Lady Justice and the DebateThe new statue of ‘Lady Justice’ without the traditional blindfold and holding a copy of the Constitution unveiled by the Supreme Court this week generated much debate online and offline. However, a precedent had already been sent in the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code report, featuring a similar version of Lady Justice, without a blindfold and holding law books instead of scales.Monitoring Progress on PM ProjectsCentre’s Monitoring Group has been recast for NDA 3.0, this time under the chairmanship of agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The last such group, set up in 20192020, was headed by Mansukh Mandaviya and Jitendra Singh. The newlyset up group held its first meeting on Friday and on the agenda was progress on all announcements made by the PM, including budget announcements, projects for which foundation stone was laid by the PM besides expectations of all ministries/ departments.A Left handed ComplimentCountry’s second topmost legal eagle Tushar Mehta does not hold back from conveying his sentiments in a lighter vein. His wit was on display on Thursday when senior advocate Indira Jaising, who often appears in cases against the Centre, assured Mehta that she was in agreement with him pertaining to a case. Taken by surprise, Mehta, on a lighter note, said that he has come to the realization that supporting and opposing Jaising is one and the same. To this, Jaising smilingly retorted: “This is a huge compliment for me, Mr Mehta.”
Tag: Supreme Court
-
RG Kar Case: Bengal Doctors Take Out Torch Rallies Across Kolkata Ahead Of SC Hearing |
KOLKATA — Junior doctors from various government hospitals, along with community members, took to the streets on Sunday, holding torch rallies across the city to demand justice for a doctor murdered at RG Kar Hospital. The demonstrations that also called for improved security measures for medical staff in state-run facilities, came a day before the Supreme Court hearing on the case.
The rallies were organized from multiple key locations, including RG Kar Hospital, Sagore Dutta Hospital, SSKM Hospital, Calcutta Medical College, and Jadavpur in South Kolkata. Participants stressed the urgent need for justice for the victim, a postgraduate trainee, while advocating for enhanced safety protocols for healthcare workers.
On September 27, junior doctors had called on the public to participate in protests statewide, expressing solidarity ahead of the Supreme Court hearing scheduled for Monday. After a month-long agitation, these doctors returned to work but indicated a potential return to a total “cease work” if the state government fails to guarantee their safety during the court proceedings.
The rallies converged at significant city intersections, including Esplanade, Shyambazar, Park Circus, and Gariahat. Organized by the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, an umbrella organization representing medics from various medical college hospitals, the events highlighted the need to eliminate a “threat culture” in medical institutions, where students reportedly face intimidation.
At Sagore Dutta Hospital, junior doctors conducted a torch and candle march following an incident on Friday night, in which outsiders allegedly assaulted medical staff after a patient’s death. This incident prompted the medics to strike, demanding better security measures.
As participants marched from Sagore Dutta Hospital to Dunlop Crossing on the outskirts of Kolkata, they carried candles and torches, illustrating their demand for safety and justice. The protests were ignited by the alleged assault on three doctors and three nurses at the hospital, which the medics claimed underlined the government’s failure to fulfill promises of security.
In response to the escalating situation, Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma visited RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Sunday afternoon to review security arrangements ahead of the Supreme Court hearing. He interacted with police personnel and conducted a tour of the hospital’s emergency department.
The backdrop of the protests includes a troubling incident on August 15, when a mob vandalized the hospital’s emergency department, following a Calcutta High Court order to transfer the rape-murder investigation from Kolkata Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The city police are currently investigating this incident.
The Calcutta High Court, addressing allegations of a threatening environment in medical colleges, directed the state government on September 26 to file an affidavit responding to claims made in a public interest litigation (PIL). The petitioners have alleged multiple issues, including intimidation, sale of answer keys for examinations, bribery, corruption, and sexual harassment within state-run medical institutions.
-
Plea In SC Against Delhi Govt’s Guidelines For Handling End-Of-Life Vehicles. auto news
Delhi Govt’s Guidelines For Handling End-Of-Life Vehicles: A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi government’s fresh guidelines for handling end-of-life vehicles in public places. The plea filed by Nagalaxmi Laxmi Narayan has contended that retrospective application of the Guidelines for Handling End of Life Vehicle in Public Place, 2024 is arbitrary.
“The retrospective application of the guidelines to vehicles is arbitrary, violates the applicant’s legitimate expectation, and deprives the applicant of their right to property under Article 300A of the Constitution,” the plea has contended.
