INDIA – The Sunday Book Market of Daryaganj Is Closed Due to Traffic Impediments. Court Wins, Delhi Lost
The Delhi High Court directed the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to close the Netaji Subhash Marg Sunday Bazaar — declaring it a no-hawking zone. The court’s order cited obstacles to the movement of vehicles and pedestrians. In a singular time of administrative action, A 50-year-old tradition has been demolished. Days after the order had passed, the book association and hundreds of its members had marked the first Sunday that they had been banned to set up shops as a dark day in Delhi’s history. The sellers gathered for a strike in Daryaganj on 27 July, hoping to make their plight visible to local authorities.
INDIA – Government Plans To Waive Debt for ‘Small Distressed Borrowers’ Under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
The government plans to waive debt for “small distressed borrowers” under the insolvency law framework, according to a senior official. The proposed waiver would be offered as part of the ‘Fresh Start’ under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas said discussions were held with the microfinance industry on criteria for the proposed waiver of small distressed borrowers within the economically weaker section (EWS). He also indicated that the IBC offers a structure for dealing with distressed assets through a market-driven and time-bound process.
INDIA – Hoax Call at Delhi Airport: Man, Faces Risk of Being Prosecuted Under the New Anti-Hijacking Law
Disgruntled husband Nasrudeen, who had made a hoax call to IGI, has so far been booked under a lenient section. However, anyone making such hoax calls runs the risk of being prosecuted under the new, stringent anti-hijacking law. That is because the 2016 law, enacted a year later, does not distinguish between the actual hijacking of an aircraft and an act that derails the aircraft’s scheduled flight. Legal experts refer to Section 3(1) of the new Act, which provides investigators with teeth to treat a hoax call as almost an act of terror and urges the court to hand over life term to the culprit. In Nasrudeen’s case, while there was no threat of hijack, the false claim of the presence of a fidayeen bomber led to the aircraft’s plan being changed, inviting the strict provisions of this law.
USA – California Sues Trump Administration over New ‘Public Charge’ Refusing Issuance of Green Cards to ImmigrantsÂ
California sued the Trump administration on Friday (August 16, 2019) to contest the legality of a new “public charge” law that could deny green cards to immigrants receiving public assistance, including food stamps, Medicaid vouchers, and housing vouchers. Atty State. Gen. Xavier Becerra lodged a lawsuit at the federal court in Northern California. Legal experts say that the case could turn to whether California can demonstrate that the Trump administration has adopted a policy aimed at discriminating against certain immigrants, which is part of the state’s legal strategy. The lawsuit is the 56th legal challenge that California has lodged against the Trump administration on a multitude of issues, including health policy, environmental policy and the U.S. census.
INDIA – Lack of Legal Literacy, Main Cause of Deprivation of Rights: CJI Gogoi
India’s Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said on Sunday (August 18, 2019) that the lack of legal awareness was the “root cause” of “deception, exploitation and deprivation” of the masses’ rights and benefits. He also noted that “awareness” about one’s rights and the means of obtaining them are the “powerful tools” for bringing about social and economic progress. Addressing the valedictory function of the 17th All India Meeting of State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) in Nagpur, the CJI stated that legal services must be formed “to obtain distributed justice, effectively implement welfare benefits and eliminate social and structural discrimination against the poor.” Justice Gogoi said the “legal aid movement” can’t attain its objective until individuals are conscious of their legal rights as their fundamental rights.
INDIA – Government Has No Plans to Increase Supreme and High Court Judges Retirement Age
The Narendra Modi Government, “at present,” has no plan to increase the retirement age of the Supreme Court Judges and High Courts. As the discussion on this issue is revived with a proposition lately made to the Government by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi of India, the response received under the Right to Information Act (RTI) revealed that no such discussions were taking place on the part of the Government. At present, the Supreme Court Judges retired at the age of 65, while the High Court of Justices withdrew from office at the age of 62. The superannuation ages of those judges were fixed in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Constitution.
USA – Student Left Homeless After Wrongful Firing Wins Nearly $70K in Suit against Law Firm
A prominent Vancouver law firm has been instructed to pay nearly $70,000 for wrongfully rejecting an articling student who ended up unemployed and homeless for several months after being fired. The Supreme Court of Justice of the B.C. discovered that Melissa Ojanen, who graduated from Law College in 2016, was mistreated while working at Acumen Law Corporation. She was hired as an articling student in a 12-month training course, which included a 10-week professional legal training course.
