Justice Financial News

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil, according to the Biden administration. An Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, was charged by federal prosecutors in November last year in connection with his involvement in a foiled plot to assassinate Pannun, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. US federal prosecutors have charged that Gupta was working with an Indian government employee and had agreed to pay an assassin USD 1,00,000 to kill Pannun, who lives in New York City. India has already constituted a probe committee to investigate the allegations.

An appeals court in Montenegro has confirmed that cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon will be handed over to his native South Korea

Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed its deep concern on keeping an accused in custody without trial on the pretext of filing successive charge sheets by probe agencies. A division bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna made these remarks, lamenting the Enforcement Directorate's practice of filing supplementary charge sheets in money laundering cases to defeat the accused's right of getting default bail. Justice Khanna verbally remarked that «this is just not done». The bench added that the probe agency ought to ensure commencement of the trial once it files a charge sheet. «How you conduct an investigation is your prerogative. But you cannot say that you will keep filing successive charge sheets and keep the accused in jail without trial,» justice Khanna verbally remarked on the plea of an accused booked by ED in a case of illicit mining. The bench noted that Prem Prakash, the accused, has been behind bars for the past 18 months.

A worrying trend has been identified, revealing that a palpable ideological chasm has emerged between young men and women. Research shows that while young women tend to be more liberal or progressive, young men as a group are becoming more conservative across the globe. Data reporter John Burn-Murdoch’s analysis of several surveys in Financial Times shows that in the US, UK and Germany, young women are at least 25 percentage points more liberal than young men, and a similar divide is seen in Poland, South Korea, China and Tunisia.

Sebi) on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court it would not take any further action on the summons issued by it to Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra in an alleged fund diversion case. Chandra had filed a petition earlier this month challenging the summons and had sought for it to be quashed. The businessman's counsel, Ravi Kadam, sought for the entire proceedings initiated by the Sebi to be quashed and argued that the capital market watchdog was going ahead with the probe in a «predetermined» manner.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Subhash Chandra in an alleged fund diversion case. Chandra had filed a petition in the court on 5 March, alleging that the summons issued by Sebi contained allegations couched in a language that indicated they had already been proved conclusively. He urged the court to declare the summons illegal and void.

Arizona launched a program to expand access to legal services for people who can’t afford or find lawyers. Three years later, the program is catching Wall Street’s eye. In most states, the owners of law firms need to be attorneys.

Aircraft lessor Wilmington Trust SP Services has moved NCLAT, filing an appeal against an earlier order of NCLT, which had dismissed its insolvency plea against low-cost carrier SpiceJet. Wilmington Trust's petition has been listed for hearing on Thursday before a bench headed by the Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). Earlier on January 29, the Delhi-based bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) dismissed the insolvency petition filed by Wilmington Trust SP Services against SpiceJet. Wilmington, the aircraft lessor based in Dublin, Ireland had moved the insolvency plea against SpiceJet in June 2023 over unpaid dues.

public sector lenders not to take coercive action against IL&FS and its group companies till its next hearing on May 14. A two-member NCLAT bench headed by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan also issued notices to the banks, along with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), directing them to file a reply. «In view of the order dated October 15, 2018, the Respondents (banks) shall not proceed to take any coercive action against the Applicant (IL&FS and group companies) till the next date,» said the NCLAT. On October 15, 2018, the NCLAT stayed all proceedings against IL&FS and other group companies till its further order. It had also restrained creditors of IL&FS from filing suits, in the case of non-repayment of loans.

Supreme Court the appointment of two new election commissioners (ECs) under a 2023 law that excludes the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee, saying the independence of the Election Commission does not arise from the presence of a judicial member on the committee. In an affidavit filed in the apex court, the Union Law Ministry rejected the petitioner's claim that the two election commissioners were hastily appointed on March 14 to «pre-empt» the orders of the top court the next day, when the matters challenging the 2023 law were listed for hearing on interim relief. The affidavit has been filed in response to a batch of pleas, including those by Congress leader Jaya Thakur and the Association for Democratic Reforms, challenging the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Terms of Office) Act, 2023. «It is submitted that the case of the petitioners is premised on one fundamental fallacy that the independence can only be maintained in any authority when the selection committee is of a particular formulation. It must be noted that the independence of the Election commission, or any other organisation or authority, does not arise from and is not attributable to the presence of a judicial member in the selection committee,» the affidavit said.

Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to list for hearing on March 21 a PIL against the practice of political parties promising freebies during elections. «This is important. We will keep this on board tomorrow,» said a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra after petitioner's lawyer in the case mentioned the matter for early hearing. The plea said there should be a total ban on populist measures to gain undue political favour from voters as they violate the Constitution, and the Election Commission should take suitable deterrent measures.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) to provide its stance on a plea by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal contesting the summons issued to him in a case related to money laundering linked to the excise policy, PTI reported. The investigation body argued that the petition filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor, also challenging specific sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), was not maintainable. Justice Suresh Kumar Kait-led bench has granted the ED a two-week period to submit its response.

