Top Legal Headlines - 2nd March, 2021

NATIONAL NEWS SUMMARIES

1.    SC on rape case of minor by Government Servant

•    In the case of Mohit Subhash Chavan v. State of Maharashtra, the Supreme Court granted protection the accused for 4 weeks from arrest.
•    The accused is a government servant and had allegedly raped the girl when she was a minor.
•    The present case was against the order of the Bombay HC which had cancelled his anticipatory bail.

2.    Delhi HC quashes defamation case regarding an article written on RSS

•    A defamation case had been filed against the Business Standard newspaper for allegedly defaming RSS in an article.
•    The Court quashed the case stating that the complainant could not give any evidence regarding the harm done to the reputation.
•    The Court also held that the complainant could not be considered ‘person aggrieved’ u/s 199(1) CrPC.

3.    Contract is void if it is prohibited by a statute even if not expressly declared: SC

•    In the case of Asha John Devianathan v. Vikram Malhotra, the Supreme Court has held that “it is well established that a contract is void if prohibited by a statute under a penalty, even without express declaration that the contract is void”.
•    It was the issue in this case whether the contract entered into in contravention of section 31 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act would render it void.

4.    SC on whether sexual intercourse would be considered rape

•    In the case of Vinay Pratap Singh v State of UP, the accused had been in a live-in-relationship with the complainant and this rape case was filed when he got married to another person.
•    The accused had contended that he did not rape the complainant. In fact what happened was consensual sex.
•    “Making a false promise of marriage is wrong …..But that is different from saying that the act of sexual intercourse is rape,” the Court opined.

5.    Cancellation of bail cannot be mechanical: Madras HC

•    In the case of Stella Mary v The State & Anr, the Madras High Court has held that cancellation of bail should not be done mechanically.
•    The Court held that the concept of bail is a necessary implication flowing from Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS SUMMARIES

1.    More than 20 killed in Myanmar Protests

•    More than 20 people were killed by the police in Myanmar.
•    These people were one of those who were present in the protest against the military coup that happened and the military government.
•    The International community is widely condemning what happened in Myanmar.