Important matters heard in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, January 3:
* In a big relief to the embattled Adani Group, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the fraud allegations against the apples-to-airport conglomerate do not need more probes either by a special investigation team or CBI, as it gave capital market regulator SEBI three more months to conclude its over two-year-old investigation
* The courts must refrain from summoning government officials as “first resort” as asking them frequently to appear without “just cause” is not permissible, the Supreme Court Wednesday held and framed standard operating procedures for all the courts in the country on the issue
* The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a reply from the Lok Sabha secretary general on Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra’s plea challenging her expulsion from the Lower House
* In a relief to senior IPS officer Sanjay Kundu, the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Himachal Pradesh High Court order asking the state government to remove him from the post of the Director General of Police (DGP) over allegations that he tried to pressure a businessman who claimed he received threat to his life from his partners
* The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Centre and 11 states, including Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, on a PIL alleging that the prison manuals of these states encourage caste-based discrimination in jails
* The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Maharashtra government and the NIA on a plea by Delhi University’s associate professor and Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case accused Hany Babu against an order of the Bombay High Court which rejected his bail plea
* The Supreme Court has imposed a stay on an office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change allowing ex post facto environmental clearance which permits projects to carry out operations without getting environmental clearances.
