuted to life imprisonment by the Gujarat High Court.
“We will be seriously pressing for award of death penalty to the convicts whose death penalties were commuted into life imprisonment (by the Gujarat High Court). This is the rarest of rare cases where 59 people, including women and children, were burnt alive,” the solicitor general had said.
“It is consistent everywhere that the bogey was locked from outside. Fifty-nine died, including ladies and children,” he had added.
Giving details, the law officer had said 11 convicts were sentenced to death by the trial court and 20 others granted life term in the case.

The high court upheld total 31 convictions in the case and commuted the death penalties of the 11 convicts to life term, Mehta had said.
On February 27, 2002, 59 people were killed when the S-6 coach of the train was burnt at Gujarat’s Godhra, triggering riots in the state.
The state government has come in appeal against the commutation of death penalty into life term for 11 convicts, Mehta said. Several accused, he added, have filed pleas against the high court upholding their convictions in the case.
The top court has granted bail to two convicts in the case so far. Seven other bail pleas are pending adjudication in the matter.
The bench noted that a large number of bail applications have been filed before it in the case and said, “It has been agreed that the AORs (advocates-on-record) on behalf of applicants along with advocate Swati Ghildiyal, standing counsel for Gujarat, shall prepare a comprehensive chart with all relevant details. List after three weeks.”
The Supreme Court had on January 30 sought the Gujarat government’s response on the bail pleas of some of the convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in the case.
The court issued notice to the state government on the bail pleas of Abdul Raheman Dhantia alias Kankatto and Abdul Sattar Ibrahim Gaddi Asla, among others.
The state government, on the other hand, said it was not “merely a stone pelting” case as the convicts had bolted a bogey of the Sabarmati Express, leading to the death of several passengers on the train.
“Some are saying their role was just stone pelting. But when you lock a bogey from outside, light it on fire and then pelt stones, it is not just stone pelting,” the solicitor general had said.
On December 15, last year, the top court granted bail to Faruk, who was serving a life sentence in the case and noted that he had been in jail for 17 years.
Faruk, along with several others, was convicted for pelting stones at a coach of the Sabarmati Express.
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#Godhra #train #burning #case #hear #pleas #Gujarat #govt #convicts #March
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 17, 2023
2019 Gadchiroli blast: NIA court rejects pleas of 3 accused seeking discharge from MCOCA

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Mumbai: A special court here has rejected pleas of three accused in the May 2019 Gadchiroli IED blast case in Maharashtra wherein they had sought discharge from provisions of stringent anti-organised crime law MCOCA, saying ample material existed to show they played a “major role in the commission of the crime” and are members of a banned outfit.
Fifteen security personnel of the Quick Response Team (QRT) and one civilian were killed in an IED (improvised explosive device) blast on May 1, 2019, in Gadchiroli district in the Vidarbha region, carried out by Naxalites.
Special NIA (National Investigation Agency) court judge Rajesh Katariya rejected the pleas of the three accused — Somsay Madavi, Kisan Hidami and Parasram Tulavi — on March 6. A detailed order was made available on Thursday.
The trio and six others have been booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), Indian Penal Code (IPC) section for murder and provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, an anti-terror law.
If found guilty of offences covered under the MCOCA, the accused are liable to get the death sentence or life imprisonment, and a minimum fine of Rs 1,50,000.
In his application filed through advocate Shariff Shaikh, accused Tulavi claimed he has been falsely implicated in the crime.
During arguments, advocate Shaikh had submitted before the court that to prosecute his client under the MCOCA, the prosecution has to prove the ingredients of alleged offences under the Act.
There was no material against the applicant in that regard and the sanction granted to prosecute the accused under the MCOCA was invalid, the defence lawyer submitted.

