Page 7 - High Court

Samples given to doctors are not freebies: Pharma companies in HC

Claiming that samples of medicines provided to doctors do not constitute 'freebies,' individual pharmaceutical companies and the Karnataka Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Association have approached the High Court of Karnataka. They have challenged the June 16, 2022 circular issued by the Ministry of Finance by which it was directed that pharma companies have to deduct TDS (tax deduction at source) at ten per cent of the value of the free samples provided by them to medical practitioners. "The free sample of medicines given to the medical practitioners is only to prove the efficacy and to establish the trust of the doctors on the quality of the drugs. This again cannot be reckoned as freebies given to the doctors or for promotion of its products," the petition that was heard by a division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe claimed. The High Court ordered issuing of notices to the respondents and adjourned the hearing of the case on Thursday. The petition claimed that the ..

SC Collegium recommends 3 new chief justices for HCs, transfers 2

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the transfer of two Chief Justices of high courts and elevation of three judges as Chief Justices of three high courts

There has to be some end to luxury litigation, says Delhi HC to Facebook

While dismissing the plea, Justice Yashwant Varma of Delhi High Court remarked that "there has to be some end to luxury litigation"

Zee Media moves Delhi High Court against I&B Ministry on Ku-Band issue

I&B Ministry had asked Zee Media to remove its ten regional news channels from the Ku-Band (a form of satellite frequency) on the GSAT-15 Satellite, that was making these accessible on DD Freedish

Industry considers options as Tamil Nadu ordinance bans online gaming

Sector takes hope from High Courts previously overturning such prohibitions by state governments

14 of 25 HCs registered a decline in pending PILs in 2021, shows data

Overall, they cleared 83.7 per cent of instituted cases until August 2021- the highest in four years

Karnataka hijab ban: SC reserves verdict on pleas challenging HC judgement

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the Karnataka High Court judgement refusing to lift the ban on hijab in educational institutions of the state. On March 15, the high court had dismissed petitions filed by a section of Muslim students from the Government Pre-University Girls College in Udupi seeking permission to wear hijab inside the classroom, saying it is not a part of the essential religious practice in Islamic faith. The state government had, by its order of February 5, 2022, banned wearing clothes that disturb equality, integrity, and public order in schools and colleges. Several pleas have been filed in the apex court challenging the high court verdict. A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia reserved its verdict in the matter.

SC provides relief to Adani Ports in connection with bidding process

Sector experts feel the court has cleared the air on an issue which saw multiple stands from high courts across the country

Gujarat riots case: Teesta Setalvad gets interim bail from Supreme Court

She was arrested by the Gujarat Police for allegedly fabricating documents to frame high-ranking officials in the 2002 Gujarat riots cases

Imran Khan approaches Islamabad High Court to dismiss terror charges

Last week, PTI chief Imran Khan said that he will help flood-affected people but would not stop the "Haqeeqi Azadi" campaign for real independence of the country

SC issues notice to Karnataka govt over pleas against hijab ban verdict

The Supreme Court expressed anguish at petitioners' counsel seeking adjournment on pleas against the Karnataka HC judgment, which upheld the right of educational institutions to ban wearing of hijab

CJI Ramana took historic decisions; appointed of 11 SC, over 220 HC judges

Chief Justice of India N V Ramana took path-breaking judicial and administrative decisions that included putting the sedition law on hold, reviewing the money laundering verdict, ordering probes into Pegasus snooping and Lakhimpur Kheri cases and ensuring appointments of record 11 judges in the top court and over 220 in high courts. On his last day in the office, the 48th CJI got one more feather in his cap by ensuring live streaming of Supreme Court proceedings of the ceremonial bench headed by him by implementing the 2018 verdict which had allowed such webcasts. Hailing from an agriculturist family in Ponnavaram village of Andhra Pradesh's Krishna district, Justice Ramana had succeeded S A Bobde on April 24, 2021 with a dire situation of huge unfilled vacancies in the top court and the high courts staring at the face of the judiciary. The apex court had not got a single judge after the superannuation of the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi on November 17, 2019 and had nine existing vacancies

Stolen idols: US accounts for largest number of returned artefacts

Recently, idols wing of Tamil Nadu CID initiated the process for retrieving six Chola-era idols from US

High court directs govt to appoint administrator to run MP Nursing Council

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the state government to appoint an administrator to run the MP Nursing Council after observing that information furnished to the HC by the regulatory institution was incorrect. The HC, in a ruling delivered on Tuesday, also said the Registrar of the Nursing Council be kept under suspension forthwith subject to further orders of the court. The order came on a PIL that raised the issue of lack of infrastructure in nursing colleges in the state, particularly those located in tribal areas, the petitioner's counsel said. After taking photographs submitted by the petitioner's lawyer into account, the court observed at certain places just sheds have been shown as nursing colleges. The (state) government is directed to appoint an administrator forthwith to run the MP Nursing Council, subject to further orders of this court," a two-member bench of Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Vishal Mishra in its order. The order stated, The Registrar .

