Utkarsh Anand is Legal Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on law, judiciary and governance.
Articles by Utkarsh Anand
Supreme Court judges divided over proposed transfer of MP HC judge to Delhi
According to people aware of the matter, a proposal to transfer justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav from Madhya Pradesh to the national capital is facing stiff opposition in the top court.
Updated on May 27, 2022 02:57 AM IST
Utkarsh Anand, New Delhi
First decide on plea’s maintainability, SC directs Jharkhand HC
A bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Bela M Trivedi directed the high court to examine the issue of maintainability of the PILs upfront on the next date of hearing before examining the request for probes by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the alleged illegalities.
Updated on May 25, 2022 04:45 AM IST
Stronger a judge, greater the attack on them: Top court
A bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Bela M Trivedi underlined that judges are completely mindful that they are also bound by the law and that they discharge their duties to the best of their abilities.
Updated on May 24, 2022 12:38 AM IST
Pegasus row: Supreme Court asks panel to expedite its probe
The committee, and a technical sub-committee, is carrying out a digital forensics analysis of devices suspected to have been targeted by a military grade spyware called Pegasus, which is reported to cost millions of dollars and its Israeli makers NSO Group have claimed they only serve government clients.
Updated on May 21, 2022 01:23 AM IST
Utkarsh Anand, New Delhi
SC transfers Gyanvapi matter to district judge
Noting that the “complexities and sensitivities involved in the matter” would require a “more senior and experienced hand”, a bench, led by justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, transferred the suit filed by five Hindu women on whose plea a survey of the mosque premises was conducted, to the Varanasi district judge, asking him to decide all relevant issues.
Updated on May 20, 2022 11:07 PM IST
Utkarsh Anand, New Delhi
SC to hear Gyanvapi case today, restrains local court
A bench, led by justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, recorded the undertaking of advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who represented the five Hindu women petitioners, and issued a directive to the Varanasi civil judge.
Updated on May 20, 2022 04:22 AM IST
GST Council’s suggestions are not binding: SC
A bench, headed by justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, held that “Parliament intended for the recommendations of the GST Council to only have a persuasive value, particularly when interpreted along with the objective of the GST regime, to foster cooperative federalism and harmony between the constituent units”.
Updated on May 20, 2022 12:00 AM IST
Utkarsh Anand and Rajeev Jayaswal, New Delhi
Sidhu gets 1-year jail in road rage case
According to the prosecution, Gurnam Singh was beaten up by Sidhu in a road rage incident at Patiala in December 1988. The victim was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead.
Updated on May 20, 2022 01:41 AM IST
Utkarsh Anand, New Delhi
1988 road rage case: SC sentences Navjot Singh Sidhu to 1 year in prison
According to the prosecution, Gurnam Singh was beaten up by Sidhu in a road rage incident in December 1988, and the victim was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead
Updated on May 19, 2022 04:33 PM IST
Don’t hear Gyanvapi case for now, SC tells Varanasi court
Gyanvapi masjid row hearing: The apex court bench directed that the Varanasi civil court shall hold its hands for a day and fixed the case for a hearing on Friday at 3 pm.
Published on May 19, 2022 12:15 PM IST
Utkarsh Anand, New Delhi
Centre, states have equal power to make laws on GST: Supreme Court
The apex court interpreted the pertinent legal provisions to further hold that the recommendations of the GST Council are not binding on the Centre and states, and that such recommendations only have a persuasive value.
Published on May 19, 2022 11:53 AM IST
Rajiv Gandhi assassination: SC judgment outlines limits of guv’s powers
In its 29-page judgment, the top court clearly demarcated the spheres of powers of not only the Governor but also that of a state government to dispel the daze, citing the pertinent constitutional provisions.
Updated on May 19, 2022 03:17 AM IST
Supreme Court places AIFF under Committee of Administrators
- The three-member panel will oversee administration under elections are held under a new constitution though the actions could lead to a Fifa ban of India
Published on May 18, 2022 10:50 PM IST
Succession law: Govt backs provision that prioritises husband’s kin
Under the law, when a Hindu man dies, the properties left behind by him are to be distributed equally among his wife, children and his mother.
