Tag: seeking

Pak Prez returns bill seeking to curb powers of CJ without assent for second time

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Islamabad: Pakistan President Arif Alvi on Wednesday returned a bill seeking to curb the powers of the chief justice of the Supreme Court to parliament for a second time, saying that the matter was now subjudice.
“The matter of competency of legislation and validity of the bill is subjudice now before the highest judicial forum of the country. In deference to the same, thereto no further action is desirable,” the President was quoted as saying in his reply by the Dawn newspaper.
The bill, titled the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, is aimed at depriving the office of the CJP of powers to take suo motu notice in an individual capacity and form a panel of judges for hearing of cases.

It was initially passed by both houses of parliament and sent to the president for his assent. However, the president sent it back, saying that the proposed law travelled “beyond the competence of parliament”.
The bill was, however, passed again by a joint sitting of parliament with certain amendments on April 10 and sent to the president.
But three days after the passing of the bill by the joint parliament session, an eight-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC), including CJP Umar Ata Bandial, issued an order that bars the government from implementing the bill after it becomes a law.
The bench observed that prima facie the proposed law infringed the powers of the apex court to frame its own rules and it merits a hearing by the court.
The court in its order after hearing stated that any intrusion in its practice and the procedure, even on the most tentative of assessments, would appear to be “inimical to the independence of the judiciary, no matter how innocuous, benign or even desirable the regulation may facially appear to be”.

“It is therefore hereby directed and ordered as follows. The moment that the bill receives the assent of the president or (as the case may be) it is deemed that such assent has been given, then from that very moment onwards and till further orders, the act that comes into being shall not have, take or be given any effect nor be acted upon in any manner,” the court stated.
The parliament passed a resolution calling for the dissolution of the eight-judge larger bench. The resolution tabled by the Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker Agha Rafiullah was approved by a majority vote.
Pakistan is witnessing a rift between the judiciary and the government after a three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Bandial fixed May 14 as the date for elections to the Punjab Assembly and quashed the Election Commission’s decision to extend the date of the poll from April 10 to October 8.
The bill states that every cause, matter, or appeal before the apex court would be heard and disposed of by a bench constituted by a committee comprising the chief justice and the two senior-most judges. It added that the decisions of the committee would be taken by a majority.
On exercising the apex court’s original jurisdiction, called suo motu powers, the bill said that any matter invoking the use of Article 184(3) would first be placed before the committee.
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#Pak #Prez #returns #bill #seeking #curb #powers #assent #time
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 19, 2023
Gujarat HC to hear PIL seeking ban on mosque loudspeakers

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Ahmedabad: A plea seeking a ban on the use of loudspeakers at mosques in Gujarat will be taken up by a division bench of the Gujarat High Court on June 19, an official said on Wednesday.
The plea has been filed by a doctor, Dharmendra Prajapati.
The Gujarat government has not responded to a high court notice issued over a year ago regarding the public interest litigation (PIL).

The court directed the advocate-general on Wednesday to file the government’s reply by June 12.
Prajapati, who resides in Sector 5C in Gandhinagar, claimed that Muslim individuals come to pray at different times and use loudspeakers, causing disturbance to the nearby residents.
He claims that the use of loudspeakers during Muslims’ prayer times infringes on his fundamental rights.
He has cited an Allahabad High Court judgment that rejected a request to allow the Muslim call for prayer to be sounded with amplifying devices in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district.
Prajapati also submitted a written complaint to the Gandhinagar ‘mamlatdar’ in June 2020, which was forwarded to the Sector 7 police station.

However, no action was taken in response.
The petitioner also claimed that the use of loudspeakers during prayer times violates noise pollution rules, which prescribe a permissible noise level of 80 decibels.
He has sought direction from the appropriate authority to ban the use of loudspeakers in mosques across the state.
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#Gujarat #hear #PIL #seeking #ban #mosque #loudspeakers
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 19, 2023
Mumbai train blasts: HC quashes death row convict’s plea seeking info under RTI

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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition by a death row convict in the 2006 Mumbai train blast case seeking disclosure of information pertaining to the ban imposed on terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen.
Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddique had filed an application under the RTI Act seeking “background notes” of the Centre and reports of state governments of Gujarat, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh in relation to the ban on the organisation, which was stated to have carried out the blast. The outfit was proscribed under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The petitioner challenged in the high court an order passed by the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on June 13, 2019 denying him the information on the ground that it was covered under the exemptions provided in the RTI Act.

