Legal Headlines :_

(10th October to 12th October)

NEWS:

CJI sets up inquiry into GNLU director Bimal Patels faculty recruitments
GNLU Gandhinagar director Bimal Patel will face a review committee that has been
constituted by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to look into allegations of Patels

opaque faculty recruitments.

Law Min for reforms to improve criminal justice:
The Law Ministry has called for procedural reforms to improve the criminal justice
system in the country, saying criminal trials are riddled with the problem of frequent
adjournments despite provisions in place to prevent delays. It asked the Advisory
Council of National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms to take a call on
the need for certain procedural reforms, either through amendments to the existing
law or through proper implementation of the provisions that are already in place to

improve the criminal justice system in the country.

Remedying the malady: Laws on advance directives in India:
Medical directives or commonly known as living will is a piece of document which
indicates an individuals wish to continue medical treatment or not when he is kept
artificially alive. The Health Ministry released a draft of, The Medical Treatment of
Terminally Ill Patients (Protection of Patients and Medical Practitioners) Bill
(hereafter Terminally Ill Patients Bill) for public comment. Section 11 of the Bill
states that directives shall be void, of no effect and therefore not binding on doctors.
This draft bill has been released at a time when a petition for declaring directives as
legal and valid is pending before a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court
in Common Cause v. The Union of India. On the other hand, a bill which allows
mentally ill patients to effect an advance directive was passed by the Rajya Sabha
the Mental Health Care Bill. It now awaits approval of the Lok Sabha.

Modi government plans to do away with grievance redress law

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government has decided to do away with
the grievance redress law and replace it by a scheme called the Delivery of Services
and Grievances Redressal Scheme.

JUDGEMENTS:

Bombay HC junks petition seeking video recording of court proceedings:

A petition was filed by Mr. Navneet Kholsa asking for the recording of proceedings
in all courts on the ground that it is the fundamental right of every citizen to know the
judicial procedures and happenings during the hearing of cases.
The court dismissed the petition stating that video recording of judicial proceedings
cannot be a regarded as a fundamental right of a citizen, but can be allowed only if it
is necessary in a particular case or in a given situation. The court earlier has dismissed

similar pleas in two writ petitions.

Order For Cohabitation Cant Enforce Sexual Relations Between Husband,
Wife: Delhi HC
Sudha Gupta (wife) and Har Prasad Gupta (husband) were about 35 years old when
they got married in 1993. The wife allegedly dispensed duties of a sister while
ignoring those of a wife, as she was close to her brother and took care of his kids, but
didnt pay any attention to her husband. She alleged that the marriage wasnt
consummated because her husband was physically weak and they had lived together
for 10 years without any physical relations. Sudha Guptas counsel and brother Om
Saran Gupta submitted that the relationship between the parties is so strained that the
appellant is not willing to join the company of her husband and resume cohabitation.
The court held that the decree of conjugal rights is just a stepping stone in the passage
of divorce. It held that If the case of the appellant/wife is that the marriage between
the parties was not consummated though they lived together as husband and wife for
10 years, we do not find any reason for her to apprehend forced cohabitation after
more than 23 years of their marriage.
The Delhi High Court in Sudha Gupta v. Har Prasad Gupta, has clarified that the
object of decree for restitution of conjugal rights is to bring about cohabitation
between the parties, so that they can live at the matrimonial home in amity.

Notes of judges stenos dont come under RTI: HC

A plea was filed by the petitioner seeking copies of the shorthand note books in which
the stenographer takes dictation of the court. The petitioner was denied access to the
same by the Public information officer
The Court held that Notes dictated by a judge to a stenographer during the hearing of
a case would not be considered as a record held by a public authority and hence
cannot be sought under the Right to Information Act.