by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea seeking probe into alleged irregularities in Chhatisgrah’s AgustaWestland helicopter purchase for VIPs in 2006-07 and also into the foreign bank accounts purportedly linked to Chief Minister Raman Singh’s son.
A division bench of Justice A.K. Goel and Justice U.U. Lalit dismissed the plea filed by the NGO Swaraj Abhiyan, saying it doesn’t find any merit in it.
Chhattisgarh had denied the allegations, calling them “reckless” and a “politically motivated” filed to malign reputations as elections were due in the state.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, had said that a proposal of the state in December 2006 stated that there should be open bid to purchase helicopter.
It said that helicopter firms should be invited but no company was called and a tender was issued only for AgustaWestland.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Justice Dipak Misra.
New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will deal with the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case as a pure land dispute and refused to hear it on a day-to-day basis.
Meanwhile, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), which is beginning a crucial three-day plenary in Hyderabad on Friday, demanded contempt of court proceedings against those speaking of building a Ram temple at the site of the razed Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
Beginning the hearing, a special bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer posted it for March 14, asking parties in the case to file English translations of the documents before it.
After senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for one of the petitioners, sought day-to-day hearings, the bench refused saying: “Over 700 poor litigants are waiting for justice, we have to hear them.”
The court also said it will hear at later stage the impleadment applications of those which were not before the Allahabad High Court.
The court was hearing a batch of cross petitions challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict that had divided, in by a 2:1 majority, the disputed Babri Masjid-Ramjanambhoomi site between the Nirmohi Akhara, Lord Ram deity and the Sunni Waqf Board.
Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, told the court that 504 exhibits, including books such as the Ram Charit Manas, Ramayana and Bhagawat Gita, written in various languages, have been translated and filed in the court.
The depositions of 87 witnesses have also been filed along with the Archaeological Survey of India’s reports as well as photographs. However, some translations are yet to be completed, he added.
The top court was moved challenging the High Court verdict by petitioners M. Siddiqui, represented by his legal heirs, the Nirmohi Akhara, the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board, Bhagwan Shri Ram Virajman, All India Hindu Mahasabha’s Swami Chakrapani, the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, the Akhil Bharatiya Sri Ramjanam Bhoomi Punardhar Samiti and others.
Addressing reporters ahead of the AIMPLB meet, its spokesman Maulana Sajaad Nomani said those speaking of building a grand Ram temple at the site represented a “clear case of contempt of court” and that the court and the government should take action.
He said the Board would present its case before the Supreme Court and abide by its verdict.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Arvind Kejriwal
New Delhi : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that his government will approach the Supreme Court for a stay on the ongoing sealing drive, after a meeting between the ruling AAP and BJP ended in chaos and a political blame game.
The sealing of shops and businesses — even doctors’ clinics — located in residential premises in the city is being carried out by a Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee and implemented by the three BJP-led Municipal Corporations.
The Bharatiya Janata Party alleged that their leaders were attacked by the Aam Aadmi Party volunteers near the Chief Minister’s residence, where they had gone for a meeting. On the other hand, the AAP claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders walked out of the meeting.
BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in Assembly Vijender Gupta urged Lt Governor Anil Baijal to order a high-level probe into the meeting issue.
“Strongest possible action is essential to ensure such incidents do not recur. Such violence, falsehood, and intolerance on Mahatma Gandhi’s martyrdom day is tragic,” Gupta said.
On the other hand, Kejriwal said the BJP delegation led by its Delhi unit President Manoj Tiwari walked out of the meeting instead of trying to come up with suggestions that could be presented to the Lt Governor for remedial measures.
Kejriwal said: “All our MLAs and councillors had gathered for the meeting with the BJP delegation. But they refused to have a discussion in front of everyone.”
“There is nothing confidential about it. It is nobody’s personal issue. It is a public matter. I begged them to sit down, discuss, and together find a solution to the sealing drive. But they just walked out,” he said.
