Judiciary
In cases involving Central agencies, courts seem to be especially cautious.
https://scroll.in/article/1040465/why-is-the-bombay-high-court-staying-its-own-bail-orders
In three instances in the past three months, the Bombay High Court has suspended the operation of its own bail order, despite giving bail to an accused on merits. All of these were matters involving central agencies, which asked for a stay since they want to challenge the order before the Supreme Court.
While these stays are legally valid, several legal experts say that such orders are unfair, given that they curtail a person’s liberty.
by Umang Poddar
03/01/2023
Bail might seem like a minor procedural issue for a constitutional court to weigh in on, but the reality of the Indian criminal legal system is such that bail is often the beginning, middle, and end of any case. The latest available prison statistics, from 2020, released by the government, indicate that 76.1% of all the prison inmates in India are undertrials. These are people who have never been found guilty of any crime. They have, in fact, never even had their day in court. The vast majority are likely to be eligible for bail.
Bail isn’t a matter of undue solicitousness to a criminal class. A foundational plank of civilised society is that we do not punish people without due process of law. Unless we seriously think that every person who is charged with a crime is guilty of that crime – and if we do, why have criminal trials at all – we should be concerned that lakhs of people who may be innocent are being held in prison for years.
Bail petitions are not frivolous or extraneous or a waste of time. As Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said, seemingly in response to Rijiju: “No case is small for the Supreme Court as it has the duty to interfere in matters of personal liberty”.
by Sunishth Goyal & Ananda Burra
19/12/2022
क्यों सुप्रीम कोर्ट में बार-बार डांट खाती है सरकार ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONOqt63p6EY Nov 28, 2022
क्या सरकार सुप्रीम कोर्ट का पूर्ण सम्मान नहीं करती है? 2018 में केरल सरकार सुप्रीम कोर्ट के आदेश को लागू कर रही थी। अमित शाह ने कहा था कि सुप्रीम कोर्ट ऐसे आदेश नहीं दे सकता, जिसे लागू नहीं किया जा सकता। यह पहली बार नहीं है जब सरकार ने कोर्ट को चुनौती दी है। इन मामलों में कोर्ट की चुप्पी टूटती भी रही है लेकिन अभी तक संतुलन क़ायम नहीं हो सका। चुनाव आयुक्त की नियुक्ति का मामला हो या आज जजों की नियुक्ति को लेकर सुप्रीम कोर्ट की फटकार का मामला हो, साफ़ है सरकार सुप्रीम कोर्ट के सामने पारदर्शी नहीं है। इसी पर आज की टिप्पणी है।
The Madras high court on Thursday convicted a well-known Youtuber, A Sankar alias 'Savukku' Sankar, for criminal contempt and sentenced him to six months' imprisonment.
"The contemnor would be well within his rights to highlight specific instances of corruption. Of course, they must be backed by materials. He cannot tar the entire institution with a single brush. That would be crossing the Lakshman Rekha by a long shot."
It is criminal contempt of the highest degree to portray the entire institution of higher judiciary as corrupt. The contemnor by proclaiming in the public domain that all judges are corrupt and dishonest is clearly guilty of criminal contempt, the judges said.
15/09/2022
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qPA6jqlkvs
IAMC Official Channel Over the last several weeks India’s Supreme Court has passed at least three rulings that not only severely restrict civil and political liberties but also greenlight the abuse of anti-terror and sedition laws against human rights defenders, journalists, and even politicians that are in opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Prashant Bhushan, a veteran lawyer in New Delhi and a leading human rights defender, who has faced relentless attacks from Hindu supremacists as well as from the top judiciary whose values and performance he has courageously questioned for decades.
Himanshu Kumar, a Renowned Gandhian activist who was in July 2022 falsely accused by Supreme Court judges of forging evidence that the police had carried out torture and killings of the adivasis (indigenous people) in Chhattisgarh state. Kumar has refused to pay a fine of Indian Rupees 500,000 the court has imposed and is ready to go to prison.
Mihir Desai, veteran lawyer in Mumbai who has long defended human rights defenders and members of marginalized communities such as Muslims and Dalits falsely charged with crimes. He was also the lawyer for Prisoner of Conscience Teesta Setalvad who was accused, without evidence, by the Supreme Court of forging evidence to prove that Modi was complicit in the anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002