Do not terrorise judges with voluminous petitions: SC

Do not terrorise judges with voluminous petitions: SC

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:7.8.2021

The Supreme Court on Friday sent out a loud message to all client-impressing advocates: “Do not file voluminous petitions to terrorise the judges and risk getting the hearing adjourned”.

Finding it difficult to go through a 51-volume appeals, each running to over 100 pages, filed by the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation against a Bombay high court judgment rejecting its petition challenging the Telecom Regulatory Authority’s New Tariff Order (NTO 2.0), a bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant said, “The Supreme Court engaged trucks to carry these volumes of appeals to judges’ residences to enable them read it and get prepared with the matter.”

“You cannot terrorise us by filing volumes and volumes of appeals. In this case, there are 51 volumes in one petition. You sit together and file a single short convenient volume giving a synopsis of the issue to be adjudicated,” the bench told senior advocates Darius Khambatta, Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Gopal Jain and Amit Sibal, who appeared for the appellants.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta and senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, with advocate Sanjay Kapur for TRAI, said that it is a short issue and TRAI will file a two-page synopsis for the judges’ convenience. But, the CJI-led bench said, “You wait. Let them satisfy us with the merits of their appeal.”

The bench ordered, “We direct senior counsel appearing for the petitioners in all the matters to make a convenience volume of all the documents, in consultation with senior counsel for the respondents well in advance and circulate the same.” The bench adjourned the hearing to August 18.

IBF, an umbrella organisation for TV broadcasters, has challenged a Bombay HC judgment upholding TRAI’s NTO 2.0, which set a cap of ₹12 from the existing ₹19 on pay channel prices.

It was to ensure that an effective a-la-carte choice was available to distributors without being handicapped by perverse pricing of bouquets by broadcasters at wholesale level, it said.

TRAI justified its move as one in “public interest”.

It had raised concerns over broadcasters creating bouquets with one or two leading channels and filling it with other less popular channels or even free-to-air channels, making it difficult for consumers to choose channels.

Full report on www.toi.in

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No promotion to 2nd year sans clearing exam: Andhra Pradesh HC

No promotion to 2nd year sans clearing exam: Andhra Pradesh HC

TNN | Aug 5, 2021, 04.00 AM IST

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh high court on Wednesday dismissed the interlocutory application filed by MBBS students seeking directions to promote them to second year without reference to passing of the subjects in first year.

The high court observed that it found no substance in the arguments of the petitioners and promoting them to second year while having backlogs in first year would defeat very purpose of the new regulations brought in by the Medical Council of India (MCI) that are applicable to all medical students across the country.

Justice U Durga Prasad Rao pronounced the judgment dismissing the interlocutory applications moved by the MBBS students who were not promoted to second year because of not passing in all subjects in the first year. They moved the high court seeking 20 per cent grace marks as the question paper given to them was not in accordance with the guidelines given by MCI.

The students argued that according to the MCI guidelines, the question paper should contain multiple choice questions for 20 per cent of total marks. However, the question paper given to them by Dr NTR University of Medical and Health Sciences was not in the prescribed format and consequently they failed in the examination.

As the guidelines prescribe 20 per cent marks, they sought directions to add the marks to them as grace marks and promote them to second year. They filed an interlocutory application to promote them to second year without referring to passing of first year subjects pending disposal of the petition.

Schools likely to reopen for Classes IX-XII from Sept. 1

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07/08/2021

Opening up: Schools can reopen for senior classes with 50% strength, complying with the SOPs. M. VedhanVEDHAN M

“The experts said children were depressed as they continued to remain indoors, and this had created a gap in the learning process. They pointed out that a majority of the students could not attend online classes [owing to network and gadget issues],” Mr. Stalin said.

He announced that medical and nursing colleges and those offering related programmes would be allowed to resume classes from August 16. “Students and teachers in these colleges, classified as medical staff, have been vaccinated,” he said.

To prevent crowding at public places, Mr. Stalin announced that worship at religious places would not be allowed on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The local bodies must ensure that there is no crowding at meat and fish stalls by spreading them out in the open space. The Chief Minister reiterated that shops must supply hand sanitisers to customers and enforce mask mandates and physical distancing norms.

“Action will be initiated against commercial and other establishments that do not follow the guidelines and allow more customers than the stipulated number,” Mr. Stalin said.

Collectors and local bodies are to undertake micro-level containment activities, he said. The test-track-treat-vaccinate COVID-19-appropriate behaviour formula is to be strictly followed.

Mr. Stalin requested the people to extend their cooperation to the government.

Doctors remove peanut lodged in girl’s lungs

 Doctors remove peanut lodged in girl’s lungs

07/08/2021

Special Correspondent MADURAI

A 20-month-old baby girl, who had a peanut lodged in the left airway of her lungs, has been successfully operated upon at Apollo Hospital. She was brought by her parents on Wednesday from Karaikudi in an emergency condition of severe wheezing and breathlessness. Pulmonologists Dr. Bharathi Babu and Dr. Harikrishnan said it was a high risk emergency procedure given the baby's fragile lungs and distressed condition.

After the CT chest evaluation detected the foreign object to be a peanut, they immediately planned to pull it out. The team of doctors, including ENT surgeon Dr. Arun Prabhu Ganesan and anaesthetist Dr. Prabhu, took three hours to clear the baby's airway.

Managing her was not easy as a bronchoscopy had to be introduced inside the tiny lungs, that could worsen her breathlessness.

It required expertise to give anaesthesia and specialised instruments to carry out the procedure on such a small baby. She was discharged on Thursday, said a press release.

State legislature has equal authority to repeal a statute: HC

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Disposes of PIL plea after government says it has decided to repeal Dr. J. Jayalalithaa University Act

07/08/2021

Legal Correspondent CHENNAI

The Madras High Court on Friday disposed of a public interest litigation petition filed by former Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam of the AIADMK, seeking allocation of funds for smooth functioning of the Dr. J. Jayalalithaa University in Villupuram, since the incumbent DMK government had decided to repeal a law enacted in February this year for establishment of the varsity.

Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy recorded the submission of Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram that the Higher Education Department had issued a Government Order (G.O.) on August 3 expressing its intention to repeal Dr. J. Jayalalithaa University Act, 2021, enacted during the fag end of the previous tenure of the AIADMK government.

“There is no doubt that the State legislature has equal authority to repeal a statute as it has to enact a statute in respect of matters falling within its legislative domain,” the judges said. They, however, added that as long as the law continues to be in force and its operation had not been stayed by any court, the provisions of the statute need to be followed scrupulously.

Therefore, the Bench quashed a notification issued by Thiruvalluvar University on June 25 inviting applications for postgraduate courses from students in Kallakurichi, Villupuram and Cuddalore districts, which fall within the jurisdiction of Dr. J. Jayalalithaa University.

It also set aside all steps that had been taken by Thiruvalluvar University to conduct those courses at its extension centre in Villupuram.