Top Legal News Headlines - 10th Feb 2021

UP Cop beaten to death in attack over warrant

• Officials reported that a constable was beaten to death and a sub-inspector seriously injured when a police team went to a village in Uttar Pradesh's Kasganj district to serve a warrant to a liquor mafia kingpin on Tuesday evening.
• The officers had gone to NaglaDheemar village in Sidhpura police station area to serve a warrant to Moti when his associates caught them.
• Constable Devendra was severely thrashed, resulting to his death. Sub-inspector Ashok Kumar has been admitted to hospital, the official said.
• Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 50 lakh to the kin of the deceased and job to a family member. He also asked for proper treatment of the injured officer.

Allahabad High Court grants bail to man accused of raping 2 women at gun point

• The Allahabad High Court recently granted bail to a person accused of raping two girls taking into account the fact that the victims turned hostile before the trial court.(Akhlaq Khan v. State of UP).
• The First Information Report was filed against the accused by Jalil Ahmed, whose daughter and niece were allegedly raped by the accused while they were on their way to a hospital.
• The accused had taken the girls into the sugarcane field and raped them and taken a video clipping was taken to threaten the victims.
• On behalf of the accused, it was argued the he has been "falsely implicated in the case" due to a land dispute between the father of the applicant and the victim. It was submitted that the radiological age of one of the victim was found to be 20 years and the other was found to be 18 years and no external injury has been found in the medical report.

Supreme Court dismisses petition seeking imposition of President's rule in Uttar Pradesh

• On Monday, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking imposition of President's rule in Uttar Pradesh under Article 356 of the Constitution.
• The petition by advocate CR Jaya Sukin alleged breakdown of law and order, discrimination against minorities and rising crimes against Dalits in UP as grounds for imposition of President's rule.
• The Supreme Court asked the petitioner, CR Jayasukin, the basis for making such claims.
• The petition alleged that the State is gripped by unlawful, arbitrary and extra-judicial killings by the Police, torture by prison officials, restrictions on freedom of press, and violence against minorities and rising crimes against Dalits. He claims that "The imposition of Article 356 in Uttar Pradesh is necessary to save Indian democracy and lives of 20 crore people.”

Supreme Court orders to pay 100% school fee during pandemic shocks parents in Raj

• The Supreme Court, on Monday, ruled that parents will have to pay 100% of the school fees during the pandemic period which will be equal to the fees paid in the academic session 2019-20.
• The orders state that, parents will have to pay the fee from March 5, 2021, which can be collected in 6 installments. Also, the court clarified that no child’s name will be omitted from the school due to non-payment of fees. Students of classes X and XII will not be denied to appear in the examinations if fees are not deposited.
• Earlier, the Rajasthan government had issued an order on October 28 asking Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE) to charge 60% to the state board affiliated schools and 70% to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) accredited schools.

Govt. allows 4-Day Work Week for All Private Employees

• On Monday, the Labor Secretary Apurva Chandra announced that the Government is working on a new labor code, which will allow a four-day working week with longer work hours/day.
• The 48-hour weekly calendar will shift to one of the following cycles:

Four 12-hour workdays/week,

Five days/week with about 10-hours/day, or

Six 8-hour workdays/week.

• To put it plainly, once the new code is implemented, employers will no longer have to take permission from the government for a 4-days work week, meaning employees can enjoy one whole day off, whilst working for longer hours per working day.
• Employees will be utterly happy with the idea of getting a whole day off, or a 3-day holiday/per week, this schedule will turn out to be advantageous for employers as well.

Salman Khan apologizes for ‘mistakenly' giving fake affidavit 18 years ago in poaching case

• During his hearing in a case related to the poaching of two blackbucks in Jodhpur in 1998.Salman appeared before the Jodhpur session court for the hearing of his appeal against conviction in the blackbuck poaching case through video conferencing.
• During the said hearing, his lawyer stated, “The affidavit was mistakenly given on August 8, 2003, as Salman had forgotten that his license was given for renewal because he was too busy. Therefore, he mentioned that the license had gone missing in the court.”
• The Public prosecutor,BhavaniSingh Bhati had demanded that a case of misleading the court should be filed against the actor.
• A trial court in 2018 had convicted Salman and awarded five-year imprisonment to him for the killing of two blackbucks during the shooting of the film Hum SaathSaath Hain in October 1998.
• The actor had challenged the trial court verdict in the sessions court. Salman’s fellow actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and SonaliBendre, who were present on the spot in Kankani along with him, have been acquitted.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

 US Senate vote us-President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial is ‘constitutional'

• A simple majority was needed for deciding the constitutional validity of the trial passed the question with a majority of 56-44.
• Trump was charged by the House with "incitement of insurrection" after his supporters stormed the Capitol last month.
• The defense team of the former president also argued that the impeachment trial itself is unconstitutional and argued that Trump did not incite the rioters. The team argued that his speech about the election was protected by the First Amendment
• Trump faces his second impeachment over his alleged role in inciting the violence at Capitol Hill ahead of the inauguration of Joe Biden as the President.