Similar contentions were raised by the other two accused (Madavi and Hidami) through their advocate Wahab Khan.
However, special public prosecutor Jaysing Desai opposed the discharge applications, saying the accused are members of the banned organization Communist Party of India (Maoist).
They were involved in the killing of police personnel and were also part of the conspiracy behind the bomb blast. Many instances have been recorded in the past regarding illegal acts carried out by members of the said organisation (CPI-Maoist), Desai argued.
The court, after hearing both the sides, held that prima facie, there was ample material to show the applicants are members of the banned organization.
The perusal of the statement of the co-accused clearly shows the applicants had been part of a major conspiracy linked to the bomb attack and participated in a meeting before the strike, it said.
“It also shows that applicants had played a major role in the commission of the crime,” the court noted in its order, adding allegations made against them are “specific” in nature.
The material placed before the court disclosed grave suspicion against the trio and whether or not allegations levelled against them are true is a matter that cannot be determined at the stage of framing of charge, the judge said.
“Considering the factual matrix, I am of the view that mitigating circumstances are very less and to do the ultimate justice, trial needs to be held,” the NIA court judge added.
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#Gadchiroli #blast #NIA #court #rejects #pleas #accused #seeking #discharge #MCOCA
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 9, 2023
SC verdict on pleas for independent mechanism to appoint ECs on Thursday

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court will deliver judgment on Thursday on a batch of petitions seeking a collegium-like system for the appointment of Election Commissioners (ECs) and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
A constitution bench, headed by Justice K.M. Joseph and comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy, and C.T. Ravikumar had reserved judgment in the matter on November 24, 2022. According to the causelist, two judgments, each by Justices Joseph and Rastogi, will be pronounced at 10.30 a.m. on Thursday in the matter.
During the arguments, Attorney General R. Venkataramani had told the Supreme Court that if it were to begin to doubt every step taken by the government in the process of appointment of the Election Commissioner, then it has implications on the integrity and independenceA of the institution.
The five-judge constitution bench, headed by Justice Joseph, had then shot a volley of questions at the country’s top law officer in connection with the appointment of Election Commissioner Arun Goel. It posed some critical questions to the AG in connection with Goel’s appointment: what deliberation could have been done to finalise his name within 24 hours, same day clearance, same day process completed, and the appointment was made not even in 24 hours.
The Centre had, however, maintained that there is no trigger point for the Supreme Court to interfere in the appointment process of the Election Commissioner.
After hearing detailed arguments, the Supreme Court reserved the judgment on a batch of petitions seeking a collegium-like system for the appointment of the ECs and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
During the hearing, the Supreme Court had told the Centre that it wants to see the files relating to the recent appointment of Goel as the Election Commissioner and emphasised that it wants to see by what mechanism, “he was picked up”, and “there is no danger to produce it (files)”.

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#verdict #pleas #independent #mechanism #appoint #ECs #Thursday
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 1, 2023
SC to decide on review pleas against acquittal of 3 Chhawla gangrape-murder convicts

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court is likely to consider on Thursday as many as five petitions seeking review of its verdict acquitting three death row convicts in the gangrape and murder case of a 19-year-old girl in Chhawla area here in 2012.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi will decide by circulation in chambers the fate of the five review petitions at 1.50 PM on March 2.
According to the list of business uploaded on the apex court website, the review pleas are listed for consideration on Thursday.
The top court, on February 8, had agreed to constitute a three-judge bench to consider pleas for a review of its verdict acquitting the three death row convicts in the sensational case.
Besides the Delhi government, father of the victim, Uttrakhand Bachao Movement and Uttarakhand Lok Manch have sought the review of the judgement.
In 2012, the three accused had allegedly gangraped the girl, murdered her and mutilated her body with a screwdriver and other weapons. The trial court had awarded them death sentence and the high court upheld it in August 2014.
The apex court set aside the high court order and acquitted them of the offences in November last year, sparking a debate on the verdict.
Except the plea seeking review of a judgement awarding death penalty to a convict, such petitions are considered and decided in chambers.

