The Week That Was: The Bombay High Court

This week began with an order in a challenge to the domicile rules in Maharashtra. Although the court refused to interfere and grant interim relief, the matter has now reached the Supreme Court. There were new developments in other important cases as well..Here is a look at all that happened in the Bombay High Court this week..Monday, September 19.Amol Palekar’s PIL against pre-censorship of plays.A petition filed by veteran actor Amol Palekar has challenged provisions of the Bombay Police Act and the rules framed thereunder that make it mandatory for plays to be pre-censored by the Maharashtra State Performance Scrutiny board. The petition alleges that certain provisions of the Act are constitutionally invalid. Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and MS Sonak J will now hear the matter on Monday..Tuesday, September 20.NEET: Petitioners appeal against High Court order.The challenge to the domicile rules under Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admissions and Fees) Act have filed an appeal in the apex court against the order passed by the division bench of CJ Manjula Chellur and MS Sonak J.There is a deadline for completion of the admission process imposed by the apex court itself..Friday, September 23. Re-examination of witnesses in Bilkis Bano rejected.Justices VK Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar J rejected an application for re-examination of certain witnesses filed by Harshad Ponda, counsel for the accused in the Bilkis Bano case. The bench is hearing the appeal of eleven convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, along with the CBI’s petition seeking death penalty for three of these convicts..The defence’s application sought permission to re-examine the following prosecution witnesses – Saddam, Bilkis’s nephew who was eight at the time of the incident, KN Sinha, CBI officer who led the investigating team and a constable who wrote down the first FIR lodged by Bilkis at Limkheda police station..The bench held that such an application cannot be allowed at this stage when the trial is over and appeals are being heard.