Will not hear 'professional public interest litigants' unless they pay fine imposed on them, says SC

-

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said that it will not hear any "professional public interest litigants" unless they deposit the fines imposed on them by the court.

The top court was hearing an application filed by two persons on whom the apex court had in August, 2017 imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakh each for filing a motivated petition challenging the appointment of then Chief Justice Dipak Misra. They had also questioned the practise of recommending to the President, the name of a successor by the incumbent Chief Justice of India.

The top court was informed that one of them, Swami Om had expired during the first COVID-19 wave last year while Mukesh Jain has been in Balasore jail for the past one year.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah told advocate AP Singh, appearing for Jain that it has already rejected the application for waiver of fine and has issued a contempt notice to him.

The bench said, "We will not hear any professional public interest litigants unless they pay the fine imposed on them. He (Jain) has to pay the fine or we will sentence him."

The top court told Singh to ask Jain to pay the fine or on the next date of hearing the court will pass orders that he cannot file any petition before the Supreme Court unless he pays the fine.

Singh said that Jain has been released on bail from the jail in Odisha and he would appear before the court during the next hearing. The top court adjourned the matter for further hearing after three weeks.

On 24 August, 2017, the top court had said that the imposition of exemplary cost on Swami Om and Mukesh Jain was needed to send across a message to similarly placed people to deter them from filing such pleas.

Swami Om and Jain have not alleged anything in their plea against then CJI designate (Justice Dipak Misra) and had referred to the constitutional scheme on the appointment of CJI and the Chief Justices of the High Courts and said that the process of recommending the name of a successor by the incumbent CJI is against the spirit of Constitution.

The top court had then noted in its order that Article 124A amended by the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act has already been set aside by a constitution bench.

Article 124 of the Constitution deals with the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court, while Article 124A provides for the composition of the National Judicial Appointments Commission.

The top court had then asked Swami Om and Jain to deposit the fine within a period of one month and said that the amount should be sent to the Prime Minister Relief Fund.



from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/3wvoMvk
Press Trust of India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Both COVID-19 vaccine doses needed for good protection against B16172 variant

-
It’s been a concerning few weeks in the UK, with the B16172 variant first taking hold and then spreading to become dominant. This more infectious form of the virus, initially identified in India, is what we’re now going to have to live with – unless it is out-competed by another variant in the future. Worryingly, experts had predicted that B16172 might be able to escape some of the effects of vaccines, which if true would threaten to derail the UK’s plans to finish lifting restrictions from the end of June. However, Public Health England (PHE) has looked at the ability of various variants to evade immunity and says that the UK’s vaccines remain effective against the variants circulating, including B16172. On the surface, this looks like good news. But delve a bit deeper, and things get more complicated, says Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. PHE’s research found a little drop-off in protection against B16172 among people who were fully vaccinated.
Read more

New coronavirus variant emerge in India: How should our COVID response change?

-
Image
After genome sequencing of over 10,000 COVID-19 cases in India, researchers have discovered a new variant with two new mutations which may be better at evading the immune system. In 15-20 percent of samples from the Indian state of Maharashtra (the state accounting for 62 percent of cases in the country) a new, double mutation in key areas of the virus has been detected. These are now known as the E484Q and L452R mutations. What makes the variant different? Both these mutations are concerning because they are located in a key portion of the virus – the spike protein – that it uses to penetrate human cells. Spike proteins attach via a “receptor binding domain”, meaning the virus can attach to receptors in our cells. These new mutations include changes to the spike protein that make it a “better fit” for human cells. This means the virus can gain entry more easily and multiply faster. Given what we have seen with other similar mutations , it might also make it harder for our immu
Read more

120 flights delayed, 30 trains running late; Delhi fog & cold wave continue to give shiver to travellers

-
Arrival and departure of 120 flights, both domestic and international, to Delhi airport were affected due to dense fog and cold wave conditions on Wednesday, according to Delhi Airport FIDS (Flight Information Display System). As per the Delhi Airport FIDS, a total of 53 flights, including 21 domestic arrivals, 16 domestic departures, 13 international departures and three international arrivals scheduled are cancelled and not operating due to fog and other operational reasons from and to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the national capital on 17 January. #WATCH | Delhi: Several flight operations delayed at IGI airport due to low visibility amid fog. pic.twitter.com/hG1DUKllEt — ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2024 Visuals from the Delhi airport showed passengers waiting outside, checking update of their scheduled flights. There were also some people waiting for flight of their families, friends and loved ones to arrive, which got delayed due to fog. #WATCH | Delhi | Pas
Read more