Important matters heard by Supreme Court on Monday

Important matters heard by the Supreme Court on Monday, February 26: *Declaring that women cannot be left out, the Supreme Court told the Centre to ensure that women are granted permanent commission in the Indian Coast Guard and said the court will do it if the government doesn't.

*Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told the Supreme Court that he made a mistake by retweeting an allegedly defamatory video circulated by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee related to the BJP IT Cell.

*The Supreme Court stayed the proceedings in a criminal case lodged against Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai for allegedly delivering a hate speech against Christians in an interview to a YouTube channel in October 2022 with regard to bursting firecrackers.

*The Supreme Court refused to entertain a challenge to the three new criminal laws, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Act, which will come into effect from July 1.

*The state machinery should help the Enforcement Directorate in finding out if an offence has been committed as there is no harm in it, the Supreme Court told the Tamil Nadu government.

*The Supreme Court sought the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) response on a bail plea moved by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh in a money-laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

*The Andhra Pradesh government requested the Supreme Court to cancel the bail granted to TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu in the skill development corporation scam, claiming his family members have made statements to ''intimidate'' public servants to hamper the probe.

*The Supreme Court agreed to list for hearing a plea related to the Gaggal airport expansion project in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district.

*Expressing surprise that demarcation of the boundary of Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary has not been carried out even after 25 years, the Supreme Court has asked the Assam government to inform it how much time would it take to complete the process.

*The Supreme Court imposed costs of 1 lakh on a petitioner for filing an appeal to challenge an order of the Allahabad High Court that adjourned his plea related to promotions after issuing a notice.

*The Supreme Court dismissed a PIL seeking a quota for persons with disability in the Lok Sabha, saying the judiciary cannot interfere with policy decisions.

*The Supreme Court said it will ask the Centre and others including the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to frame the standard operating procedures (SoP) to ensure trouble-free access of airports to persons with disability (PwD).

*The Supreme Court expressed concern over retired district judicial officers getting meagre pension and asked the Centre to find out a ''just solution'' to the serious issue.

*The Supreme Court sought the response of the Centre on a PIL assailing its 2017 notification allowing the ongoing projects to seek environmental clearance with retrospective effect.

*The Supreme Court asked National Stock Exchange (NSE) former MD and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna to deposit Rs 12.5 lakh out of the Rs 25 lakh penalty imposed by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in the dark-fibre case, as it agreed to hear her plea.