Updated on May 18, 2022 08:59 AM IST
Utkarsh Anand, New Delhi
Protect ‘Shivling area’ but allow namaz: SC
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that a section of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi Masjid complex where a “Shivling” was ostensibly found shall remain protected until further orders but Muslims will have the right to offer namaz in the mosque without any hindrance, observing that it was “aware of the sensitivities of the matter”.
Published on May 17, 2022 11:41 PM IST
As Places of Worship Act takes centre stage in Gyanvapi debate, all you need to know about it
When the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was gathering momentum in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the PV Narasimha Rao-led Congress regime envisaged a law to lock the position or “religious identity” of any house of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947
Updated on May 17, 2022 04:33 PM IST
How SC judges hearing Gyanvapi case were associated with Babri matter
Justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and PS Narasimha will consider a petition against the survey of the mosque premises
Published on May 17, 2022 08:29 AM IST
Judge’s appointment coincides with marital rape case reaching Supreme Court
Call it a coincidence or a curious turn of events, the movement of the marital rape case from high courts to the Supreme Court has come just in time when a high court judge who holds strong views in favour of criminalising marital rape has been elevated to the apex court.
Updated on May 16, 2022 05:21 AM IST
Utkarsh Anand, New Delhi
SC refuses to halt survey for idols at Gyanvapi mosque
The Supreme Court on Friday declined to stop at once the survey of Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, saying the matter would have to be considered in due course
Updated on May 14, 2022 02:29 AM IST
Utkarsh Anand, New Delhi
Supreme Court to examine J&K delimitation process
A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh admitted a writ petition by a J&K resident seeking a detailed hearing on the points of legality of the delimitation exercise conducted in terms of the notifications issued in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Updated on May 14, 2022 01:54 AM IST
Supreme Court refuses to stop Gyanvapi Mosque survey
Seeking an urgent intervention from Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi pleaded for a status quo in the case pending before the Varanasi civil court
Updated on May 13, 2022 11:57 AM IST
In 16 months, Supreme Court has put two central laws on hold
In about sixteen months, the penal provision of sedition became the second central government law to be put on hold by the Supreme Court, pending a final adjudication.
Updated on May 12, 2022 12:52 AM IST
Top court hits pause button on colonial-era sedition law; here's what it means
The Union government said on Monday that it has decided to re-examine and reconsider the provisions of the sedition law. On Wednesday, the government suggested tightening the requirements for filing a case under the law, but the court went a step further.
Updated on May 12, 2022 04:32 AM IST
Colonial, political and legal history of the sedition law in India
IPC was brought into force in colonial India in 1860, but had no section concerning sedition. British historian-politician Thomas Macaulay drafted the IPC in the year 1837.
Updated on May 13, 2022 07:37 AM IST
Supreme Court puts 152-year-old colonial-era sedition law on hold
This came a day after the court set a 24-hour deadline for the Centre to decide if the Indian Penal Code Section 124A can be put on hold “to protect people” from arrests until the government reviews the law
Updated on May 11, 2022 01:31 PM IST
Supreme Court to examine if a man can be tried for raping his wife
A division bench of the high court is set to deliver its verdict on Wednesday the validity of Exception 2 of Section 375 (rape) in the IPC that makes husbands immune to the marital rape charge provided the wife is not a minor.
Updated on May 11, 2022 08:30 AM IST
'Why can’t sedition law be put on hold,' Supreme Court asks Centre
A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, put the government in the dock a day after the Centre filed an affidavit to state that it has decided to review Section 124A (sedition) in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and hence, the court should hold its hands till this exercise gets over.
Updated on May 11, 2022 03:59 AM IST
Govt to reconsider minority tag for Hindus in some states
At that time, the Centre put the onus on states and Union territories (UTs) to take a call on whether or not to grant minority status to Hindus where they are numerically less.
Updated on May 11, 2022 09:38 AM IST
Used a bulldozer to arrest rape accused, say UP police in SC
The UP government was responding to an averment made in the petition filed in SC that police in Saharanpur razed part of the house of the accused, asking them through loudspeakers to surrender within 48 hours, or else their entire house will be demolished.
Updated on May 10, 2022 03:44 AM IST
Centre asks SC to pause sedition hearings but precedents tell a different story
The Union government on Monday asked the Supreme Court to suspend the ongoing judicial scrutiny of the 152-year-old colonial law on sedition till the government takes a call on the issue
Updated on May 10, 2022 12:17 AM IST
Utkarsh Anand, New Delhi
