Lexlais

       On Friday The Supreme Court held that High Courts do not have the power to dismiss an appeal on merits if the counsel for the appellant does not appear to argue the matter. A bench comprising of Justices  S. Abdul Nazeer  and  Sanjiv Khanna  clarified that,  “... if the appellant does not appear, the Court may if it deems fit dismiss the appeal for default of appearance  but it does not have the power to dismiss the appeal on merits . ” Factual Background In the instant case, the plaintiffs filed a suit or declaration of   title, recovery of possession and mesne profits before the Trial Court. However, the Trial Court dismissed the suit. Aggrieved by the order, the plaintiffs filed an appeal before the Additional District Judge. The District Judge set aside the Trial Court judgement,  allowed the suit and declared the plaintiffs as owners of the disputed land. This judgment of the District C...

       The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) has intimated the detailed schedule for the conduct of the next edition of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) in 2020. These details were discussed and approved at a meeting of the NLU Consortium, held on December 11. Schedule As  intimated earlier ,  CLAT will conducted on May 10, next year. The issue of CLAT applications is scheduled for January 1, 2020. The last date for submission of applications is March 31, 2020 The answer keys will be uploaded on the website of the NLU Consortium on May 11, 2020 Objections to the answer keys will be entertained between May 12 and May 15, 2020 The final answer key will be released  on May 18, 2020. Final results will be declared on May 24, 2020. Syllabus and pattern A general guide to question format was approved to indicate the comprehension based Test; Paper setter shall always keep in mind the 12th standard level of studen...

         The review petition filed by Akshay Kumar Singh, one of the death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape case, will be heard by a three-Judge Bench of CJI  SA Bobde ,  R Banumathi , and  Ashok Bhushan. The review petition will be heard in open Court on Tuesday, December 17 at 2 PM. Singh had  filed his review petition  assailing the death penalty awarded to him earlier this week questioning the evidence relied upon for his conviction and sentencing. Singh, in his petition, has also made a general case against capital punishment. " The state must not simply execute people to prove that it is attacking terror or violence against women. It must persistently work towards systematic reforms to being about change. Executions only kill the criminal, not the crime and hat the crime not the criminals .”        The petition puts forth moral and practical reasons for the abolition of the death penalty, reco...

              Two more petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the recently enacted Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. Both petitions, filed by Lok Sabha MPs  Asaduddin Owaisi  and  TN Prathapan , have registered protest over the non-inclusion of Muslims in the purview of the Act, challenging the same to be unconstitutional. In this regard, both petitions have challenged Sections 2, 3, 5, and 6 of the  Citizenship (Amendment) Act,  2019. In this regard, Owaisi's petition states, " The classification in the Act is not founded on the basis of intelligible differentia. The yardstick for the purpose of differentiation in the Act is the alleged persecution of religious minorities belonging to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It includes Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, but at the same time exclude other minorities facing discrimination or persecution on the basis of their reli...

        The Bombay High Court will decide if National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) can initiate insolvency proceedings against Government Company under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC).          In doing so, the High Court recently stayed proceedings against  Hindustan Antibiotics Limited , a public sector Pharmaceutical Company before NCLT Mumbai Bench.           A Division Bench of Justice   SC Dharmadhikari   and   R I Chagla   was hearing an interim application by the company seeking a stay on insolvency proceedings initiated by employees under section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). The applicant Company also sought from Court to restrain respondent employees from taking further steps for recovering their alleged dues until the final disposal of the writ plea, which was filed by  Hindustan Antibiotics  in May this year. Moreover, in...

    The Supreme Court today said that it intends to appoint a retired Supreme Court Judge to probe the Telangana Encounter of December 6.   The PIL seeking a probe and registration of FIRs in the encounter of four rape accused was taken up for hearing by the bench of CJI  SA Bobde  along with Justices  S Abdul Nazeer  and  Sanjiv Khanna .      The Court said that it is aware that the Telangana High Court is seized of the matter and the only thing the Apex Court "intends to do" is appoint a retired Supreme Court Judge to inquire into the encounter.     The Court said that this inquiry will be conducted from Delhi and has sought proposals of names of such retired Judges who may conduct the inquiry. The case will now be heard tomorrow Recently,  two PILs   were moved against the Telangana Police Encounter, one by advocates  GS Mani  and  Pradeep Kumar Yadav  and the ...