Legal Reference Library

Making drastic observations, Bombay High Court has granted bail to three men accused of murdering Shaikh Mohsin. The single bench of Justice Mridula Bhatkar granted bail to the three accused observing – “The fault of the deceased was only that he belonged to another religion. I consider this factor in favour of the applicants/accused. Moreover, the applicants/accused do not have criminal record and it appears that in the name of the religion, they were provoked and have committed the murder.” Justice Bhatkar was hearing the bail applications filed by Vijay Gambhire, Ranjeet Yadav and Ajay Lage. These three have been booked for offences punishable under 302, 307, 143, 147, 148, 149, 120B and 153 A of the Indian Penal Code. Their bail was was rejected by a sessions court in Pune. Shri Vijay Rajendra Gambhire … Applicant Vs. The State of Maharashtra .. Respondent with BAIL APPLICATION NO.2160 OF 2016 Shri Ganesh @ Ranjeet Shankar Yadav … Applicant Vs. The State of Maharashtra .. Respo...

In Church Of North India Trust Association vs Union of India, the Allahabad High Court has held that land belonging to religious bodies can be acquired by the government for achieving a larger public purpose. A division bench of Justice V K Shukla and Justice MC Tripathi has dismissed a petition filed by the Church of North India Association challenging a notification by which its land was acquired for construction of a bypass road connecting Agra with Etawah. The petitioners contended that Constitution of India provides for Right to Freedom of Religion under Article 25 and the Freedom to Manage Religious Affairs under Article 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India. As the Christian community has their place of worship viz Moore Memorial Church, Shikohabad, Firozabad district, and an ancient graveyard, which is operative till date, on the land concerned and these properties are place of worship under freedom of conscience, the removal of the church and the graveyard by the impugned not...

In an important judgment, the Supreme Court has upheld election of Mr. Mohammed Sadique from a constituency reserved for Scheduled Castes in Punjab by setting aside the High Court judgment which had invalidated the same. Dismissing the Election petition which was allowed by the High Court, the Supreme Court Bench comprising of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Prafulla C. Pant has reiterated that a person can change his religion and faith but not the caste, to which he belongs, as caste has linkage to birth. Article referred: http://www.livelaw.in/person-can-change-religion-faith-not-caste-belongs-caste-linkage-birth-sc/

The Supreme Court has ruled that names of gods or holy books cannot be trademarked to sell goods and services. A bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice N V Ramana also said that allowing such a thing could offend people’s sensibilities. “There are many holy and religious books like Quran, Bible, Guru Granth Sahib, Ramayan, etc. The answer to the question as to whether any person can claim the name of a holy or religious book as a trademark for goods or services marketed by him is clearly ‘no’,” said the bench. The bench said as per the law, one cannot take advantage of gods and goddesses to sell products. The bench was hearing an appeal by Lal Babu Priyadarshi from Patna, who sought to trademark the word ‘Ramayan’ to sell incense sticks and perfumes. Priyadarshi appealed against the Intellectual Property Appellate Board’s decision in favour of one Amritpal Singh, who contended that ‘Ramayan’ can’t be registered as a trademark as the name of a religious book can’t be monopolised b...

The Kerala High Court on Thursday refused permission to the Travancore Devaswom Board to construct a Convention Centre near Shanghumugham Beach. According to TDB, the land was situated very close to Sanghumugham beach and the international airport. Considering the commercial importance of the locality, the board had decided to construct a convention center. The Court observed that the primary purpose of the Devaswom Boards was to put those lands to use in connection with the activities of the temple and religious, spiritual, cultural and other aspects which are intricately connected with the activities of the temple. Any activity of the Devaswom Boards, which are merely the statutory guardians of devaswom lands, to put such property to commercial use should be restricted to the bare minimum and which is indispensable in the context of any particular locality or temple. It has also to be done only by ensuring that any such investment generates appropriate income. Article referred:...