AHMEDABAD: Gujarat high court on Thursday asked Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) and electricity providers to explain the hike in tariff that came into effect last month.

A bench of chief justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and justice J B Pardiwala issued notice to GERC, Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd and four state electricity distribution companies in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) by Consumer & Education Research Society. CERS questioned GERC's decision to raise the tariff on June 1. The new tariff structure has been fixed for the year 2012-13.

Refuses to direct authorities to probe crime in the guise of allowing PIL plea

While refusing to direct the authorities to investigate a crime in the guise of entertaining a public interest litigation (PIL) petition, the Madras High Court on Wednesday said investigation of cases against protesters of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) should be completed expeditiously in a manner known to law.

In a major victory for citizens, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice Aravind Kumar on Wednesday stayed further progress on the Sirsi Circle-Agara signal free corridor until a committee formed under the Additional Chief Secretary, along with the citizens, agreed upon the alignment of the corridor.

Disposing the matter, the Division Bench set a precedence by directing civic agencies like the BBMP and the BDA to involve the citizens who are likely to be affected by the ‘development’ projects.

States to notify core, buffer areas

Nudged by the Supreme Court to put in place a set of comprehensive measures for conservation of tigers and wildlife in entirety, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest has submitted its final

Concerned that the tiger is “on the verge of extinction” in India, the Supreme Court today imposed an absolute ban on tourism in core (critical) areas of tiger reserves.

The State government on Tuesday informed the Karnataka High Court that 564 mineral and packaged drinking water units in the State were functioning without the ISI certification and only 224 such units had ISI certification from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

This information was given to a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice Aravind Kumar during the hearing on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition complaining that a large number of such units are operating in the State without the mandatory ISI certification.

Serious reservations are being expressed by forest and wildlife experts about the Supreme Court’s directive on Tuesday that there should be no tourism activity in the core areas of the tiger reserves.

Responding to the order, renowned conservationist and editor of Sanctuary Asia Bittu Sahgal told this newspaper: “By banning tourism in the core areas, the eyes and ears of nongovernmental agencies have been walled out of forests where tree-cutting, illegal mining, road building, poaching and worse are rampant."

Stepping in to conserve the big cat, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that there shall be no tourism activity in any of the core zones of tiger reserves across the country.

A bench of justices Swatanter Kumar and Ibrahim Kalifulla also warned of contempt proceedings and imposition of exemplary costs on states, which failed to notify the buffer zones in their respective tiger reserves.