30 June, 2007

Dismissal of Workman found guilty of theft would be proper.

Held. Dismissal of a workman for theft of employer’s property, as admitted by him, has been rightly upheld by the Labour Court whereas the learned Single Judge has erred in setting aside dismissal and awarding reinstatement without back-wages and the Division Bench also misdirected in upholding the order of the learned Single Judge hence the Supreme Court restored the punishment of dismissal of the workman.

Reinstatement of a workman guilty of theft, as duly admitted by him, has been rightly set aside by the Supreme Court since the employer has lost confidence in him.

Depot Manager, Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation vs Radhuda Siva Sankar Prasad. 2007 LLR 113 Supreme Court of India

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29 June, 2007

Employer is not required to disclose, administrative exigency for transferring employee.

Transfer of an employee from one place to another is an incident of service and an employee cannot claim to be posted at a particular place besides that an emplyer is not required to disclose adminstrative exigency in order of transfer itself. The conduct of the petitioner challenging transfer is far from satisfactory whereas there has been to mala fide or extraneous consideration in his transter. An employee is expected to approach the authority with that in hand instead of having quarrelsome disposition. Merely that the petitioner was granted permission to pursue MBA (part-time 3 years course), that can not be construed that the he cannot be transferred to another place since he could take study leave instead of stalling his transfer.

Mukes Kumar vs Union of India 2007 LLR 209 DELHI HIGH COURT

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28 June, 2007

Courts cannot order CBI probe routinely: Supreme Court

Thursday, Jun 28, 2007 The Hindu

“State agencies can effectively handle criminal cases"


New Delhi: The Supreme Court has asked High Courts not to order an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation in routine criminal cases as State agencies can effectively probe such matters.

“In each State, a mechanism has been created under the Constitution for effective investigation of criminal cases, and they could not be handed over to the CBI in a routine manner unless there is a compelling reason,” said a Bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and B.P. Singh.

A CBI inquiry could not be ordered by a judicial officer of subordinate courts. And even the High Courts could not order it at the instance of petitioners.

“Of course, where it is shown that the investigating agency in a State is not doing proper investigation and/or that there is reason to believe that there is laxity in the investigation, a direction may be given to the CBI to investigate the matter in appropriate cases.”

Magisterial power

On the powers of subordinate court judges, the Bench said: “Magisterial power cannot be stretched under Section 156 (3) Cr.PC beyond directing the officer in-charge of a police station to conduct the investigation, and no such direction can be given to the CBI.”

The Bench was allowing a CBI appeal against an order of the Gujarat High Court, which criticised the agency for approaching it directly in a case where a CBI inquiry was ordered by a Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM). The High Court said the CBI should have first gone to the sessions court against the CJM’s order. Though it quashed the CJM’s order for the CBI inquiry, the High Court imposed a fine of Rs. 1,000 on the agency for approaching it directly.

Judgment quashed

Quashing the impugned judgment, the Bench said, “The High Court was not right in its approach.” In the instant case, the first information report was already registered and in that sense Section 156 (3) Cr.PC had no application. It was a routine case of theft and no complexity was involved. There was no bar on the High Court entertaining the petition from the CBI.

“The criticism levelled against the CBI and its officers and the cost imposed do not have legal sanction.”


http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/28/stories/2007062860471500.htm

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26 June, 2007

Dismissal justified for calling emplyer ‘chor’.

Dismissal of a workman for calling the employer as (chor) thief wil will bejustified and the Division Bench has upheld the award of the Labour Court. Staging demonstration and shouting abusive slogans will amount to serious misconducts and the punishment of dismissal from service will not be disproportionate.

Sahil Khan vs. Hashmat and Company. 2007 LLR 217 BOMBAY HIGH COURT
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25 June, 2007

P.F. Authorities cannot seek to levy damages for defauls which have occurred for their own lapses.

The employee had been continously seeking a code number from the Commissioner so that the deposits of the provident fund contributions could be made with the Scheme. However, the Provident Fund authorities chose to ignore the requests made by the petitioner. Although the petitioner was entitled to avail of the infancy protection available under Section 16 of the Act, at that front of time out the petitioner sought to voluntarily cover its establishment right from 1984 i.e. three years after it was set up. Resqests made to the Commissioner to allot a code number from time to time went unheeded.
Had the code number been allotted to the petitioner immediatley after infacy period was complete, the peritioner would have deposited and remitted the provident fund contribution to the Scheme. Not having done so, the Provident fund authorities can not levy damages for their own negligence. The argument o f the Provident Fund authorities that in any case remittances should have been deposited, also can ot be accepted. This is because there would have been no definite account into which the deposits could have been made and interest earned on these amounts would not have been credited to the benefit of the petitioner’s employees . That being the position, the order under Section 14-B is unsustainble. The Provision under Section 14-B being penal in nature, it was all the more necessary for the P.F. Authorities to exercise caution before levying damges.

