Important matters heard by Supreme Court on July 9

Important matters heard by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, July 9: * SC sought the Odisha government's response on a plea for premature release of a "repenting" Ravindra Pal alias Dara Singh, who is serving life sentence for the ghastly killing of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons in the state's Keonjhar district in 1999 * SC refused to allow open court hearing of pleas seeking review of its last year's judgment declining legal recognition to same-sex marriage * SC said a date of hearing has been accorded to a PIL seeking probe into the Hathras stampede that left 121 dead * SC quashed a decision of the West Bengal authorities to cancel award of a contract for maintaining two underpasses in Kolkata to a private party without assigning any reason, saying it was a "classic textbook case of arbitrariness" * SC directed Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, founded by yoga guru Ramdev, to file an affidavit stating whether advertisements of its 14 products, whose manufacturing licences were initially suspended but later restored, have been withdrawn * SC took strong note of the failure to set up Specialised Adoption Agency (SAA), meant to streamline the adoption process of abandoned and surrendered children, in 370 out of 760 districts in the country, and ordered the chief secretaries of 29 states and UTs to either comply with the order or face contempt proceedings * Indian Medical Association president R V Asokan told SC his unconditional apology to the apex court over his "damaging" statements in an interview to PTI, where he had answered queries about Patanjali Ayurved Ltd's misleading advertisements case, has been published in various publications * SC directed the Centre to file a reply within two weeks on a plea seeking directions to fill vacancies in the National Human Rights Commission * SC closed the proceedings on a PIL, which claimed non-functional statutory panels exist in Jammu and Kashmir, after being told by the union Territory administration that these are now functional and the powers of some like the State Human Rights Commission are being exercised by the NHRC * SC rapped an advocate for not depositing a cost of Rs 50,000 imposed on him for filing a "meritless" plea, and directed him to submit the amount within two weeks. PTI ABA ABA SZM SZM