Legal briefs

Investigative journalism vanishing, says CJI

• The concept of investigative journalism is vanishing in the Indian media landscape, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said on Wednesday
• In a virtual book launch function, he said newspapers earlier used to expose scandals creating ripples in society and there are hardly any such explosive stories nowadays
• Those days, the newspapers never disappointed people. In the past, everyone had witnessed newspaper reports on big scandals, he said and added the collective failures of individuals and institutions need to be highlighted by the media
• Media needs to make the people aware of the deficiencies in the system, justice Ramana remarked

HC calls for creating national database of societies

• The Delhi High Court has called for the creation of a national database of societies whose access would be provided to all the registrars across the country to check for existing registered societies and grant registrations to new ones
• It said it appeared that the Registrar of Societies itself, as an authority, is under confusion as to whether it has the power to cancel registrations or not, which is reflected in differing stands that it takes in various writ petitions
• Justice Prathiba M Singh said the court was of the view that there is an imminent need to consider amendments in the Societies Registration Act, 1860, as it applies to Delhi, for including provisions to safeguard the rights of third parties

Sheena murder: Ailing accused allowed to appear in court

• Sanjeev Khanna, an accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, on Wednesday told a special court here through his counsel that he is suffering from various ailments in jail which require urgent medical attention
• He also sought physical production before the judge to explain his health condition, a plea that was allowed
• He will now be produced in the court on Dec 28.
• Khanna is a former husband of Indrani Mukerjea, the victim's mother and the prime accused in the murder case
• Sheena Bora (24) was allegedly strangled to death in a car by Indrani Mukerjea, her then driver Shyamvar Rai and Khanna in April 2012

SC acquits 3 awarded death sentence for killing parents, relatives

• The Supreme Court on Wednesday acquitted three men awarded death sentence for killing the parents and other family members of one of them in 2014, noting that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
• Momin Khan was accused of murdering his parents, brother and other relatives following a property dispute 
• A bench passed the order on an appeal filed by the three accused against a judgment of the Allahabad HC that had upheld their conviction and death penalty awarded by a trial court.
• The bench said that the trial court and the high court were expected to exercise a greater degree of scrutiny, care and circumspection while directing the accused to be hanged till death.

Doctored video: Delhi court stays FIR against BJP leader

• A Delhi court on Wednesday granted interim relief to BJP leader Sambit Patra and stayed an order directing registration of an FIR against him for posting a doctored video of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal supporting the farm laws
• Additional Sessions Judge stayed the Nov 23 order of Metropolitan Magistrate who had directed Delhi Police to register an FIR and conduct a thorough investigation against the BJP spokesperson, while allowing the application of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Atishi
• The magistrate earlier, while allowing Atishi's plea for registration of FIR, had noted that the alleged doctored video may have resulted in a rioting like situation across the nation
• The directions had come on Atishi's plea which claimed that the alleged video contained statements that were diametrically opposite to the stand taken by the Delhi CM and the Aam Aadmi Party in respect of farm laws

SC orders appointment of bipolar man as judge

• The Supreme Court has ordered the immediate appointment of a bipolar man as a judicial officer in Delhi, with appropriate seniority
• A bench held that there was no impediment in Bhavya Nain taking charge as a judicial officer in one of the district courts in the national capital and discharging his duties as a judge
• The bench relied upon the report from a medical board, which said there was nothing to indicate Nain will not be able to discharge his responsibilities as a judicial officer
• Nain was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a mental health condition causing extreme mood swings, including emotional highs and lows
• Nain cleared the Delhi Judicial Service-2018 examination under the category of persons with disability (PwD)