“If the lamp of justice dies in the hearts of the people, no court can save it,”
- Justice Joymala Bagchi of the Supreme Court while recounting his experience fighting author Taslima Nasrin’s case.
Approval for retrospective environmental clearance reversed by top court
In a positive step for environmental jurisprudence, the Supreme Court last week reversed its own previous ruling and proceeded to hold that a retrospective environmental clearance cannot be granted for projects. The court’s ruling now restores well-established core principle that projects need to secure a clearance beforehand, not after the damage to the ecology is caused.
The court said that permitting retrospective clearance through an office memorandum could not be permitted because executive convenience cannot override important statutory safeguards. The court was ruling on a batch of review petitions and while reversing its ruling has reset the jurisprudence but kept the scope open for the legislature to make statutory changes in the future.
Key Rulings:
- In its review ruling, Supreme Court says centre cannot grant retrospective environmental clearance, a valid notification is a must for it.
Courts:
- Supreme Court pauses CIC order that declared NSE a public authority under the RTI Act
- Supreme Court upholds quashing of ₹3.01 billion penalty against Grasim in an antitrust case
- Delhi High Court rejects a plea by a foundation run by Tina Ambani seeking disclosure of material used by SFIO to probe against Anil Ambani’s Reliance companies
- Bombay High Court reserves its verdict on State’s appeal against acquittal of Tarun Tejpal
- Delhi High Court seeks response from a patent officer on an appeal raising the question whether AI can be considered an inventor under India’s patent laws
- Supreme Court asks centre to ensure treatment is given to protesters who suffered pellet gun injuries during the student protests at Jantar Mantar
- PIL filed in Delhi High Court seeks restriction of social media access for children below the age of 13
- Supreme Court accepts CBI’s closure report against former prime minister late Dr Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation case, formally closes case against Singh
- Delhi High Court orders winding up PayTM Payments Bank on RBI’s plea
- Uber joins other food delivery, quick commerce, cab aggregator platforms in petitioning the Karnataka High Court over the state’s legislation for protection of gig workers
- Supreme Court stays coercive action against protesters in all states, directs release of minors arrested and who have no criminal antecedents, and asks police forces of all states to preserve data in relation to police action on protesters during student protests
- Bombay High Court allows Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to sue tech companies for removal of objectionable content against him relating to E20 fuel controversy hosted on their platforms
- PIL against internet shutdown at Delhi’s protest site withdrawn from Delhi high Court
Quasi Courts:
- SEBI bars Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka from securities market for one year
- NHRC takes suo moto cognizance of police excesses on protesting students in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, as per reports
The Big Listings:
- Aug 4: Bombay High Court to hear Nitin Gadkari’s plea against tech companies over AI, deepfake content
- Aug 13: Delhi Court to pronounce order on plea for registration of FIR against Sonia Gandhi over inclusion in voter roll
- Sep 4: Securities Appellate Tribunal to hear appeal by Jane Street challenging SEBI’s move to allegedly refuse access to important documents to the firm in the case against it
* The dates of hearing can change and a concrete list is prepared just a day before
Legal Moves:
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