Latest news with #DevendraKumarUpadhyaya
Indian Express
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
HC to hear afresh pleas against Maratha reservation from July 18
A three-judge bench of the Bombay High Court Wednesday said that it will hear afresh from July 18 a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the 2024 law providing Maratha reservation. The bench noted that the state government's submission that an interim order passed last year that any applications for admissions to educational institutions or jobs at government authorities taking benefit of the impugned Act will be subject to further orders in the present proceedings still continues, therefore, it was inclined to conduct the final hearing on the pleas. The Supreme Court on May 13 had asked HC to expeditiously hear the pleas including application by students appearing for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) undergraduate and postgraduate exams of 2025. The students filed pleas seeking interim relief, claiming that a delay in the disposal of pleas was impacting their right to equal consideration in the admission process. The pleas were not heard after the then Bombay HC Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya's transfer as the CJ of Delhi HC in January this year. Justice Upadhyaya was part of a full or three-judge bench, which since April, last year, had been hearing the pleas against the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) Act, 2024 that provided 10 per cent reservation in education and government jobs to the Maratha community. The petitioners' arguments concluded on October 14, 2024. Two days after the SC order, the Bombay HC, on May 15, constituted a new three-judge bench/full bench of Justices Ravindra V Ghuge, N J Jamadar, and Sandeep V Marne, which heard the pleas on Wednesday. The 2024 law, which provided 10 per cent reservation in education and government jobs to the Maratha community that constitutes nearly one-third of Maharashtra's population, had been at the forefront of political discourse last year during the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Senior advocate Pradeep Sancheti, for the petitioner students, argued that education and career of thousands of students appearing for NEET exams will be affected if the interim relief of stay on the effect of the 2024 law was not granted to them. However, Advocate General Birendra Saraf, representing the Maharashtra government, submitted that an interim order was issued by the HC on April 16, last year, and the same continued even till date, and the same was not brought to the notice of the Supreme Court. Saraf argued that the same interim order will apply to the petitioner students, and their admissions will be subject to further orders passed by the HC. He also submitted that interim relief cannot be sought by filing fresh petitions while the interim arrangement was made last year and the same continued from time to time. The full bench led by Justice Ghuge then expressed 'inclination to commence the final hearing of the matter' and said it will begin the same on July 18.
Time of India
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Sexual crimes against animals: Plea in HC
New Delhi: Delhi High Court is likely to examine a plea seeking to prosecute those involved in sexual crimes against animals next month. The bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on May 28 posted the matter for further hearing on July 16 to enable the petitioner to bring more facts on record. The court was dealing with a plea filed by the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) that highlighted the consequences of the "complete repeal" of Section 377 (unnatural sexual offences) of IPC under the newly enacted Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). While Section 377 of the IPC was read down by Supreme Court in the 2018 Navtej Singh Johar judgment to decriminalise consensual same-sex relationships, its complete deletion from BNS inadvertently decriminalised sexual violence against animals, it said. The parliamentary standing committee on home affairs, the plea said, in its report on BNS highlighted the removal of Section 377, proposing reinstating it to address non-consensual sexual offences against men, transpersons and animals. It submitted that in April 2025 alone, a couple of crimes were reported in Delhi against animals. A man was arrested in Shahdara for allegedly raping several dogs. A pet dog, which succumbed later, was found unconscious on a road in Saket, and a condom was found in its intimate parts. tnn
The Hindu
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Delhi High Court to hear plea over sexual crimes against animals in July
The Delhi High Court would in July hear a plea to prosecute those involved in sexual crimes against animals. A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on May 28 posted the matter on July 16 to enable the petitioner to bring more facts on record. The Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) in its PIL highlighted the "complete repeal" of Section 377 (unnatural sexual offences) of IPC under the newly-enacted Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). While Section 377 of the IPC was rightly read down by the Supreme Court in the 2018 Navtej Singh Johar judgment to decriminalise consensual same-sex relationships, its complete deletion from BNS inadvertently decriminalised sexual violence against animals, leaving them unprotected by law, it argued. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, the plea said, in its report on BNS highlighted the removal of Section 377, proposing reinstating it to address non-consensual sexual offences against men, transpersons and animals. The plea, filed through advocate Varnika Singh, sought the restoration of the provision that specifically criminalised sexual crimes against animals under the erstwhile Section 377 of IPC. In April alone, the PIL referred to a couple of crimes being reported in the national capital. While a man was arrested in Shahdara area for allegedly raping several dogs, a pet dog, which succumbed later, was found unconscious on a road in Saket and a condom was retrieved from its intimate parts. The PIL also referred to an incident in Coimbatore, where a construction worker was found sexually abusing a dog. FIAPO's CEO Bharati Ramachandran, in a statement, said, "Animals cannot defend themselves. They deserve justice and protection from sexual violence under law.'
