UK: UCL Organizes South Asian Competition Law Conference

The University College London through its Centre for Law, Economics, and Society this week held its first ever conference on South Asian Competition Law. In a statement issued by the organizers of the conference, Professor Ioannis Lianos, and Dr. Amber Darr, noted that the intention of the conference was to explore the South Asian competition laws, particularly the dialogue between Pakistan and India. The conference took place at the main auditorium of UCL. Speakers at the conference included erudite lawyers and professors of law.

India: Union Cabinet Approves Seven Key Proposals

The Union Cabinet on Thursday announced seven key decisions which will boost the economy. This was made known by the Minister of Law, Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad immediately after the cabinet meeting. According to Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad, the cabinet members approved seven key decisions, including, the amendment to the Central Universities Act, 2009, leasing out of Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, and Mangaluru airports through a Public-Private partnership arrangement, and procedures to sale enemy shares. Other decisions approved are filling of the Padur Strategic Petroleum Reserves, India and Morocco agreement on the Mutual Legal Assistance in Commercial and Civil Matters, MoU between India and Italy on Labour and Employment training, and the appraisal of the inclusion of India as a Member of the Advanced Motor Fuels Technology Collaboration Program.

India: Stop Filing Status Report In a Casual Manner, Delhi HC Tells Delhi Police Officials

The Delhi High Court bench presided over Justices Siddharth Mridul and Sangita Dhingra on Thursday cautioned the officials of the Delhi Police command to stop filing status reports in a casual manner. The court made the remark after hearing a criminal contempt suit against the house officer of the Mayur Vihar Police Station. A single bench of the High Court filed the contempt suit against the house officer for allegedly filing a false status report before the court.

India: Lawyer Sues Actor Shah Rukh Khan Over Alleged Hurting Religious Sentiments

A senior lawyer, advocate Amritpal Singh Khalsa on Tuesday sued actor Shah Rukh Khan and the producer of the film “Zero,” Gauri Khan and Karuna Badwal before the Bombay High Court. According to the petition as seen by journalists, the petitioner contended that the actor was seen in the movie wearing shorts and a best with the inscription of Rs. 500 notes around his neck region, as well as ‘kirpan’ wrapped across his body. Khalsa pointed out that the ‘Kirpan’ attire is worn after ‘rehat Maryada’ has been taking. The petitioner took exception to the attire worn by the actor and sought the court’s intervention in the case.

India- Madras HC To Hear Bail Application Of The Director Of ‘Sarkar’

A bench of the Madras High Court will hear the anticipatory bail application filed by the director of Sarkar, AR Murugadoss. The bail application filed by AR Murugadoss is coming at a time when his film content has generated a lot of heated controversies. According to sources close to  AR Murugadoss, the decision to file for anticipatory bail was informed after police officers stormed his residence in Chennai unannounced. Recall that a complaint had been filed by Devarajan against the director at the Chennai police. But the police in a statement said no FIR had been registered against the director.

India: Reject The District Judges Names Sent To You For Promotion, Lawyers Association Urges Union Law Minister

The AP and T High Court Lawyers’ Associations on Thursday called on the Union Law Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad to reject the names of the District judges penciled down for promotion to High Court Judges. The associations made the call after an emergency general meeting held over the non-filling of High Court Judges’ posts in line with the Bar Quota. According to the presidents of the two Associations, the approval of the promotion would lead to a chaos in future based on the impending bifurcation on the common HC.

India:  Refusal To Represent A Suspect Regardless Of The Crime Committed Amount To Judicial System Failure, Madras HC Says

A bench of the Madras High Court in a recent ruling which discharged a lawyer asserted that no lawyer should deny any suspect legal representation irrespective of the nature of the crime committed by the suspect. The lawyer had taken up the responsibility of defending a suspect that was linked with Maoist but was implicated in the case. The court in paragraph 31 of the judgement noted that it was the Lawyer’s duty to represent his client.

India: Industrial Action: No End In Sight As Odisha Lawyers’ Strike Enters Two Months

There seems to be no end in sight in the industrial action embarked upon by lawyers of the Odisha High Court. The lawyers had proceeded on the strike on the 28th of August, 2018. Recall that a lawyer, Debi Prasad, was brutalized by police officers in Cuttack. Immediately after the attack, lawyer association in the court had demanded the arrest of the police officers under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code.

Canada: Plans By Canada To Harvest Individual Financial Data Has Been Put On Hold, Chief Statistician Says

The Canadian Chief Statistician on Thursday said the plans by his agency, Statistics Canada to access individual financial data has been put on hold pending the conclusion of an investigation to determine the legality of the project. Canadian law allows the agency to request individual financial data from both public and private institutions, including commercial banks. Recently the agency caught about 9 institutions and thus requested banking information from about 500,000 households.

UK: Scotland Top Judge Reject UK’s Government Appeal To Halt Brexit

A senior Jude in Scotland, the Lord President, Lord Carloway on Thursday rejected the appeal brought before it by the United Kingdom government. The UK government had lodged the appeal with a view to halting Brexit from forging ahead with its plan exit from the EU. According to sources in the know, the UK government has resolved to further appeal the case at the Supreme Court. Whether or not the UK Supreme Court will rule in the country’s favour would be a landmark judgement.

Australia: Euthanasia: Terminally Sick Patients Can Request Drugs To End Their Lives

A new law which will allow terminally sick patients to request legal drugs that will enable them to end their lives is set to take effect in Victoria. However, strict clauses geared towards protecting doctors, patients, and other health workers may prevent terminally sick patients from requesting the medical assisted dying drugs even though it’s their right. A cross section of health workers in Australia is opposed to the new law. They asserted that the new law raises ethical questions.

Ireland: Despite Ireland’s Decision To Repeal Blasphemy Law, The Problem Still Remain With Muslims And Christian

Recently, Irish voters came out en mass to vote in support of the removal of the word “blasphemy” from their constitution. However, according to a report published on Thursday, a few days after the voters’ decision, the problem of blasphemy still remain with Muslims and Christians. In Pakistan for instance, the release of a Christian woman named, Asia Bibi, who was accused of blasphemy was greeted with massive protest. Conversely, the Indonesian government has jailed too many people for speaking ill of the Muslim religion

Nigeria: Federal Government Spends N3.5M Monthly To Feed El-Zakzaky

The Federal Government of Nigerian on Thursday said it spent N3.5 million on a monthly basis to feed the detained leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), El-Zakzaky. This was revealed by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed on Thursday in a news bullet. According to Mohammed, the detained IMN leader eats as if he is at home, even while at home. El-Zakzaky had been granted bail by a Federal High Court in 2015, but the State Security Services (SSS) refused to set him free.