CJI raises concern over backlog of criminal cases in Allahabad HC

  • Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Saturday said the pendency of criminal cases in the Allahabad High Court was “very worrying”.

  • According to an affidavit filed by the U.P. government in the Supreme Court in August, the Allahabad High Court has 1.83 lakhs pending criminal appeals.

  • The High Court has 68 judicial vacancies out of a total sanctioned strength of 160 judges, according to the Department of Justice statistics as on September 1.

  • Chief Justice Ramana reiterated the need to form a National Judicial Infrastructure Corporation (NJIC) to help courts come out of the dilapidated structures and the “severely detrimental” and “unpleasant work environment”.

Ready to conduct Class XI exams: Kerala Govt.

  • The Kerala government has submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court putting forward its case for conducting the Class XI higher secondary examinations in the offline mode despite the recent stay by the court. 

  • The affidavit lays out the arrangements on the part of the State government for conducting the exams by strictly adhering to the COVID19 protocols. 

  • It pointed out that the Secondary School Leaving Certificate and the Class XII exams had been conducted in April by observing all possible safety measures.


Assam extends AFSPA

  • The Government of Assam in exercise of powers conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, has declared the entire State as ‘Disturbed Area’ up to six months with effect from August 28, 2021, unless withdrawn earlier.

Magistrates can’t extend probe under UAPA: SC 

  • The Supreme Court has held that magistrates cannot favor an investigating agency by extending the period of probe in Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) cases at will.

  • Under UAPA, the investigation has to be completed within 90 days. If not, the accused is entitled to default bail.

  • Insofar as “extension of time to complete investigation” is concerned, the competent authority to consider such request would be ‘the Court’ as specified in the proviso in Section 43D(2)(b) of the UAPA,  and by ‘the Court’, the Bench meant the Special Court under the UAPA.

  • Later, the State High Court rejected the accused’s plea to quash the case, saying the Magistrate had passed an appropriate order, the period of the probe was rightly extended to 180 days and the plea for bail was not maintainable, which was further set aside by the Supreme Court and the accused was granted bail while quoting same above mentioned reasons.


New arbitration Bill on the anvil, says Rijiju

  • Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said the central government will introduce a Bill on arbitration in the winter session of the Parliament. The government wants to make India a global hub for arbitration.

150 Myanmar nationals cross over to Mizoram

  • Nearly 150 people from Myanmar’s Chin State have crossed over to Mizoram in the past few days following airstrikes by the military.

  • Officials said an estimated 10,000 refugees have already sought shelter in four of these districts since March.

  • The refugees are lodged in community and public halls and school buildings.


U.S. climate envoy Kerry to visit India next week for talks

  • As a prelude to the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) meeting on climate change in Glasgow in November, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, will visit India next week to meet officials and private sector representatives, the State Department announced.

  • The objective behind his visit to India is to discuss efforts to raise global climate ambition and speed India’s clean energy transition.

  • He will also launch the “Climate Action and Finance Mobilization Dialogue (CAFMD), part of the U.S.-India Agenda 2030 Partnership that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden announced in April 2021 at Mr. Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate to discuss efforts to raise global climate ambition and speed India’s clean energy transition.

NCLAT admits Dhoot petition against Twin Star takeover

  • The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has admitted a petition filed by former Videocon group CMD Venugopal Dhoot challenging an earlier order of the insolvency court NCLT approving a  ₹2,962 crores takeover bid for its 13 group companies by Anil Agarwal’s Twin Star Technologies.

  • The respondents are directed to file their reply by September 15, 2021, and, thereafter, the rejoinder, if any, be filed by September 17.

  • Mr. Dhoot, in his petition has requested the NCLAT to set aside the order passed by the NCLT and to direct the lenders to consider the ₹31,789 crore settlement plan submitted by him under section 12 of the IBC.


CBIC moves to ease container availability

  • The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs(CBIC) has directed its officers to expeditiously dispose off the unclaimed, un-cleared and confiscated goods that are holding up containers, a move aimed at easing availability of containers for exporters.

  • Exporters have time and again raised the issue of shortage of containers as it affects exports.


Apple must ease App Store rules: U.S. judge

  • A U.S. federal judge struck down a core part of Apple Inc.’s App Store rules, forcing the company to allow developers to send their users to other payment systems in a win for ‘Fortnite’ creator Epic Games and other app makers.

  • The ruling vastly expands a concession that Apple made with Japanese regulators last week to encompass game developers, who are the biggest cash generators for Apple’s App Store, which itself is the foundation of its $53.8 billion services segment.


E-safety for kids through Age Appropriate Design Code

  • Last week the U.K. government brought into effect the Age Appropriate Design Code or the Children’s Code, as an amendment to the Data Protection Act, 2018, operationalizing a set of regulations that will make using the digital space safer for children.

  • While the Code is officially in place only in the U.K., tech majors such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube have tightened safety rules for children, and campaigners hope this will become the norm globally.


Extracted & Compiled by- Adv. Rajat Gupta, Advocate- Delhi High Court

MyLawman is now on Telegram (t.me/mylawman) Follow us for regular legal updates. Follow us on Google News, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter or join our whats app group .You can also subscribe for our Newsletter for Email Updates.