Justice Financial News

Bombay High Court recently imposed a Rs 1 lakh fine on a man for deliberately avoiding maintenance payments to his wife and minor daughter. The fine must be paid to the wife within four weeks. The case involved a techie who claimed he could not afford to pay Rs 30,000 per month in maintenance, as ordered by a civil court. However, the court found that he was earning Rs 65 lakh per year—about Rs 5.5 lakh per month—when he took the job in August 2021. Just four days after joining, he claimed that he met with an accident and went on medical leave for two months. He later resigned in February 2022 and took up a lower-paying job with a salary of Rs 20,000 per month. Despite this claim, Justice Madhav Jamdar noted several inconsistencies. The man failed to mention the accident in his earlier court filings and only referred to it in a February 2024 reply to a contempt petition. The judge also pointed out that the husband continued to list his income as Rs 35–50 lakh on matrimonial websites until November 2023, suggesting he was hiding his true financial situation. The court further observed that between February 2021 and January 2022, the man transferred Rs 34 lakh to his mother and brother, likely to shield his assets. Justice Jamdar concluded that the husband made a “systematic attempt” to make any maintenance order unenforceable.

New York State appellate judges. A 74-year-old entrepreneur without legal training, he was there to contest a ruling in his employment case. But the real twist wasn’t in the lawsuit. It came when the video he submitted began playing in court. A young, clean-cut man appeared on the courtroom screen. “May it please the court,” the digital figure began. “I come here today a humble pro se before a panel of five distinguished justices.” It took just seconds for Justice Sallie Manzanet-Daniels to interrupt. “Ok, hold on. Is that counsel for the case?” “No,” Dewald replied from his seat. “I generated that. That’s not a real person.”

Hindu petitioners in the Krishna Janmabhoomi and Shahi Idgah case, on an appeal moved by the Muslim side against an Allahabad High Court order that allowed the Hindu side to amend their suit and also make the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) a party to the case. A division bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna observed that it will examine the claim made by Hindu parties that the disputed structure is a protected monument under the ASI and cannot be used as a mosque. The March 5 HC order allowing the Hindu side's amendment application seemed to be prima facie correct, it observed. The Hindu side's application before the HC was based on the claim that an ASI-protected place cannot be used for worship as a mosque and the Places of Worship Act will not apply to such a structure. The bench posted the appeal and related matters for resumed hearing on April 8. The Hindu side initially approached the HC with an application to make ASI a party to the case. They also sought amendment to their initial plaint. At the HC, they claimed that the mosque was declared a protected monument by a 1920 notification issued by the Lieutenant Governor of the United Province under Section 3 of the Ancient Monument Preservation Act. Consequently, the Places of Worship Act, 1991 will not apply in this case and the place cannot be used as a mosque, the Hindu side argued.

Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that failure of biometric verification cannot be a reason to deny a person’s legal or fundamental rights. The decision was made by Justice Subodh Abhyankar while hearing a petition by Vinod Kumar Meena, who was refused a job at Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) due to biometric verification failure during the onboarding process, a TOI report stated.

Delhi high court has ruled that driving a vehicle at high speed does not necessarily amount to rash and negligent driving. The judgment came while acquitting a man convicted in a 2012 accident case that resulted in the death of two pedestrians, a TOI report stated. The petitioner, a car cleaner, was sentenced to 18 months in jail in 2022 after he lost control of a vehicle he had taken out for a drive. He claimed a sudden tyre burst caused the accident. Hearing his appeal, Justice Saurabh Banerjee stated that merely driving at a «high speed» does not prove the driver was «rash and negligent.»

cement maker Nuvoco Vistas Corp Ltd. Gujarat-based Vadraj Cement, formerly owned by ABG Shipyard, has admitted liabilities of Rs 9,633 crore, while the successful bidder’s plan proposes to pay about Rs 1,800 crore to acquire the company through the bankruptcy process. “No orders levying any tax, demand or penalty from the corporate debtor (Vadraj Cement) in relation to the period up to approval of the resolution plan shall be passed by any authority and such demand, if created, shall not enforceable as having extinguished in terms of approved resolution plan,” said the division bench of Justice VG Bisht and technical member Prabhat Kumar in its order of April 1.

