Former Supreme Court judge Justice Rohinton Nariman has warned that events similar to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre could occur if the 'basic structure' doctrine of the Constitution is diluted. In his new book, 'The Basic Structure Doctrine: Protector of Constitutional Integrity,' Nariman argues that the 1973 Kesavananda Bharati judgment, which established the doctrine, is essential for protecting fundamental rights and preventing constitutional amendments that could lead to such tragedies. Nariman's concerns are echoed by Supreme Court judge Justice K V Viswanathan, who applauds the book for its "chilling clarity" and underscores the importance of the Kesavananda Bharati ruling. The book provides a detailed analysis of the doctrine and its implications, highlighting the robustness of the Kesavananda Bharati judgment and the lack of a compelling alternative theory.
In May, 40 Rohingyas were blindfolded and flown to the Andaman and Nicobar islands and then thrown into the sea and made to swim to an island in Myanmar. And after the Pahalgam attack, at least 300 Muslims were 'pushed back' to Bangladesh from Assam.
The bench gave liberty to Mukerjea to approach the trial court
Tahawwur Rana, accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is expected to be extradited to India from the United States soon. The US Supreme Court denied his last-ditch effort to stop his extradition, moving him closer to being handed over to Indian authorities. Rana's extradition is expected to help probe agencies expose the role of Pakistani state actors behind the attacks and shed new light on the investigation. He is associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.
Glimpses from India and around the world that will make you smile and cry.
The Supreme Court has criticized the selective publication of a preliminary report on the Air India crash, calling it 'unfortunate and irresponsible'. The court raised concerns about privacy, dignity of victims' families, and the potential for biased narratives.
The blame must be shared by the investigating agencies, the government of the day and the nation at large, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Supreme Court of India has rejected a plea by a woman claiming to be the legal heir of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar-II, seeking possession of the Red Fort in Delhi. The court termed the plea as "misconceived" and "meritless", dismissing the petition against the Delhi High Court order. The petitioner, Sultana Begum, argued that her family was deprived of the Red Fort by the British East India Company after the first war of Independence in 1857. The court, however, dismissed the petition, citing the delay in filing the appeal and the lack of justification for the claim.
'He is the same man who has won honours for the country across the world.'
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian national accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has been extradited to India from the United States. Rana's interrogation is expected to shed light on the role of Pakistani state actors in the attacks, which claimed 166 lives. Indian authorities are particularly interested in his travels across India in the days leading up to the attacks, including visits to Hapur, Agra, Delhi, Kochi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai. Rana's extradition follows a lengthy legal battle, with the US Supreme Court ultimately denying his application to challenge it. Rana is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks. The investigation into the Mumbai attacks has implicated senior members of terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HuJI), as well as officials from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The Supreme Court of India reprimanded Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks about Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, calling them "irresponsible." The court stayed criminal proceedings against Gandhi in a case filed in Uttar Pradesh for his comments but warned him against making such statements in the future. The court also asked Gandhi's lawyer if he was aware that even Mahatma Gandhi used terms like "your faithful servant" in his communications with the British.
A Canadian court has sentenced a 24-year-old man to life after he pleaded guilty to the killing of a Sikh businessman, a suspect in the 1985 Air India bombing who was later acquitted, according to local media reports.
Unless Governor Ravi or the Union of India moves in appeal, seeking a hearing by a constitutional Bench, this is where it all will have to end, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'All of these guys who are opposing the Supreme Court judgment are from dominant scheduled caste communities and none of them come from the scavenging community.' 'Not a single scavenging leader will oppose this Supreme Court judgment.'
Gandhi alleged that assembly and Lok Sabha polls were being "stolen" across the country and there was a "conspiracy" in Bihar to do the same through the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
While India today is vastly different from the India of 1975, the need for vigilance against authoritarianism remains the same, asserts Utkarsh Mishra.
Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland case, has claimed that attempts were made to poison him inside Tihar Jail. A Delhi court has sought a response from the prison authorities on his plea. The court has also directed that James be taken to AIIMS on April 7 for a check-up. James was extradited from Dubai in 2018 and has been in custody since then. He has been granted bail in the ED and CBI cases against him but has refused to accept bail citing security concerns. He has also alleged that he was subjected to an incident at AIIMS, the details of which he is willing to share with the court in private. The court has ordered James to furnish a personal bond and surety of Rs 10 lakh in both cases and surrender his passport. The CBI chargesheet claims an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (about Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer due to the deal for the supply of VVIP choppers. The ED chargesheet filed against James alleged he received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.
The Supreme Court has granted bail to alleged middleman Christian Michel James in the purported Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland case. James had been in custody for six years while the investigation was ongoing. The alleged scam relates to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland. James, a British national, was extradited from Dubai in December 2018.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has removed all references to the Mughals and Delhi Sultanate from its class 7 textbooks. The new textbooks, released this week, have been designed in line with the new National Education Policy (NEP) and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) 2023, which emphasize incorporating Indian traditions, philosophies, knowledge systems, and local context into school education. The textbooks now include new chapters on ancient Indian dynasties, sacred geography, and government initiatives like Make in India and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao. The revamp has been met with criticism from opposition parties who equate it with "saffronisation."
'Politicians can do symbolism by changing the names of places and museums.' 'Judges need not be seen to be craving for approval from the public.'
