Delhi High Court Weekly Round Up- News Updates [March 27- 31, 2023]

1. [PIL seeking adoption of Indian Holistic Integrated Medicinal Approach] The Delhi High Court directed all the respondents to file their reply in six weeks in a PIL plea seeking directions to the Centre to adopt the Indian Holistic Integrated Medicinal Approach rather than the Colonial Segregated way of Allopathy, Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Sidda, and Homeopathy to secure the right to health.

Bench: Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Dutta

Case Title: Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India & Ors.

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2. [Appointment of Public Prosecutors] The Delhi High Court asked the Delhi Government to ensure that the process of appointment of Public Prosecutors (UPSC) in Delhi courts is concluded expeditiously. The court also asked the authorities to file a status report complying with the direction issued. The court was hearing a batch of petitions including a suo matter concerning issues related to recruitment, appointment, and working of public prosecutors in Delhi Courts.

Bench:Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Datta

Case Title: Delhi Prosecutors Welfare Association (Regd) vs. Rajiv Mehrishi & Anr.

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3. [Jamia Violence 2019] The Delhi High Court overturned the trial court’s order that discharged Sharjeel Imam and 10 others in the case. The court framed charges for rioting, unlawful assembly, and obstructing public servants in discharging their duties against Sharjeel Imam, Safoora Zargar, and others. The court also expunged certain remarks made by the trial court against the investigating agency. In February, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Arul Varma of the Saket Court had discharged Sharjeel Imam, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Sarfoora Zargar, Mohammed Abuzar, Umair Ahmad, Mohammed Shoaib, Mahmood Anwar, Mohammed Qasim, Mohammed Bilal Nadeem, Shahzar Raza Khan, Chanda Yadav.

Bench: Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma

Case Title: State v. Mohd. Qasim & Others

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4. [Employment of transgender persons in public appointments] The Delhi High Court allowed an intervention application by transgender rights activist Grace Banu for assisting the court in a plea seeking employment of transgender persons in public appointments. The plea had been filed by one Jane Kaushik, a transgender person living in Delhi. Kaushik sought directions to frame a policy for the recruitment of transgender persons in all appointments for the Delhi government. She also sought relaxations for transgender persons by Clause 9 of the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) Guidelines issued by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). She further sought effective implementation of the provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

Bench: Justice Prathiba M. Singh

Case Title: Jane Kaushik v. Lieutenant Governor NCT of Delhi & Ors.

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5. [Plea challenging the constitutional validity of provisions of JJ Rules] The Delhi High Court granted more time to the Centre to file its reply in a plea by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) challenging the constitutional validity of certain clauses in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016 related to the social background report and social investigation report.

Bench: Justice Mukta Gupta and Justice Poonam A. Bamba

Case Title: DCPCR v. Union of India & Others

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6. [Defamation case filed by MP Rahul Ramesh Shewale] The Delhi High Court issued summons to former Maharashtra Chief Minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray, his son Aditya Thackeray and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut in a defamation case filed by Member of Parliament (MP) Rahul Ramesh Shewale. Shewale has filed the case against the Thackerays and Raut for allegedly leveling frivolous corruption allegations against him and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction. He has sued all three over their statement that the Eknath Shinde faction “bought the Shiv Sena symbol for Rs. 2000 crore”.

Bench: Justice Prateek Jalan

Case Title: Sh. Rahul Ramesh Shewale v. Sh. Sanjay Raut & Ors.

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7. [Terror funding case] The Delhi High Court issued notice in Kashmiri separatist leader Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali's plea against the charges framed by the trial court against him in a terror funding case that is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Watali has been charged with the allegation of "transferring money to Hurriyat leaders" that he received from individuals including Hafiz Saeed, the head of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.

Bench: Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh

Case Title: Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali v. National Investigation Agency

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8. [Jasmine Shah’s removal from DDCD] The Delhi Lieutenant Governor has recently submitted before the Delhi High Court that it should not "prejudge" the matter of Jasmine Shah's dismissal from his position as Vice Chairperson of the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDCD) and instead should wait for the President's decision. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain appeared for the LG. Shah, through a petition, has challenged a November 17, 2022 order issued by the Director (Planning), Delhi government on LG's request to Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal to remove him from the post of Vice Chairperson of DDCD and pending such a decision, to restrain him from using his office space and withdraw the staff and facilities assigned to him.

Bench: Justice Prathiba M. Singh

Case Title: Jasmine Shah v. Director (Planning) Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Ors.

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9. [Defamation case against 'The Wire' editors] The Delhi High Court recently quashed summons issued by the Trial Court in 2017 against the editor and deputy editor of the online news portal ‘The Wire’ in a criminal defamation case filed by former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor Amita Singh. Amita Singh, a professor and the Chairperson of the JNU's Center for Study of Law and Governance, had filed a complaint against a number of people, including the editor and deputy editor of The Wire for allegedly implying in the publication from April 2016 that she had prepared a dossier depicting that JNU is a “den of organized sex racket”.

Bench: Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani

Case Title: The Wire through its Editor & Anr. v. Amita Singh

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10. [Govt land encroachment ] While hearing a plea by slum dwellers residing on the Yamuna floodplain seeking rehabilitation after an eviction, the Delhi High Court recently ruled that encroachment on government property cannot be claimed as a fundamental right, and encroachers cannot claim a right to rehabilitation.

Bench: Justice Gaurang Kanth

Case Title: Bela Estate Mazdoor Basti Samiti v. Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board & Ors.

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