Poona Shims Pvt. Ltd. Vs B.P. Ramaiah, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner & Anr. 2007 CLR 492 Bombay High Court
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22 June, 2007

SC deprecates grant of bails by HCs to influential people

22 Jun, 2007 l 1241 hrs ISTlPTI The Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has taken a serious view of high courts exercising their "inherent powers" in granting bails to accused persons who try to "win over witnesses by using their muscle and money power." A Bench of Justices G P Mathur and A K Mathur maintained that an accused cannot directly approach the high courts for obtaining a bail as they should first approach the trial court for relief. "The dockets of the high courts are full and there is long pendency of murder appeals in the high Court from which this case has arisen. Ends of justices would be better served if valuable time of the court is spent in hearing those appeals," the apex court said while cancelling the bail granted by the Allahabad High Court to certain murder accused persons. Accused Rashid and others were charged with assaulting the complainant Hamida's husband Balla with lethal weapons on June 13, 2005 in Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh. The local Kotwali police registered cases under IPC sections 324 (causing hurt), 352 (using criminal force) and 506 (criminal intimidation), though Hamida complained that the accused should be booked under Section 307 IPC (attempt to murder). The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) granted bail to the accused as they were bailable offences but made it clear that if the case was converted into a more serious offence, the accused would not get any benefit of the bail being granted to them. Balla subsequently succumbed to the injuries and the case was converted into Section 304 IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) by police.
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HC stays move against Videocon

The Times of India Updated: 22 Jun, 2007 1612hrs IST

HYDERABAD: Justice L Narasimha Reddy of the AP High Court on Thursday stayed the punitive action against Videocon International. The judge made the interim order while admitting a writ petition filed by the company questioning the application of the Weights and Measures Act to its merchandise. The company moved the court after the legal metrology department sought to prosecute Videocon. The company contended that the Act would not apply to its products - TV, home appliances - which were not sold by weight, measure or unit, and thus the case was without jurisdiction.
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21 June, 2007

US body refused registration of `CFA' trademark in UK

Buisness Line
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publicationsTuesday, Jan 02, 2007

Bangalore , Jan. 1
The Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR), now called CFA Institute of Charlottesville, Virginia, US, has been refused registration of collective trademark of `chartered financial analyst' in class 36 in the UK.
The outcome is based on a recent application filed by the Chartered Insurance Institute of the UK opposing registration by AIMR of the `chartered financial analyst' (CFA) mark.
The trademark authority of UK had disallowed AIMR the use of the term CFA as it would mislead the public into believing that the mark was approved or regulated by a professional body established by the Royal Charter and or had enjoyed the endorsement of the Chartered Insurance Institute.
Under international classification of goods and services for trademarks, class 36 is applicable to services in insurance, financial, monetary and real estate affairs, among others.
The class does not include services such as accountancy, which is class 35.
The decision of the trademark authority bars members of AIMR to use the designation `chartered financial analyst' in the UK. A collective trademark is indicative of membership of an organisation, which is involved in offering services in the corresponding class.
Trademark application of AIMR under class 36 to use the words `chartered financial analyst' are still pending in several other countries, including Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong and India.

http://www.blonnet.com/2007/01/02/stories/2007010200431100.htm

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Suven Life gets EU patent for therapeutic agent

Buisness Line
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publicationsWednesday, Jan 10, 2007

Hyderabad, Jan. 9
Suven Life Sciences Ltd (SLSL) has obtained a European patent on a novel Serotonin Receptor Ligands, which are being developed as therapeutic agents soon.
The company announced today that the European Patent Office (EPO) issued the Patent 1517909 titled "Novel Tetracyclic Arylcarbonylindoles having Serotonin Receptor affinity useful as therapeutic agents, process for their preparation and pharmaceutical compositions containing them."
The patent would be valid until June 2023. The granted claims of the patent include the class of selective 5-HT compounds that would be useful in the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with neuro-degenerative disorders such as attention deficient hyperactivity, Alzheimer's, Parkinson, Schizophrenia and Huntington's.
"We continue to work on G-Protein coupled receptor targets to discover and develop molecules focusing on CNS disorders with unmet medical need and high market potential," said Mr Venkat Jasti, CEO of the company.

http://www.blonnet.com/2007/01/10/stories/2007011003070300.htm

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Rice gene patent for Avesthagen

Buisness Line
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publicationsWednesday, Jan 10, 2007

Bangalore , Jan. 9
Avesthagen on Tuesday announced that it has been granted a patent by the Indian Patent Office on `cloning and sequencing of AGTSAL 11 rice gene from IR-64 variety implicated in salinity stress tolerance.'
The invention is expected to provide opportunities in developing salt tolerant lines in rice in India. The Salt Tolerance Programme is a breakthrough for the agricultural sector, since the present agricultural practices and the increasing use of chemical fertilisers make a large part of the arable land unfavourable for cultivation due to high salinity. Also, it could be transferred to any other crop within a short time span, as the technology is not crop specific.
Dr Villoo Morawala Patell, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Avestha Gengraine Technologies Pvt. Ltd, said, "This patent's technology will help Avesthagen to develop innovative solutions to benefit farmers."
This patent award follows close to patents granted to Avesthagen in South Africa and Australia entitled `A process for generating genetically modified pearl millet through Agrobacterium and biolistic transformation.'

