The Supreme Court ordered on Monday that no invasive work would be undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was built upon a temple and agreed to hear a plea moved by the mosque committee during the day.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra said the detailed order referring the case to a larger bench will be uploaded on the apex court website later in the day.
The top court, which on Thursday referred to a constitution bench the Delhi government's plea challenging the ordinance, framed two legal questions in its 10-page order to be dealt by a larger bench on the ordinance which set off a fresh tussle between the two power centres.
The Supreme Court collegium on Tuesday recommended to the Centre the names of Allahabad high court Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Gujarat high court Chief Justice Aravind Kumar for elevation as apex court judges.
A bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka also expressed displeasure over the delay in clearing recommendations for transfer of high court judges, calling it a 'very serious issue', and warned that any delay in this matter may result in both administrative and judicial actions which might not be palatable.
The observations came after advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for petitioner Manoj Misra, informed the bench about Ravi Shankar's recent statement blaming the government and the NGT for permitting his NGO to hold the World Culture Festival on the floodplains of river Yamuna.
The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday directed the principal committee, constituted for rejuvenation of Yamuna, to inspect the site on river floodplains where a three-day festival was organised by Art of Living under the patronage of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Seventy-two chairmen and advisors of different organisations and institutions enjoying minister of state rank in Uttar Pradesh were sacked by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday with immediate effect, an official spokesman said.
The NGT also constituted a committee to oversee the execution of work pertaining to cleaning of the river.
The NGT, however, refused to impose any further environment compensation on the AoL.
Union Minister for Water Resources Uma Bharati recently reiterated her commitment towards making the Yamuna Shuddikaran Abhiyan a success but said little else. It is obvious that in comparison to the Ganga about which she waxes eloquent at the drop of a hat, her treatment towards Yamuna can at best be described as step-motherly. Rashme Sehgal reports on efforts to save the river.
India loses 333 acres of prime forest every day. Instead of working to conserve India's forests and water resources, the environment minister has set up a committee to 'dismantle' the five key laws that provide environmental protection.
Were river experts excluded from IIT consortium on the Ganga River Basin Management Plan? Rashme Sehgal reports.
'For lakhs of people in the flood-afflicted state, battling against the elements is taking a huge toll. This is the time of the year that apples ripen, rice starts being harvested and preparations start in full swing to put aside some of the food stocks for the long winter months ahead. At this moment, though, people there believe if they can succeed in coming out of this calamity in one piece they will have won the war,' says Rashme Sehgal.