Court : US Supreme Court
City of Boerne v. Flores - 521 U.S. 507 (1997) OCTOBER TERM, 1996 Syllabus CITY OF BOERNE v. FLORES, ARCHBISHOP OF SAN ANTONIO, ET AL. CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 95-2074. Argued February 19, 1997-Decided June 25,1997 Respondent, the Catholic Archbishop of San Antonio, applied for a building permit to enlarge a church in Boerne, Texas. When local zoning authorities denied the permit, relying on an ordinance governing historic preservation in a district which, they argued, included the church, the Archbishop brought this suit challenging the permit denial under, inter alia, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA). The District Court concluded that by enacting RFRA Congress exceeded the scope of its enforcement power under 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court certified its order for interlocutory appeal, and the Fifth Circuit reversed, finding RFRA to be constitutional. Held: RFRA exceeds Congress' power. pp. 5...
Tag this Judgment!Court : Delhi
Reported in : AIR1998Delhi95; [1997]89CompCas438(Delhi)
C.M. Nayar J. 1. This judgment will dispose of two writ petitions, C.W.P. No. 3885 of 1996 (Bari Doab Bank, Ltd. v. Union of India) and C.W.P. No. 4046 of 1996 (Punjab Co-operative Bank Ltd. v. Union of India) as they raise common questions of law. 2. The facts of each case may be reproduced as follows : Bari Doab Bank Ltd. v. Union of India. The petitioner-bank was started in the year 1915 and initially had two branches till 1947. One branch was in Lahore and the other one was situated in Hoshiarpur (Punjab). It is further alleged that the bank has always been a profit-making company and even at the time of partition in the year 1947, the bank while closing down its business at Lahore repaid all its depositors whatsoever without any deductions. The bank is situated in a backward underdeveloped area and is a small-scale bank having only one branch. The provisions of section 11(3) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'), are cited in the petition to re...
Tag this Judgment!Court : Gujarat
Reported in : (1997)2GLR1660
J.N. Bhatt, J.1. Could the collective, consensual and coherent managerial wisdom on administrative side of the appellant-High Court of Gujarat, in passing the impugned order of transfer of a judicial officer exercising its Constitutional powers under Article 235, be supplanted or implanted by the judicial wisdom, by the High Court, on its judicial side, exercising its Constitutional powers of extraordinary, prerogative, special and equitable writ jurisdiction enshrined in Article 226, that too at an interlocutory stage, in a matter of transfer, is the solitary but the substantial question for our appreciation and adjudication in this Letters Patent Appeal.2. Since the main writ petition is awaiting final verdict before the learned single Judge, we would like to mention only the skeleton projection of facts which are relevant and material for the purpose of appreciation and adjudication of the aforesaid dispute raised in this appeal.3. The respondent, herein, questioned the legality and...
Tag this Judgment!Court : Rajasthan
Reported in : [2000]244ITR789(Raj)
M.G. Mukherji, C.J.1. This writ application has been filed by the Mahaveer Enterprises, Pindwara, District Sirohi, impugning certain assessment orders whereby the taxing authority levied tax on the writ petitioner as regards the sale of agricultural lands by the writ petitioner. There was a further prayer for quashing of the impugned penalty orders and a further prayer directing the respondents to refund the entire amount of tax, interest and penalty recovered from the petitioner on this account with interest. A general prayer was made so as to hold that the sale of agricultural lands does not give rise to any taxable income under the Income-tax Act irrespective of the fact of the location of the agricultural lands within or outside the municipal limits. There was a challenge to the vires of the Explanation inserted in Section 2(1A) of the Income-tax Act incorporated by the Finance Act, 1989, with retrospective effect from April 1, 1970, contending, inter alia, that the same was illega...
Tag this Judgment!Court : Rajasthan
Reported in : (1997)143CTR(Raj)252
ORDERM. G. MUKHERJI, C.J. :This writ application has been filed by Mahaveer Enterprises, Pindwara, District Sirohi, impugning certain assessment orders whereby the taxing authority levied tax on the writ petitioner as regards the sale of agricultural lands by the writ petitioner. There was a further prayer for quashing of the impugned penalty orders and a further prayer directing the respondents to refund the entire amount of tax, interest and penalty recovered from the petitioner on this account with interest. A general prayer was made so as to hold that the sale of agricultural lands does not give rise to any taxable income under the IT Act irrespective of the fact of the location of the agricultural lands within or outside the municipal limits. There was a challenge to the vires to the Explanation inserted in s. 2(1A) of the IT Act incorporated by the Finance Act, 1989, with retrospective effect from 1st April, 1970, contending inter alia that the same was illegal and unconstitution...
