Author: kkslawoffices

Refusing cover of exception under Section 375 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC’), dealing firmly with a married man, accused of beastly sexual assault on his wife and minor daughter and charged with rape and also under POCSO, 2012, upheld the trial Court’s verdict stating, “The exemption of the husband on committal of such assault/rape, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case, cannot be absolute, as no exception in law can be so absolute that it becomes a license for commission of crime against society.”

Interestingly, the judgment skirts around the issue of constitutionality of Exception 2 in Section 375 of IPC under consideration before Delhi & Gujarat HC.

Upholding the right of State legislature to tax lotteries organized either by Government of India or by other states, the SC stated, “The scope and ambit of lotteries organised by Government of India or Government of State under Entry 40 of List I is only in the realm of regulation of such lotteries. The said Entry does not take within its contours the power to impose taxation on lotteries conducted by the Government of India or the Government of State.”

In the space of automated driving segment, expect more action with the US chip manufacturer Qualcomm’s acquisition of software division under the ‘Arriver’ brand from Veoneer Inc., a Swedish Enterprise.

The German competition regulator, Bundeskartellamt, has cleared Qualcomm Inc.’s acquisition of the software division, Arriver, of Swedish automotive supplier Veoneer Inc., in a deal that will play a crucial role in the future of driver assistance systems in the area of automated driving. Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt, further stated: “Our assessment focused, among other things, on the question as to whether competitors that rely on purchasing chips or software from third parties could be squeezed out of the market following Qualcomm’s acquisition of the Arriver business. After having carried out extensive investigations, we have no competition concerns.”

The Supreme Court upheld the Central Government’s decision on One Rank One Pension (‘OROP’) scheme for defence forces on a plea, seeking implementation of OROP with an automatic annual revision, instead of the current policy of periodic review once in five years. The SC further stated, “The Central government has taken a policy decision. Such a decision lies within the ambit of policy-making powers of the government. We do not find any constitutional infirmity on the OROP principle and the notification dated November 7, 2015.”

The Bombay HC, while allowing the petition filed by the adoptive mother, held that the adopted son is entitled to take the caste identity of his single mother. The HC held that “In view of the facts and more particularly the fact that the child was adopted from the orphanage with the permission of the Court, the child would be entitled to take the caste of the mother.” The HC further directed the Deputy District Collector, who earlier rejected the mother’s application on the ground that documents of the caste of biological father were not submitted, to issue caste certificate to the minor son of the petitioner.

The European Commission (‘EC’) and Competition Market Authority (‘CMA’), UK commenced probe into a 2018 deal between Google and Meta (previously Facebook). The probe is aimed to explore if the deal could lead to dominance in digital advertising (“AdTech”). Concerned, that the agreement was meant to exclude AdTech services competing with Google’s ‘Open Bidding programme’, EU felt that it would distort competition in markets for AdTech. Commenting on the probe, EU Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “If confirmed by our investigation, this would restrict and distort competition in the already concentrated ad tech market, to the detriment of rival ad serving technologies, publishers and ultimately consumers.“

Karnataka High Court held that prescription of school uniform by the State is a reasonable restriction under Article 25 of the Constitution and thus, the Government Order, prescribing wearing of school uniform under the provision of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, is not violative of students’ rights. HC further stated, “Wearing of Hijab by Muslim women does not form Essential Religious Practice in Islamic faith”.

The Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) has approved Amazon’s proposal to acquire Prione Business Services Private Limited (“PRIONE”), which houses Cloudtail, one of the largest online marketplaces in India. Amazon.com, Inc. is the parent entity to Amazon Asia-Pacific Resources Private Limited, which acquires 76 % equity shares of PRIONE, a previous joint venture between Amazon and Catamaran Ventures – now controlled by Hober Mallow Trust (Hober Mallow).

Fearing an administrative complaint, following an FTC vote, against likely higher prices and lower quality care for Rhode Islanders, if proposed merger of Lifespan Corp. & Care New England Health System were to go ahead, the merging parties abandoned their efforts to consummate the transaction.

Emphasising on the role of FTC, the Competition Director Holly Vedova said, “Had the FTC and the Rhode Island Attorney General not challenged the proposed transaction, it would have combined the two largest healthcare providers in Rhode Island and created a dominant entity.”

In a 2018 trial, under IPC and POSCO Act, 2012, the victim/prosecuterix being a minor at the time, on attaining majority claimed the statement leading to prosecution as having been made under duress. The application of the accused for re-examination of the alleged victim, earlier minor now a major, was rejected by the Special Judge (POSCO). On appeal, the Chhattisgarh HC allowed re-examination u/s 311 of CrPC stating that, ‘right to cross-examination is a part of right to fair trial which every person has in the spirit of right to life and personal liberty’.