Donald Trump urged the Supreme Court on Tuesday to rule that he is absolutely immune from criminal charges stemming from his attempts to subvert the 2020 election. «The president cannot function, and the presidency itself cannot retain its vital independence,» the brief said, «if the president faces criminal prosecution for official acts once he leaves office.»

Arvind Kejriwal has challenged all the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons to him in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case at the Delhi High Court (HC). The law enforcement agency has sent multiple summons to Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policy case--all skipped by the Delhi chief minister. In the recent summons, Arvind Kejriwal has been asked to appear before the agency on March 21.

Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Ajit Pawar faction of NCP to issue a public declaration that the use of «clock» symbol by it for campaigning in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections is «sub-judice and subject to the outcome» of the challenge by the Sharad Pawar faction to the decision of Election Commission of India. ECI had recognised the Ajit faction as the real NCP. Aggrieved by ECI's decision, the Sharad faction had moved the apex court. A bench headed by justice Surya Kant directed the Ajit faction to issue a public notice in newspapers in English, Marathi and Hindi editions. The bench has ordered that such a declaration should accompany all advertisements to be issued by NCP. «Such declaration shall be incorporated in every template, advertisement, audio or video clip issued» on behalf of NCP, the court ordered. The Supreme Court bench also ordered that a «man blowing Turah (trumpet)» symbol shall not be allotted to any other political party, independent candidate and the same shall not be used in any manner by the Ajit faction. ECI and the Maharashtra State Election Commission have been directed to take necessary actions in this regard.

NDA partners in Tamil Nadu, has added more than half a dozen partners in the southern state with the latest entrant being PMK. In a state where politics is dominated by the Dravidian parties, BJP has stitched up alliances with Tamil Manila Congress led by GK Vasan, TTV Dinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), TR Pachamuthu's Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK), AC Shanmugam's New Justice Party (NJP) and John Pandian's Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK). Veteran Tamil actor R Sarath Kumar has merged his Akila Indiya Samathuva Makkal Katchi (AISMK) with BJP. Now, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which enjoys influence among the Vanniyar caste and is concentrated in northern Tamil Nadu, has announced that it will join BJP-led NDA. BJP is also in talks with the late Captain Vijayakanth's DMDK. At present, BJP has no MP from Tamil Nadu. The last time the party won a seat in the state was in 2014, when Pon Radhakrishnan won the Kanyakumari seat in a four-cornered contest. The politics of Tamil Nadu is mainly dominated by the two Dravidian parties — AIADMK and DMK.

Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to grant an interim stay on the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules of 2024 which effectively brought into force the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, however, issued notice to the central government on a slew of interim applications, as many as 20, seeking a stay on the implementation of the rules. The Centre has been given three weeks to respond to the petitions. The batch of petitions will come up for resumed hearing on April 9. Appearing on behalf of the Centre, solicitor general Tushar Mehta told the bench that CAA «does not take away citizenship of any individual». He added that it would be wholly wrong and «misleading» to equate CAA with the National Register of Citizens.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday gave an undertaking to the Supreme Court that the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by him will not use the name or picture of party founder Sharad Pawar on banners, posters or any election material. Ajit Pawar had spllit the NCP in July last year and walked away with a majority of MLAs to join the BJP-Shiv Sena government led by Eknath Shinde. He furnished an undertaking before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan pursuant to a March 14 order by the apex court. «The Respondent has duly instructed the rank and file of the party to refrain from using the photographs or name of Sharad Pawar on any poster/banner of Nationalist Congress Party,» the undertaking said.

The latest U.S. agricultural census data, out last month with the latest five-year update of data from 2022, shows an increase in the proportion of farms utilizing contract labor compared to those hiring labor overall

Sensex, Nifty 50 fell 1%- Tuesday wasn't a great day for Indian markets as the benchmark index remain in the red zone. The overall market capitalization of firms listed on the BSE dropped to nearly ₹373.9 lakh crore from ₹378.8 lakh crore in the previous session, resulting in investors collectively losing about ₹5 lakh crore in a single session. Read Full report 2.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said that the party's manifesto for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections will focus on five guarantees including «Kisan Nyay, Yuva Nyay, Naari Nyay, Shramik Nyay and Hissedari Nyay.» In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kharge wrote, «The Congress Working Committee (CWC) deliberated thoroughly on the Congress Manifesto, today. The 5 pillars of #BharatJodoNyayYatra — Kisan Nyay, Yuva Nyay, Naari Nyay, Shramik Nyay and Hissedari Nyay have 5 guarantees each.»