http://www.blonnet.com/2007/01/10/stories/2007011003050300.htm

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Lupin in IP deal for hypertension drug

Buisness Line
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publicationsWednesday, Feb 21, 2007

Mumbai, Feb 20
Lupin Ltd has entered into an agreement with Laboratoires Servier of France for the sale of certain patent applications and related intellectual property (IP) of blood-pressure drug Perindopril for multiple countries, the company told the Bombay Stock Exchange. No financial details were divulged. Lupin shares were marginally down at Rs 585.80 on the BSE.

http://www.blonnet.com/2007/02/21/stories/2007022101710200.htm

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Ranbaxy loses Flomax patent case

Buisness Line
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publicationsSaturday, Feb 24, 2007

New Delhi, Feb. 23
Ranbaxy Laboratories will appeal against the ruling of the US District Court of New Jersey in favour of Japanese company, Astellas Pharma Inc. on its generic version of Flomax prostate drug. "We will appeal against the ruling in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit," said a Ranbaxy spokesperson. On Friday, Japan's Astellas had said that it had won its suit filed to prevent Ranbaxy from releasing an early generic version of its Flomax prostate drug. The case had been filed jointly by Astellas and Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim, its US marketing partners for the drug. The drug is prescribed in the treatment of enlarged prostates, and its patent expires in October 2009

http://www.blonnet.com/2007/02/24/stories/2007022404200200.htm

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US co to develop, sell Ranbaxy's statin

Buisness Line
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publicationsFriday, Mar 02, 2007

New Delhi March 1 Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc (PPD) has acquired the rights to develop, manufacture and market Ranbaxy Laboratories' novel anti-cholesterol statin.
PPD, the US-based contract research organisation, will conduct additional pre-clinical studies and file an investigational new drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration in April.
Ranbaxy claims that early pre-clinical studies of the second compound from Ranbaxy's New Drug Discovery Research division have suggested that the statin offers improved safety profile over currently marketed statins.
Under the terms of the license agreement, Ranbaxy will receive `milestone payments' when specified clinical events occur, and will also receive royalties on sales, when and if the drug gets marketing approval. The company will also have co-marketing rights for India. PPD will bear all costs and expenses of the development, including pre-clinical and clinical studies, and commercialisation of the drug.
"We are pleased to partner with PPD in taking this potential drug forward promising superior treatment for dyslipidemia and related areas," said Mr Malvinder Singh, CEO and MD, Ranbaxy, in an official statement.

http://www.blonnet.com/2007/03/02/stories/2007030207020300.htm

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Ranbaxy loses US apex court appeal in Lipitor case

Buisness Line
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publicationsWednesday, Apr 04, 2007

Mumbai April 3 With sales grossing $12.9 billion on Pfizer's cholestrol drug Lipitor, the path to get a slice of that market was always known to be riddled with law suits for generic challenger Ranbaxy.
But the litigation-filled pathway crossed a major milestone on Monday, when the US Supreme Court declined to intervene in Ranbaxy's appeal of a lower-court ruling given last year upholding a Pfizer patent on Lipitor. And this has possibly signalled the end of hi-decibel litigation on Lipitor or generic atorvastatin, say pharma-analysts.
Industry officials familiar with the development point out that Ranbaxy may still have something to cheer.
In August last year, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had upheld Pfizer's main patent on atorvastatin (US Patent No 4,681,893) whose patent expires in March 2010, while invalidating another (US Patent No 5,273,995) whose patent-life was to expire in June 2011.
Ranbaxy can look to advance its launch on the second patent to 2010, the industry representative said. In fact, last year Ranbaxy's chief Mr Malvinder Singh had indicated just that. The court decision had shorn 15 months off the patent (`995) and Ranbaxy was working towards bringing the launch date forward, with a 180-day exclusivity in the US market, he had told Business Line.
But with Pfizer claiming that the second patent had been invalidated on technical grounds, and with Pfizer applying to the US Patent and Trademark Office for a valid patent to be reissued (on `995), analysts are keeping a keen eye on developments here.
Ranbaxy has been locked in battle with Pfizer over Lipitor since 2003, when the Indian drug-maker was hauled to court by the multinational drug company for alleged patent infringement on its cholestrol drug. Subsequently, the two companies have battled for Lipitor in 17 different markets, including the US, the UK and Canada and with varying fortunes.
But analysts and investors keenly watched developments in the US market, as it brought the best prices on the drug.
Litigation expenses
Litigation expenses have been factored in and the outcome on the case has been along expected lines, said one analyst. This sentiment was reflected in Ranbaxy's share price that closed marginally up, at Rs 343.80 on Tuesday.
It, however, had fallen on Monday, by about three per cent, fuelled by market-talk that the court would act in Pfizer's favour. And with the court ruling this week in the US giving Pfizer a booster shot, much of the action is pretty much over, an analyst said.
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`Unwise to challenge Patent Act'

