Important matters heard by Supreme Court on May 16

Important matters heard by the Supreme Court on Thursday, May 16: * SC steered clear of the political talk about it having made an exception for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in granting him interim bail for campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls but said "critical analysis of the judgement is welcome" * The Enforcement Directorate told SC it will soon file a prosecution complaint against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam * SC held that the Enforcement Directorate cannot arrest an accused under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a special court has taken cognisance of the complaint of money laundering * SC issued a criminal contempt notice against Delhi Development Authority vice-chairman Subhasish Panda for allowing large-scale felling of trees in the southern Ridge's Satbari area to construct a road from Chhattarpur to Saarc University * Air India Limited (AIL) ceased to be State or its instrumentality under Article 12 of the Constitution after its disinvestment and take over by the Tata Group in January 2022, and no case of alleged violation of fundamental right would lie against it, SC ruled * SC directed the Union of India to deport 17 foreigners languishing in a Assam detention centre, noting there is no offence registered against them * SC stayed criminal proceedings before a trial court in Uttar Pradesh over five FIRs lodged against the vice-chancellor of the Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS) and others for alleged illegal conversion of Hindus to Christianity * SC protected former Noida Authority chief engineer Yadav Singh from arrest by the CBI in a corruption case in which he allegedly executed 1,280 maintenance contracts worth Rs 954 crore in eight days in December 2011. PTI ABA SZM