Court Cases

Par panel asks CAT to dispose of cases pending for over 10 yrs on priority

Citing 1,350 cases pending disposal for more than 10 years, a Parliamentary committee has asked the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) to decide them on a priority basis, specifically the ones related to pensions and senior citizens. The tribunal adjudicates service matters of central government employees. As many as 80,545 cases are pending in different benches of the tribunal as on December 31, 2022. Of these, 16,661 cases are pending for zero to one year, 46,534 for one to five years, 16,000 for five to 10 years and 1,350 for more than 10 years, the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice said in its report. The panel said according to the Central Administrative Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1987, every application should be heard and decided as far as possible, within six months from the date of its registration. "However, the Committee notes that there are about 1,350 cases pending for over ten years. The Committee

425 court cases registered in last 3 years under PCPNDT Act: Govt

A total of 425 court cases have been registered in the last three years under the Pre-Conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said a total of 90 appeals have been filed against the acquittals by the authorities and 3521 ultrasound machines have been sealed and seized so far for offences committed under PCPNDT Act. Besides, a total of 125 ultrasound machines have been released during trials in the country, Pawar said in a written reply.

Pending court cases near 50 mn, initiatives being taken to expedite: Govt

Pending cases across various courts in the country are moving towards the five crore-mark with an over 4.32 crore backlog in subordinate courts, according to data shared by the government in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. In separate written replies, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said as on December 31, 2022, the total pending cases in district and subordinate courts was pegged at over 4.32 crore. He also said over 69,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, while there is a backlog of more than 59 lakh cases in the country's 25 high courts. Citing details available on the Supreme Court website, Rijiju said 69,511 cases were pending in the top court as on February 1. "There are 59,87,477 cases pending in high courts across the country, as per the information available on National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) on February 1, 2023," he said. Out of these, 10.30 lakh cases were pending in the Allahabad High Court -- the biggest high court of the country. The Sikkim High Court has the least num

165 death sentences by trial courts in 2022, highest since 2000: Report

Trial courts across the country imposed 165 death sentences in 2022, which is the highest in a single year in the last two decades, a report has said. Also, 539 prisoners were on death row by the end of 2022, which was the highest since 2016 and the number of prisoners living under death sentence saw an increase of 40% since 2015, the report added. The report titled Death Penalty in India, Annual Statistics Report, 2022' was released by Project 39A of the National Law University (NLU) here. The large death row population signals the continued imposition of a high number of death sentences by trial courts with a low rate of disposal by appellate courts, the report said. It said that more than 50 per cent (51.28 per cent) cases, where the death penalty was imposed, pertained to sexual offences. The highest imposition of death sentences in 2022 was influenced by the sentencing of 38 persons to death in Ahmedabad in a bomb blast case, the report said, adding this represented the large

Virgin Islands takes JPMorgan to court for facilitating Epstein abuse

The suit is seeking unspecified damages for violating sex-trafficking, bank-secrecy and consumer laws

Property owned by irrigation dept scam's prime accused unfrozen by court

Gurinder Singh, main accused in Rs 1000 crore irrigation department scam has succeeded in getting properties which have market value of over Rs 150 crore, released with favourable order passed.

Mukhtar Ansari convicted, gets 10-year jail in 1996 Gangsters Act case

A Ghazipur court convicted and sentenced Mukhtar Ansari to ten-year imprisonment in the 1996 case

Pending cases may touch 50 million mark in two months: Kiren Rijiju

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday said the number of pending cases across various courts could touch the five crore mark in a couple of months. Expressing concern over the issue of pendency, he said while such cases are likely to come down in the Supreme Court and high courts, the "real challenge" is in the lower courts. Addressing an event at the Delhi High Court in the presence of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, the minister said the number of pending cases is inching towards the five crore mark and flagged the issue of inadequate infrastructure in lower courts. Till a few months back, the pending cases were estimated at 4.83 crores. "I try to analyse about the bottleneck when we take the numbers. It is inching towards the five crore pendency. It is a matter of great concern," he said. Rijiju said he has to reply on the pendency issue in Parliament and elsewhere. "It is really difficult for me to answer ... it is about to reach five crore. At the present rate, maybe