Buisness Line
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publicationsThursday, Apr 12, 2007

New Delhi, April 10
The Government on Tuesday advised Swiss pharma company, Novartis to rethink its legal challenge of the Indian Patent Act. "When a company comes into the country, they should consider the Indian climate and condition. It is unwise for them to get into litigation and challenge the laws of another country," said Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, Union Health Minister, on his way out from the GoM meeting on the Pharma Policy. The case, which was being heard by the Madras High Court, was recently referred to the Intellectual Property Rights Appellate Board (IPAB) in Chennai.
Earlier in the day, the Minister also specified, "India has not used compulsory licensing. We should not be pushed towards that." Compulsory licensing grants generic manufacturers rights to make copies of a patented drug under certain circumstances. Organisations, including Medicines Sans Frontieres, Oxfam, Network of Positive People, have argued that millions of patients across the world will be deprived of cheaper generic drugs if Novartis' legal challenge is successful.
Left parties and domestic pharma companies have also opposed Novartis' decision to challenge Section 3 (d) of the Indian Patent Act, after it was denied a patent for a `modified' version of its anti-cancer drug, Glivec.

http://www.blonnet.com/2007/04/12/stories/2007041204460300.htm

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Glivec: Novartis objects to bench composition

Buisness Line
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publicationsTuesday, Jun 19, 2007

`Presence of former patents chief poses problem'

Mumbai June 18 Swiss drug-maker Novartis has objected to the presence of former Controller-General of Patents, Mr S. Chandrasekaran, as a Technical Member on the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB).
This was the IPAB's first hearing on the rejection of Novartis's patent application on its cancer drug, Glivec.
"The newly-appointed technical member of the appellate board is the former Controller-General of the Indian Patent Office, who was responsible for the original decision on the Glivec patent in 2006 and was acting as a party in the recent Court case reviewing the decision of the Indian Patent Office to reject our Glivec patent filing," Novartis said in a statement on Monday.
All parties to the case, including the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) and generic drug-makers like Natco, Cipla, Hetero and Ranbaxy, will now have to respond on whether indeed Mr Chandrasekaran can be on the bench hearing this case, said a patent attorney familiar with the case, which comes up for its next hearing on July 2.
At the next hearing, the two-member bench, whose other member is IPAB Chairman, Mr Justice M.H.S. Ansari, will listen to what generic companies and the CPAA, an NGO, have to say on the composition of the bench hearing this case.
Glivec is a life-saving cancer drug that has been granted patent in nearly 40 countries - including China, Russia and Taiwan, the company said, adding that the same should be the case in India.
Novartis has come under intense local and international pressure for pursuing the patent application on Glivec.
Several patient organisations say that it would put the drug beyond the reach of patients who cannot pay.
Though Novartis gives the drug free to cancer patients in India, cancer-patient organisations question the sustainability of such free programmes, besides the impact it would have on medicines in other sectors.

http://www.blonnet.com/2007/06/19/stories/2007061902720400.htm

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Mere presence in unlawful assembly will not attract conviction: court

Thursday, Jun 21, 2007 The Hindu
If the common object is not proved, the accused cannot be convicted

NEW DELHI: Mere presence in an unlawful assembly cannot render a person liable for conviction unless there was a common object and he was actuated by it, the Supreme Court has held.
“Where the common object of an unlawful assembly is not proved, the accused persons cannot be convicted with the help of Section 149, Indian Penal Code,” said a Bench consisting of Justices Arijit Pasayat and B.P. Singh.
Section 149 says, “If an offence is committed by any member of an unlawful assembly in prosecution of the common object of that assembly, or such as the members or that assembly knew to be likely to be committed in prosecution of that object, every person who, at the time of the committing of that offence, is a member of the same assembly, is guilty of that offence.”
The Bench said Section 149 had its foundation in constructive liability “which is the sine qua non for its operation.”
It said, “The emphasis is on the common object and not on common intention. The crucial question to be determined is whether the assembly consisted of five or more persons and whether the said persons entertained one or more of the common objects, as specified in Section 141 IPC [unlawful assembly].”
Writing the judgment, Justice Pasayat said, “Members of an unlawful assembly may have community of object up to a certain point beyond which they may differ in their objects and the knowledge possessed by each member of what is likely to be committed in prosecution of their common object and as a consequence the effect of Section 149 IPC may be different on different members of the same assembly.”
Case in question
In the present case, a minor dispute among friends over group photographs resulted in the death of two persons 12 years ago.
While the trial court convicted all the nine accused to life imprisonment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on appeal, acquitted them in 2001.
Punjab appealed against the judgement but the Supreme Court Bench upheld the acquittal saying that the prosecution had failed to prove that their assembly was unlawful with a common object to commit the crime.
It held that a spontaneous fight like this could not be covered under Section 149 of the IPC .
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Cops register FIR for 'missing' Boeing 737

