Ramana’s last day as CJI today marked with 5 high-profile cases

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New
Delhi,
Aug
26:
On
his
final
day
as
Chief
Justice
of
India
before
his
retirement,
N
V
Ramana
on
Friday
is
set
to
deliver
verdicts
in
five
high-profile
cases
–
the
PIL
seeking
a
ban
on
‘election
freebies’,
the
2007
Gorakhpur
riots
case,
the
Karnataka
mining
case,
the
Rajasthan
mining
lease
issue
and
the
liquidation
regulations
under
the
bankruptcy
law.

The
bench
of
Chief
Justice
of
India
NV
Ramana,
Justice
Hima
Kohli
and
Justice
CT
Ravikumar
will
pronounce
verdicts
in
the
following
cases
on
Friday
morning:

Ban
on’election
freebies’?

The
Supreme
Court
will
on
Friday
decide
on
a
plea
seeking
a
ban
on
the
announcement
of
freebies
by
the
political
parties
during
the
elections
to
woo
voters.
The
decision
comes
on
a
day
when
Chief
Justice
of
India
NV
Ramana
is
set
to
demit
his
office
after
16-month-long
tenure
today.

The
Supreme
Court
had
on
Thursday
decided
to
call
off
the
formation
of
an
expert
committee
to
look
into
freebies
offered
by
political
parties
to
voters.

2007
Gorakhpur
riots
case

The
Supreme
Court
is
set
to
pass
orders
in
a
plea
challenging
the
Uttar
Pradesh
government’s
refusal
to
grant
sanction
to
prosecute
CM
Yogi
Adityanath
and
others
for
alleged
hate
speech
that
provoked
several
incidents
of
violence
in
Gorakhpur.

The
court
was
hearing
a
plea
filed
by
Parvez
Parwaz
challenging
an
order
of
Allahabad
High
Court
in
2018.
The
petitioner
Parvez
Parwaz
alleged
that
Yogi
Adityanath,
as
a
leader
of
an
organization
called
‘Hindu
Yuva
Vahini’ had
been
spreading
hatred
among
two
communities
in
a
meeting
held
in
Gorakhpur
on
January
27,
2007.

In
2015,
CBCID
sought
sanction
to
prosecute
and
submitted
a
Draft
Final
Report
(DFR)
indicating
prima
facie
offences
being
made
out
u/s
143,
153,
153A,
295A,
505
IPC.
The
Chief
Secretary
stated
before
Allahabad
HC
that
the
State
Government
had
refused
to
sanction.

Public
must
know
constitutional
rights,
duties;
unfortunate
that
only
few
are
aware:
CJI
Ramana

Karnataka
mining
case

A
PIL
moved
in
2009
by
the
NGO
Samaj
Parivartan
Samudaya
had
led
to
closure
of
iron
ore
mines
in
Karnataka
due
to
massive
illegal
mining.
In
2013,
the
Supreme
Court
allowed
reopening
of
some
mines
under
stringent
conditions
and
a
complete
ban
on
export
of
iron
ore
and
pellets.
The
current
issue
for
consideration
before
the
court
is
a
set
of
applications
filed
by
various
mining
companies
to
lift
the
decade-old
ban
on
export
of
iron
ore
and
to
remove
the
district
level
caps
on
mining
of
iron
ore
in
Karnataka.

Rajasthan
mining
lease
issue

The
CJI-led
three
judge
bench
will
pronounce
verdict
on
an
appeal
by
the
Rajasthan
government
against
a
high
court
verdict
of
2016
which
allowed
Ultratech
Cement
company
to
continue
its
limestone
mining
lease
in
land
that
the
state
government
claims
was
a
“johad”
or
water
body.

The
Rajasthan
government
has
argued
that
allowing
mining
to
continue
in
the
area
would
cause
immense
ecological
damage.
The
issue
has
been
under
litigation
since
2005
when
the
state
government
had
cancelled
the
letter
of
intent
issued
in
2003
allowing
the
company
to
start
mining
operations,
subject
to
environmental
clearance.
Since
no
environmental
clearance
was
granted,
the
allotment
of
land
was
cancelled.

Regulations
over
liquidation
proceedings
under
bankruptcy
law

The
Court
will
pronounce
a
verdict
on
a
plea
filed
by
the
official
liquidator
of
ABG
Shipyard
against
the
order
passed
by
the
National
Company
Law
Appellate
Tribunal
(NCLAT)
on
the
issue
of
whether
the
90-day
window
for
payment
by
a
successful
bidder,
as
provided
in
the
liquidation
regulations
issued
by
the
Insolvency
and
Bankruptcy
Board
of
India
(IBBI)
Liquidation
Process
Regulations
of
2016,
would
apply
retrospectively
and
to
cases
where
the
liquidation
process
started
before
the
date
of
coming
into
effect
of
the
amended
guidelines
in
2019.