Ritu, Author at SCC Times

Environmental Liability of Art of Living International Centre

Polluter-pays principle applies only where damage is attributable to the polluter; SC sets aside NGT’s liability assessment against “Art of Living International Centre”

The Court held that the mere existence of environmental degradation is insufficient. A causal connection between the conduct of the alleged polluter and the environmental damage must be established.

Case Briefs High Courts

Practising law and pursuing 3-year LLM course simultaneously? Delhi HC lets attendance shortfall slide

The Court observed that “the very purpose of the LLM 3-year course is to enable students to continue practice before the Courts while simultaneously pursuing their Masters program”.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

SC orders Pan-India SIT probe into fraudulent motor accident claims, warns insurers against “pick and choose approach” for reporting claims

The present proceeding initially concerned with a narrow question as to whether the vehicle stated to have caused a motor accident was in fact the vehicle involved in the accident, however, subsequently revealed a much wider concern regarding fraudulent motor accident claims in a recurring and organised pattern.

Case Briefs High Courts

Free to move, not free to break the law: Delhi HC on Karni Sena President’s habeas corpus case

The petitioner had been leading a nationwide awareness campaign concerning the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026 (2026 UGC Regulations).

right of consenting adults to live together

Case Briefs High Courts

No one can interfere with consenting adults’ choice to live together, much less threaten their life or liberty: Delhi High Court

“Both Article 19 and Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantee fundamental rights to each of such parties in the form of their respective right to freedom and also their respective right to life and liberty.”

Maintenance waiver under matrimonial settlement

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Wife’s waived maintenance claims cannot be revived through subsequent DV proceedings; daughter’s rights remain unaffected: Supreme Court

The Court held that once the wife had voluntarily relinquished all monetary claims, including maintenance, revival of such claims through subsequent proceedings cannot be permitted.

Case Briefs High Courts

2-year incarceration, No presence at crime scene, CCTV FSL awaited, only 1 of 46 witnesses examined; Delhi HC grants bail in Jungpura Doctor Murder case

The Court asserted that continued incarceration of the applicants had to be balanced against their fundamental right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

A mother’s daily care for her children counts too: Supreme Court on why her income, by itself, cannot halve father’s liability to maintain

The Court held that considering the parties’ status, the father’s admitted income and the needs of the 2 school-going daughters, maintenance of ₹60,000 per month was just and reasonable.

Advocate's duty of confidentiality towards former client

Case Briefs Supreme Court

“That time belonged to other litigants”: SC imposes ₹5 lakh cost on Advocate and Client for prolonging litigation for 11-year

The Court observed that both parties had “occupied the time of the Bar Council of India, a High Court and this Court for eleven years”, time, it noted, “that belonged to other litigants, waiting for reliefs they genuinely need.”

Case Briefs Supreme Court

SC seeks Centre’s response on how Consumer Fora’s Pecuniary Jurisdiction is decided in view of identified anomalies

The Court accepted that determining the basis of pecuniary jurisdiction is within the domain of the law-making body.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Pre-deposit conditions in Arbitration can’t make right to sue “illusory or nugatory”; SC doubts S.K. Jain; Larger Bench to decide

The Court held that “a stipulation mandating the deposit of a substantial percentage of the claim amount, as a precondition to invoking arbitration would inevitably suppress claims, deter recourse to alternative dispute resolution, and thereby defeat its very object”.

Know thy Judge

A Judge who Lived the Constitution: Justice Sanjay Karol bids adieu to the Supreme Court after a tenure of 3 Years

Hailing from Garli, India’s first heritage village, Justice Sanjay Karol served his parent High Court of Himachal Pradesh as Acting Chief Justice and High Courts of Tripura and Patna as Chief Justice before his elevation as a Supreme Court Judge on 6 February 2023.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Saradha Chit Fund Scam | Supreme Court grants bail to Sudipta Sen after nearly a decade in custody

The Supreme Court, by order dated 9 May 2014 in Subrata Chattoraj v. Union of India, (2014) 8 SCC 795, had directed the transfer of investigation into the Saradha Chit Fund Scam and other chit fund cases from the State Police to the CBI.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Electrocution claims attract Strict, Not Absolute Liability; Disputed facts bar recourse under Article 226: Supreme Court

The Court held that where material facts are disputed, the appropriate remedy ordinarily lies before the competent adjudicatory forum and not before High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Justice Must Prevail Over Witch-Hunting, Superstition & Irrational Beliefs; SC Affirms Murder Conviction

The Court condemned witch-hunting as a “malady” that lets prejudice and superstition override the rule of law and constitutional morality, affirming the murder conviction and stressing that reason must prevail over collective irrationality.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

No Interim Protection After Dismissal of Pre-Arrest Bail; Arrest Order under Section 69 CGST Act Must Be Communicated: Supreme Court

The Court held that communication of the Section 69, CGST Act order may be made electronically, in addition to the modes permitted under BNSS and other legally permissible modes of communication.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Courts Can’t act as “Expert of Experts” in Academic Matters; SC sets aside All HC’s direction to Re-evaluate UPPSC 2016 Examination Answer Keys

The Court particularly disapproved of the manner in which the High Court had examined the disputed questions “as if it were an expert of experts” and concluded that the directions flowing from such examination were “clearly indefensible”.

purpose of trade irrelevant in insider trading

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Purpose of the trade is irrelevant once UPSI possession and trading are established: Supreme Court

The Court explained that Insider Trading, in essence, is a “dealing in a company’s securities having been informed by confidential information which is likely to affect the price of the securities in the market, once such information is made public”.

Extraordinary pension benefits under Article 142

Case Briefs Supreme Court

“Supreme Sacrifice Made”; SC Invokes Article 142 to extend extraordinary pension benefits to widow of Shaurya Chakra awardee, grants an additional ₹10 lakhs relief

The deceased had made the “supreme sacrifice” in the performance of his duty and had thereafter been posthumously decorated with the Shaurya Chakra, India’s third-highest peacetime gallantry award.

Case Briefs Supreme Court

From RBI SOPs to a Call “Kill Switch”: SC’s Plan Against Digital Arrest Scams

While noting that the reported amounts defrauded had decreased substantially, the Court regarded this trend as certainly encouraging but expressly cautioned that “continued monitoring remains indispensable”.