CHENNAI: A man in Kallikudi village in Madurai district lost a Boeing 747. Unbelievable! But the Tamil Nadu police did believe him and registered an FIR saying that the aircraft had disappeared. They put the value of the lost object at Rs 1,600. FIRs such as these are straight from the report of Comptroller and Auditor General of India for 2005-06 which came up with gems such as these after scrutinising 67,672 crime records of Tamil Nadu. There was also one about a missing bicycle that an FIR put as worth Rs 91,000 and one about a moped that apparently had a price tag of Rs 90 lakh and a motorcycle of Rs 11.10 lakh. Then, there was a poor cowherd who filed a complaint (and the cops faithfully recorded an FIR) saying he had lost 15,000 buffaloes in one go. When the CAG pulled up the Tamil Nadu police department, pointing to the fantastic crime recording, the department in its reply blamed the sorry state of affairs to the huge volume of work and cumbersome processes involved. "We've taken necessary steps to make corrections," it assured the CAG.
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17 June, 2007

Law breaker wants to become lawyer

17 Jun, 2007 l 1335 hrs ISTlIANS The Times of India

PATNA: A murder convict in a Bihar jail is hoping to obtain a law degree to fight for the rights of the poor when he is out of prison. Ashok Yadav, 26, lodged in Chapra district jail, about 150 km from here, has just taken the Bachelor of Law (LLB) examination Part II. Jail officials said he got good marks in Part I of the examination. Yadav, convicted for killing a village elder last year, took the examination from Ganga Singh Law College, watched by two armed policemen. "He spends much of his time studying law books," a jail official said.

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Attempt to cause grievous hurt can invite seven yrs RI: SC

17 Jun, 2007 l 1418 hrs ISTlPTI The Times of India

NEW DELHI: In a robbery case, even an attempt to cause grievous injuries to the victim can attract a minimum imprisonment of seven years for the accused, the Supreme Court has ruled. "The question whether the accused attempted to cause death or grievous hurt would depend upon the factual scenario," a bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and B P Singh said while dismissing an appeal filed by an accused charged with the offence. Accused Niranjan Singh had appealed against his conviction for seven years under IPC Sections 392 (robbery) and 397 (robbery or dacoity by causing grievous injuries) by a Sessions Court and subsequently affirmed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Under Section 397 IPC, the minimum imprisonment is seven years. The case of the prosecution was that the accused along with two others barged into the shop of one Babulal and inflicted knife injuries on the victim when he refused to part with Rs 1001 demanded by them. Babulal suffered an injury on the left side of his chest below the nipple and another injury on the left arm. In the appeal before the apex court, the accused while denying any robbery attempt, argued that grievous injuries must have actually resulted from the alleged attack, but a mere attempt to cause injury cannot attract the ingredients of Section 397 IPC.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Attempt_to_cause_grievous_hurt_can_invite_seven_yrs_RI_SC/articleshow/2129101.cms

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'RTI query should be placed before Speaker'

17 Jun, 2007 l 1753 hrs ISTlPTI The Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has recommended that an RTI application, questioning among other things, the reasons for permitting MPs to draw remuneration even when the House was adjourned, should be brought to the notice of the Lok Sabha Speaker. "We wish to commend C P Rai's (applicant) conscientiousness as a citizen of the world's most vibrant democracy, reflected in his concern on the functioning of India's supreme representative body, the Lok Sabha of India," said Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah. "We, therefore, recommend that his application with its expression of apprehensions and recommendations be placed before Hon'ble Speaker, Lok Sabha for his information," Habibullah said in a recent decision. The CIC's decision came on an RTI appeal, moved against the Lok Sabha (LS) Secretariat, inquiring among other issues, the reasons for which its members were permitted to draw remuneration even when the House stood adjourned. The Commission, however, dismissed the appeal on grounds that the queries raised by Rai, in his application, were more in the form of suggestions and recommendations. In his RTI application filed, on September 13 last year, with the LS Secretariat, the applicant had also inquired on the setting up of the Parliamentary Committee which passed a resolution on the issue of its members holding various offices of profit. The Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the LS Secretariat had, thereafter, forwarded Rai's query pertaining to its resolutions passed on the office of profit issue to the Ministry of Law and Justice.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/RTI_query_should_be_placed_before_Speaker/articleshow/2129275.cms

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Conviction can be based on testimony of sole witness

