Important cases heard by the Supreme Court on Thursday, May 18:
* SC upheld the validity of amendment Acts of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka which allowed bull-taming sport “Jallikattu”, bullock-cart races and buffalo racing sport “Kambala” respectively.
* Controversial film The Kerala Story’ will be now be screened in theatres of West Bengal as the SC stayed the ban while asking the producer to put a disclaimer that the movie is a “fictionalised version” and there was no authentic data to the claim that 32,000 Hindu and Christian girls converted to Islam.
* The caste survey in Bihar will remain suspended as the SC declined to stay the Patna High Court’s interim order, saying it will have to examine whether the state government was carrying out a census in the garb of survey.
* SC sought response of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the bail plea of former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case being probed by the agency.
* SC sought a response of the Delhi Police on a plea of former JNU student Umar Khalid seeking bail in a UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the riots here in February 2020.
* The law of the land must be followed, SC said while expressing displeasure over the Nagaland Assembly passing a resolution to repeal the municipal act and resolving not to hold elections to the urban local bodies.
* SC directed a copy of the petition be served on the CBI, in which direction is sought that the Bombay High Court continue monitoring the investigation into the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
* SC agreed to hear on Friday a plea challenging the Allahabad High Court order of conducting a “scientific survey”, including carbon dating, to determine the age of a Shivling’ which was said to have been found at the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi.