While refusing to interfere with the CIC’s decision, Justice Prathiba M Singh said the information sought by the petitioner has far reaching consequences and has to be seen from the “larger issue of safety and security of the public and the nation”. It said the information Siddique has sought, if provided, will have a bearing on sovereignty and security of the country.
“A perusal of the information shows that the same has far reaching consequences. The same organisation is stated to be involved in various unfortunate incidents since 2005, some resulting in severe loss of life and property,” said the court.
It observed that the disclosure of the information sought by the petitioner can “jeopardize the sources” of the government in relation to the ban on Indian Mujahideen and the CIC’s opinion that sharing the information would endanger the sources is “correct and does not require interference”.
“In view of the above, the writ petition is devoid of merit and is dismissed,” ruled the court.
Advocate Arpit Bhargava, representing the petitioner, contended the information sought in the RTI application was needed to prove the innocence of the petitioner in the criminal case and there was no further need to maintain confidentiality in relation to the “background notes” and the reports of the states as Indian Mujahideen has already been declared a banned organisation under UAPA.

The counsel for the Centre said the information in question cannot be disclosed as it is confidential and disclosure will be against public interest.
Siddique was awarded capital punishment for the July 11, 2006 serial blasts when seven bombs packed with RDX ripped through many western line local trains in Mumbai killing 189 peeople and injuring 829.
The petitioner, currently lodged in a prison, claimed in his plea he was falsely implicated by the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Mumbai in the train blasts case.
The trial court’s order of sentence is still pending confirmation by the Bombay High Court and the reports of the state governments and the Centre’s background notes would prove the innocence of the petitioner as well as violation of his human rights, the plea said.
Last year, the high court had dismissed another petition by Siddique challenging a CIC order denying disclosure of certain information pertaining to the sanction granted by the Maharashtra government for his prosecution under UAPA.
The high court had earlier this year rejected his petition seeking reports submitted by the Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh governments regarding investigation into the train bombings.
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#Mumbai #train #blasts #quashes #death #row #convicts #plea #seeking #info #RTI
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 18, 2023
Allahabad HC reserves verdict on Abdullah Azam Khan’s plea seeking stay on conviction

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Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a plea filed by Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan seeking a stay on his conviction by a Moradabad court in a 2008 criminal case.
Justice Rajiv Gupta reserved the order after hearing the counsel for Abdullah Azam Khan and state government’s counsel.
During the hearing, the counsel for the applicant submitted that on the date of the incident the applicant was a juvenile, as such his conviction be stayed by this court.

A criminal case was registered in 2008 against Abdullah Azam Khan and his father and Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan at Chhajlet police station in Moradabad under sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
It is alleged that they had blocked traffic after their vehicle was stopped by the police for checking in Moradabad.
The additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) on February 13, 2023 sentenced Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam Khan to two years of imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 each.
Later, they were granted bail after submitting the required surety.
Two days after the conviction and sentence, Abdullah Azam Khan, an SP MLA, was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. He represented the Suar assembly constituency of Rampur.

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#Allahabad #reserves #verdict #Abdullah #Azam #Khans #plea #seeking #stay #conviction
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 11, 2023
Satyender Jain moves court seeking transfer of two CBI, ED cases against him

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New Delhi: AAP leader Satyender Jain has moved a Delhi court seeking transfer of two cases lodged against him by the CBI and the ED for alleged corruption and money laundering to another judge.
Jain informed Special Judge Vikas Dhull, hearing both the cases, on Tuesday that he has filed applications before Principal District and Sessions Judge for transfer of the cases.
The Principal District judge has stayed the proceedings in the corruption case filed by the CBI till May 4, when he is scheduled to hear the arguments on the application, while he is likely to hear a similar application in the ED’s money laundering case on April 13.

