Same-sex marriage case: Some kind of labelling important, SC tells Centre

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court continued with its hearing on pleas seeking legal validation of same-sex marriages. The apex court on Thursday asked the government to find a way to give same-sex couples basic social benefits, like joint bank accounts or nominating a partner in insurance policies, even without legal recognition of their marital status.

While hearing a plea seeking the de-sealing of the Uphaar cinema hall, the apex court allowed Ansal Theatres and Clubotels Private Ltd, whose former directors were real estate barons Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal, to move the trial court. In 1997, 59 cinemagoers lost their lives in a fire tragedy at the Uphaar cinema.

Apart from these, the Delhi High Court also heard some important cases, which include:

The Delhi High Court on Thursday set aside a Delhi University (DU) order which debarred an NSUI leader for his alleged involvement in the controversial BBC documentary screening. The court observed, "Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said action against Lokesh Chugh, a Ph.D. scholar, and NSUI national secretary, was taken in violation of the principle of natural justice, and "reasons are necessary to be assigned by the administrative authority"

The High Court advanced the hearing on the bail plea of Vijay Nair, businessman, and Aam Aadmi Party's communication in-charge arrested in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, but remarked that it amounted to putting pressure on the court.

While hearing another plea in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam case, the high court refused to extend the interim bail of liquor businessman Sameer Mahendru in an alleged money laundering case on account of medical grounds. The court ordered Mahendru to surrender before the jail authorities on May 1 and said the practice of granting interim bail cannot be converted into an evergreening process.

Months before Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's movie 'Jawan' hit the big screens, the film is already in the news. The Delhi High Court restrained various rogue websites and internet service providers from copying, recording, displaying, or releasing any stills, songs, audio, and video clips related to the movie without a proper licence. This comes after it was alleged that clips and stills from 'Jawan' were already available on different platforms on the internet.

In another news, the High Court quashed the summons issued to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray in connection with an alleged hate speech case. The court observed that faith and religion are more resilient and cannot be hurt or provoked by the views of an individual.

Journalist S Gurumurthy, the editor of a Chennai-based Tamil news magazine, refused to file another affidavit tendering an unconditional apology for his tweet against Justice S Muralidhar.

The high court sought Delhi University's response to a plea filed by St Stephen's College against the university's notification insisting on admission under minority quota solely on the basis of common university entrance test (CUET) score without an interview.