Top Legal Headlines - 24th February, 2021

NATIONAL NEWS SUMMARIES

1.    Disha Ravi granted Bail in toolkit case

•    Activist Disha Ravi was granted bail by the Delhi Court due the lack of sufficient evidence.
•    She was granted bail on the condition of furnishing a bond of Rs. 1 Lakh along with 2 sureties of 1Lakh each.
•    “The link with the said toolkit or PJF has not been found to be objectionable, mere deletion of WhatsApp chat to destroy the evidence linking her with the toolkit and PJF also becomes meaningless”, the Court held.

2.    Kerala HC directs actions against woman who made false rape complaint

•    A woman had filed a complaint against the health inspector alleging him for rape while she was in quarantine.
•    However, the man was granted bail after the woman filed an affidavit stating that she had consensual sexual intercourse with him. Till then the man had spent 77 days under custody.
•    The Court granted him bail and directed the State Police Chief to conduct an enquiry against her.

3.    Girls cannot be denied the right to choose spouse: Himachal Pradesh HC

•    In the recent case of Sanjeev Kumar v State of Himachal Pradesh, the Himachal Pradesh High Court ruled that “denying of right to choose spouse is in violation of Fundamental Rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India”.
•    In this case, the petitioner had filed a case for the production of his partner who had been detained by her family members to prevent her from marrying the petitioner due to caste considerations.
•    The HC held that “it is to be remembered that a girl is not a cattle or non-living thing but a living independent soul having rights like other, and, on attaining the age of discretion, to exercise her discretion according to her wishes”.

4.    Only Senior citizens can appeal against the orders under Senior Citizens Act: Madras HC

•    In the case of K. Raju v. UOI, the Madras HC held that only senior citizens can file an appeal against the orders passed under the Senior Citizens Act.
•    The court held that under section 16, that no one other than the parents or senior citizens can prefer such an appeal.
•    “There is no room to imagine that others aggrieved by an order of the tribunal may also prefer an appeal on the ground that the scales must be balanced between the two sides”, the Court held.

5.    Hindu woman can enter into family settlement with heirs on parents’ side: SC

•    In the case of Khushi Ram v. Nawal Singh, the Supreme Court has held that a married woman is competent to enter in to family settlement parental heirs.
•    The Court held in this case that “heirs of the father are covered in the heirs, who could succeed. When heirs of father of the female are included as persons who can possibly succeed, it cannot be held that they are strangers”.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS SUMMARIES

1.    Facebook will restore news contents to its platform in Australia

•    Due to the new media law that had been passed in Australia under which Facebook would have to pay to the publishers in Australia for sharing its news content, Facebook had banned its news content in Australia.
•    However, after winning concessions from the Government of Australia Facebook has decided to restore news content in Australia.