It said the scrapping rules are being applied without due consideration of the condition of vehicles and the actual emissions they made.
The Delhi government had in February issued fresh guidelines for handling end-of-life vehicles in public places, stipulating a penalty of Rs 10,000 for four-wheelers and Rs 5,000 for two-wheelers to be imposed on the owners of the vehicles impounded before they are released.
According to the guidelines, continuous enforcement drives should be conducted to phase out such vehicles from public places in the national capital and daily reports sent to the environment department for onward submission to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).
The government has classified the release procedure for impounded vehicles under two categories — those who wish to shift their vehicle out of Delhi-NCR and those who wish to park the vehicle in private spaces which are not shared parking places.
“On plying and parking of ELVs (end-of-life vehicles) in public place in NCT of Delhi, once impounded for the first time it can be released on the basis of submission of an undertaking that vehicle will not be plied or parked in any public place within the territory of Delhi and will be removed from the city…,” the guidelines read.
“In case of 4-wheeler, a penalty of Rs 10,000 along with towing charge and parking fee as notified in Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Places Rules, 2019, shall be charged before releasing of such ELVs. In case of 2-wheeler, a penalty of Rs 5,000 along with towing charge and parking fee as notified in Parking Rules 2019 shall be charged…,” it said.
According to the guidelines, any end-of-life vehicle impounded for a second time and transport vehicles running on diesel fuel and aged more than 10 years cannot be released.
The application for the release of a vehicle along with necessary documents should be submitted within three weeks of impounding of the vehicle and an online platform will be developed for this purpose, it said.
According to the guidelines, impounded vehicles will be scrapped in case of three scenarios — non-submission of application for release within three weeks of impounding of the vehicle, rejection of application submitted for release and impounding of the same vehicle for the second time.
All scrap value shall be paid through digital mode only to the bank account in the name of the vehicle owner within 15 days of the vehicle being accepted by the Registered Vehicles Scrapping Facility, it added.
-
Supreme Court stays defamation case against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has stayed trial court proceedings in a criminal defamation case against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor over a “scorpion sitting on a Shivling” remark made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.
A bench comprising justices Hrishikesh Roy and R Mahadevan noted that the remark by Tharoor was not his original statement but was first made by another person in an article published in a magazine in 2012.
“Eventually, it is a metaphor. The metaphor would refer to the invincibility of the person who is spoken about. Can the metaphor not be understood as pointing out the invincibility of the person,” justice Roy verbally asked. When the complainant’s counsel responded that the remark can be perceived as “can’t live with, can’t live without”, justice Roy wondered “I don’t know why somebody has taken objection to this”. The judge said a metaphor is capable of being understood in many ways.
The development took place during the hearing of Tharoor’s challenge to a Delhi High Court order in which his plea for quashing the defamation case was rejected. Aggrieved, Tharoor moved SC.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Java Programming with ChatGPT: Learn using Generative AI
View Program
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Basics of Generative AI: Unveiling Tomorrow’s Innovations
View Program
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Generative AI for Dynamic Java Web Applications with ChatGPT
View Program
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Mastering C++ Fundamentals with Generative AI: A HandsOn
View Program
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Master in Python Language Quickly Using the ChatGPT Open AI
View Program
Office Productivity
Zero to Hero in Microsoft Excel: Complete Excel guide 2024
View Program
Astrology
Vastu Shastra Course
View Program
Data Science
SQL for Data Science along with Data Analytics and Data Visualization
View Program
Web Development
A Comprehensive ASP.NET Core MVC 6 Project Guide for 2024
View Program
Office Productivity
Mastering Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and 365
View Program
Marketing
Digital marketing WordPress Website Development
View Program
Finance
Financial Literacy TDS, Budget, Income Tax Act, GST, Indirect tax
View Program
Leadership
Business Storytelling Masterclass
View Program
Future of Marketing & Branding Masterclass
View Program
HR & People Management
Human Potential and the Future of Employment
View Program
Strategy
ESG and Business Sustainability Strategy
View Program
Finance
Financial Reporting and Analytics
View Program
-
SC reserves verdict on Arvind Kejriwal’s pleas
The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on pleas filed by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal seeking bail and challenging his arrest by CBI for his alleged involvement in the Delhi excise policy case.
Senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, said his arrest was nothing but an “insurance arrest”, implying that CBI arrested him only to ensure that even if the CM gets bail in the ED case, he remains behind bars in CBI case.
The CBI counsel alleged the Punjab government, at Kejriwal’s behest, has denied sanction to prosecute some state officials who allegedly armtwisted the owner of a Punjabbased distillery to comply with the alleged bribe demands. The counsel said the probe regarding that is stalled since the AAP government there hasn’t given sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.The bench verbally asked CBI counsel whether the distillery owner was a witness. Reply in the negative, the counsel said witnesses in Goa had refused to come forward to record their statement before Kejriwal was arrested, adding the witnesses recorded their statements only after Kejriwal’s arrest. “If Kejriwal is released on bail, the witnesses may turn hostile.”
The CBI counsel objected to Kejriwal’s pleas, arguing that he had bypassed the trial court and straight away approached SC. The counsel contended that Kejriwal has failed to prove that his is an exceptional case which warrants a direct hearing from SC. The counsel said grant of bail to Kejriwal would amount to demoralizing high court. But SC disagreed with this contention.
Singhvi said it would be unfair to relegate Kejriwal back to trial court when issues arising in the present bail case have been extensively argued before the trial court in a related matter. He added almost every other accused arrested by ED and CBI has been given bail, except Kejriwal.
-
UCC must for gender parity, says VP Jagdeep Dhankhar
NEW DELHI: Close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi espousing a secular civil code for the nation during his Independence Day speech, vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday stressed on the need for a uniform civil code (UCC), saying it is a ” constitutional ordinance” as it is mentioned in the Directive Principles. UCC will be a big contributor to the cause of gender justice, he said.
“Uniform civil code is a constitutional ordinance. It is in Directive Principles (of State Policy). The Supreme Court has severely that it is being delayed but UCC, which has been on the shelf for too long, is a small measure of justice to your (women) segment… It will help in several ways but majorly it will help your gender,” Dhankhar said while addressing students of Bharati College, a women’s college affiliated to the University of Delhi.
Article 44 of the Constitution, under the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP), suggests that there should be a UCC in the country. However, provisions listed under DPSP are not binding on the government and hence not justiciable. PM Modi had also stated in his speech that the Supreme Court has often suggested that there should be a UCC.
Dhankhar emphasized that a UCC would ensure gender parity in society and at the workplace as well as help create a level playing field for all.
-
OBC Reservation: All OBC reservation cases will be transferred from High Court to Supreme Court
Highlights
OBC reservation in Madhya Pradesh increased from 14 to 27 percent. 87:13 percent formula challenged in Supreme Court. Supreme Court will transfer 85 pending petitions.
Naiduniya Representative, Jabalpur. All the cases related to Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation pending in the Madhya Pradesh High Court since 2019 will be transferred to the Supreme Court for hearing. A bench headed by Supreme Court Justice BR Gavai gave these instructions on Tuesday.
Supreme Court sought reply from MP government
The matter is about increasing the OBC reservation from 14 to 27 percent by amending the MP Public Service Reservation Act by the state government in the year 2019. At the same time, the Supreme Court has sought a reply from the Madhya Pradesh government on two petitions challenging the 87:13 percent formula.
A petition was filed in the Supreme Court by the state government to transfer the cases related to OBC reservation. During the hearing on this, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta presented his side on behalf of the MP government. Advocate Aditya Sanghi argued on behalf of the unreserved category that due to the pending transfer petition in the Supreme Court, these cases are not being heard in the High Court.
Many appointments are not being made by the MP Public Service Commission due to pending cases in the court. On this, the Supreme Court directed to immediately transfer all the 85 petitions pending in the MP High Court.
Now OBC cases are likely to be heard at a relatively faster pace in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will now decide how much reservation to give to OBCs. The decision to give 27 percent reservation to OBCs was first challenged in the High Court in the year 2019. After this, many petitions were filed. Some of these were filed in favor of OBC reservation and some against it. For the last one year, these cases have not been heard speedily.
Click to get Naiduniya news on your WhatsApp…
-
Manish Sisodia gets bail, SC says ‘trial hasn’t begun yet’
Observing that “the right to speedy trial and the right to liberty are sacrosanct rights,” the Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the Delhi excise case.
A division bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan granted bail to in both cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the said scandal. Ordering the release of Sisodia, who has been behind bars for over 17 months, the top court cautioned the trial and high courts against playing safe in matters of grant of bail.