The Hindu Sunday, Jun 17, 2007
Apex court quashes Rajasthan High Court's ruling
· Witness must pass test of reliability
· Independent corroboration of testimony
New Delhi: Conviction of an accused by a court in a criminal trial can be based on the testimony of a sole witness even when he/she is related to the deceased, the Supreme Court has held.
Reiterating the law in this regard, a Bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice B.P. Singh said, "conviction can be based on the testimony of a single eyewitness and there is no rule of law or evidence, which says to the contrary, provided, the sole witness passes the test of reliability. So long as the single eyewitness is wholly reliable the courts have no difficulty in basing conviction on his testimony alone."
The Bench said, "however, where the single eyewitness is not found to be a wholly reliable witness, in the sense that there are some circumstances which may show that he could have an interest in the prosecution, then the courts generally insist upon some independent corroboration of his testimony, in material particulars before recording conviction."
Writing the judgment Justice Pasayat said, "mere relationship of the witness with the deceased is no ground to discard his testimony, if it is otherwise found to be reliable and trustworthy. In the normal course of events, a close relation would be the last person to spare the real assailant and implicate a false person. However, the possibility that he may also implicate some innocent person along with the real assailant cannot be ruled out and therefore, as a matter of prudence, the court should look for some independent corroboration of his testimony to decide the involvement of the other accused in the crime."
In the instant case, Om Prakash was awarded life imprisonment by the Sessions Court at Nagaur in Rajasthan for killing his wife, Shivpyari on May 14, 1992. The conviction was based on the sole evidence of the brother of the deceased. On appeal, the High Court set aside the order holding that the evidence of the interested witness was not reliable and acquitted the accused.
The present appeal by the Rajasthan Government was directed against this judgment. The apex court quashed the impugned judgment.
http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/17/stories/2007061700841000.htm

New Land Acquisition Act soon, says Jairam Ramesh

The Hindu Sunday, Jun 17, 2007
To avoid controversy in the light of Special Economic Zones' issue
· New resettlement and rehabilitation policy and law on the anvil
· Says land allocation is State's responsibility but Centre is being blamed
LUCKNOW: To avoid controversy surrounding the acquisition of land for development projects and Special Economic Zones (SEZs), the Centre will frame a new Land Acquisition Act. It will replace the 1894 Act.
The Bill would be tabled in the coming monsoon session of Parliament.
This was announced by Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh at a press conference here on Saturday. Mr. Ramesh said besides the Land Acquisition Act, the Central Government had also decided to introduce a new resettlement and rehabilitation policy as well as a new resettlement and rehabilitation Law.
Poor track record
Referring to the Central Land Acquisition Act, 1894, the Union Minister said although several amendments had been made to it, a more foolproof system was needed.
Mr. Ramesh admitted that in the last 50 years, the Governments' track record on resettlement and rehabilitation has been poor, particularly in relation to the irrigation and power projects.
Failure to resettle and adequately rehabilitate tended to leave a negative impact on the displaced persons, especially the tribal population. He said the Governments had not been serious on these crucial issues. In so far as the SEZs were concerned, the Minister said the Centre (Ministry of Commerce) had laid down strict guidelines that only 10 per cent of agricultural land could be acquired and the farmers should be duly compensated. Mr. Ramesh said the Central Government was being blamed for the controversy dogging the SEZs whereas the fact was that the allocation of land for SEZs was the responsibility of the State Government.
He said the Empowered Group of Ministers on SEZs had suggested that the land limit should not exceed 5,000 hectares or 12,500 acres. And, 50 per cent of the land should be earmarked as the processing area where production took place.
Emulate T.N. model
He was of the view that the anchor investor for developing the SEZs should be an industrial house as was the case in Tamil Nadu, which has four SEZs, including those of Nokia and Motorola mobile phones. Mr. Ramesh said 80 per cent of proposals received by the Commerce Ministry were from five States, including Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
On SEZs in U.P.
The Minister said the Uttar Pradesh Government should place emphasis on promoting SEZs at Agra (leather products), Moradabad (brassware), Kanpur (leather) and Varanasi (handloom products).

http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/17/stories/2007061700921000.htm
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13 June, 2007

Sexual aversion a ground for divorce

13 Jun, 2007 l 0119 hrs IST l TIMES NEWS NETWORK The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Holding that sexual incompatibility or denial of sex by either spouse was sufficient ground to seek divorce, Delhi High Court has recently annulled a 13-year-old marriage after both the sides agreed to dissolve the relationship. Reversing a trial court’s order dismissing Ajay Kumar’s petition for divorce on the ground of cruelty by his wife, Justice S Murlidhar observed: ‘‘The evidence on record shows that the absence of normal sexual relations was definitely one reason for the failure of the marriage. It also cannot be denied that the husband underwent mental agony as a result thereof.’’ ‘‘Further the separation of the couple since 1996 has rendered remote the possibility of the parties resuming a normal married life,’’ the judge noted as he acquiesced to the couple’s wish. But HC further asked Kumar to pay Rs 2 lakh to his wife as permanent alimony within two months and directed the registry to draw up a decree of divorce by August 20 this year. Challenging the trial court’s order of February 1997 where his plea for divorce was dismissed, Kumar had filed a petition in the HC alleging that his marriage was not properly consummated as his wife had never offered herself for complete sexual intimacy with him since they got married in June 1994. Kumar also alleged that his wife used to be violent in bed and that her behaviour never improved despite medical treatment. He accused his in-laws of threatening him with dire consequences when he had tried to bring the issue to their notice. His wife was taken away by them to their house in 1996, he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sexual_aversion_a_ground_for_divorce/articleshow/2118412.cms
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11 June, 2007

"Deserted Muslim woman entitled to maintenance under Cr.PC."