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#decide #review #pleas #acquittal #Chhawla #gangrapemurder #convicts
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 1, 2023
Telangana: Supreme Court hears pleas on BRS MLA poaching case

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Hyderabad: The Supreme court bench comprising Justice BR Gavai, and Justice Aravind Kumar heard the BRS MLA Poaching case on Monday.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing the state government, requested the case be transferred back to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and asked for the Telangana High Court verdict to be struck down.
He told the bench that CBI is under BJP and that it should not investigate the issue.
Earlier this month, the apex court agreed to take up a plea filed by Telangana Police challenging the high court order which upheld the CBI probe into the alleged criminal conspiracy behind an attempt to poach BRS MLAs by the BJP.
A division bench of the High Court on February 6 upheld the earlier order of a single judge on December 26, 2022 transferring the case to CBI.
The plea argued that the high court did not appreciate that the CBI directly works under the Centre and is under the control of the office of the Prime Minister and the Home Ministry. The state government alleged the involvement of some top BJP leaders to poach its four MLAs, was an attempt to topple the government.
The plea said: “The Bharatiya Janata Party is in power in the Central Government and the allegations in the FIR are squarely and directly against the said party adopting illegal and criminal steps and methods to destabilise the Government of Telangana, the Hon’ble High Court therefore could not have entrusted the investigation to CBI in any case.”
“The High Court has unnecessarily drawn the conclusion that release of the CD by the Chief Minister on 03.11.2022 amounted to interference with the investigation and therefore concluded that investigation was not fair and violated the rights of accused for fair investigation,” it added.

(With inputs from IANS)
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#Telangana #Supreme #Court #hears #pleas #BRS #MLA #poaching #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 27, 2023
Supreme Court To Consider Early Hearing Of Pleas Challenging Article 370 Abrogation

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SRINAGAR: The petitions challenging the nullification of Article 370 of the Constitution could be taken up for hearing soon as Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Friday said he would take a call on their listing.
“I will take a call on it,” according to newspaper The Tribune the CJI told senior advocate Raju Ramachandran who mentioned the matter and sought listing of petitions against doing away with Article 370 which gave a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir that also used to include Ladakh.
Earlier, the CJI had said that he would examine and give a date for listing of petitions, challenging abolition of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into union territories, which have been hanging fire for more than three years.
On September 23 last year, CJI Chandrachud’s predecessor Justice UU Lalit had agreed to take up these petitions after the 2022 Dussehra vacation but the matter hasn’t been taken up for hearing so far.
The Supreme Court had on February 13 dismissed a petition challenging notifications for delimitation of assembly constituencies in the newly created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, saying “there is absolutely no merit in any of the contentions raised by the petitioners”.
A Bench of Justice SK Kaul and Justice AS Oka had, however, clarified that it had not ruled on the validity of the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which is pending before another Bench.
The top court had on August 28, 2019 referred petitions challenging Presidential Orders nullifying Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into union territories to a five-judge Constitution Bench. In March 2020, it had refused to refer it to a larger Bench of seven judges.
There are around two dozen petitions challenging the Presidential Order nullifying Article 370, including those by Delhi-based advocate ML Sharma, Jammu and Kashmir-based lawyer Shakir Shabir, National Conference Lok Sabha MPs Mohammad Akbar Lone and Justice Hasnain Masoodi (retd), bureaucrat-turned-politician Shah Faesal and his party colleague Shehla Rashid.

There is another PIL filed by former interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir Radha Kumar, Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak (retd), Major General Ashok Mehta (retd), and former IAS officers Hindal Haidar Tyabji, Amitabha Pande and Gopal Pillai, who have urged the top court to declare the August 5 Presidential Orders “unconstitutional, void and inoperative”.
As the petitions didn’t get listed after March 2, 2020, former Jammu and Kashmir MLA Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami had moved the Supreme Court in August last year seeking an early hearing of petitions challenging the validity of abrogation of special status of the erstwhile state.

