Legal Updates July, 2019

1. No Prohibition against Adoption In Christian Law even if couple have natural born children

The Supreme Court in the case of Pharez John Abraham vs. Arul JothiSivasubramaniam K held that there
is no prohibition against adoption in the Christian law. Unlike the Hindu Law, there is no law prohibiting
the Christian couple to adopt male or female child, although they may have natural born male or female
child.

2. Consuming liquor in a private vehicle in a place accessible to public is punishable under Bihar
Excise Act

The Supreme Court in the case of Satvinder Singh and others vs. The State of Bihar held that a private
vehicle is not exempted from the definition of „public place‟ under the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act,
2016. Any person, therefore consuming liquor in a private vehicle will be punishable under the act.

3. Principle of ‘Pay and Recover’

The apex court reiterated that if the driver of the offending vehicle does not possess a valid driving
license, the principle of „pay and recover‟ can be ordered against him. Under this principle, the court will
basically direct the insurance company to pay the victim and then recover the amount from the owner of
the offending vehicle.

4. No Migration from Reserved category to General category

The Supreme Court in the case of NiravkumarDilipbhaiMakwana V. Gujarat Public Service Commission
& Others held that a candidate who has availed an age relaxation in the selection process as a result of
belonging to a reserved category, cannot eek to be accommodated in/or migrated to the general category
seat.

5. High Court cannot reverse acquittal without affording opportunity of hearing t accused or by
appointing an Amicus Curiae

The Supreme Court observed that the High Court, in a criminal appeal cannot reverse the acquittal
without affording any opportunity of hearing to the accused or by appointing amicus curiae to argue the
matter on his behalf if he does not enter appearance. In the absence of the counsel for the accused, the
High Court should not have decided the appeal on merits.
 Legal Updates July, 2019
6. Plant 100 trees within a year

Ordering release of a „convict‟ who was later found to be a juvenile at the time of incident of crime, the
Supreme Court directed him to plant 100 trees within a period of one year. The accused was convicted
under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to three years of
imprisonment.

7. Brief Judgements of Supreme Court passed after grant of Special Leave are binding precedents

The Supreme Court has observed that its judgements are binding precedents, even if they are brief. After
the grant of special leave, the order impugned before the Supreme Court becomes an order appealed
against any order passed thereafter would be an appellate order despite the fact that the order, speaking or
non-speaking one, is of reversal or of modification or of affirming the order appealed against.

8. Supreme Court Starts Uploading Of Judgments In Regional Languages

In a function held on 17th July, 2019, Justice S A Bobde released the translation of Supreme Court
judgements into regional languages. The same would also be available on the Supreme Court website.
President of India Ram Nath Kovind received the first copy of the translation.

9. ICJ directs Pakistan to review Kulbhushan Jadhav’s death sentence and to give Consular
Access

In a major win for India, the International Court of Justice on 17th July held that Pakistan violated Vienna
Convention on Consular relations 1963 by not informing Kulbhushan Jadhav without of his rights under
Article 36(1)(b) to have consular access. The ICJ directed Pakistan to provide effective review and
reconsideration of his conviction and the death sentence. It is said that the stay of execution ordered on
May 17 will continue until Pakistan takes “effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and
sentence of Mr. Jadhav”. The court had however rejected India‟s prayer for annulment of the military
court‟s conviction of Jadhav saying that his conviction cannot be regarded as a breach of Vienna
Convention.

10. Lok Sabha passed Companies Amendment Bill

 Legal Updates July, 2019
The Lok Sabha on 19th July passed the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2019, which seeks to amend the
Companies Act, 2013. The bill contains 44 clauses and is being brought to ensure more accountability
and better enforcement to strengthen the corporate governance norms and compliance management in the
corporate sector. The bill intends to keep a check on shell companies and promote ease of doing business.

11. Triple Talaq Bill passed by Lok Sabha

After intense discussion which lasted nearly five hours, the Lok Sabha on 25th July passed the “Muslim
Women (Protection of rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 commonly known as Triple Talaq Bill. The bill
proposes to make pronouncement of triple talaq a punishable offence with imprisonment for a term which
may extend upto three years and fine.

12. Rajya Sabha clears POCSO Amendment Bill to provide stricter punishments including death
penalty

The Rajya Sabha on 24th July unanimously passed the bill to amend Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences Act 2012 (POCSO) to provide stricter punishments for child sex abuse. The minimum
punishment for 'aggravate penetrative sexual assault' is proposed to be increased from ten years to twenty
years. The maximum punishment for this offence is proposed as death penalty.

13. Protection Of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill Passed By Parliament

The Rajya Sabha on 22rd July passed the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill 2019 which was
cleared by Lok Sabha on 19th July. The bill amends the rotection of Human Rights Act 1993 to provide
that a person who has been Chief Justice of India, or a Judge of the Supreme Court will be the
chairperson of the NHRC. As per the Act, only a person who has been the Chief Justice of India can be
made the NHRC Chairperson.

14. Lok Sabha passed the RTI Amendment Bill

A Bill to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act and give the Union government the power to set the
service conditions and salaries of Information Commissioners was passed by Lok Sabha on 22nd July,
2019. The new Bill seeks to change the status of the Information Commissioners who are on a par with
 Legal Updates July, 2019
the Election Commissioners, and states that the term of office, salaries, allowances and other terms and
conditions shall be “as prescribed by the Central government”.

15. Parliament passed bill to expand powers of National Investigation Agency

The Rajya Sabha on 17th July passed the National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill 2019, which
seeks to expand the powers and jurisdiction of the NIA. The bill was introduced with the objective that
the expansion of NIA powers was necessary in view of the surge in trans-border terrorism, human
trafficking and cyber-crimes.

16. Senior Advocate KTS Tulsi introduces bill in Rajya Sabha to make sexual crimes gender
neutral

Senior Advocate and Rajya Sabha member K T S Tulsi introduced a private member bill in the upper
house on Friday for amending the Indian Penal Code to make sexual crimes under it gender neutral. The
Bill seeks to ensure protection of all vulnerable persons, including men and transgenders in addition to
women, from sexual exploitation and punish sexual offenders of any sex or gender.

17. Cabinet approves the Transgender Persons (protection of Rights) bill 2019

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal to introduce The
Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019. The Bill will be introduced in the ensuing Session
of Parliament. The Bill provides a mechanism for their social, economic and educational empowerment.

18. Parliament Passes Aadhaar Amendment Bill

The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Aadhaar(Amendment) Bill 2019, which seeks to replace the
Ordinance brought by the Centre last March to modify the existing laws in relation to the use of
biometric data for authentication of identity for the purposes of grant of services, benefits and subsidies.
The Bill proposes to allow voluntary use of Aadhaar voluntary use of Aadhaar for getting mobile
connections and bank accounts. It was cleared by the Lok Sabha on July 4.