This week in Indian law: The Supreme Court cautioned against premature parental alienation labels in custody proceedings. SEBI amended mutual fund investment restrictions for ETFs and index funds. The first full week under the new criminal laws revealed implementation challenges. 10 significant legal developments this week across family law and securities regulation.
Top story
SC Cautions Against Premature Parental Alienation Labels in Custody
Category: family-matrimonial | Date: 10 July 2024 | Source: Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court cautioned family courts against prematurely labelling a parent as an alienator in child custody proceedings without sufficient psychological evidence. The Bench held that parental alienation is a complex psychological phenomenon that requires expert assessment and cannot be determined based on the allegations of one parent or surface-level observations.
Why it matters: Family court practitioners handling custody disputes must now ensure parental alienation claims are supported by qualified psychological evidence, raising the evidentiary bar for this increasingly invoked concept.
Read more: Veritect analysis
Court judgments
SC Issues Parental Alienation Guidelines
Court: Supreme Court of India | Date: 10 July 2024
The Court held that parental alienation determinations require comprehensive psychological evaluation by qualified experts. Courts cannot rely solely on one party's characterisation of the other parent's behaviour to reach conclusions about alienation. The judgment establishes a more structured evidentiary framework for custody proceedings.
Key point: Family courts must now require expert psychological evidence before concluding parental alienation, significantly raising the bar for custody disputes involving this claim.
Legislative and policy developments
No major legislative developments this week. Parliament was yet to convene for the Budget Session (commencing July 22).
Regulatory updates
SEBI Amends Mutual Fund Investment Limits for ETFs and Index Funds
Regulator: SEBI | Date: 12 July 2024 | Source: SEBI
SEBI notified the SEBI (Mutual Funds) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024, amending investment restrictions for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index funds with respect to exposure to sponsor group companies. The amendments relax single-issuer concentration limits for passive funds that track indices containing sponsor group securities.
Key point: The amendment addresses a practical constraint faced by passive fund managers who were forced to deviate from benchmark indices due to sponsor group exposure limits, improving index tracking efficiency.
Also this week
- BNS/BNSS implementation challenges continue — Courts across states report confusion over section-number mapping between old and new criminal statutes, with some adjournments granted for adaptation.
- First zero FIRs filed under BNSS — Several states report the first FIRs filed under the new zero FIR provision, testing the jurisdictional transfer mechanism.
- Budget Session preparations underway — The Finance Ministry finalised the Union Budget for FY 2024-25, to be presented on July 23.
- Bar associations conduct orientation — Multiple state and district bar associations organised training sessions on the new criminal laws for members.
By the numbers
- 2 July 2024 — Date of SEBI mutual fund amendment notification
- 10 July 2024 — SC's parental alienation guidance delivered
- 22 July 2024 — Scheduled commencement of Parliament Budget Session
Looking ahead
- July 22: Parliament Budget Session commences
- July 23: Union Budget 2024-25 presentation in Lok Sabha — expected tax reforms and economic policy announcements
- Late July: 9-judge Constitution Bench decision on mineral rights and royalty expected
This is the Veritect Weekly Legal Roundup for Week 28 of 2024. For daily updates, visit our legal news page. Subscribe to receive this roundup every Monday morning.
Veritect provides this content for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.