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#Supreme #Court #Early #Hearing #Pleas #Challenging #Article #Abrogation
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 17, 2023
SC to hear in May pleas concerning removal of encroachments from railway land in Haldwani

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would hear in May the pleas on which it had last month stayed the Uttarakhand High Court’s order for removal of encroachments from 29 acres of land claimed by the railways in Haldwani.
The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justices SK Kaul and Manoj Misra, which listed it for hearing on May 2.
On January 5, the top court had stayed the high court order for removal of encroachments from the 29 acres of land claimed by the railways in Haldwani, terming it a “human issue” and saying 50,000 people cannot be uprooted overnight.
“We do believe that a workable arrangement is necessary to segregate people who may have no rights in the land and those who have…. Coupled with schemes of rehabilitation which may already exist while recognising the need of the railways,” it had said.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the bench was requested to grant eight weeks’ time to authorities to work out a solution as indicated by the court last month.
According to the railways, there are 4,365 encroachers on the land, while the occupants were earlier staging protests in Haldwani, asserting that they were the rightful owners of the land.
Nearly 50,000 people, a majority of them Muslims, belonging to more than 4,000 families reside on the disputed land.
Observing that many of the occupants have claimed that they have been residing there for more than 50 years, the apex court had last month observed that there was a “human angle” to the problem and the authorities concerned had to find a “practical way out”.

It had also issued notices to the railways and the Uttarakhand government, seeking their responses to a batch of pleas challenging the high court order for removal of encroachments.
In its December 20 last year order, the high court had said, “The railway authorities, in coordination with the district administration, and if need be, with any other paramilitary forces, shall immediately, after giving a week’s notice to the occupants over the railway land, ask them to vacate the land within the aforesaid period.”
The apex court had, however, said since the people sought to be removed from the land have been staying there for several years, some rehabilitation has to be found for them.
Staying the high court’s directions, the apex court had said there had to be complete restraint on any further occupation of land and construction whether by the existing occupants or anyone else.
The high court had ordered demolition of constructions on the alleged encroached railway land at Banbhoolpura in Haldwani.
It had directed that a week’s notice be given to the encroachers, after which the encroachments should be demolished.
The residents have submitted in their plea that the high court has gravely erred in passing the impugned order, despite being aware of the fact that proceedings with regard to the title of the residents, including the petitioners, are pending before the district magistrate.
The petitioners have claimed that they possess documents that clearly establish their title and valid occupation.
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#hear #pleas #removal #encroachments #railway #land #Haldwani
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 7, 2023
Guj court rejects bail pleas of seven accused in Morbi bridge collapse case

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Morbi: A court here on Saturday rejected the bail applications of seven people arrested in connection with the collapse of a suspension bridge in Morbi town of Gujarat, in which 135 people were killed.
The court of principal sessions judge P C Joshi refused to grant bail to the seven accused, including two managers of Oreva Group, the company which was given the contract for operation and maintenance of the bridge.
The British-era bridge on Machchhu river collapsed on October 30, 2022, days after it was reopened following repairs.
Jaysukh Patel, the managing director of Oreva Group, had surrendered before a court here on February 1 before his arrest.
The Morbi police had last week filed a chargesheet in the case, in which 10 persons have been arrested so far, including Patel.
The other nine arrested persons include two managers of the firm, two ticket-booking clerks, three security guards and two sub-contractors who were engaged for the repair works by Oreva Group.
The bail pleas of these nine persons were rejected earlier by the Gujarat High Court and sessions court. Except the two sub-contractors, the other seven once again approached court for bail on Thursday.
Earlier, a special investigation team (SIT), which was formed by the state government to probe the collapse, had cited several lapses on the part of the firm.
Nearly 250 persons were on the hanging bridge, a popular tourist site, when it caved in.