Time of India
07-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Local Court Lawyers Up In Arms Over Shifting Of 34 Digital Courts
New Delhi: Lawyers from the district courts decided on Saturday to roll back their decision to abstain from work in protest against the shifting of the judges of the 34 digital Negotiable Instruments Act courts to the Rouse Avenue courts. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A statement released by the All District Courts Bar Association of Delhi on Saturday said that the lawyers' coordination committee met the chief justice of and was assured that all digital courts would function strictly as digital platforms only. The remaining proceedings and judicial work only would be conducted in the regular local courts, the statement said. "Necessary directions are being issued to all presiding officers instructing them not to insist on the physical appearance of any stakeholders, including parties, counsel, police officers, etc, in c+ourt," the statement added. On May 30, high court chief justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya inaugurated the 34 digital courts at the Rouse Avenue Courts complex to hear cases under the NI Act. Only judges of these courts will operate from Rouse Avenue, while the staff —readers, ahlmads and stenographers — will operate from their respective districts. The association on Friday, June 6 decided to abstain from work opposing the decision of shiftingthecourts. The digital courts deal with cases related to cheque bounces across six court complexes. The Lok Sabha was informed by the Union law minister in Dec 2024 that Delhi ranked fourth among top five Indian states with regard to NI Act cases and has 4.5 lakh pending cases. A judge in a NI Act court, on average, holds 80 hearings every day. According to the National Judicial Data Grid, until June 7, there were 15.1 lakh cases, of which 31% were cheque bounce cases. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Last year, advocate Jagriti Jain filed a public interest litigation, highlighting administrative lapses in the digital NI Act court in North district. The petition pointed out the huge pendency of cases as well as connectivity problems of the portal used for digital hearings. In April 2024, a division bench comprising then acting chief justice Manmohan and justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora directed steps to be taken to address the issue of digital connectivity and network problems. On May 22 this year, the bench disposed of the Jain's PIL, noting that connectivity issues had been resolved after the registrar general of the high court submitted a report on May 9 outlining the remedial measures taken. A second digital NI Act court was established in the North district and all pending matters were evenly distributed between the two courts. Advocate Parthesh Bhardwaj, who appeared for Jain, told TOI, "As of June, with multiple functioning courts, better cause list management and strengthened technical infrastructure, the average time between hearings at digital NI Act courts in all districts has significantly reduced."
The Hindu
07-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Lawyers to boycott judicial work on June 9 in protest against digital courts shift
Lawyers across Delhi's district courts will abstain from all judicial works including court proceedings on June 9 in protest against the relocation of all digital courts to the Rouse Avenue Court complex. The move comes after Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya on Friday inaugurated 34 digital courts, aimed at reducing paperwork and improving speed as well as efficiency. The courts are dedicated to handling cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act, which mostly deals with cheque bounce cases. These digital courts include nine from Dwarka, seven from Tis Hazari, six from Saket, five from Karkardooma Court, four from Rohini and three from Patiala House. In what it described as 'unrest' among the lawyers, the Coordination Committee of all districts court bar associations of Delhi passed a resolution on Friday. 'Coordination Committee has resolved to abstain from judicial work in all Delhi District Courts on Monday, June 9, 2025,' stated the circular. The Aam Aadmi Party government approved the construction of a new district court complex at Rouse Avenue in August 2024 at an estimated cost of ₹427 crore, aimed at streamlining judicial processes and improving accessibility.