The bench observed that “over a period of time, the trial courts and the high courts have forgotten a very wellsettled principle of law that bail is not to be withheld as a punishment.” The SC further noted that the trial has not even commenced in the instant case. “In the present case, in the ED matter as well as the CBI matter, 493 witnesses have been named. The case involves thousands of pages of documents and over a lakh pages of digitized documents. It is thus clear that there is not even the remotest possibility of the trial being concluded in the near future,” the judgment reads. Elaborating, the bench added “in our view, keeping the appellant (Sisodia) behind the bars for an unlimited period of time in the hope of speedy completion of trial would deprive his fundamental right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.” The judgment further reads “as observed time and again, the prolonged incarceration before being pronounced guilty of an offense should not be permitted to become punishment without trial.” The top court further recorded that the instant case “largely depends on documentary evidence which is already seized by the prosecution.” As such, the bench added, “there is no possibility of tampering with the evidence.”The bench disagreed with the trial court’s finding that it was Sisodia who was attempting to delay the commencement of the trial in the case. “In that view of the matter, we find that the finding of the learned trial judge that it is the appellant (Sisodia) who is responsible for delaying the trial is not supported by the record,” the judgment reads.
-
‘No Creamy Layer Provision In SC/STs’: Modi Government Makes Stand Clear After Top Court’s Quota Order |
Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met a delegation of SC/ST MPs, the NDA government has decided not to go for creating a separate creamy layer within the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) just like the OBCs.
Information Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw today said that a detailed discussion took place during the cabinet meeting over the Supreme Court judgment that made certain suggestions on the reservation for the SCs and STs. Vaishnaw said that the cabinet is of the view that the NDA government is committed towards the provisions of the Constitution.
Met a delegation of SC/ST MPs today. Reiterated our commitment and resolve for the welfare and empowerment of the SC/ST communities. pic.twitter.com/6iLQkaOumI — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 9, 2024
“Supreme Court had pronounced a judgment regarding the reservation and a suggestion regarding SC and ST reservation. Today a detailed discussion took place during Cabinet…NDA govt is bound to the Constitution formed by BR Ambedkar. According to BR Ambedkar’s Constitution, in SC and ST’s reservation, there is no provision for creamy layer,” said Vaishnaw.
When asked whether the matter was brought up by the Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment or Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Vaishnaw responded that it reflected the unanimous consensus of the cabinet.
Earlier today, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal urged the Opposition not to “mislead” the public regarding a Supreme Court judge’s remarks about the exclusion of a creamy layer from SC/ST reservations.
Addressing the Lok Sabha, Meghwal clarified that the mention of a creamy layer in the sub-categorization of SC/STs was merely an observation by a Supreme Court judge and not an official part of the ruling. He advised members against attempting to mislead the public on this issue.
In a majority verdict last week, the Supreme Court ruled that states have the authority to create sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes categories. This allows states to allocate quotas within the reserved category specifically aimed at uplifting the most underprivileged castes.
-
reservation: Fourth generation should not be entitled to quota: ExBJP SC unit chief
Former BJP Scheduled Caste Morch chief Sanjay Paswan has welcomed the Supreme Court verdict allowing subgroups in the 15% reservation for SCs but called for a discussion on certain aspects of the issue so that distributive justice is ensured. This is a reiteration of his view that there should be “quota within quota” which has faced objection from other Dalit leaders in the party.
Asked if the SC verdict is a vindication of his longheld opinion, Paswan told ET, “Subcategorisation in reservation for Dalits will ensure distributive justice. But I believe this should come with the rider that this should be done on the basis of family and not any Dalit caste as a whole.”
He maintains that any Dalit caste should not be kept out just because a sizable number of people from it clear the top government examinations. This should be applicable to those Dalit families which have benefited from reservations in the last three generations.
“I gave the slogan ‘no more (than) four (generations)’. If three generations in a family have got reservations, the fourth generation should not be entitled to it. Since Independence, we have seen more than three generations. In my Case, my father was an engineer, I became a minister and my son is a professor,” Paswan said.
RECOMMENDED STORIES FOR YOU
Paswan was a member of the 13th Lok Sabha and served as a minister of state in the Human Resource Development ministry.Subcategorisation of SC where some castes are removed from the list as their members have got into the civil services and other creamy government jobs will harm those families from the same caste whose members did not make it due to various socioeconomic disadvantages.