Tag this Judgment!Court : Mumbai
Reported in : 1998(1)BomCR437; 1998(1)MhLj333
ORDERR.G. Deshpande, J.1. In the present petition, the petitioner is challenging the order dated 22nd July, 1993 passed by the Secretary, Home Department, Government of Maharashtra (respondent No. 1), arising out of the order dated 14th May, 1992, passed by the Commissioner, State Excise, Maharashtra State, Bombay, in Appeal No. 55/1992 which, in its turn, arose out of the order dated 31st March, 1992, passed by the Collector, Aurangabad in Case No. 851/90.2. The facts of the present case, in brief, are :That the present petitioner - Uttam holds a licence of retail business in country liquor under Form No. C.L. III since 26th April, 1974, which was renewed from time to time. Petitioner -Uttam continued the said business till 1978 in the same style and capacity under the name and title 'Madira Sagar'.3. In the year 1978 and, to be precise, on 21st November, 1978, the petitioner entered into an agreement with the respondent No. 2 - Pradeep for doing the business in partnership. This deed...
Tag this Judgment!Court : Guwahati
J.N. Sarma, J. 1. All the writ petitions raise common questions of law and are based on the same factual matrix and as such as agreed to are taken up for hearing together and this judgment shall cover all of them. 2. The four petitioners, residents of Imphal and carrying on business at Imphal and belonging to the same family, along with the four others, residents of Calcutta, claimed to have purchased a lottery ticket worth Rs. 5 of the Government of Nagaland. It is claimed that they were the joint purchasers of the ticket and were entitled to the prize money equally. The draw was held on October 31, 1983, and the ticket won the first prize of rupees one crore. The four other persons are : (i) Md. Ayub, (ii) Md. Anwar, (iii) Md. Elyas and (iv) Md. Abhas, all of 4, Achambit Show Road, Calcutta-22. 3. Claim was made for the share of each and accordingly it was paid by deducting tax at the source from individual claims and the necessary certificate of deduction was given in 1984. 4. The ...
Tag this Judgment!Court : Karnataka
Reported in : ILR1997KAR2078
ORDERS. Rajendra Babu, J.1. By these petitions the petitioners are seeking for quashing the Notifications at Annexure-A dated 9th August, 1995 and Annexure-B dated 20th October, 1995. They are issued by virtue of the powers under Sections 3 and 9 of the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964 (for short the Act).2. Annexure-A proposes to specify certain areas to be smaller urban area of Bidar and the same shall be a City Municipal area of Bidar and calls upon those interested to fife objections to the proposal, it also describes the said smaller urban area as areas coming within the limits specified in Schedule-B to the Notification.3. By Annexure-B the Government of Karnataka specified the smaller urban area stating that objections have been invited by Notification dated 16.8,1995, and objections received in time have been duly examined. It is stated in the Notification that having regard to :(i) the population of such area is not less than fifty thousand and not exceeding three lakhs; (ii...
Tag this Judgment!Court : Gujarat
Reported in : (1998)1GLR43; [1998]230ITR142(Guj)
R.K. Abichandani, J. 1. In these two writ petitions which were heard together and are being disposed of by this common judgment, the petitioners have sought a direction on the IT authorities to enquire into and investigate the sources of income in the light of huge expenses alleged to have been incurred by respondent No. 4 when several BJP MLAs were taken to Khajuraho in October, 1995, and during the marriage reception of the son of the respondent No. 4 Mr. Shankarsinh Lakshmansinh Waghela and in holding 'Mahasammelan' at Ahmedabad on 22nd August, 1996. A direction is also sought in Special CA No. 9390 of 1996 that the CBI should be directed to investigate into the incident and file a complaint against Mr. Shankarsinh Lakshmansinh Waghela, the Chief Minister of the State and Shri C. K. Raolji. 2. Notice was issued on 15th October, 1996, in Special CA No. 7417 of 1996 and on 7th November, 1996 in Special CA No. 9390 of 1996. 3. According to the petitioners of Special Civil Appln. No. 74...
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
United States v. Alaska - 521 U.S. 1 (1997) CASES ADJUDGED IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES AT OCTOBER TERM, 1996 Syllabus UNITED STATES v. ALASKA ON EXCEPTIONS TO REPORT OF SPECIAL MASTER No. 84, Orig. Argued February 24, 1997-Decided June 19, 1997 This suit involves a dispute between the United States and Alaska over the ownership of submerged lands along the State's Arctic Coast. The Alaska Statehood Act expressly provides that the federal Submerged Lands Act applies to Alaska. The latter Act entitles Alaska to submerged lands beneath tidal and inland navigable waters and submerged lands extending three miles seaward of the State's coastline. The United States claims a right to offer lands in the Beaufort Sea for mineral leasing, and Alaska seeks to quiet its title to coastal submerged lands within two federal reservations, the National Petroleum ReserveAlaska (Reserve) and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, formerly known as the Arctic National Wildlife Rang...
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