The Delhi high court granted bail to alleged middleman Christian Michel James in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland money laundering case on Tuesday. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, while granting the reprieve to James, said it was an "exceptional situation" where the accused was in custody for over 6.2 years but the trial had not yet commenced due to incomplete investigation. James, who was extradited from Dubai in December 2018, can now walk out of prison subject to compliance with the conditions.
"The moment we let technology take the driver's seat in the legal system, we begin to erode the public's faith in us and with it, the foundations of the rule of law," CJI Gavai added.
The IKF said that the Indian team that had gone for the Kabaddi World Cup in the United Kingdom was not sent by the AKFI, the national body of the sport.
'Is it right and proper for the US authorities to allow people like Subrahmanya Swamy [sic] go round the country preaching murder, violence, overthrow of the duly elected Government of India?' A fascinating excerpt from Sugata Srinivasaraju's The Conscience Network: A Chronicle of Resistance to a Dictatorship.
On February 1, grappling with the intractable issue of the AMU's minority status, the top court said the 1981 amendment to the AMU Act, which effectively accorded it a minority status, only did a "half-hearted job" and did not restore the institution the position it had prior to 1951.
Speaking after laying the foundation stone of the Bombay high court's new complex on land allotted by the Maharashtra government in Mumbai's upscale Bandra area, he noted the mega project was a collaboration between the state and the judiciary to provide modern infrastructure to citizens.
What should be made out of the Madras high court order involving non-Hindus' entry into Hindu temples, when many non-Hindus are among the hundreds of thousands that have been worshipping at these temples for generations, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
'There were deep discussions within the Sangh Parivar before this decision was made.' 'They were convinced, and only then did the Modi government proceed with the caste census.'
In March last year, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court by Rajat Sharma and Dr Neh Srivastava who demanded that a former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister be booked under the sedition law, claiming he had sought China's help to restore the erstwhile state's special status.
The Supreme Court of India expressed shock and disappointment at the Indian government's failure to implement the Dam Safety Act, enacted in 2021. The court highlighted the lack of progress in constituting a national committee for dam safety and formulating regulations despite the law's provisions. The case pertains to the safety of the Mullaperiyar Dam, a 130-year-old structure in Kerala, which is controlled by Tamil Nadu. The court has ordered the government to take immediate action and seek assistance from the Attorney General in this matter.
The United Kingdom government on Friday won a major legal battle as the Supreme Court ruled against allowing a London-born 21-year-old woman of Bangladeshi descent, who ran away to Syria as a teenager to join the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group, to return and fight her citizenship case.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was brought to India on Thursday after being "successfully extradited " from the US, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said. The 64-year-old Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin landed in Delhi in a special plane on Thursday evening, ending days of speculation of when and how he will be extradited, officials said. The NIA said in a statement that it had secured the successful extradition after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring to justice the key conspirator behind the 2008 mayhem that claimed 166 lives. Rana is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the the three-day terror siege of India's financial capital.
A British court on Tuesday opened the continuation appeal hearing in the extradition case of Nirav Modi, who is wanted in India on the charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to an estimated $2 billion in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan scam case. The 51-year-old diamond merchant had lodged an appeal last year against his extradition order on mental health grounds. Lord Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith and Justice Robert Jay presided over an initial hearing at the High Court in December last year to determine whether District Judge Sam Goozee's Westminster Magistrates' Court ruling from February 2021 in favour of extradition was incorrect to overlook the diamond merchant's "high risk of suicide".
The government has slapped a $2.81 billion (about Rs 24,500 crore) demand notice on Reliance Industries and its partners, including BP Plc for gains made from producing and selling natural gas that may have migrated from neighbouring block of state-owned ONGC. This follows the Delhi high court's decision on February 14, overturning an international arbitration tribunal ruling that held the duo not responsible for paying any compensation for the gas they produced and sold which had allegedly migrated from adjoining fields.
A Supreme Court advocate, who took up cudgels seeking redressal for comments made by two British judges in Lahore allegedly casting a slur on the Punjabi community in 1924, Monday said she was satisfied with the "correct" response of the UK govt
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Jogen Mohan had on August 22 tabled The Assam Repealing Bill, 2024 in the Assembly to abolish The Assam Moslem Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935 and the Assam Repealing Ordinance 2024.
All three agreed to have the proceedings heard in English and each of them nodded that they understood the charges of first-degree murder and conspiring to murder Nijjar, the report said.
The Congress on Wednesday said the Supreme Court judgment on certain matters relating to transactions by the Adani Group has proven to be 'extraordinarily generous' to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and asserted that the party's fight against crony capitalism and its ill-effects on prices, employment and inequalities will continue.
The return of the Kohinoor diamond to India has been a long-standing demand, with many claiming that the diamond was taken away forcibly by the British.
Noting the urgency and desire on the part of India to extradite people accused of corruption, the UK on Friday said a "legal process" is on in Vijay Mallya's matter and it has to be followed through as there cannot be any shortcut. In May last year, the fugitive businessman lost his appeals in the British Supreme Court against his extradition to India to face money laundering and fraud charges. Asked when can Mallya be extradited to India and if some kind of legal issue is still pending in the matter, new British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, without pointing to any particular case, said he recognises the urgency, importance and the desire to get back people who are accused of corruption to India.
