'Of the scores of horrific video clips in circulation of the anti-Muslim violence that engulfed large parts of North East Delhi a month ago, one piece of mobile-phone footage has been indelibly seared into our collective memories. Even a country habituated to seeing Muslim victims of lynchings being filmed by their attackers was stunned at the sight of the assailants in this video – men in police uniform... A month later there has been no investigation, no explanations offered by police, leave alone starting an inquiry that would hold the assailants accountable.
'The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the general orders passed by the High Courts of Allahabad and Kerala which restrained all recovery proceedings by tax authorities under State and Centre, and by Banks and other Financial Institutions until April 6. These High Courts had passed the stay orders to cut down litigation in the wake of COVID 19 pandemic. In SC, a bench comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar, Vineet Saran and Krishna Murari passed the stay order on the petition filed by the Central Government against the HC orders.
'We should be deeply grateful to Justice Ranjan Gogoi. His conduct has disabused us of any illusions we might harbour about the legitimacy of the Indian Supreme Court. The government, in a brazen contravention of all propriety, has given him a nomination to the Rajya Sabha. He has been shameless enough to accept it. In doing so, he has not just cast doubt on his own judgement, character, and probity; he has dragged down the entire judiciary with him...'
'While quashing the "Leave India" notice issued to a Polish student for participating in an anti-CAA rally, the Calcutta High Court applied the principle that even a foreigner, who is in Indian soil, has the fundamental right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India...'
'The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail plea moved by civil rights activists Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde in the Bhima Koregaon case. Both the activists have been booked under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for alleged Maoist links following the violence at Bhima Koregaon village in Pune district on January 1, 2018. Although the Pune Police was investigating the case, the Centre in February transferred it from the Maharashtra government to the National Investigation Agency (NIA)...'
'Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has been nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha by President Ram Nath Kovind. A notification to this effect was issued by the Union home ministry on Monday... This is the first time that a government has nominated a CJI to the upper house and will raise questions about the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary, especially since Gogoi headed benches in key cases that the same government which has nominated him had important political stakes in.
'An international lawyers’ body has written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind raising concerns over the “hasty decision” of the government to transfer Justice S Muralidhar from the Delhi High Court to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Justice Muralidhar was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the night of February 26, a day after he had pulled up Delhi Police for failing to register FIRs against three BJP leaders for allegedly giving hate speeches ahead of the communal riots in northeast Delhi.
'BJP Member of Parliament and lawyer Meenakshi Lekhi today said in the Lok Sabha that Intelligence Bureau (IB) reports associated with judges’ transfers should be made public so that people know the reasons for the transfer. Lekhi made the statement while speaking about the recent Delhi Riots. While doing so, she segued into a speech about judges' transfers...'
'The Allahabad High Court did something on Monday that was completely unusual. It not only delivered a judgment that was critical of the majoritarian government that rules in Uttar Pradesh, it did so after taking “suo moto” action – meaning the court did not wait for someone to even file a petition. The court had seen the Uttar Pradesh government putting up banners in several parts of Lucknow on which were displayed the photographs, names and addresses of people involved in the protests against the Citizenship Act amendment...'
'The Allahabad high court has asked the Yogi Adityanath government to take down all posters in Lucknow giving photographs and personal details of people involved with the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests. A high court bench headed by Chief Justice Govind Mathur had taken suo moto cognisance of the matter. The bench said the state’s action violated Article 14 of the constitution and was an “unwarranted interference in privacy of people”, LiveLaw reported. The district magistrate and police commissioner have been asked to submit a compliance report to the court by March 16...'