Jain requested Special Judge Dhull to adjourn the matter “to see the outcome of said transfer applications”.
On court’s query, ED’s Special Public Prosecutor confirmed receiving the advance copy of the application in the money laundering matter.
The court, thereafter, adjourned the proceedings.
The ED had initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 24, 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Jain and others.
The CBI alleged that Jain, while holding the office as a Minister in the Government of Delhi during February 14, 2015 to May 31, 2017, had acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

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#Satyender #Jain #moves #court #seeking #transfer #CBI #cases
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 11, 2023
Adani-Hindenburg: Cong seeking JPC probe to hide Bharat Jodo Yatra failure, says Tomar

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Gwalior: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday said the Congress is seeking a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into allegations against firms of the Adani group to hide the failure of the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi and also due to desperation at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity.
The United States-based Hindenburg Research has alleged stock manipulation and accounting fraud against firms of billionaire Gautam Adani, leading to the opposition, especially the Congress and Gandhi, targeting the Centre and the PM. The Adani group has denied the allegations.
“The JPC demand is baseless as the Centre has already clarified its stand. The Congress is making this demand to hide the failure of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The Congress is also desperate due to the massive popularity of the prime minister. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi is unable to become a leader of his own party,” Tomar said.

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#AdaniHindenburg #Cong #seeking #JPC #probe #hide #Bharat #Jodo #Yatra #failure #Tomar
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 9, 2023
Adhir writes to Speaker seeking debate in Lok Sabha on Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification

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New Delhi: Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote to Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday demanding a debate on whether Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification was “a disproportionate punishment”, and cited that a BJP MP did not face the same action despite being awarded a higher sentence in 2016.
He said Naranbhai Kachhadiya, the BJP MP from Amreli in Gujarat, was not disqualified from Parliament in 2016 despite being awarded a three-year jail term for offences under IPC sections 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 186 (voluntarily obstructing public servant from discharge of duty), and 143 (punishment for member of an unlawful assembly).
Kachhadiya should have been disqualified, but the then speaker did not resort to any action against him, the Congress leader said.

“But it is intriguing to note that…Rahul Gandhi…was summarily disqualified from Lok Sabha in the wake of the Surat district court verdict of two years sentence to jail even though his sentence was suspended by the same court for a period of one month, which facilitated his next attempt for an appeal in higher courts,” he said.
Chowdhury said a sessions court in Surat on Monday granted bail to Gandhi in the defamation case and suspended his two-year sentence till the disposal of the appeal against his conviction.
“With heavy heart and mortification I plead to you that there should be a debate in Parliament as to ascertain the fact that whether our leader…has been awarded disproportionate punishment which smacks of cognitive dissonance…,” Chowdhury wrote.
He said “what is sauce for the goose must be the sauce for the gander”.
Under Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, two conditions are to be met before disqualifying an elected member. First the member has to be awarded conviction for an offence and second, he has to be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years, he said.

“According to my knowledge before disqualifying the elected member this two
conditions are considered prerequisite…. In my view the second condition cannot stand the test of the prescribed provision of the Representation of the People Act as the sentence of Rahul Gandhi was suspended by the trail court itself,” the Congress leader said.
Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha a day after a Surat court convicted and sentenced him to two-year imprisonment on March 23 in a criminal defamation case for his “Modi surname” remark made in Kolar in Karnataka in 2019.
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#Adhir #writes #Speaker #seeking #debate #Lok #Sabha #Rahul #Gandhis #disqualification
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 4, 2023
Bengal Ram Navami clashes: PIL filed at Calcutta HC seeking CBI probe

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Kolkata: As tension over clashes in West Bengal’s Howrah district over a Ram Navami procession continued on Friday, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed at the Calcutta High Court seeking a CBI probe into the matter.
The clashes which were mainly at Sandhyabazar area of Shibpur in Howrah district on Thursday, spread to adjacent Kazipara area this morning. A group of people started pelting stones towards the high-rises in the area. A couple of vehicles were vandalised and torched.
Even the vehicle of the state cooperation minister Arup Roy, which was passing through the area then, was not spared. The window-screen of the vehicle was totally smashed. However, the minister was not present in the vehicle.
Finally, a huge contingent of police force, accompanied by the personnel of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), reached the spot. They resorted to massive lathicharge to bring the unruly mob under control. Some of the policemen also suffered injuries in the clashes. Till the filing of the report, the total number of arrests in this connection was 36. Though the situation has been brought under control, tension prevails in these pockets.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave a strong message and said that her administration will not tolerate such rowdy activities. “I have asked the police to take strong action,” she said. Admitting that there had been complaints of inaction or delayed action by police, the chief minister said that these complaints will also be looked into. At the same time, she claimed that Thursday’s clashes mainly happened because of the last moment change in route of the procession.
On Friday, Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari filed a PIL at the division bench of Calcutta High Court’s Acting Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, seeking a CBI probe in Thursday’s clashes.
The PIL has been admitted and the hearing in the matter will be on April 3. Besides seeking a CBI probe in the matter, the leader of the Opposition had also sought deployment of central armed forces in the troubled pockets on this count.
In the PIL he also claimed that the deployment of central armed forces had been necessary as the state police had failed miserably to bring the situation under control.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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#Bengal #Ram #Navami #clashes #PIL #filed #Calcutta #seeking #CBI #probe
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 31, 2023
Russia seeking munitions from North Korea, Kirby says

