Legal News at Vakilno1.com

No political influence in commutation of death: Apex Court

New Delhi,  The Supreme Court Wednesday said it will decide on pleas for commuting death sentences to life imprisonment on the grounds of delay purely on the basis of law without being influenced by politics.

“If there are 20 people sentenced to death, then … some must have the support of some group or other… some have no godfather. How do we deal with this?” Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya said while hearing a petition by Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, who is on death row, and his wife Navneet Kaur.

Bhullar’s hearing seeking commutation of his death sentence to life term on the grounds of inordinate delay in deciding on his mercy plea will now come up for hearing Oct 18.
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Gujarat minister headed ‘crime syndicate’, apex court told

New Delhi,  The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Tuesday told the Supreme Court that former Gujarat minister Amit Shah was the “commander of crime syndicate with some officials of state police as its foot soldiers” who would eliminate crucial witnesses in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh staged shootout.

The apex court bench of Justice Aftab Alam and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai was told that at every stage of the investigation, either the witness was made to retract his statement or was eliminated.

Additional Solicitor General Vivek Tankha referred to the instance of prosecution witness Azam Khan retracting his statement and the alleged staged shootout killing of witness Tulsiram Prajapati to buttress his argument.
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Apex court relief for Himachal on power sharing

New Delhi,  The Supreme Court Tuesday said that Himachal Pradesh was entitled to 7.19 percent of the power from the Bhakra-Nangal and Beas hydropower projects and awarded compensation to the hill state.

The compensation, which will be calculated by the central government, would be paid by Punjab and Haryana as the two states were the beneficiaries of the denial of power to Himachal Pradesh over the last few decades.

Himachal Pradesh had sought 12 percent of the power generated by the Bhakra Beas Management Board hydropower projects in the state.
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Portuguese Supreme Court cancels Abu Salem’s extradition, CBI to appeal

New Delhi,  The Portuguese Supreme Court has cancelled the extradition of alleged mobster Abu Salem to India but the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it would challenge the verdict.

Salem had contended before the Portuguese court that his extradition should be cancelled as the conditions for this had not been met. However, this plea “has been rejected by the Supreme Court. Therefore, CBI is on a secure wicket,” CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra told reporters.

She said the agency would approach the external affairs ministry on filing an appeal in Portugal’s Supreme Court challenging the decision.
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Supreme court questions government on endosulfan exports

New Delhi,  The Supreme Court Monday asked the central government to state its position on the export of the endosulfan insecticide stocks lying in production units.

The court was hearing a plea seeking a complete ban on production, sale, distribution and use of the farm insecticide blamed for causing ailments in humans.

An apex court bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatanter Kumar said: “On Friday we will hear (the centre) and pass the order.”

The court’s direction to the centre came after the joint expert committee (JEC) set up by it said that the “manufacturers and formulators have export orders of 1,734 MT of endosulfan technical and 292.5 KL of formulation. Hence, these amounts can be exported.”
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Apex court sets terms for bar election

New Delhi,  The Supreme Court Monday said that members of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) whose names do not figure in the final list of regular practitioners would not be entitled to either vote or contest the election for the office bearers of the apex body of lawyers.

“The members of the SCBA, whose names do not figure in the final list of regular practitioners, shall not be entitled to either vote for election of the office bearers of the SCBA or to contest any of the posts for which elections would be held by,” said an apex court bench of Justice J.M. Panchal and Justice H.L. Gokhale.

After preparation of the final list of the regular practitioners, each member shall give a written intimation to the association whether he was a member of another court annexed bar, the judgment read.
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Lalit Modi’s plea for independent probe rejected

New Delhi,  The Supreme Court Monday dismissed a petition by former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi seeking an independent inquiry into the allegations of financial irregularities against him.

An apex court bench of Justice J.M. Panchal and Justice H.L. Gokhale said that “a mere apprehension of bias cannot be a ground for interference. There must exist a real danger of bias”.

Justice Gokhale said that Modi may have an apprehension but it was not possible to say from the material on record that “he was facing a real danger of bias”.

The court said that “though such domestic inquiries have undoubtedly to be fair, a member of a society cannot stretch the principle of fairness to the extent of demanding a tribunal consisting of outsiders, on the basis that the society members are biased against him”.

Modi had challenged the composition of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) disciplinary committee set up to probe allegations against him.
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Apex court divided on black money SIT

New Delhi,  A Supreme Court bench was Friday divided on the maintainability of the central government’s application for recall of a July 4 apex court judgment setting up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe black money. The bench has referred the issue to Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia.

The matter was referred following a split verdict between Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice S.S. Nijjar on the question of maintainability of the centre’s application that has sought the recall of the apex court’s order setting up SIT to investigate laundering of ill-gotten money parked in tax havens.

The court said that since “we have differed in our views regarding the maintainability” of the centre’s application on the recall of July 4, 2011, judgment and order, let the matter be placed before the Chief Justice of India, for reference to a third Judge. The judgment and order sought to be recalled were pronounced by Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy (since retired) and Justice S.S.Nijjar.
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Apex court asks CBI to probe Karnataka illegal mining

New Delhi/Bangalore, The Supreme Court Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is already under its instruction to investigate illegal mining in Karnataka, to also probe allegations of illegal extraction of iron ore by arrested mining baron G. Janardhana Reddy.

Charges of illegal extraction in Andhra Pradesh have landed Janardhana Reddy, a former Karnataka minister, in a Hyderabad jail.

Reddy, minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s B.S. Yeddyurappa-led government in Karnataka, has always asserted that his mining business was confined to Andhra Pradesh and that he was not mining in Karnataka.
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Apex court dismisses Sadhvi Pragya’s bail plea

New Delhi,  The Supreme Court Friday dismissed the bail plea of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the main accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast, in which six people were killed and over 100 injured.

Dismissing her plea, the bench of Justice J.M.Panchal and Justice H.L.Gokhale said: “Having regard to the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case, this court is of the opinion that question of violation of Article 22(2) does not arise.”

Sadhvi Pragya had challenged the Bombay High Court order of March 12, 2010 rejecting her plea for bail, contending that her arrest violated the mandate of Article 22(1) and 22(2) of the constitution and also on the ground that no charge sheet was filed within 90 days as contemplated by Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
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