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Monthly Legal Updates: August 2019 for CLAT & Other Law Entrance Exams Dear readers,

This compendium comprises of the Legal developments that occurred in the month of August 2019.

Monthly Legal Updates

1. Four new judges appointed in the Supreme Court - On 18th Sept, the President of , under Article 124 (2) has appointed four new judges to the Supreme Court namely - Justice V. Ramasubramanian, Justice , Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice . Now the strength of the Judges in the Supreme court has been increased to 34 [33 (judges) + 1 (CJI)]. • Justice V Ramasubramanian is currently the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court. • Justice Krishna Murari is currently the Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court. • Justice S Ravindra Bhat is currently the Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court. • Justice Hrishikesh Roy is currently the Chief Justice of . Note: • The Supreme Court Collegium led by recommended the names of the judges. • The Supreme Court vacancies had increased its judicial strength from 31 to 34 following the enactment of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Bill of 2019 into law. Note: • Article 124(2) of the Indian Constitution provides that the Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President after consultation with such number of the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts in the States. Supreme Court Collegium • The Supreme Court Collegium is the panel of judges vested with the responsibility of appointments and elevations of Chief Justices and judges of the Supreme Court and high courts of the country. • Supreme Court Collegium is headed by the Chief Justice of India and comprises of the four other senior-most judges of the Supreme Court. 2. The Supreme Court has referred all the petitions challenging the scrapping of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, to a five-judge Constitution Bench. Thus, a bench of 5 judges of the Supreme Court will hear the challenge to the scrapping of Article 370. Note: • The present petition challenges the Presidential Order of August 5, 2019, introduced to supersede the Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Order, 1954, which stated that the Constitution of India that would not apply to Jammu and Kashmir. • The Presidential Order of August 5 also paved the way for the introduction of the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 which bifurcated the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories - Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, and Union Territory of Ladakh. 3. A Writ Petition has been filed before the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution challenging the restrictions imposed on the media in Jammu and Kashmir. Note: • This petition aims to seek a direction from the court to relax the restriction on mobile, internet and landline services and the strict restriction imposed on freedom of movement in the valley. 4. Himachal Pradesh legislature passes Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill, 2019 to prohibit forced religious conversion. The law enacted states “Marriage which was done for the sole purpose of conversion may be declared null and void by the Family Court on a petition presented by either party. 5. Supreme Court has held that it mandatory for institutions intending to impart technical courses through distance learning mode to seek approval and recognition of University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

2 www.gradeup.co 6. The Kerala High Court has held that for offences committed outside the territory of India, sanction by Central Government is not required to arrest an accused during the investigation. 7. High Court of Rajasthan has directed all District Judges within its jurisdiction to make a compilation of FIRs registered within their jurisdictions, on a direction given under Section 156(3) of Cr.P.C., for offences committed against women and children. Note: Section 156(3) of Cr.P.C empowers a Magistrate, so empowered to take cognizance under section 190, to order the registration of FIR or order an investigation in a matter which the police had otherwise failed to register or as the case may be, investigate. 8. The High Court on 20th August dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Senior Advocate and former Union minister P Chidambaram in the corruption and money laundering cases related to the INX Media scandal. Justice Sunil Gaur has pronounced the said judgment. • Note: Justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel is the current Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. 9. Provisions of anticipatory bail are invoked if a person is apprehending arrest for a non-bailable offence. Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code deals with the provision of anticipatory bail. 10. In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court has held that High Court under Article 235 of the Constitution of India is vested with the power to take action against judicial officers accused of sexual harassment. 11. The Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Krishna Murari, launched Virtual Court at Faridabad, this Court will deal with cases relating to traffic challans for the entire state of Haryana. The purpose of Virtual Courts is to eliminate the presence of litigants in Courts. This is a project under the e-Committee of the Supreme Court. 12. Civil right activist Sudha Bharadwaj has been granted temporary bail by the Bombay High Court to attend her father’s post-funeral rituals. She was arrested in relation to the Bhima-Koregaon case. 13. A trial court in Delhi has framed charges against expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar for raping a minor girl in Unnao in 2017. The court has framed charges under Section 120(b) [Criminal Conspiracy], Section 363 [kidnapping], section 376 [rape] and other provisions of POSCO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, 2012. 14. The Supreme Court has directed states/ union territories to appoint permanent adjudicating officers as Real Estate Regulatory Authority and Appellate Tribunal within a period of three months. 15. Interest awarded on compensation and compensation awarded in motor accident cases is not 'income' and therefore not liable to be taxed under the Income Tax Act 1961. 16. Candidates who have obtained a graduate degree through an open university and have not passed 10 + 2 (regular) but has passed from open university are eligible for admission in the three-year LLB course. 17. The Chhattisgarh High Court has sought a response from the Central Government in a Writ Petition filed challenging the constitutional validity of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008. The NIA was enacted to empower the Central Government to take over investigation and prosecution for offences affecting sovereignty, security and integrity of India, the security of States and friendly relations with foreign States 18. Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019 was passed by the parliament, which was introduced by Minister of Law and Justice Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, to increases this number of judges except for the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from 30 to 33.' 19. Supreme Court transfers Unnao rape survivor’s cases to Delhi, it has also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the road crash within 2 weeks. The Supreme Court has further directed the Uttar Pradesh Government to pay a sum of Rs 25 Lakhs as compensation to the rape survivor. 20. Supreme Court held that Magistrate has the power to direct an accused to give voice samples during an investigation without his consent. 21. Ayodhya-Babri Dispute: After a panel headed by former Supreme Court judge FMI Kalifulla submitted his report stating that mediation attempts failed, Supreme Court agrees to hear the appeals on merit from August 6. 22. Supreme Court held that recruiting agency cannot be compelled to fill available posts even when persons of the desired merit are not available. 23. Ayodhya-Babri Dispute: Former RSS leader K. N. Govindacharya approaches Supreme Court seeking live streaming of Supreme Court hearing/ proceedings.

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