West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) saying it «intentionally» covered up the lapses and illegalities in the appointment of 25,753 teachers and staffers in state-run and state-aided schools. The scathing remarks came from a bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar in its judgement by which it annulled the appointment of 25,753 teachers and staffers. Authoring the judgement, the CJI said despite the factual background and the credible evidence indicating irregularities the «WBSSC initially did try and cover up the lapses and illegalities». The CJI went on, «The cover up itself has made the verification and ascertainment more difficult or rather impossible given the scale of camouflage and dressing up done at each stage. We are convinced that the entire selection process was intentionally compromised due to the illegalities involved.» The top court upheld the Calcutta High Court's findings on illegalities in the selection process on 17 counts. The high court said OMR sheets were destroyed without the scanned mirror images being preserved on the commission's server.

Elon Musk who is now working in the US Justice Department previously bragged about hacking and distributing pirated software, according to archived copies of his former websites reviewed by Reuters. Christopher Stanley, a 33-year-old engineer who has worked at both Musk's social media company X and space-launch company SpaceX, is a senior advisor in the Deputy Attorney General's office, according to a former Justice Department official and a staff directory listing reviewed by Reuters. Stanley was assigned there while working for Musk's Department of Government Efficiency that President Donald Trump set up to slash the federal bureaucracy. Musk has said no «organization has been more transparent» than DOGE, but there's been little public information on the responsibilities and background of its staff.

Barrackpore MP and BJP leader Arjun Singh gets interim relief from Calcutta High Court from any coercive action against him before Wednesday’s hearing at HC. Singh is facing major legal trouble over a shooting incident as the Barrackpore ACJM court issued an arrest warrant against him on Tuesday. Justice Joy Sengupta’s Bench in Calcutta High Court today observed that no coercive action or arrest cannot be done against him till tomorrow’s hearing. Singh has appealed for bail in the court. Singh said yesterday that he has already moved Calcutta High Court. On Friday, Calcutta High Court had declined an urgent hearing on Singh's appeal alleging police harassment. The former MP claimed that miscreants attacked his residence on the night of March 26-27. One person named Saddam Hossain was injured in the incident.

Mahua Moitra to make representation to the Securities and Exchange Board of India for seeking transparency and investor awareness in the financial markets by mandating public disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners (UBO) details as well as portfolio holdings of alternative investment funds (AIFs) and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). A Bench led by Justice BV Nagarathna while refusing to entertain the Moitra’s petition gave liberty to her to make representation to Sebi. Once representation is made, it shall be considered in accordance with law, the apex court said The MP told the SC that the rapid expansion of AIFs and FPIs in India's financial markets has given rise to serious transparency concerns. “Unlike Mutual Funds (MFs), which are subject to stringent public disclosure norms, AIFs and FPIs operate under opaque structures, raising risks of market manipulation, money laundering, and tax evasion,” she said. The lack of public disclosure norms on AIFs and FPIs pose severe risks to financial stability, market integrity, and economic sovereignty, she said. Given the increasing role of AIFs and FPIs in India's financial markets, regulatory transparency is crucial to protect the interest of market stakeholders, especially the retail investor, ensuring market stability and preventing financial malpractices through circumvention of the law, the petitioner said.

stock market fraud and regulatory violations. The HC last month granted the interim stay on the special court's order, noting it was passed mechanically and no specific role was attributed to the accused. On Tuesday, Justice Shivkumar Dige noted that the original complainant in the case has filed an affidavit and granted time to Buch and others to go through the same. «The interim relief granted earlier shall continue until further orders,» Justice Dige said, posting the matter for further hearing on May 7. Last month, Buch, three current whole-time directors of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Ashwani Bhatia, Ananth Narayan G and Kamlesh Chandra Varshney, Bombay Stock Exchange's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Sundararaman Ramamurthy and BSE's former chairman and public interest director Pramod Agarwal moved the HC against the special court order.

transnational repression" and acts that threaten to further erode the city's autonomy, drawing condemnation from the territory's government Tuesday. The six officials included Justice Secretary Paul Lam, security office director Dong Jingwei and police commissioner Raymond Siu. The sanctions are expected to further escalate tensions between Washington and Beijing, who are already locked in friction over trade tariffs and other issues like Taiwan. «Beijing and Hong Kong officials have used Hong Kong national security laws extraterritorially to intimidate, silence, and harass 19 pro-democracy activists who were forced to flee overseas, including a US citizen and four other US residents,» the US State Department said. The statement dated Monday said the six officials sanctioned were linked to entities or actions that engaged in coercing, arresting, detaining or imprisoning individuals under the authority of the city's security law, or implementing the law. The other three affected officials were Sonny Au, the secretary-general for the city's committee for safeguarding national security, and Dick Wong and Margaret Chiu, both assistant commissioners of the police.

