Dominic Xavier offers his take on the Gujarat government's decision to release all 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment for gang rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven members of her family during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The ruling came on a CBI plea that the district court in Ahmedabad did not have jurisdiction to hear the case.
A controversy erupted on Tuesday after the opposition parties tagged a video of DMK leader A Raja purportedly showing him making remarks that India has never been a nation, but a subcontinent with diverse practices and cultures, prompting strong response from the BJP which described the comments as a call for 'balkanisation' of the the country and demanded for his arrest.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the Gujarat government as to why it has not complied with the apex court's earlier order of April 23 and given the compensation to Bano.
"I am ready to fight the money power (of her political opponents), and (central) agencies (which her party alleges has been unleashed on TMC with a political motive), but I will not bow my head," she said.
The policy of a state government for grant of remission existent at the time of conviction will be applicable while deciding the petition of a convict sentenced to life imprisonment seeking premature release, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist dubbed it a "cheap poll gimmick" to woo minority votes.
Tharoor said the Congress should stand up for its foundational principles.
A powerful PM is only helping the mighty, Owaisi said.
'Our Left is squeamish about democracy. They are so mechanical they have only dogma.'
Amid the debate over the release of Bilkis Bano case convicts, the Madhya Pradesh government's proposed new policy provides for a life sentence till death for those held guilty for offences like gangrape and terrorist acts.
Gadot later deleted the Story, but the senior activist is still part of her post in the feed.
Bilkis had expressed her willingness to join the farmers' protest at the Delhi-Haryana border at Singhu.
'Muslims know they cannot defeat the BJP, why then come in its firing range?' 'And they know, ultimately it is the BJP MLA who is going to get elected and only he or she can do their work.' 'The BJP may do a different kind of politics for Muslims, but when they sit in the chair they work for Muslims too.'
This year, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana, the 'dadi from Shaheen Bhagh' Bilkis, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Professor Ravindra Gupta are among TIME's 100 most influential people of 2020.
The contrast between the two meetings couldn't have been more stark, yet, both were organically linked, the latter a show of support for the former.
Six people were arrested on Thursday in connection with the rape and murder of the two girls.
'This is a politically motivated decision.' 'Nitish Kumar is desperate to win as many parliamentary seats as possible.'
The two, one a celebrity singer-actor from Punjab and the other a Bollywood star known for her combative comments, began bickering on the social media platform on Wednesday evening and continued till well into Thursday.
"Religious festivals seem to have become occasions to intimidate and bully others -- a far cry from when they were occasions for joy and celebration. Instead, there is intimidation and discrimination only on account of their religion, food, caste, gender or language," Gandhi said.
'The BJP is scared it may lose the Delhi municipal elections where they have been in power for the last 15 years.'
The Akali Dal is convinced that Waris Punjab De and Amritpal Singh are part of a bigger plan to create a law and order problem in the state, leading to the imposition of central rule and even the exclusion of Punjab from the Lok Sabha polls as was done in 1991.
Para-athlete and current para-badminton world champion Manasi Joshi, climate activist Ridhima Pandey and Isaivani for breaking male domination in the field of Tamil Nadu's Gaana singing also made the list.
'I'm 79 + now, and I've been doing all this since my late 20s.' 'Sometimes the ideological war extends to the home as well.' 'Many nights I couldn't sleep when someone close to me uttered the smallest insult.' 'It would cause me a lot of pain. But one has to be honest to oneself.'
'If you persist in opposing the government, they set the ED or the NIA on you. And the courts have not given us much hope.'
With some variations, all regional political formations, whether in power presently or out of it, share some common features: Tight family control of the political apparatus, key members in elected or appointed positions, obvious wealth but not quite known sources of income, and family factionalism, sometimes open and bitter, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Addressing the annual Dussehra rally at the iconic Shivaji Park ground in Mumbai, Thackeray lashed out at Shinde, whose rebellion in June this year brought down the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in the state.
The post-mortem reports of the two Dalit minor sisters who were found hanging from a tree in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district confirmed that they were raped and strangulated, the police said on Thursday.
Twenty years after the burning of a train in Godhra killed 59 'karsevaks' and triggered one of India's worst post-Partition riots, the poll-scape reflects the yawning gulf between the two communities.
'I would like to see Kharge include Shashi in the Congress Working Committee.' 'The other alternative is that the Congress will marginalise him.'
Creating a record, the CJI headed apex court collegium meetings led to appointment of 11 Supreme Court judges with nine of them, including three women, appointed in one go.
Ranaut, who made headlines with her ugly spat with Dosanjh on Twitter, was served a legal notice on Friday by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee which is seeking an unconditional apology from the actor.
They are the last of 20 people facing charges in connection with the rape and killings that followed, to surrender or be arrested.
'Kejriwal tries to project that his party is not Hindu virodhi.'
That AAP managed a sizeable vote share in Gujarat is creditable. The BJP can no longer ignore AAP's growing presence in its strongest bastion, explains Ramesh Menon, long-time observer of Gujarat politics.
The protest by farmers at the Delhi border points entered the sixth day and is set to continue as the critical talks between three Union ministers and farmer groups ended in a stalemate on Tuesday after they rejected the government's suggestion of a new committee to look into issues raised by agitating farmers.
What these elections prove beyond any doubt (if ever there was one) that Modi's hold over public mind and Shah's mastery of election management are unparalleled. It doesn't seem likely that they will be matched any time soon in the Indian political scene, reaffirms Shreekant Sambrani.
'Hopefully, through my content choices, I have been able to contribute towards my country and countrymen.'
The collegium had recommended her transfer on August 28, after which she had made a representation requesting it to reconsider the proposal.
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