Author: NitiRiti Bureau

* Asks state government to provide relief to all irrespective of who they were New Delhi, Sept 6 The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Manipur government to seize all illegal arms which have reportedly been procured by raiding police stations across Manipur. The bench also asked the government there to ensure that relief is provided to all affected persons irrespective of their ethnic background. The state has been rocked by ethnic violence for the last few months and many have died in the ethnic clashes. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud had earlier send…

After govt assurance that statehood would be restored to the state which was bifurcated into two UTs in 2019 New Delhi, Aug 29. Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Tuesday sought to from the central government if it intended to restore full statehood and democracy back to the erstwhile state of JK and if the government had a roadmap on this. The government had diluted the special status accorded to the state in the Indian union under Article 370 in 2019 and divided the state into two Union Territories. “Restoration of democracy is very important. Is there a roadmap…

Says Rs 1 lakh fine under existing regulatory mechanism inadequate, fines must be proportionate to profits earned from such programmes New Delhi, Aug 14. The Supreme Court on Monday said that while it firmly believed that the right to freedom of speech and expression of the press must be respected, it drew the line at the media “destroying reputations” and airing programmes based on “presumption of guilt” on the part of the accused. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud also said that the fines imposed by the self-regulating mechanism on the electronic media for violating…

Says power can be misused to wipe out states, bring in a presidential form of govt New Delhi, Aug 8. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, lead counsel for those opposing the Union government’s move to dilute Article 370 of the Constitution, on Tuesday warned the Supreme Court against granting sweeping powers to the executive to wipe out states from existence as was done in the case of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir. Under the Constitution, he said, a Union Territory could be carved out of a state. But where does it say that a state shall be divided into…

CBI to continue probing sexual violence cases reported from state New Delhi, Aug 7. The Supreme Court on Monday sent an all-women judges’ team to lend a healing touch and restore faith in rule of law in the strife-torn state of Manipur. The team comprises former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justices Shalini Joshi and Asha Menon. Justice Joshi is from the Bombay High court and Menon is from the Delhi High Court. The shocking sexual assault and gang-rape cases, at least 11 of them, recently reported from the state would continue to be probed by the…

CJI tells mosque management: “What’s frivolous for you, is faith for the other side” New Delhi, Aug 4. The Supreme Court on Friday upheld an Allahabad High Court order directing the ASI to carry out a complete scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex. The survey will not involve excavation and will not be intrusive, the top court said. The ASI will take care to ensure that all this carried out without any damage the existing structures inside the complex, a bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said. The bench also comprised Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj…

Gandhi got a two-year sentence in the case leading to his disqualification from Parliament New Delhi, Aug 4. The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a Gujarat High Court order upholding a two-year jail term awarded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case in connection with his controversial remark that all Modis were chors. The conviction had led to his immediate disqualification from Parliament and his eviction from his official accommodation in Lutyens Delhi. Whether his disqualification would be set aside with equal alacrity so that he can attend Parliament for the rest of the session remains to be…

Parliament works within the Constitution, but if allowed to convert itself into a Constituent Assembly, may breach basic structure New Delhi, Aug 3. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who’s leading arguments against diluting the special status accorded to the former state of JK under Article 370, on Thursday warned the Supreme Court against letting Parliament to step in as a Constituent Assembly to change the Constitution as and when it wished. This would set a wrong precedent for the future and would not bode well for the nation as any future Parliament could then convert itself into a Constituent Assembly and…

Legislature cannot be treated as state legislature, constituent assembly to undo representative democracy, says Kapil Sibal, lead counsel for all those opposed to the change New Delhi, Aug 2. The central government could not have abrogated Article 370, stripping JK overnight of its status as a state with a representative democracy, without taking into account the will of the people, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, lead counsel for those arguing against the move in the Supreme Court, said. Parliamentary elections were held in 2019 in the state, Sibal said, but no state elections have been held since. Article 370 was abrogated…

Police not been filing FIRs, only 7 have been arrested so far, court notes New Delhi, August 1. The Supreme Court on Tuesday sharply criticized the situation in Manipur, lambasting the state government for losing control over the state, not filing FIRs or filing them late and not arresting those responsible for rape and murders in the state. The state has been reeling under sectarian strife for months now. Civil society activists have accused the state government, headed by CM Biren Singh, of doing nothing and sitting tight while the minority Kukis are being attacked. “There is no law and…