Top News Headlines 3rd Jan 2022: Bar Can Hold Condolence Meeting On Someone’s Demise But Cannot Obstruct Court Proceedings

Bar Can Hold Condolence Meeting On Someone’s Demise But Cannot Obstruct Court Proceedings: Allahabad HC

• The Allahabad HC has recently held in Imtiyaj Ali and ors. vs. Additional Commissioner Faizabad, Mandal Ayodhya, Ayodhya and anr. that the Bar has no right to repeatedly go on strike or abstain from judicial work. They have the right to condole the demise of any member or anyone else by holding a meeting, but do not have the right to obstruct the working of the Court.
• This was observed by a single judge bench while taking note of the affidavits filed by the President and the Secretary of Commissioner’s Court Bar Association, Ayodhya tendering their apology for their repeated strikes.
• In the instant case, the proceedings before the Additional Commissioner, Faizabad, Ayodhya Division had been brought to a standstill and there was no progress with the same due to repeated strikes by the Bar.
• The Court took note of the fact that earlier some affidavits were filed by the Presidents and Secretaries of the Bar and the Commissioner’s Court Bar Association in which they said that they will not go on any strike unless some extraordinary circumstances exist. They were found in blatant violation of the same.
• It was due to this reason that the Court called a written apology on the affidavit of the President and Secretary, Commissioner’s Court Bar Council.
• The affidavits tendered before the Court were qualified due to the fact that it read that no motion of abstention from work will be passed by the Bar except under extraordinary circumstances. This was unacceptable to the Court.
• The Court accepted the apology without any qualifications while referring to the decision of the Hon’ble SC in the case of District Bar Association, Dehradun through Secretary vs. Ishwar Shandilya and Ors. AIR 2020 SC in which it was held that no kind of freedom or right entitles a Bar Association to call for any boycott or strike.
• As far as the instant case is concerned, the Court ordered that the Commissioner’s Court Bar Association will not hold any further strike or call for abstention from judicial work, be it disguised as a condolence or by any other name.

And now, a Question for our aspirants-
In which case was it held by the Hon'ble SC that there is no fundamental right to strike?

10% EWS Reservation Upheld By Kerala HC In KEAM For Veterinary And Dental Courses

• The Kerala HC has recently upheld the 10% reservation for economically weaker section (EWS) for veterinary and dental courses in KEAM (Kerala Engineering And Medical) which is an entrance examination conducted in Kerala.
• The petitioner in the instant case was a candidate belonging to the EWS category and had applied for the KEAM entrance examination. He was aggrieved by the fact that according to the rank list published in 2020, the State Government had omitted the EWS category reservation from the veterinary and dental courses.
• It was the petitioner’s contention that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had directed, by way of a memorandum, to implement EWS in all educational institutions with the prior approval of the appropriate authority. This was to be done by increasing the number of seats in the respective courses.
• After hearing the said matter, he was permitted to withdraw the case with the ability to move afresh. Consequently the present appeal was filed.
• It was contended in the present appeal that EWS was a beneficial legislation and that it was to be interpreted harmoniously so that its benefit can be extended to all candidates. It was further contended that the delay in granting EWS to dental and veterinary courses was a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.
• It was further contended in the present plea that once reservation is granted, it becomes the right of the individual to claim the same.
• Taking note of the affidavit filed by the respondent 3 (Director of Medical Education, Thiruvananthapuram) which stated that 10% seats seats have already been set aside for EWS category, the plea was devoid of any merit, the Court also agreed with the fact that there was no need to continue with the said writ, and thus, upholding the 10% EWS reservation, dismissed the appeal.

And now, a question for our aspirants-
State the articles of the Indian Constitution that were amended to give effect to the EWS Reservation?

Pegasus Case: SC Appointed Committee Seeks Details From Persons Who Suspect Hacking Of Their Devices

• The Pegasus Project has been the latest topic of conversation, but for all the wrong reasons. It has been claimed to be one of the largest and the most blatant violation of the Fundamental Right to Privacy, which has been upheld by the Hon’ble SC in K.S.Puttaswamy case.
• Originally, Pegasus was a collaborative investigative journalism initiative undertaken by many media organisations. Pegasus is a spyware, developed by the NSO Group, which is an Israeli technology and Cyber Arms firm. It can be deployed secretly on any mobile phone , android or iOS and is capable of reading text messages, tracking calls, collecting passwords, and location tracking amongst others.
• And if this wasn’t enough to ring alarm bells in your head, it has been allegedly used by governments on journalists, opposition politicians, activists and businessmen. If this isn’t a blatant violation of privacy, then we don’t know what is.
• Taking note of the seriousness of the situation and the refusal of the Central Government to give a clear answer to whether it had availed the services of the spyware or not, the Hon’ble SC in October, 2021 had ordered a thorough inquiry into the allegations of unauthorised surveillance using this spyware. The Court also rightfully commented that the Central Government is not entitled to a free pass everytime in the name of ‘national security’.
• A three member committee was thus appointed which was overseen by Justice R.V. Raveendran, a retired Judge of the Hon’ble SC.
• The aforementioned committee has issued a public notice asking anyone who believes that they have been targeted by this spyware to come in contact with them before 7 January, 2022.
• The Notice goes on to say that if the Committee believes that the person’s device has been affected by the spyware and further investigation is required, the Committee shall then have to investigate the device. The Committee will also give an acknowledgement of having received the device for examination and will give the person a digital phone image of the records.
• The Union Government had earlier said that they would constitute a committee for the investigation of these allegations, but it was refused by the Hon’ble SC. The Court had also observed that the allegations, if found to be true, would have a chilling effect on the independence of the press- the fourth pillar of our democracy.

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