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1. [Child's Interest] In an exceptionally articulated judgment, the Bombay High Court recently allowed a habeas corpus plea by the father seeking custody of his 3-year-old child, observing that “best interest of the child” cannot be construed to mean love and affection of the mother alone. Taking into consideration a catena of judgments, the Court reiterated that care and protection of both parents is a basic human right of a child and that the opinion of one spouse only cannot drive the outcome of custody matters.
Bench: Justice Gauri Godse and Justice Revati Mohite Dere.
Case title: ABC vs XYZ.
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2. [Arrest Without Warrant] The Bombay High Court has recently granted bail to a 22-year-old individual who was found in possession of 50 kg of Ganja on the ground that the arrest had taken place after sunset and before sunrise without the presence of a warrant. In the case, the ANC had initially apprehended Vinod Rajaram Shinde, from whom 22 kg of Ganja had been recovered. During the subsequent investigation, Shinde provided information that led to the arrest of Samadhan Tawde, who was found in possession of 10 kg of Ganja. Based on information obtained from Tawde, the police arrested Shivraj Gorakh Satpute in Ahmednagar.
Bench: Justice Anuja Prabhudesai.
Case title: Shivraj Gorakh Satpute vs State of Maharashtra.
3. [Abandoned Girls] A division bench of the Bombay High Court has recently denied interim relief to two abandoned young girls who sought directions to be issued to the state government to grant them reservation as orphans in the 1% horizontal quota. Dr. Abhinav Chandrachud, representing the abandoned girls, argued that the Government Resolution violated Article 14 of the Indian Constitution as it discriminated between orphans and abandoned children. He contended that there was no rational connection between the objectives of the horizontal reservation policy.
Bench: Justice Sunil B Shukre and Justice Fridosh P Pooniwala.
Case title: Nest India Foundation Ors vs State of Maharashtra.
4. [Mahesh Raut] The Bombay High Court has granted bail to Mahesh Raut accused in the Bhima Koregaon Elgar Parishad Violence. Mahesh Raut, who is accused of alleged links with CPI Maoists was earlier denied bail by the Pune Session Court and Special NIA Court in Mumbai. Raut then filed an appeal before the high court against the rejection of bail by the NIA Court. The counsel appearing for the National Investigation Agency sought a stay for two weeks for them to approach the Supreme Court against the high court order. However, the bench granted one week of time to the agency to approach the Supreme Court.
Bench: Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Sharmila Deshmukh.
Case title: Mahesh Raut vs NIA.
5. [Akasa Air] Akasa Air, an airline founded by the late Indian billionaire business magnate Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, has filed a suit before the the Bombay High Court, seeking compensation of Rs. 21 crore from each of the pilots who have resigned from the company. Akasa Air approached the Bombay High Court in response to the resignation of five of their pilots, who left the company without adhering to the mandatory six-month notice period. The company is seeking Rs. 21 crore in damages from each of the pilots and an additional 18 lakhs for breach of contract.
Bench: Justice SM Modak.
Case title: SNV Aviation vs Captain Gareema Kumar & Ors.
6. [Mehul Choksi] The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rejected the four petitions filed by Indian Businessman Mehul Choksi challenging the applications filed by the Enforcement Directorate seeking him to declare him as a Fugitive Economic Offender. The Bombay High Court had stayed the proceedings before the Special Court in January 2020. The agency had moved the high court seeking a review as Choksi had already fled India.
Bench: Justice Sarang V Kotwal.
Case title: Mehul Choksi vs State of Maharashtra & Anr.
7. [Abetment To Suicide] The Bombay High Court has recently denied anticipatory bail to a Mumbai lawyer who was booked by the Mumbai Police in the abetment of the suicide of Sudhir More who was an ex-corporator of the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) Shiv Sena. Nilima Chavan was booked by the officials after a complaint was filed by More’s son after his father was found dead at the railway station at Ghatkopar. Chavan had approached the high court after the sessions court denied bail to her while observing that prima facie there was material found against her.
Bench: Justice Nitin Jamadar.
Case title: Nilima Shantaram Chavan vs State of Maharashtra.
8. [Child Custody] A division bench of the Bombay High Court has recently granted custody of a child to his father while observing that there is no question of the mother's objection as she had already surrendered her claim over the child. The mother had raised objections to granting custody of the child to the father, citing allegations that he was accused of raping a minor and was booked under the POCSO Act. However, the bench determined that the child's biological father had never surrendered or abandoned the child. In fact, he had made extensive efforts to secure custody of the child.
Bench: Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Gauri Godse.
9. [Commercial Quantity Under NDPS] The Bombay High Court has recently observed that, for calculating the commercial quantity under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the recovery of contraband from the accused should be considered separately. The Anti Narcotics Cell in Pune discovered 11.245 kg of contraband in possession of the applicant, Sagar Borkar, and an additional 10.139 kg from a co-accused. Borkar's counsel argued that the contraband did not constitute a commercial quantity and that Borkar had been in jail for over a year, warranting his release on bail.
Case title: Sagar Nana Borkar vs State of Maharashtra.
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