First Passive Euthanasia Permission, LPG Shortage, Govt’s Fact-Check Unit & More

“To love someone is to care for them not just in times of joy, but in their saddest and darkest hours. It is to care for them even when the horizon is devoid of hope. It is to stand by them as they prepare to cross the threshold into the beyond. Ultimately, to love is nothing but to care deeply, softly, and endlessly.”

— Supreme Court in its judgment allowing passive euthanasia in India for the first time.

Key Rulings:

• In a significant move, the Supreme Court of India allowed withdrawal of life support from Harish Rana who has been in an absolute vegetative state for over a decade. This is the first such case of allowing passive euthanasia in India even years after the right to die with dignity was recognised by the court while also recognising living wills in India

Courts: 

• Delhi High Court dismisses Volkswagen’s opposition to Maruti Suzuki's trademark application 

• Supreme Court takes suo moto note of illegal sand mining in Chambal sanctuary

• Bombay High Court’s Nagpur bench issues notice to the centre over a PIL alleging priority to export of LPG by distributor over domestic needs during the ongoing shortage caused because of the war in West Asia

• Supreme Court will examine the legal question of whether foreign employees in India contribute to employee provident fund

• Karnataka High Court’s division bench seeks centre’s reply on an appeal by social media platform X challenging a single-judge order that upheld the constitutional validity of the government’s Sahyog portal

• A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court will examine and decide the validity of government’s proposed fact-check units which was struck down by a 2:1 majority by the Bombay High Court on petitions by comedian Kunal Kamra along with several press bodies

• Supreme Court asks the government to set up a compensation policy for the victims of side effects of the covid vaccines

•  A division bench of the Delhi High Court upholds single judge order that allowed Dr. Reddy’s to manufacture generic version of the semaglutide drug for weight management and diabetes, rejects Novo Nordisk’s appeal against the order

Quasi Courts:

• CCI closes case against BookMyShow, says it is a dominant player but did not abuse the position

• PMLA court reduces proceeds of crime against Dalmia Cement down from 7.93 billion rupees to 925.2 million rupees

Others:

• Central government revokes detention order under NSA against climate activist from Ladakh, Sonam Wangchuk

• Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy elected as a member of parliament in the upper house from West Bengal as a candidate from the Trinamool Congress making her the first openly queer parliamentarian in India

The Big Listings:

• Mar 16: Supreme Court to hear WhatsApp, Meta and CCI appeals in data sharing policy case 

• Mar 17: Supreme Court to hear PIL petition seeking tighter probe into Anil Ambani’s fraud allegations

• March ‘26: NCLT Allahabad to continue hearing case relating to Jaiprakash Associates insolvency case

• Apr 7: Supreme Court constitution bench to hear Sabarimala temple reference case

• Apr 8: Delhi High Court to hear Indigo’s petition seeking 9 billion rupees in refund from customs over re-imports

• Apr 17: Securities Appellate Tribunal to hear appeal by Jane Street challenging SEBI’s move to allegedly refuse access to important documents to the firm in the case against it

• May 5: Supreme Court to hear challenge to Citizenship Amendment Act

• Jul 15: Delhi High Court to hear Apple Inc.’s plea against India’s competition law’s provisions on global turnover-based penalties on MNC

* The dates of hearing can change and a concrete list is prepared just a day before

Legal Moves: 

• Sadanand Date appointed SEBI Executive Director to oversee investigations

• Sidhant Malaiya leaves ITC to join Ashirvad by Aliaxis as Head of Legal

• Hemanti Wadhwa joins ValueQuest Investment Advisors as the head of legal department

• Rupal Jhanjhee joins Solfin as the head of legal

• Nitesh Bhasin made Sr. Vice President of legal department at Brookfield Properties

• Aneeruth Suresh joins Cholayil as head of legal department

• Disha Thakkar of GSK joins MSD as general counsel

• Shradha Sachdev joins Dentons Link Legal

• Priyanka Kwatra joins Grayscope AI as head of legal and strategy