Decent judicial infra vital for actualising right to access to justice: CJI

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud Tuesday said "India also survives much beyond" the national capital and there is need to focus on district judiciary as the country "goes forward". He said an important component of actualising the right to access to justice is ensuring that there is adequate judicial infrastructure which shall begin from the district judiciary. Addressing a gathering at the inauguration function of Delhi High Court's 'S' Block building, the CJI said he always believes that "much as we would like to have the best infrastructure in the capital city. I think India also survives much beyond the capital. It is there (district judiciary) that we need to focus our attention as we go forward". He said the court complexes built during the colonial times were used to create an imposing effect over the public, restricting the access to an exclusive few. "The architecture of our buildings was intended to produce a sense of fear and awe in the consumers of justice and the

Kejriwal offers project in Delhi to ensure cases are disposed within 6 mths

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday proposed a pilot project to implement a judicial system in Delhi under which court cases are disposed of within six months, while asserting that his government is ready to ensure that such a system becomes an example for other states. Kejriwal was speaking at an event organised for the inauguration of the 'S' block building of the Delhi High Court. On Kejriwal's proposal, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri who was present at the event said that if the CM's purpose was to seek an ally, the Centre and the lieutenant governor of Delhi will support him in his endeavour. The event was also attended by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, and Delhi High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma. "If the purpose was to seek an ally, I think the lieutenant governor of Delhi and the Centre will support you in the endeavour to get more space. By the way, land is a state subject, so the chief minister you made promis

All SC benches to hear 10 matrimonial cases, 10 bail pleas every day: CJI

Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Friday said the Supreme Court, in its full court meeting, has decided that all the 13 benches will hear 10 transfer petitions pertaining to matrimonial disputes and equal number of bail petitions daily in a bid to lessen the pendency of cases. At the start of the proceedings, the bench said the decision has been taken at a meeting of all apex court judges. "After a full court meeting, we have decided that each Bench will take up 10 transfer petitions, which are family matters, followed by 10 bail matters every day to dispose of all such matters before the winter vacation," the CJI said, adding bail matters needed to be given primacy as they pertained to personal liberty. The bench said as of now there were 3,000 petitions pending in the top court pertaining to matrimonial cases where parties are seeking transfer of cases to a place of their liking. The bench said if every bench takes up 10 transfer cases every day then 13 benches will be able to dec

Future Group trying to stall proceedings amid legal row with Amazon: SC

The Supreme Court said it 'was concerned' that the Future Group was trying to stall the proceedings before the Singapore Arbitral Tribunal

Tesla CEO Elon Musk to face two tough trials this week amid Twitter mess

Taken together, the twin trials represent a critical test for Musk's multitasking skills, reports The Verge.

Bombay HC: Prima facie removal of Kochhar as ICICI Bank CEO valid

In the order the Judge said that the bank was justified in revoking acceptance of early retirement of Kochhar as they had accepted it without having complete knowledge of the facts

SC upholds Bombay HC order quashing property tax opposed by developers

Real estate developers say they paid exorbitant amounts to municipality as Land Under Construction Tax

E-Gaming Federation to challenge Tamil Nadu ordinance banning online gaming

Regarding rummy and poker as games of chance violates Supreme Court and Madras High Court judgments which overturned the law banning online games

Centre defends Universal Code of Pharma Marketing Practices in apex court

The government further added that it is working on providing statutory backing to the UCPMP code and "it is a time-consuming process, which cannot be completed in haste"

We cannot make judges work like machines: Rijiju on pending cases

With the pendency of cases in various courts rising, Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday pitched for striking a balance to address the burden on judges as well as people's struggle to get access to judiciary, and said "we cannot make judges work like machines". Rijiju said the pendency of cases in various courts is about to cross 4.8 crores. He was speaking at the inaugural session of a Delhi University conclave -- Indianisation of Legal System and Education. The two-day conclave has been organised jointly by the Faculty of Law and the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). "On the one hand, we are talking about the modern legal system, which is based on accountability, transparency, and fairness and on the other hand, we are saying that the common people of our country are finding it more difficult in getting access to justice," the minister said. "When I took over as the minister for law and justice (in 2021), the pendency of cases in various courts in Ind

BS Number Wise: India's justice system picks up some speed, shows data

Dedicated commercial courts can serve as an example for reducing pendency

Special court rejects CBI closure report on Karnataka IAS officer's death

A special court has rejected the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) closure report on the mysterious death of Karnataka cadre IAS officer Anurag Tiwari