DRAFT| Supreme Court Weekly Round Up [November 20-25, 2023]
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[Plea Against Validity Of Shariat Act, 1937] The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea filed challenging validity of Colonial era Shariat Act, 1937 in matters of marriage, divorce and successions among Muslims, for being violative of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. Court said that the issues raised in the writ petition fell in the "legislative domain". The court orally said, "Personal laws are different for religions. How can courts say what is inheritable under the Hindu law should also be inheritable under the Muslim law?" The petitioner sought a declaration that a widow, so too, daughters and mother of a Muslim who died intestate are entitled to an equitable share of the estates, properties, and assets of their deceased husband/father/son, as is the case with rest of the communities, Hindus, Christians, Parsis.
Bench: Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia
Case Title: Sabina Yusuf Lakadawala Vs Union of India
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[Kerala Governor’s Delay in Granting Assent To Bills] The Supreme Court has issued notice in a plea by Kerala Government seeking appropriate orders in relation to the inaction on the part of the Governor of the State in relation to as many as 8 Bills passed by the State Legislature and presented to the Governor for his assent under Article 200 of the Constitution. The matter will now be heard on Friday, November 24. It is the Kerala government's case that of the 8 pending bills, 3 Bills have remained pending with the Governor for more than 2 years, and 3 more in excess of a full year. Court has been told that the conduct of Governor Mohammad Arif Khan threatens to defeat and subvert the very fundamentals and basic foundations of our Constitution.
Bench: CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra
Case Title: State of Kerala vs Governor
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[Tamil Nadu Governor's Delay In Granting Assent On Bills] The Supreme Court today questioned the Tamil Nadu Governor over his conduct in the past three years for not giving assent on bills pending before him. "What was the governor doing for the last three years..why was he waiting for a writ to be filed..", asked the court. When the Attorney General responded saying that the present Governor was only appointed in November 2021, the CJI said, "We are not blaming one particular person, we are talking about the office of the governor…” The Supreme Court on November 10, 2023 had issued notice in a plea by the Tamil Nadu Government over the inaction, omission, delay and failure to comply with the constitutional mandate by the Governor of Tamil Nadu to give his assent to the Bills passed and forwarded by the Tamil Nadu State Legislature to him.
Bench: CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra
Case Title: The State Of Tamil Nadu Vs. The Governor of Tamil Nadu
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[Adani-Hindenburg Case] A plea filed in the Supreme Court has sought contempt action against SEBI for violating the timeline fixed for completing the Adani-Hindenburg controversy. In an application, advocate Vishal Tiwari, who had filed the PIL in the matter, also sought a direction from the court to direct SEBI to give an explanation for not complying with the timeline and file the report without any further delay. He also sought a direction to the expert committee constituted to conduct a detailed investigation in respect to the report and allegations of Stock manipulations and secret investments published by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
Case Title: Vishal Tiwari Vs Union of India & Ors
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[Delhi Excise Policy Scam] The Supreme Court today issued notice in the plea by Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh challenging his arrest and Enforcement Directorate remand in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy scam. Singh has challenged the Delhi High Court's dismissal of his plea against ED's arrest. Singh was arrested on October 4 by the ED in the money laundering case. According to reports, Singh was taken into custody after day-long searches on his residence. This is the third high-profile arrest in the case. In the prosecution complaint filed by the ED, Sanjay Singh's name appeared in a statement by businessman Dinesh Arora, both accused in the case who turned approver.
Bench: Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti
Case Title: Sanjay Singh vs. Union of India & Anr.
Click here to read more - [Stubble Burning] Supreme Court today deliberated on steps that can be taken to reduce the air pollution by stubble burning in Punjab. A division bench has inter alia suggested that farmers who burn stubble could be excluded from the purview of the minimum support price (MSP) policy. Court has suggested this as a part of a carrot-and-stick policy. It has further recommended to completely subsidize baling machines for poor farmers and financing their operating costs to convert stubble into a useful byproduct.
Bench: Justices SK Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia
Case Title: MC Mehta vs. Union of India & Ors
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- [Chandrababu Naidu] The Andhra Pradesh government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging regular bail granted to former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the scam related to setting up of skill development centres. As per the plea, the High Court in its November 20, 2023 order "has delved deep into facts of the case and has rendered findings that are not only factually incorrect but are also likely to prejudice the court below during the trial". The state government has claimed that over the course of the investigation, the prosecution has obtained various account statements of the TDP Naidu's party, which show significant cash deposits that correspond to the time period where the misappropriated funds from the project were diverted.
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- [Transfer of Judges] Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Centre for its selective stance at clearing proposals for transfer of judge made by the Collegium. Court has questioned the Centre on collegium recommendations for transfer of other high court judges being approved other than the Gujarat High Court. "This does not send a good signal. Don't do selective transfers. It creates its own dynamics. What signal do you send when out of the transfers recommended, four judges from Gujarat are not transferred...", the bench added.
Bench: Justices SK Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia
Case Title: The Association of Advocates Bengaluru vs. Shri Barun Mitra, Secretary (Justice) & Anr.
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[Pending bills before Governor] The Supreme Court has held that if the Governor decides to withhold assent to a Bill, he has to remit it to the Assembly "as soon as possible" for reconsideration as per the first proviso in Article 200 of the Constitution, saying that the power can't be used to thwart the normal course of law making. The court pointed out that when a Bill is returned by the Governor, the legislature of the State is duty bound to reconsider the Bill. "After the Bill is again passed by the legislature either with or without amendment and is presented to the Governor for assent, the Governor shall not withhold assent therefrom," the bench said.
Bench: Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra
Case Title: State of Punjab Vs Principal Secretary to the Governor of Punjab and Another
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