Top Legal Headlines - 11th March, 2021

NATIONAL NEWS SUMMARIES

1.    Police protection provided to lesbian woman by Delhi HC

•    The Delhi High Court has provided police protection to a lesbian woman who had run away from her matrimonial home when her mother tried to ‘cure’ her sexual orientation with the intervention of a religious guru.
•    The said that her parents had married her to a man despite knowing her actual sexual orientation and forced her to live in a heterosexual relationship.

2.    Committee for suggesting the steps for expeditious trial of cheque dishonor cases: SC

•    The Supreme Court of India has formed a Committee for suggesting the steps for the expeditious trial of cheque dishonor cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.
•    The Committee shall submit a report in 3 months of its first meeting. 
•    The report shall clearly specify all the steps to be taken in such cases throughout the country.

3.     SC on limitation for filing application under Section 11 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act

•    In the case of BSNL v. Nortel Networks India Pvt Ltd, the Supreme Court has held that Section 137 of the first schedule of the Limitation Act would govern the limitation period for filing an application under Section 11 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act.
•    The court also held that the limitation would begin from the date of failure to appoint an arbitrator.

4.    RBI is ‘State’ under Article 12: Calcutta HC

•    In the case of M/s Pearson Drums & Barrels Pvt Ltd v. The General Manager, CEPC RBI & Ors, the Calcutta High Court held that RBI would be considered as ‘State’ under Article 12 of the Indian Constitution.
•    “Since the Reserve Bank of India is an instrumentality of the State, it comes squarely within the meaning of ‘State’ as contemplated in Article 12 of the Constitution,” the Court held.

5.    Manual scavenging cannot go on: Madras HC

•    The Madras High Court has recently held that manual scavenging is an inhuman practice and it shall not go on.
•    The Court also held that there is an element of untouchability and perpetuation of the caste system when manual scavengers are involved.
•    The Court opined that such inhuman practices cannot go on in civilized societies.

6.    Gujarat HC on social exclusion of women on the basis of menstrual status

•    The Gujarat High Court has proposed to prohibit the social exclusion of women based on their menstrual status at all kinds of places.
•    The Court proposed guidelines so that the State Government works towards ending the menstruation taboo.
•    “Menstruation has been stigmatized in our society. This stigma has built up due to the traditional beliefs in impurity of menstruating women and our unwillingness to discuss it normally,” the Court observed.