SC takes suo motu cognisance of report over dog bites leading to rabies
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NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
Top Court Bars High Court Judge From Hearing Criminal Cases Till Retirement
New Delhi: In an unprecedented order, the Supreme Court has stripped criminal matters of the roster of a Allahabad High Court judge "till he demits office" after he "erroneously" upheld summons of criminal nature in a civil dispute. Taking stern view on the order passed by the judge, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed removal of criminal matters from his roster till his retirement while tasking him to sit with a senior judge in a division bench. The high court judge had refused to quash a magistrate's summoning order against a company which was accused of not paying the balance monetary sum in a business transaction of civil nature. He said asking the complainant to pursue civil remedy for recovering the amount was unreasonable being time intensive. Calling the order passed by the high court judge "erroneous", the top court said the judge went ahead to the extent of saying that the complainant should be permitted to institute criminal proceedings for the purpose of recovery of the balance amount. The top court said the high court order was one of the "worst and most erroneous" orders that it came across in their respective tenures as judges of the top court. "The judge concerned has not only cut a sorry figure for himself but has made a mockery of justice. We are at our wits' end to understand what is wrong with the Indian Judiciary at the level of High Court. At times we are left wondering whether such orders are passed on some extraneous considerations or it is sheer ignorance of law. Whatever it be, passing of such absurd and erroneous orders is something unpardonable," the bench said. The top court was hearing a challenge to high court's order which dismissed an application filed by one M/S Shikhar Chemicals seeking to quash summoning order in a case of commercial transaction. In this case, the complainant (Lalita Textiles) delivered goods in the form of thread to Shikhar Chemicals worth Rs 52.34 lakh of which an amount of Rs 47.75 lakh came to be paid, however, the balance amount has not been paid, till date. Lalita Textiles filed a criminal complaint for the recovery of the balance amount. Thereafter, the complainant's statement was recorded and a magisterial court issued summons against the applicant. The company moved the high court against the order, contending the dispute was purely civil in nature. The high court, however, rejected the plea of the applicant. On August 4, the top court observed it was expected of the high court to know the well-settled position of law that in cases of civil disputes a complainant cannot be permitted to resort to criminal proceedings as the same would amount to abuse of process of law. Terming the high court's take on the issue as "shocking", the bench said, "It is an extremely sad day for one and all to read the observations contained in para 12 of the impugned order." The order continued, "It was expected of the high court to understand the nature of the allegations levelled in the complaint. In substance the high court has said in so many words that the criminal proceedings instituted by the complainant in a case of pure civil dispute is justified because it may take considerable time for the complainant to recover the balance amount by preferring a civil suit." The bench said in such circumstances it was left with no other option but to set aside the high court order even without issuing notice to the respondents. "We request the the Chief Justice of the High Court of Allahabad to assign this matter to any other Judge of the High Court as he may deem fit. The Chief Justice of High Court shall immediately withdraw the present criminal determination from the concerned Judge. The Chief Justice shall make the concerned judge sit in a Division Bench with a seasoned senior judge of the High Court (sic)," the top court said. The bench further directed that the judge not be assigned any criminal matter, till he demitted office. "If at all at some point of time, he is to be made to sit as a single judge, he shall not be assigned any criminal determination." Saying it was "constrained" to pass such directions, the top court noted it was not the only "erroneous order of the judge" that it came across for the first time. "Many such erroneous orders have been looked into by us over a period of time," the bench lamented.
NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
20-Year-Old Australian Man Forms New Country With 400 Citizens On Unclaimed Land
A 20-year-old Australian man has caught the internet's attention after he proclaimed himself president of the self-declared Free Republic of Verdis, a tiny nation nestled in a disputed 125-acre forest along the Danube River between Croatia and Serbia. According to The New York Post, this micronation boasts its flag, cabinet, currency, and nearly 400 citizens, all established after Daniel Jackson discovered the land was unclaimed due to an ongoing border dispute between the two countries. "Verdis was an idea I had when I was 14. It was just a bit of an experiment at first with a few mates. We have all dreamed of creating something crazy," said Mr Jackson. Mr Jackson, a digital designer who creates virtual worlds on Roblox, started building Verdis' government when he was just 18. Notably, the Free Republic of Verdis is situated on a 0.5-square-kilometre forest patch known as "pocket three," a disputed area that neither Croatia nor Serbia claims due to an ongoing border dispute. Mr Jackson declared the independence of the Free Republic of Verdis on May 30, 2019. "We started making Verdis a reality when I was 18 by forming some laws and a flag. We have now built up a government and have a great cabinet," he said. Verdis' official languages are English, Croatian, and Serbian, and the nation uses the Euro as its currency. The tiny nation is only accessible by boat from Osijek, Croatia. However, attempts to settle there have faced significant resistance, including an incident in October 2023 when Croatian police detained and deported several settlers, including Mr Jackson, who was also given a lifetime ban from entering Croatia. "They deported us but couldn't give a reason why. They said we were a threat to homeland security,'' he added. Mr Jackson now claims to be running a "government in exile" and accuses Croatian authorities of setting up surveillance along Verdis' shoreline to block access from Serbia. "We have had a lot of problems with the Croatian authorities, but we do want a good relationship with them in the future. They haven't taken to us kindly and have been aggressive," he claimed. Mr Jackson now frequently travels to Belgrade, Serbia, where he claims officials have been more receptive to his cause. Despite the ban from Croatia, he continues to advocate for access to Verdis and hopes to return one day. He has stated that if successful, he would step down from his position and call an election, as he's not interested in power. Each citizen of Verdis receives a passport, though Mr Jackson cautions against attempting to use it for international travel. Nevertheless, some citizens have reportedly used their Verdisian passports to enter other countries. According to Mr Jackson, Verdis is selective about who it admits, prioritising individuals with in-demand skills such as medicine or law enforcement experience due to its small size. Despite several setbacks, he remains optimistic and believes it's a matter of time before he and his citizens can reclaim the land. He asserts that since Croatia doesn't claim the land, Verdis has a rightful claim to it.
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Business Standard
5 hours ago
- Business Standard
Prior court approval needed for public interest suits under Section 92: SC
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said a prior nod from court was needed to file a lawsuit under the provision dealing with public charities of the Civil Procedure Code as the action was launched on behalf of public beneficiaries and that too in public interest. The top court issued directions on the legal issues and dismissed an appeal filed by a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, which challenged the maintainability of a suit against it under Section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC). Section 92 of the CPC deals with lawsuits relating to public charitable or religious trusts and permits legal action to be taken in cases of alleged breaches of trust, or when the court's direction is needed for the trust's administration. A suit under Section 92 of the CPC is a representative suit of a special nature since the action is instituted on behalf of the public beneficiaries and in public interest. Obtaining a grant of leave' from the court before the suit can be proceeded with, acts as a procedural and legislative safeguard in order to prevent public trusts from being subjected to undue harassment through frivolous suits being filed against them and also to obviate a situation that would cause a further wastage of resources which can otherwise be put towards public charitable or religious aims, a bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said. Writing 168-page, Justice Pardiwala, however, pointed out at the stage of grant of leave, the court neither adjudicates upon the merits of the dispute nor confers any substantive rights upon the parties. A trust can be said to have been created for a public purpose' when the beneficiaries are the general public who are incapable of exact ascertainment. Even if the beneficiaries are not necessarily the public at large, they must at least be a classified section of it and not a pre-ascertained group of specific individuals, it said. The special nature of the suit under Section 92 requires it to be filed fundamentally on behalf of the public for the vindication of public rights, it said. Therefore, courts must go beyond the reliefs and also give due regard to the object and purpose for which the suit is brought. The true nature of the suit must be determined on a comprehensive understanding of the facts of the matter and a hard-and-fast rule cannot be made for the same, it said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
