Top Legal Headlines - Thursday 11th Feb, 2021

1. Kangana Ranaut Granted 4 weeks by Bombay HC to apply for regularization

• In the case of Kangana Ranaut v. Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, the Bombay High Court granted the actress four weeks' time to apply for regularization of her property.

• The Bollywood actress had appealed to the High Court against the order of the lower court which had dismissed the notice for motion filed to challenge the notice of BMC for unauthorized construction.

• The Court has also granted her protection for two weeks in this matter.

• Wonder what tweet or video would follow next.

2. Supreme Court stays Delhi HC's order which directed private schools to provide free internet connection

• Hon'ble Supreme Court's Bench comprising of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice V. Subramaniam put a stay on the order of the Delhi High Court which directed the private schools to provide free internet connections and gadgets to the poor children for attending online classes under the RTE Under that order, the schools could later ask for reimbursement form the government.

• The Supreme Court ordered the constitution of a 3-membered committee for the identification of suitable gadgets and internet packages.

• It would be interesting to see how this gets implemented.

3. Supreme Court's notice in appeal against NCLAT order on NPA

• A Bench constituted by Justice R.F. Nariman, Hemant Gupta and B.R. Gavai ruled that entries made in the balanced sheet of a company do not constitute an acknowledgement of liability under Section 18 of the Limitations Act.

• This judgment was given with respect to the initiation of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under IBC, 2016.

• Limitations hold a lot importance for CIRPs, don't they?

4. Dishonor of cheques would attract presumption u/s 139 of NI Act

• The Supreme Court Bench comprising of Justice N.V. Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Aniruddha Bose ruled that even blank cheque leaves would attract the presumption under Section 139 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

• It was held by the Court that once signatures are established on a cheque, the clause of ‘reverse onus' under Sections 118 and 139 of the Act become operative.

5. Accused Denied Bail in Suleman Murder Case

• An “innocent person was brutally murdered, just because of the fact that he belonged to the other community', was observed by Delhi's Karkardooma Court when it denied bail to the accused in the Suleman murder case.

• Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav stated that if the accused is released on bail, there is a possibility of the witnesses being threatened and the repercussions could be serious.

• This case relates to the Delhi Riots of February 2020.

6. Mahua Moitra's lash at the Government

• During the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Mahua Moitra's fiery speech grabbed everyone's attention and has, since then, been the talk of the town.
• In her speech she lashed the Government for authoritarianism and choosing morality over brutality.
• In her 21 minutes long speech, she even alleged the media and the judiciary to have failed the nation and ended by asking ‘repeal or nothing' for the farm laws.

7. Supreme Court gives 4 Weeks to Centre for Granting Minority Status to Hindus in 9 States

• Hon'ble Supreme Court has asked the Centre to respond to the request made to the High Court for transferring the petition seeking the grant of minority status to Hindus in 9 States, to the Supreme Court.
• A notice was issued to the Ministries of Home Affairs, Law & Justice and Minority Affairs.
• A petition has already been filed in the Supreme Court requesting the abolishment of the National Commission of Minorities Act.
• It has been requested to the Supreme Court that if this law is upheld then the Hindus must be given minority status in 9 states where actually the majority is enjoying all the benefits under the Act.

8. The Coup in Myanmar

• On the 1^st of February, a military coup took place in Myanmar, in which the de facto leader of the State, Aung San Suu Kyi, was detained along with President Win Myint and other senior leaders.
• Soon after that, emergency was declared and all the powers were handed over to the Commander-in-chief, Min Aung Hlaing.
• US President has announced to impose consequences on the leaders of the Coup in Myanmar and said that the Burmese Government will not be given access to the funds with the US.
• The UNHRC will debate on the resolution brought by Britain and European Union to condemn the Coup, on Friday.
• “They have already announced that they would do it. And now they did it. Apart from that, I have nothing to say', is the latest comment by the Military Spokesperson Zaw Min Tun.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS SUMMARIES

1. Liver Cancer Patient receives about $154799 from hospital after having been switched at birth

• Yao Ce, an advanced liver cancer patient from East China won an appeal made against the ruling of a court in Central China. Yao had been switched by mistake 28 years ago by mistake by the hospital with some other child at the time of birth.
• The hospital was ordered to compensate for the mental injuries to both Yao and his biological parents by paying 200,000 Yuan.
• Yao stated that the compensation does not mean anything to him as his health conditions are critical. He just hoped that his case promoted China's Legislation on compensation for mental injury.
• Please don't take any mischievous clues from this incident.

2. Judge Responds with Grace when Lawyer attends a Hearing with Kitten Filter

• “I'm here live. I'm not a cat', said Advocate Rod Punto hilariously when he accidently when he accidentally attended a VC hearing with a cat face filter on Zoom.
• “I can see that', was the composed response of Judge Ferguson who ultimately helped the lawyers.
• The Judge handled the situation with grace and later on tweeted the incident on.
• The legal fraternity deserves a little bit of fun once in a while.