Important cases heard in Delhi High Court on Thursday, February 29:
* HC sought the Centre’s response on a woman’s petition contesting a government notification requiring women wanting to readopt their maiden surname to furnish a decree of divorce or a no-objection certificate from their husband. She has asserted that the notification infringed upon her right to “autonomy and privacy” and reflected “gender bias”.
* HC sought the city police’s response on the bail application of Shahrukh Pathan who was shown on national television brazenly pointing a gun at a policeman during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots.
* The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) assured the HC that a general body meeting (GBM) will be convened in two months to discuss the issue of reserving at least two seats in the Bar body’s executive committee for women lawyers.
* HC refused to entertain a public interest litigation seeking merger of Delhi’s neighbouring cities like Meerut, Faridabad and Gurugram with the national capital.
* HC asked the city police whether they have concluded the investigation in the case of alleged larger conspiracy behind the communal riots of 2020 where provisions of anti-terror law UAPA have been invoked against several student activists.
* HC clarified the procedure to be adopted for taking down alleged defamatory content from social media against Union minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani and her daughter.
* HC has discharged a former Bar leader in a contempt case filed by a retired district court judge against him for allegedly interfering with the administration of justice after being convicted for assaulting her when she was a lawyer.
