Important matters heard in Supreme Court on January 31

Important matters heard in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, January 31: * There is nothing "fundamentally inconsistent" with a minority institution being an institution of national importance (INI), the Supreme Court said on Wednesday while hearing arguments on the vexed issue of minority status to Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) * "Let's not comment on political personalities," the Supreme Court on Wednesday told a lawyer who took names of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and others while arguing on a question concerning minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) * The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to allow a 26-year-old woman, who had lost her husband in October last year, to terminate her over 32-week pregnancy, saying the medical board has held that there were no abnormalities in the foetus * There is a need to maintain the dignity and reputation of judicial officers and to protect them from motivated, libellous and unfounded allegations, the Supreme Court has said while convicting an advocate in a 2006 criminal contempt case * The Supreme Court has imposed a cumulative cost of Rs 12 lakh on six Maharashtra policemen after taking a serious note of their role in abetting illegal detention of three persons and demolition of their rented premises without any judicial order. PTI SJK SJK SZM