INDIA – Plea By A Group In The Supreme Court Against the Article 370 Amendment
A petition lodged in the Supreme Court (SC) jointly by a group of prominent citizens who had served in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in high bureaucratic and military positions challenged the amendment to Article 370 of the Constitution and the reorganization of the State into two Union Territories. The petition filed on Saturday defined the amendments as striking at the core of the values on which the State of J&K was incorporated with India, particularly since they had no affirmation/sanction from the individuals of J&K. The petition stated that the consent of the individuals before amending Article 370 was a constitutional imperative.
INDIA – Gujarat: Activist Moves Supreme Court, Due to Inadequate Implementation of RTE by State Government
The Supreme Court (SC) will soon take up a petition filed by activist Sandip Munjyasara alleging some irregularities and violations of the provisions enshrined in the Law on the Right to Education (RTE) by the Government of Gujarat. Munjyasara moved the apex court after the Gujarat High Court ruled in April that it was satisfied with the steps made by the state government to comply with the RTE provisions to guarantee the entry of kids from the weakest parts of society to private schools. The activist asserted that the High Court had not adjudicated the prayers he had made in his petition.
UNITED KINGDOM – Brexit Secretary Signs Order to End 1972 Brussels Act-Ending All EU Law in Britain
The 1972 Act is a vehicle that sees regulations flow directly from EU law-making bodies in Brussels into UK law. The announcement of the repeal of the Act marks an essential step in the return of the legislative powers from Brussels to the United Kingdom. We are regaining control of our laws, as the public voted in 2016. The repeal of the European Communities Act 1972 will take effect on the date on which Britain officially leaves the EU on 31 October.
INDIA – The Government Wants To Prohibit E-Cigarettes, Nicotine Flavoured Hookahs
The government has a number of options, such as bringing an ordinance to enforce a ban on the manufacture, sale and import of ENDS devices, including e-cigarettes, if it fails to obtain a reprimand from the High Court of Delhi, which had previously maintained its order to ban such products, according to sources. Banning alternative smoking devices such as e-cigarettes, heat-free devices, steam and e-nicotine flavoured hookahs, among others, is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Health as part of the first 100-day agenda of the second term of the Modi government. Since more than 75 days have passed, the Ministry of Health of the Union has taken action to ban the manufacture, sale, distribution and import of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS).
AUSTRALIAN – Catholic Archbishop Claims Prison is Preferable to Complying with Child Abuse Confession Law
The Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne insists that three years’ imprisonment is preferable to breaking the seal of confession and reporting sexual abuse to the authorities. Priests risk prison if they do not report child abuse disclosed to them during the sacrament of confession under the new laws implemented in Victoria on Wednesday (August 14, 2019). The bill, introduced into the state parliament, would make religious ministers’ compulsory reporters for abuse of suspicion alongside police, educators, medical practitioners, and early childhood workers.
INDIA – Live-in-Relation Daughter in Assam: Delhi HC Advises Ex-Army Man to Move Gauhati HC for Custody of His Minor
An ex-Army man has not been given custody of his little girl, who was born out of a live-in relationship with him in Assam, as the High Court of Delhi has argued that it does not have jurisdiction to plea. The High Court said that since the minor was born in Assam and is currently under the custody of her maternal grandma and aunt, he can appeal to the High Court of Gauhati for relief. The former Army man has two kids from his live-in partner who died in 2015 owing to some severe complications during his third pregnancy.