According to the SIT, the lapses included lack of restriction on the number of persons accessing the bridge and no curb on sale of tickets, which led to unrestricted movement on the structure, and carrying out repairs without consulting experts.
The probe had revealed the new metal flooring done by the firm had increased the weight of the structure and it had failed to change the rusted cables on which the entire bridge was hanging.
Apart from this, the contractors hired by Patel’s firm were not qualified to carry out such repair and renovation work, the SIT stated.
The probe report also revealed the Oreva Group did not hire any expert agency to assess the load-bearing capacity of the carriageway before throwing it open to the public after repair and renovation work.
The prosecution had earlier informed the lower court that the firm had sold 3,165 tickets on the day of the collapse alone and there was no coordination between ticket booking offices on both sides of the bridge.
All 10 accused, including Jaysukh Patel, have been charged under the Indian Penal Code sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 336 (act which endangers human life), 337 (causing hurt to any person by doing any rash or negligent act) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by doing rash or negligent act).
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#Guj #court #rejects #bail #pleas #accused #Morbi #bridge #collapse #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 4, 2023
SC to hear pleas challenging laws regulating conversions due to interfaith marriages

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear on February 3 a batch of pleas challenging controversial state laws regulating religious conversions due to interfaith marriages.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala noted that a transfer plea was mentioned in the morning.
“We can list it, issue notice and hear it together. The transfer petition will also be numbered by then. The attorney general can also examine. We will hear all on Friday,” the bench said.
During the brief hearing, senior advocate CU Singh, appearing in the court on behalf of NGO “Citizens for Justice and Peace” of activist Teesta Setalwad, submitted that people cannot get married due to these state laws and the situation is very grave.
Attorney General R Venkataramani submitted that these are state legislations that have been challenged before the apex court and the high courts concerned should hear the cases.
The top court had earlier asked the parties challenging the anti-conversion laws of several states to file a common petition seeking a transfer of the cases on the issue from various high courts to the apex court.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had challenged the locus standi of “Citizens for Justice and Peace”, which is one of the petitioners. Mehta had not elaborated on the reasons for questioning the NGO’s locus.
The bench had noted that there were at least five such pleas “before the Allahabad High Court, seven before the Madhya Pradesh High Court, two each before the Gujarat and Jharkhand high courts, three before the Himachal Pradesh High Court, and one each before the Karnataka and Uttarakhand high courts”, and said a common petition for their transfer can be filed.

Besides, two separate petitions have been filed by Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, challenging the interim orders of the respective high courts that stayed certain provisions of the state laws on conversion.
Earlier, a bench headed by Justice M R Shah had said religious conversion is a serious issue that should not be given a political colour.
It had sought the attorney general’s assistance on the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.
Another bench headed by the CJI had, on January 2, sought to know the status of the cases pending before different high courts challenging controversial state laws regulating religious conversion due to interfaith marriages and said if the cases are similar in nature, it may transfer those to itself.
It had asked “Citizens for Justice and Peace” and the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to apprise it of the status of the cases challenging the state laws on conversion through marriage.
The apex court had, on January 6, 2021, agreed to examine certain new and controversial laws of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, regulating religious conversions due to interfaith marriages.
The Uttar Pradesh law relates to not only interfaith marriages but all religious conversions and lays down elaborate procedures for anyone who wishes to convert to another religion.
The Uttarakhand law entails a two-year jail term for those found guilty of religious conversion through “force or allurement”. The allurement can be in the form of cash, employment or material benefits.
The plea filed by the NGO has alleged that the legislations violate articles 21 and 25 of the Constitution as those empower the State to suppress an individual’s personal liberty and freedom to practise the religion of his choice.
Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind has also moved the Supreme Court, challenging the anti-conversion laws of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. It has contended that these laws have been enacted to “harass” interfaith couples and implicate them in criminal cases.
The Muslim body, in its PIL filed through advocate Ejaz Maqbool, has said the provisions of all such laws of the five states force people to disclose their faith and consequently, invade their privacy.
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#hear #pleas #challenging #laws #regulating #conversions #due #interfaith #marriages
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 30, 2023