Kerala govt moves HC against order by lower court in sexual harassment case

The Kerala government on Friday moved the High Court seeking to set aside a sessions court order granting bail to social activist and writer 'Civic' Chandran in a case of sexually abusing a Dalit woman, contending that the judgement of the lower court "suffers from illegality and manifest errors" warranting its intervention. While granting bail to Chandran in the case, Kozhikode Sessions Court judge S Krishnakumar, in his order dated August 2, had observed that the accused is a reformist, and against the caste system and it is highly unbelievable that he will touch the body of the victim fully knowing that she belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC). Observing that the accused is fighting against the caste system and is involved in a number of agitations, the court had also said the offences under various sections of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act will not prima facie stand against him. In its appeal, the state government contended that the order passed by the sessions court is ..

SC dismisses MP High Court's verdict on discharge of rape accused

The Supreme Court has termed as "utterly incomprehensible" an order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court discharging an accused of the offence of rape essentially on the ground of delay in the registration of the First Information Report (FIR). A bench of justices DY Chandrachud and JB Pardiwala said the facts of this litigation was quite "heart-breaking" and set aside the order of the high court holding that the impugned order could be termed as "perverse and not sustainable in law". The verdict was pronounced on August 12 but was yet to be uploaded on the apex court website. "At the cost of repetition, we state that the impugned order of the High Court is utterly incomprehensible. We have yet to come across a case where the High Court has thought fit to discharge an accused charged with the offence of rape on the ground of delay in the registration of the FIR," Justice Pardiwala said while writing the judgement on behalf of the bench. The top court, however, did not interfere with th

Govt holds names of 2 advocates recommended for elevation as HC judges

The government has held back names of two advocates recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointment as judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, sources said. In July, the SC Collegium had recommended names of 13 advocates for elevation as judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Acting on the recommendation, the government had notified the appointment of 11 advocates as judges on August 14. However, it decided to hold back the names of H S Brar and Kuldeep Tiwari. Citing certain old allegations against one and lack of experience and less age of the other, sources aware of the process to appoint members of the higher judiciary said, their names have been held back by the law ministry. A candidate must be between 45 and 55 years of age for being considered a judge of the high court. The government will take a "considered view" on the two names at an "appropriate time", the sources said. They also pointed out that the government has a right to seek reconsideratio

Karnataka HC proposes 25:75 formula for Common Entrance Test repeaters

The High Court of Karnataka has proposed a new formula to clear the confusion over the 2022 Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to professional courses in Karnataka. The dispute that the HC is hearing is regarding non-consideration of PUC (Pre-University Course) marks of students who passed PUC in 2020-21. In its suggestion on Thursday, the HC said the marks from PUC and CET can be considered in the ratio of 25:75. It said the students and the government can find a common ground with this arrangement. The Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) has notified that second PU marks of 2020-21 students will not be considered for the purpose for ranking and only their CET marks would be considered. Students were promoted in 2020-21 based on internal marks due to Covid pandemic. Many of these students are appearing for professional course admission this year. They will be competing with students who wrote second PUC exams in 2021-22 in the regular course. Some of these repeater-studen

Govt treating matter like 'trash': J'khand HC on probe of Ranchi violence

Peeved at the slow pace of investigation into the June 10 violence in Ranchi, the Jharkhand High Court observed that the state government is treating the matter like trash

Appeals against orders of ITAT will lie before high court, says SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that appeals against orders of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) will lie only before the High Court within whose jurisdiction the assessing officer is situated. A bench headed by Justice U U Lalit reiterated that the jurisdiction of a High Court is not dependent on the location of the ITAT, as sometimes a Bench of the ITAT exercises jurisdiction over the plurality of states. "We hold that appeals against every decision of the ITAT shall lie only before the High Court within whose jurisdiction the Assessing Officer who passed the assessment order is situated. "Even if the case or cases of an assessee are transferred in the exercise of power under Section 127 of the Act, the High Court within whose jurisdiction the Assessing Officer has passed the order, shall continue to exercise the jurisdiction of the appeal," the bench also comprising Justices S R Bhat and P S Narasimha said. The top court said ITAT is a unified forum functioning in the