Important matters heard by Supreme Court on Tuesday

Important matters heard by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Aug 20: * Amid spiralling nation-wide protests over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the SC constituted a 10-member National Task Force (NTF) to formulate a protocol for ensuring the safety and security of doctors and other health care professionals.

* Describing the case as a "very hard one", the Supreme Court sought the Centre's response on Tuesday on a plea of a couple whose 30-year-old son has been lying in a vegetative state in a hospital since 2013 after suffering head injuries.

* In a relief to a man, who was embroiled in a legal battle for the custody of his three-year-old daughter, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed his two sisters-in-law to hand over the minor to her father.

*The SC kept in abeyance the fresh election for the post of the mayor of Solan in Himachal Pradesh as it termed the disqualification of the incumbent, Usha Sharma, "a case of male bias".

* The SC permitted activist Teesta Setalvad to travel to Malaysia from August 31 to September 10 for a conference and asked her to file an undertaking that she will return to India as scheduled.

* The SC dismissed a petition seeking directions to declare the caste system unconstitutional.

*The SC questioned the Delhi High Court's decision asking the Congress party to approach the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) for a stay on Income Tax demand notice for recovery of outstanding dues of more than Rs 100 crore.

*The SC sought the response of the Odisha government on the remission plea of Ravindra Pal alias Dara Singh, who is serving life sentence for the ghastly killings of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons in the Keonjhar district in the state in 1999.

* The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday told the SC that it will file its response to BRS leader K Kavitha's bail plea in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam by August 22.

* The West Bengal government sought an urgent hearing by the SC of its appeal against the Calcutta High Court verdict striking down the OBC status of several castes, mostly Muslim groups, in the state for granting them reservation in public sector jobs and admissions in state-run educational institutions. PTI SJK SJK MNK MNK