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“We remain concerned that North Korea will provide further support and Russia’s military operations against Ukraine and we have new information that Russia is actively seeking to acquire additional munitions from North Korea,” he said.
Russia is exhausting its stores of ammunition while locked in an inch-by-inch battle for territory in Ukraine’s south and east. The battle for Bakhmut, a town in the Donbas, has slowed any Russian advances, requiring forces to expend their ammo and artillery before reaching more consequential areas.
The assistance from North Korea would help Moscow’s forces refill its stockpiles ahead of an expected offensive by Ukraine in the spring.
In December, the Biden administration accused Pyongyang of providing battlefield rockets and missiles to the Wagner Group, a pro-Russian mercenary outfit that’s conducted the bulk of the fighting in Bakhmut.
The possible Russia-North Korea deal was allegedly brokered by Slovakian arms dealer Ashot Mkrtychev, leading the administration to sanction him on Thursday.
“Schemes like the arms deal pursued by this individual show that Putin is turning to suppliers of last resort like Iran and the DPRK,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement, using an acronym for the official name of North Korea: the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
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#Russia #seeking #munitions #North #Korea #Kirby
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 30, 2023
SC rejects pleas seeking direction to Centre to enact gender, religion-neutral laws

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New Delhi: In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Wednesday thwarted an attempt to get a direction to the Centre to frame uniform religion and gender-neutral laws governing subjects such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and alimony by refusing to entertain a batch of petitions, saying it cannot direct Parliament to legislate.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala took note of the submissions made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the issue falls under the domain of the legislature and hence, the pleas cannot be entertained.
Disposing of a total of 16 petitions, including those filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shazia Ilmi and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, the top court said, “After taking a considered view of the pleadings and submissions, we are not inclined to entertain the petitions under Article 32. The grant of relief in these proceedings necessitates a direction for enactment of laws — gender-neutral and religion-neutral legislation as the petitioner has described it.
“This lies exclusively within the domain of the legislature. It is an established position that a mandamus cannot be issued to the legislature to enact laws,” it said.
The bench also refused to direct the Law Commission to prepare a report on such laws as sought in the petitions. “As far as a direction to the Law Commission to prepare a report is concerned, we see no reason to entertain the request. Ultimately, the issue of making a law will fall under the legislative domain…. The petitions are disposed of,” it ordered.
The bench, however, allowed Upadhayay, the lead petitioner, to take the recourse available to him to seek the framing of such laws.
It, however, kept a petition moved by a Muslim woman, having individual grievances, alive.
The bench was hearing petitions seeking a direction to the government for enacting uniform religion and gender-neutral laws on a wide variety of issues.

Upadhyay had filed five separate petitions seeking directions to the Centre to frame such laws on divorce, adoption, guardianship, succession, inheritance, maintenance, marriageable age and alimony.
Earlier, the top court had asked whether it could hear a range of pleas, including PILs, seeking a direction to the Centre to frame uniform religion and gender-neutral laws governing issues such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and alimony.
“The question is to what extent the court can intervene in these matters as the issues fall under the legislative domain,” it had said.
Upadhyay, in August 2020, filed a public interest litigation (PIL) matter seeking “uniform grounds for divorce” for all citizens, in keeping with the spirit of the Constitution and international conventions.
He filed another PIL through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey seeking uniform “gender and religion-neutral” grounds for maintenance and alimony for all citizens.
In another PIL, he sought the removal of anomalies in the laws governing adoption and guardianship and to make them uniform for all citizens.
He also filed a petition seeking the removal of anomalies in the succession and inheritance laws and making them uniform for all.
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#rejects #pleas #seeking #direction #Centre #enact #gender #religionneutral #laws
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 29, 2023