The United States sanctioned six Chinese and Hong Kong officials who it alleged were involved in “transnational repression” and acts that threaten to further erode the southern Chinese city’s autonomy

IAS officers if they fail to file their property details within the prescribed time limit. Ninety-one Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers did not file their immovable property returns (IPRs) in 2024 and 73 the year before, according to 145th report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice on the Demands for Grants (2025-26) pertaining to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). The report was tabled in Parliament on March 27. Vigilance clearance, mandatory to join certain posts, was denied to 15 IAS officers in 2023, 12 in 2022 and 14 in 2021, due to non-filing of IPRs for respective years. The panel recommended that a centralised compliance monitoring mechanism may be established to ensure timely filing of IPRs by all IAS officers. «This mechanism should involve creation of a dedicated task force within the department responsible for tracking and filing status of all officers. Additionally, the committee proposes to introduce penalties or corrective actions for non-compliance, including automatic escalation procedures for officers who fail to file their IPRs despite reminders,» the report said.

Nagpur after becoming the prime minister 11 years ago, Narendra Modi on Sunday described the Sangh as the 'banyan tree' of India's immortal culture. Modi became the second sitting PM to visit the RSS headquarters in Nagpur. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had visited it in 2000 during his third term as PM, an RSS official said.

Zomi Council has alleged bias in the Manipur government's handling of missing persons cases, claiming selective action based on community identity. The controversy follows the government's announcement of a ₹10 lakh reward for credible information on Luwangthem Mukesh, a 20-year-old from Imphal West, who went missing on March 16, 2025. The case was officially registered under FIR No. 90(3)2025IPSu/s140(1)/142/3(5) BNS at Imphal Police Station. In response, the Zomi Council stated, «The state's glaring partiality is alarming. While swift action and a significant cash reward were announced for Luwangthem Mukesh, similar cases involving Zomi individuals, such as Muangpu Langel's abduction in Jiribam on June 6, 2024, by Arambai Tenggol, remain ignored. Over 11 marginalized individuals are still missing, yet authorities have not taken substantive action.» The council further demanded equal treatment, saying, «The ₹10 lakh reward should be applied equitably in all cases, ensuring justice for Zomi and other tribal communities. This disparity reflects systemic discrimination, which must be rectified. If justice continues to be denied, every democratic recourse will be pursued to uphold fundamental rights.» Meanwhile, in a coordinated effort between March 26-29, 2025, Indian Army and Assam Rifles, under Spear Corps, conducted multiple operations in Manipur. Working alongside Manipur Police, CRPF, BSF, and ITBP, they recovered 29 weapons, explosives, and ammunition from various districts, including Kangpokpi, Tengnoupal, Chandel, Senapati, Jiribam, and Bishnupur.

Justice PS Narasimha on Sunday said that in international jurisprudence, India was the first country to shift from an anthropocentric approach to an eco-centric one. An anthropocentric approach is based on the belief that human beings are the most important entity on earth, and other beings and things are valued primarily for their utility to humans. The eco-centric approach, however, prioritises the well-being of the entire ecosystem and its components, viewing nature as valuable for its own sake, not just for human use. The Supreme Court judge was speaking at the valedictory session of the two-day National Conference on Environment-2025 organised by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) at Vigyan Bhawan. Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar was the chief guest at the event. Highlighting the importance of such conferences, Justice Narasimha said they brought together a large number of stakeholders who found a common vision to restore the environment.

Steve Bannon, former adviser to President Trump, issued a stark warning during a recent interview, claiming Trump could face prison time if a Democrat wins the White House in 2028. Bannon argued that the political stakes are dire, framing the current climate as “political warfare” and urging supporters to recognize the urgency of the moment. His comments reflect growing tensions over Trump’s legal vulnerabilities and the potential fallout of another partisan shift in power.

BJP MP Jagadish Shettar on Saturday raised concerns over the alleged honeytrap scandal in Karnataka, claiming that several insiders, including ministers and influential figures, are involved in it. He accused the state government of attempting to suppress the issue to prevent a political crisis and reiterated his demand for a CBI investigation. Speaking to the media, Shettar alleged that a thorough probe could expose high-profile individuals, which is why there is a concerted effort to shut down the case. «Several insiders are involved, and if a serious investigation takes place, many Karnataka ministers and important people will be implicated, which is why they want to close everything. I have insisted multiple times that the honey trap issue should be investigated by the CBI to reveal the truth, as the current government appears to be trying to suppress the matter to avoid a political collapse,» the BJP MP said. Recently, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a PIL seeking an independent probe by CBI or SIT into the alleged honeytrapping of legislators, public servants and judges in Karnataka.

President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of Carlos Watson, the co-founder of Ozy Media