The Week That Was: The Supreme Court of India

Before the Supreme Court of India took a break for the extended weekend on account of Bakr-i-Eid, the apex court tackled a few important cases this past week..Here are some excerpts from the eventful week..Monday, September 5.Can corporate entities sue for defamation?.After defamation proceedings were initiated by the Essar Group against Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai, Pillai approached the apex court. Pillai has challenged the locus of corporate entities to claim that their reputation has been damaged by the petitioner’s statements. In other words, if corporate entities have no ‘right to life’ under Article 21, can they claim a right to reputation?.Four weeks time to Centre in triple talaq matter.The Centre was given four weeks to reply to the issue of triple talaq, after Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought some time. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, in its counter affidavit, claims that the practices of polygamy, triple talaq (talaq-e-bidat) and nikah halala are matters of “legislative policy” and cannot be interfered with..“Personal laws cannot be re-written in the name of social reform”, Muslim Personal Law Board to SC [Read affidavit].Siddharth Luthra appears for Amity Law School in Sushant Rohilla suicide.The Apex Court took suo motu cognisance of a letter written by a friend of law student Sushant Rohilla’s. The letter alleges that Rohilla was being harassed by the school authorities. The court will look into the question of whether there is an “element of suspicion” that Rohilla took his own life due to “harassment”..The court did not issue notice to Amity Law School, but asked senior advocate Siddharth Luthra to file a response to the PIL. Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice DY Chandrachud also appointed senior advocate and jurist FS Nariman as amicus..Tuesday, September 6.Court turns deaf ear to “undertakings”.Bitter with the experience of people not submitting to the jurisdiction of the judiciary despite assurances, a Bench of judges JS Khehar and Arun Mishra, JJ decided not to take any chances with Essar group promoter Ravikant Ruia..The court declined him permission to go abroad during the pendency of trial in the 2G spectrum allocation scam. The Bench also declined his counsel’s earnest pleas to submit an ‘undertaking’, stating that it would amount to nothing if the businessman decided to jump parole..“Sick and tired”, Supreme Court lashes out on unfulfilled promises to return to India.Wednesday, September 7.“Killings reduced to semi-tort”, Amicus Menaka Guruswamy in Manipur extra-judicial killings.Menaka Guruswamy, amicus in the Manipur extra-judicial killings case, has claimed that since 1995, there had been no developments in the law relating to extra-judicial killings. Killings have unfortunately been reduced to a semi-tort, she contended..Senior Advocate Gopal Subramaniam (appearing for the NHRC) also had a few choice words to say regarding the unfortunate perception of the NHRC. He contended that the NHRC only had nominal powers, and that its status had been reduced to a “mailbox” for filing a paper trail of unnecessary reports about which it was powerless to do anything..After cow protectors, goat protectors knock at Court’s doors.A PIL has been filed through advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, questioning the sacrifice of animals on Eid-ul-Adha(Bakr-Eid) stating that the practice was “cruel, inhuman, barbarian” and cannot be protected in the name of religion..The PIL, has sought the court’s direction to ensure that no animal is killed during the festival, which is to be held next week. However, with the Court closed for holidays on both Monday and Tuesday, it is doubtful whether the litigants’ will get what they desire..No protection to Vishal Dadlani for offensive remarks against Jain monk.Music composer Vishal Dadlani’s woes seem to have just begun, with the court refusing to hear his petition for quashing of an FIR lodged against him in Haryana for allegedly making scathing remarks against Jain monk Tarun Sagar. V Gopala Gowda and Adarsh Kumar Goel, JJ asked him to move the high court..FIRs to be uploaded within 24 hours of registration.A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and C Nagappan has directed all States and Union Territories to upload the FIRs on their websites within 24 hours of registration at police stations. The court, however, granted an exemption with respect to sensitive cases pertaining to insurgency and sexual offences against women and children..Thursday, September 8.CBI probe into Bulandshahr rape to resume.The Supreme Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to resume its probe into the gangrape of a woman and her teenage daughter in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr after the agency pointed out that the delay might lead to the accused getting bail. A bench led by Justice Dipak Misra revised its earlier stay order and said since it was dealing with the case, the proceedings before the Allahabad high court stood stayed..PIL alleging funding of Kashmiri separatists to be heard next week.The Apex court agreed to hear next Wednesday ML Sharma’s petition that seeks to declare the practice of providing central funds to Kashmiri separatists as “illegal and unconstitutional”..Judgment on one handed beggar-rapist reserved.The Apex Court has reserved its judgment on the rape and murder of a Kerala native. A bench of Ranjan Gogoi, Prafulla C Pant and Uday Umesh Lalit, JJ did not seem too convinced that the charge of murder had been proved beyond reasonable doubt..Justice Ranjan Gogoi had this to say in Govindachamy’s death penalty appeal.Friday, September 9.Amicus Raju Ramachandran appears in the Nirbhaya case.The hearing in the Nirbhaya case witnessed a very interesting development as Senior Advocate and amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran drew the attention of the court to the sentences awarded to the four convicts..Ramachandran stated that,.“There is serious scope for argument on the sentencing aspect”.As far as the submissions of the amicus are involved, Ramachandran will argue on the sentencing aspect while Sanjay Hegde, the second amicus, will deal with issues relating to evidence..Delhi Govt. v Centre battle heats up.Notice has been issued in the appeal filed by the State of NCT of Delhi against the Delhi High Court’s judgment that had ruled against AAP in the AAP v Centre row. Amidst high tensions, the court said that it will decide whether to refer the case to a larger Bench or not after hearing both the parties.