The Hindu Sunday, Jun 10, 2007

Apex court sets aside Allahabad High Court judgment

· High Court asked to have fresh look into Iqbal Bano's claim

· 1986 law will not be a bar for making a claim under Cr.PC: court

New Delhi: A Muslim woman deserted by her husband is entitled to maintenance from him under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr. PC) notwithstanding the provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, enacted in the wake of the Shah Bano judgment.
In the Mohd. Ahmad Khan vs. Shah Bano Begam case, the Supreme Court had held that "if a divorced woman is able to maintain herself, the husband's liability ceases with the expiry of the period of `iddat' (three menstrual courses after the date of divorce, that is, roughly three months), but if she is unable to maintain herself after the period, she is entitled to have recourse to Section 125 Cr.PC."
This decision led to a controversy and to dilute the judgment in the Shah Bano case, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, was passed.
In the present case, Iqbal Bano of Aligarh deserted by her husband claimed maintenance under Section 125 Cr.PC. In 1994, the trial court directed the husband to pay Rs. 450 a month as maintenance. On a revision petition in 2001, the Allahabad High Court accepted the husband's contention that as he had divorced his wife by pronouncing triple talak, the claim for maintenance must be made only under the 1986 Act and not under Section 125. The present appeal by Iqbal Bano is against this verdict.
She contended that there was no bar on a Muslim woman filing a petition under Section 125 Cr.P.C.
The 1986 Act would apply only to a divorced woman and since her husband had not divorced her in a proper manner, she could claim maintenance under Section 125.
A Bench consisting of Justices Arijit Pasayat and D.K. Jain agreed with her contention and set aside the High Court judgment. It directed the Allahabad High Court to have a fresh look into the maintenance claim.
The Bench, quoting an earlier Constitution Bench decision upholding the validity of the 1986 law, made a distinction between the provisions of the 1986 Act and Section 125 Cr.PC.
It said: "Under the 1986 Act the husband has two separate and distinct obligations, viz. to a make a reasonable and fair provision for his divorced wife [for her residence, food, clothes and other articles], and to provide maintenance for her. Though it may look ironical that the enactment intended to reverse the decision in the Shah Bano case it actually codifies the very rationale contained therein."
It said a deserted Muslim woman could still avail herself of the provisions of Section 125 to claim maintenance from her husband and the 1986 law would not be a bar.
As the case had been pending for nearly two decades, the Bench asked the High Court to dispose of the appellant's application within six months.
http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/10/stories/2007061000251100.htm
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10 June, 2007

Corruption: quashing of `sanction' clause sought

The Hindu Saturday, Jun 09, 2007

Petitioner seeks declaration of provision unconstitutional

New Delhi: Within days of the Uttar Pradesh Governor declining to give sanction to prosecute Chief Minister Mayawati, a public interest litigation petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Friday challenging the constitutional validity of Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, providing for sanction by the competent authority.
In the petition, advocate Manzoor Ali Khan has cited the Centre and all States and Union Territories as respondents.
He said that on June 5, the Governor, on political considerations, refused to grant sanction to prosecute Ms. Mayawati and a Cabinet colleague in the Taj corridor scam. He said that on the directions of the apex court, the Central Vigilance Commission had gone into the Taj case and observed that Ms. Mayawati was directly involved in the project. But the Governor let her and the Cabinet colleague off.
Besides politicians, there were several thousand Central and State Government employees, facing corruption charges, who could not be prosecuted for want of sanction by the competent authority under Section 19 of the Act. As a result, the cases were pending for over 10 to 15 years.
The petitioner said the object of the Act was to prevent corruption. "The existence of Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act per se becomes unreasonable and runs counter to the object of the Act since it could be a tool in the hands of the influential officials to defeat the object of the Act."
He contended that Section 19 was also violative of Article 14 of the Constitution (equality before law) as "it creates a classification which has not reasonable nexus with the object of the Act."
Contending that Section 19 provided unguided and arbitrary power to the competent authority for granting or not granting sanction for prosecution of corrupt and dishonest politicians, he sought a declaration that this provision was unconstitutional.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/09/stories/2007060917871700.htm