INDIA – HC Lambastes IIT Bombay Scholar Over Sexist-Based Comments About Professor
The High Court (HC) of Bombay has raped a senior research scholar at IIT-Bombay, stating that while he has the right to express dissension, his comments about the associate professor’s character have not been called for. Judges Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and Gautam Patel heard a petition from a man whose doctorate in economics had been withheld because his apology was found to be unsatisfactory. In 2010, he joined the IIT-B. His petition said that, as if acting on the cue and teaching him a lesson, his answer was “wrongly and obstinately” interpreted as a sexist-based comment, and a signature campaign was initiated. The judges then asked whether he wanted his PhD degree and the matter to be resolved or whether the court would take a strict view. Sharma said that his client would “add to the apology” a line stating, “I didn’t plan to insult any lady, much less a professor …”
DUBAI – Be Aware of the Law: How to Legally Share Accommodation in the UAE
In Dubai, sharing a rented accommodation without acquiring the consent of the landlord is unlawful. This is as per Article 24 of Law No 26 of 2007 on the relationship between tenants and landlords in Dubai (Dubai Rental Law) which provides: “Unless otherwise agreed in the tenancy contract, the tenant shall not assign a benefit or sublease to the premises without obtaining the consent of the landlord.” If the tenants reside illegally, you may take the situation to the attention of the landlord. In Dubai, any tenant who sublets the leased premises may be expelled along with the sub-intendants. This is following Article 25 of Law No. 33 of 2008 amending certain provisions of Law No. 25(1) (b) of 2007. Also, the landlord may request the eviction of the tenant before the end of the tenancy period if the tenant subleases the property without a written approval.
INDIA – Bombay HC Gives Early Bail to A 33-year-old Person from Mumbra in the Triple Talaq Case
The Bombay High Court (HC) granted an early bail to a Mumbra resident in Maharashtra who had been registered under the Muslim Women’s Protection Act, according to reports. The 33-year-old accused, Imtiyaz Patel, was charged with immediate triple talaq on 30 November 2018. He approached the Bombay High Court seeking anticipatory bail, stating it was a marriage dispute with his spouse, and he was prepared to go to mediation. However, the court told him to deposit his passport with the investigating officer on Thursday. It also guided him not to put anything ‘derogatory’ on social media against his wife.
INDIA – Poor Rape Survivor Encouraged To Raise the Baby, But Bombay High Court Declines Economic Assistance
A 17-year-old rape survivor, who had been counselled by the Bombay High Court against termination of her 27-week pregnancy, has lost a plea seeking economic assistance to raise the child. The girl had moved through her mother to the high court on July 29 for permission to end her pregnancy since she had passed the 20-week limit. A relative and his son had sexually assaulted the Vasai resident since January. After studying her case, the medical board advised that “it would be better to deliver the child on time.”
USA – Beware, the Illinois EpiPen Law is not ‘Enormous’ As the Headlines Claim
Headlines proclaimed, “Illinois has just become the first state to require insurance businesses to pay for EpiPen children’s injectors,” said Governor J.B. Pritzker’s 14 August tweet: “I was proud to sign … laws extending insurance coverage to kids whose allergies require lifesaving EpiPens …” EpiPen is an injection tool that includes epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, a natural mammalian hormone that plays a key role in our “fight or flight” reaction to risk. During a serious allergic reaction, epinephrine immediately decreases the swelling of the face, lips, and neck, which can be lifesaving. It should be noted that EpiPen has got terrible news coverage in the latest years. This is not because of worries about its efficacy, but rather because of alarm and rage about its cost.
INDIA – General feeling Christian Coeducational Study is Extremely Dangerous for the Future of Girls: Madras High Court
The High Court of Madras noted on Friday (August 16, 2019) that there was a general feeling that co-educational study in Christian educational institutions was “highly unsafe” for the future of young children and that although Christian missionaries taught good education, their preaching of morality would be a “million-dollar question.” The judge commented while refusing to cancel the show-cause notice given to a professor at Madras Christian College (MCC) who was charged with sexual harassment by at least 34 girls studying zoology in college for the third year. Saying Christian missionaries have been attacked on one problem or another, the judge said, “In the present era, there are several charges against them for obliging individuals of other religions to convert to Christianity.
USA – Saudi Arabian Court Refuses Woman Custody of Her daughter Because of Her Western Lifestyle
An American mom fought desperately for the custody of her daughter in Saudi Arabia on Sunday (August 18, 2019), having been ruled “too Western to raise a kid” in a rigorous Islamic country, according to reports. Bethany Vierra, 32, who moved to Saudi Arabia in 2011, fought for the custody of 4-year-old Zaina after splitting up with her husband, accusing him of verbal abuse and drug abuse, said her family to CNN. But the yoga instructor lost after being considered a poor parent under Sharia law — based in part on the reality that she had been to Burning Man and had “nudity” on her social media pages, according to the report.
