SC to hear PIL challenging passing of Aadhaar law as money bill
SC will also hear an appeal by the Maharashtra Cricket Association seeking to allow IPL matches in the state
New Delhi: Monday is an exciting day in courts.
The Supreme Court will hear the challenge by parliamentarian Jairam Ramesh against passing the Aadhaar Act, aimed for targeted benefit delivery, as a money bill. It will also hear an appeal by the Maharashtra Cricket Association seeking to allow Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in the state. Interestingly, the apex court is also hearing a case on cleaning up the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The Delhi high court has a day of face-offs, with the Centre-state tussle and the Ola-Uber battle.
Aadhaar law challenged in court
The court will hear a fresh public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, challenging the passing of the Aadhaar law as a money bill.
IPL matches in drought-hit Maharashtra
The court is set to hear a plea by the Maharashtra Cricket Association against the Bombay high court’s ban on IPL matches in the state after April.
BCCI ordered to find alternative venues for 13 out of 19 matches scheduled to be held in the drought-hit state.
Uber-Ola battle
The case between taxi service competitors Uber and Ola, who are embroiled in a number of court cases, will be heard by the Delhi high court in a matter whereby the former has alleged that Ola employees were making bookings on its platform by creating fake accounts. In the last hearing, Ola maintained that they had not indulged in such activities and that it was a media gimmick to affect their reputation. Read more
Centre-state tussle
The long-drawn face-off between the Centre and the state will continue with the high court hearing a plea to decide the distribution of powers between the Centre and the Delhi government. Earlier, senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the Delhi government, proposed referring the matter to a larger bench as it involved grave constitutional questions. The issue has been heard expeditiously and is bound to have an impact on resolving various problems subsisting between the two. The last hearings have addressed the issue of the powers of Lieutenant Governor (L-G) over consultation with the council of ministers in taking various decisions.The immediate reason for the problem is a Union ministry of home affairs notification dated 21 May replacing a 1998 notification on the issue. The Centre’s notification said that in police and other service matters, the L-G could take decisions independently of the state government. Read more
PIL on National Court of Appeals
Toying with the idea of reducing pendency of cases, the court will hear a PIL on setting up a National Court of Appeals.
In an earlier hearing, the attorney general had dismissed the idea and called it unconstitutional.
Minimum import price on steel products
The high court will hear a plea by lobby group Steel Wires Association of India against the government’s minimum import price or MIP on 173 steel products aimed at providing relief to local steel producers hurt by cheap imports. On 17 March, the court had sought responses within two weeks from the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the ministry of commerce and the ministry of finance in the matter. The association in its plea has questioned the jurisdiction of DGFT, which issued a notification on 5 February imposing MIP on 173 steel products ranging between $341 and $752 per tonne. A petition to transfer these cases to one forum has been filed in the Supreme Court by the Indian Steel Association and the Centre as well. That is scheduled to be heard on 12 May. Read more
Case of ban on entry of women in Sabarimala temple
The Supreme Court will hear the case regarding ban on entry of women in Sabarimala temple. The court has questioned the rationale for keeping women from entering the temple in the light of constitutional principles. The case came to the court through a petition from not-for-profit outfit Indian Young Lawyers’ Association, seeking entry of women.
Challenge to odd-even scheme
Shortly after the second phase of the odd-even scheme to control pollution levels in the city set in, it was challenged in the Delhi high court as a whole and also with regards to certain exemptions granted under the scheme. Rajiv Khosla, the petitioner, has sought that advocates also be exempted from observing the scheme as they assist the courts in guarding the personal liberty and civil rights of citizens. Read more
Anticipatory bail of activist Teesta Setalvad
The top court will hear a case of anticipatory bail filed by activist Teesta Setalvad and husband Javed Anand in relation to an embezzlement charge levelled against them for siphoning off money from the donations collected for the construction of a memorial for the 2002 Gujarat riot victims at Gulbarg Society.
BCCI clean-up
The Supreme court is overseeing the implementation of the Lodha committee report on administrative reforms within the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). This week the court criticised the cricketing body on arbitrary allocation of funds. Read here
Ban on chewable tobacco
The high court will hear a case brought by tobacco manufacturer Sugandhi Snuff King against a notification passed by the Delhi government last year which had banned the sale, purchase, storage and manufacturing of all forms of chewable tobacco, including gutkha and pan masala containing tobacco. Read more
Although it had been stayed by the court, its effect was set to expire on 25 March. In this regard, Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain told PTI that the Delhi government had decided to reissue the notification banning chewable tobacco and its other forms. Read more
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