Tiwari later said that the AAP should end “urban naxalism” and said that a complaint had been filed at the Civil Lines police station.
“The AAP had over 150 supporters at the meeting. We wanted a meeting in a closed room. They misbehaved with our women Mayors and our MLA Vijender Gupta and disrupted the meeting. This is is highly condemnable,” Tiwari told reporters.
After the meeting ended, with both sides blaming each other, Kejriwal visited many markets, including in Hauz Khas, Sadar Bazar, Chandni Chowk, and Hudston Lane to take stock of the sealing drive.
Addressing a gathering in Meherchand Market in South Delhi, the Chief Minister said that the AAP government was “totally against sealing occurring in the city”.
“In the next two to three days, the Delhi government will file a petition in the Supreme Court to get a stay on the sealing drive,” Kejriwal said.
“We will put all your problems in the petition and get a stay from the Supreme Court,” the Chief Minister said.
Kejriwal said that traders were not given notice before the sealing and termed the drive as “hooliganism”.
The Chief Minister said that he had written a letter to the Lt Governor to urge him to implement four steps to put an end to the drive.
Kejriwal said that the Lt Governor and the central government have the powers to implement these steps and they can end the drive in 24 hours if they wish to do so.
AAP leader Dilip Pandey sat on a hunger strike near the Civic Centre in Central Delhi, alleging that the BJP was responsible for the ongoing sealing drive.
Later, AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj tweeted that the three Municipal Corporation Commissioners will appear before an Assembly committee on the issue on Wednesday, wherein Delhi officials concerned too will be present.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Central government to furnish details of Haj pilgrimage aspirants who are above 65 years and have applied for it five times without success.
Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chadrachud sought the details of such applicants in a tabular form by the next date of hearing on February 19.
As an ad-interim measure, the court directed the filing of the statement with regard to the “fifth time applicants, who have crossed the age of 65 years and are below 70 years, and have never been able to go for pilgrimage”.
The order came on a petition by the Kerala State Haj Committee seeking rationalisation of allocation of Haj quota, contending that Kerala has more applicants but lesser allocation of Haj seats while Bihar has lesser number of applicants but more quota of seats.
Appearing for the Central government, Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand said the petitioner has not been able to flag the violation of Constitution’s Article 14 which guarantees equality before law.
The Centre had on January 5 defended its Haj policy under which a quota is allocated on the basis of the Muslim population in each state and contended that it was not discriminatory and based on objective criteria.
The court was told in the last hearing that the Haj policy was formulated by the Central Haj Committee after consulting 31 State Haj Committees.
Kerala State Haj Committee has moved the top court questioning the allocation of Haj quota on the basis of Muslim population saying that it deprives Muslims in smaller states including Kerala from undertaking the pilgrimages to Makkah and Madinah.
The court was told that Bihar gets the quota of 12,000 pilgrims but only gets 6,900 applicants to go for pilgrimage and Kerala get a share of 6,000 seats while there are 95,000 applicants for Haj.
The Saudi Arabian government allows India to send 1.7 lakh Haj pilgrims which in turn are distributed to the states in proportion to their Muslim population.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Amit Shah
Panaji : The criminal case against BJP president Amit Shah should be re-opened in view of Friday’s press conference by four senior Supreme Court judges, Goa Congress state president Shantaram Naik demanded on Saturday.
In a statement issued here, Naik also said, that the case related to the death of Special CBI judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya should also be re-visited.
“The criminal case in which the national president of BJP, was one of the accused, should be re-opened in view of the press conference held by the four judges of the Supreme Court,” Naik said.
“Similarly, case relating to the death of Brijgopal Harkishan Loya, Special CBI Investigation judge, in suspicious circumstances in Nagpur should be re-visited,” he also said.
“If it is held that the procedure prescribed for the allotment of cases cannot be questioned in Parliament, then how is that cases decided by the Government, exercising its executive powers, are admitted by the Supreme Court,” Naik asked, calling for a more transparent administrative mechanism within the apex court.
—IANS
