SC agrees to examine if ED can file petition before HCs under Article 226 as juristic person
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine whether the Enforcement Directorate can file a writ petition before high courts under Article 226 of the Constitution for enforcement of its rights as a 'juristic person'.
A juristic person is a non-human legal entity recognised by the law and entitled to rights and duties in the same way as a human being.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma issued notice to the agency on appeals filed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments challenging an order passed by the Kerala High Court which upheld the ED's locus to file writ petitions under Article 226.
Article 226 refers to power of high courts to issue certain writs.
The Kerala High Court, in its order passed on September 26, last year had upheld a single judge order staying the judicial inquiry into the ED probe of the 2020 gold smuggling through diplomatic channel.
The judicial inquiry commission was set up following allegations that ED officials coerced the accused to implicate political leaders, including the CM, in the gold smuggling case.
The high court had dismissed an appeal filed by the Kerala government challenging the single bench's interim stay order.
It had observed that the appeal lacked merit, and the single bench had committed no error in entertaining the ED's petition and staying the inquiry.
The case originated from a May 7, 2021, state govt notification ordering a judicial inquiry under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, against ED officials accused of coercing the accused to implicate political leaders.
Former HC judge Justice V K Mohanan was appointed to head the inquiry commission. It was tasked with examining evidence, including an audio clip attributed to accused Swapna Suresh and a letter by accused Sandeep Nair, both alleging coercion by ED officers.
ED deputy director moved HC, questioning the state's authority to order an inquiry against a central investigating agency.
The single bench held that the ED had locus standi (the right to approach the court) and granted an interim stay of the notification on August 11, 2021, prompting the state government to file an appeal.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
