Bar & Bench

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Saturday flagged the continued non-constitution of the Arbitration Council of India (ACI) six years after parliament provided for its establishment. He said the gap between announcement of law and its implementation has created a credibility deficit that India could not legislate its way out of.

A letter has been address to the Kerala High Court Chief Justice Soumen Sen calling for measures to expedite the Court's decision on a case concerning access to expensive patented breast cancer medicines. The July 10 letter recounts that the litigant, a cancer patient herself, died months into the litigation. Considering the public interest involved in the matter, the Court had converted the matter into a suo motu case.

Senior Advocate Shyam Divan on Saturday said that Constitutions should not be amended merely because governments command the requisite legislative numbers. He cautioned against ad hoc constitutional changes undertaken without broad public consultation. “Constitutions are not to be amended merely because the government of the day commands the requisite numbers,” the senior lawyer said.

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh recently ruled that the maternity leave cannot be reduced to a matter of charity and that it is an unassailable constitutional right anchored in the dignity of women [Dr. Sonakshi Gupta & Ors. v. UT of J&K]. Justice Rajnesh Oswal made the observation while dealing with a petition filed by several doctors engaged in government medical colleges, challenging a communication that stopped payment of their salaries during maternity leave.

A plea by the producer of the American film 'Ghostbusters' against a company's move to get the name 'Ghost Buster' registered in India for certain medicinal products recently led the Delhi High Court to make pertinent observations on cross-class trademark protection [Columbia Pictures Industries Inc v. Registrar of Trade Marks & Anr].

The Sikkim High Court recently upheld the conviction of a 42-year-old man who was found guilty in 2023 of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old schoolgirl and abetting her suicide. A Division Bench of ChiefJustice A Muhamed Mustaque and Justice Bhaskar Raj Pradhan said that the prosecution succeeded in proving that heinous acts of the convict Chewang Sherpa had led the victim to suicide in 2021.

A United States court on July 8 directed Gautam Adani to disclose whether anything was promised, offered, exchanged or accepted by anyone in connection with the United States' government’s request to dismiss the criminal indictment against Adani and seven others in a bribery case [USA Vs Gautam Adani]. Judge Nicholas G Garaufis of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York directed Adani to file an affidavit in this regard by July 15.

A Bengaluru court on July 10 granted bail to actor and former independent Lok Sabha candidate Prakash Raj in a case alleging that he was enrolled as a voter in multiple Assembly constituencies across different States and concealed those details in an affidavit filed along with his nomination papers for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The Delhi High Court on Friday flagged a growing trend of women leveling severe sexual misconduct charges in matrimonial disputes to force their in-laws into settling the cases with hefty amounts of money. Justice Girish Kathpalia made the observation while staying trial court proceedings against two brothers-in-law of a woman who had accused them of rape and cruelty.

Posters containing material that makes a deliberate attempt to alienate residents of Jammu and Kashmir from the rest of India would be sufficient to attract offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA], the Jammu and Kashmir High Court recently held [Adnan Bashir Bangroo V/s Union Territory of J&K].