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09 June, 2007

SC: Failure to file I-T returns not suppression of income

9 Jun, 2007 l 0059 hrs IST l TIMES NEWS NETWORK
NEW DELHI: Omission or negligence on the part of an assessee to disclose proper particulars of his income-tax returns would not necessarily constitute a deliberate act of suppression to invite punitive action from tax officials, the Supreme Court has ruled. Concealment of income and furnishing of inaccurate particulars carry different connotations. Concealment refers to deliberate act on the part of the assessee. A mere omission or negligence would not constitute a deliberate act of suppression or false declaration, the apex court said. The order imposing penalty is quasicriminal in nature and thus, the burden lies on the department to establish that the assessee had concealed his income, a Bench of Justices S B Sinha and Markandeya Katju said while upholding an appeal filed by an assessee. Appellant T Ashok Pai, an engineer had challenged a judgment of the Karnataka high court, which rejected his plea that the alleged false assessment was prepared by the Syndicate Bank, his banker to whom he had given the general power of attorney. The high court had upheld the argument of tax officials that if the explanation of Pai was to be accepted, every tax evader could take shelter by shifting the blame on his/her clerk or accountants. However, the SC held that if an explanation given by the assessee with regard to the mistake committed by him has been treated to be bona fide and it has been found that he had acted on the basis of wrong legal advice, the question of imposing a penalty does not arise.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/SC_Failure_to_file_I-T_returns_not_suppression_of_income/articleshow/2110499.cms
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08 June, 2007

Dying declaration should be in Q&A form, says SC

NEW DELHI: A dying declaration, considered a vital piece of evidence to nail a murder accused, needs to be in question-and-answer form and the victim should be in a fit state of mind while voluntarily making the statement, the Supreme Court said on Thursday. The observation came as the court upheld a Rajasthan High Court order acquitting murder accused Wakteng. The HC had noted that the dying declaration of the victim, Thanu, was not recorded in question-and-answer form and it was not specified as a "dying declaration". Though the trial court had also discarded the tag of dying declaration to the victim's statement, it had relied upon it as a piece of evidence supporting the prosecution charge against Wakteng. The apex court Bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and D K Jain, while rejecting the state's appeal against the HC judgment, said the fitness of the victim's mental faculties holds the key to the reliability of the dying declaration. It was conscious of an earlier decision of the court allowing departure from the general rule that a magistrate alone should record the dying declaration provided the prosecution witnesses, preferably a doctor, certified that the victim was fit enough to make the statement. "Great solemnity and sanctity is attached to the words of a dying man because on the verge of death he is not likely to tell a lie or to concoct a case so as to implicate an innocent person, but the court has to be careful to ensure that the statement was not the result of either tutoring, prompting or a product of imagination," Justice Pasayat said, writing the judgment for the Bench.

Source:- The Times of India 8 June 2007

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SC issues notice to importers on anti-dumping charges

Press Trust Of India New Delhi, June 04, 2007 The Centre has moved the Supreme Court challenging the appellate tribunal's order quashing its decision to impose anti-dumping duty on certain categories of acyclic alcohols.A bench headed by Justice S H Kapadia recently issued notice to importers - Lubrizon (India) Pvt Ltd, Indian Plasticizers Manufacturers Association, South Africa-based Sasol Chemical India - seeking an explanation why anti-dumping duty should not be imposed on them.The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal had ruled that the anti-dumping duty can be imposed only on identified goods and not on goods that resemble them.The Ministry of Commerce and Industry had imposed anti-dumping duty on 'like articles' of acyclic alcohols -- goods that resembled acyclic alcohols (Oxo Alcohols - Normal butanol, 2-Ethyl Hexanol, Iso Butanol, Sabutol and Octanol).According to the ministry, these alcohols were being imported at rates below their normal value and the domestic industry was suffering losses due to these dumped exports from Singapore, Brazil, Romania, Malaysia and South Africa.If the characteristics of two articles being imported are similar or closely resemble each other, they can be treated as like articles for the purpose of imposing anti-dumping duty, the petition filed through counsel V K Verma stated.Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran contended that the tribunal should have taken into consideration that 'like article' was to be determined by factors like commercial and technical suitability, use, resemblance of physical and chemical properties, etc.
Press Trust Of India New Delhi, June 04, 2007
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=b65261cb-a20e-43c2-8cfc-e696067717cc&&Headline=SC+notice+to+importers+on+anti-dumping+charges

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Slokas now to be patented

New Delhi: The Union Government is launching a project to translate ancient Sanskrit scriptures into five foreign languages. These will be sent to patent offices globally to prevent any commercial misuse of traditional Indian knowledge in the U.S. and other countries.
The Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) has engaged institutes such as the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga and Kewal Dham of Pune to translate Sanskrit slokas that describe yogic asanas into English, French and German among other languages.
"Traditional Knowledge Resource Classification (TKRC) software, being used for translation, will include video footage demonstrating yoga postures," an official source said.
In the first phase, to be completed by December, work on 150 asanas will be completed. The plan is to cover 1,500 commonly used kriyas and asanas. — PTI
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