The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea seeking to revert to paper ballot voting in elections in the country, saying allegations of tampering with electronic voting machine (EVM) raked up only when people lose polls.
The cabinet of the new government led by Rekha Gupta balances representation of all major communities that propelled the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in Delhi with a massive majority after over 26 years.
Moderate turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling across five assembly constituencies across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala where bypolls are underway on Thursday.
In a complaint to the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer, the Congress mentioned about a video uploaded on social media platform 'X' by the official account of Karnataka State Bharatiya Janata Party @bjp4karnataka which is operated by Amit Malviya, the head of IT cell on instructions of J P Nadda, BJP national president, B Y Vijayendra, BJP state president and social media in charge- Karnataka BJP on May 4 at 5.34 pm.
The opposition Congress in Assam has accused the BJP government of running a "police raj" after official data revealed that 72 people were killed and 220 injured in police actions since Himanta Biswa Sarma became the chief minister in May 2021. The Congress has demanded that the Supreme Court take suo motu cognisance of the data and investigate the alleged fake encounters in the state. The data shows that a total of 256 police actions have been taken between May 2021 and February 2024, resulting in the deaths of 38 people in police remand and 34 more while in custody but before remand. The Congress has alleged that the ruling party is using the police for political gains, while the government has defended its actions, stating that police cases have been registered in each incident and that the NHRC guidelines have been followed.
Terrorism and insurgency in J&K had subsided when India demolished East Pakistan -- for the simple reason that Pakistan understands power. We need to follow Chanakya's dictum of Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed for strategising against Pakistan, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd). The ground truth is that unless we are prepared to acknowledge our shortcomings, including massive intelligence failures, punish those responsible and take corrective actions, we will continue in the same vein, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
The Supreme Court of India has ruled that Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi can no longer serve as chancellor of state-run universities, a decision welcomed by the ruling DMK party. The court's judgment stems from a long-standing dispute between the state government and the governor over the assent of 10 bills passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly. The DMK alleges that the governor had obstructed the smooth functioning of universities by delaying appointments and other critical matters. The judgment paves the way for the Tamil Nadu government to appoint new chancellors for its universities, effectively removing the governor's influence in higher education.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the response of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Commission for Women (NCW) and the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) to pleas challenging the constitutional validity of polygamy and 'nikah halala' among Muslims.
Rijiju made the remarks while responding to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who dubbed as 'extremely dangerous' the government's move to ask the Supreme Court to include its nominees in collegium.
The opposition parties on Sunday slammed the move to hire public servants through lateral entry, claiming it will snatch reservations from SCs, STs and OBCs, but the Bharatiya Janata Party hit back stating the National Democratic Alliance government was bringing transparency to this mode of recruitment started by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.
Observing that working conditions have made doctors and health professionals susceptible to violence, the Supreme Court on Tuesday constituted a 10-member task force to formulate a national protocol for ensuring safety and facilities for them in the wake of the rape and murder of a medic in Kolkata.
The commission, probing allegations of discrimination against SC students and doctors, said the premier institute had been following an 'illegal reservation policy' and sought its amendment.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan clarified that its order will not be applicable to unauthorised structures on public roads, footpaths etc.
"Not a single woman (from Sandeshkhali) has lodged any FIR. It was me who directed the police to lodge a suo motu case. Our block president has been arrested," she said.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti said in democratic nations, the freedom to express one's views is respected and the rights of journalists are protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
In the latest tape that surfaced on Saturday night, Kayal was heard saying that 70 women got Rs 2,000 each for taking part in protests against Sheikh who was arrested and later suspended by the police.
The BJP had registered a one-sided victory on all the 17 SC-reserved seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But in 2019, out of these 17 seats, it lost Nagina and Lalganj seats to the Bahujan Samaj Party.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has moved the Supreme Court against the legalisation of same-sex marriages.
A bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna deferred the matter after lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay mentioned it saying it be heard on April 5 or 6 as it was unlikely to be heard during the day.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sanjay Karol made the observation while setting aside a Calcutta high court order that had revoked a doctor's licence for contempt of court.
The top court said a considerable amount of direct control is exercised by the client over the manner in which an advocate renders his services during the course of his employment.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which pulled off a hat-trick of wins in Haryana by bucking anti-incumbency, managed to make significant inroads into the Dalit seats and Jat strongholds.
Terming forced religious conversion a "very serious" issue, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to step in and make sincere efforts to check the practice.
A bench of Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh asked the UGC to furnish the details of steps taken on a plea by the mothers of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi.
The Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it has held consultative meetings with all state governments, Union territories and other stakeholders on the issue of identification of minorities at the state level and 14 states have furnished their views so far.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused the Congress of practicing appeasement politics, saying the party's priority was "family first." He asserted that the BJP-led government operates on the principle of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' (development for all) and prioritizes "nation first." Modi further criticized the Congress's approach to reservations, claiming it was aimed at creating divisions within the country. He highlighted the BJP's initiatives to empower marginalized communities, including the constitutional status to the OBC commission and the introduction of 10% reservation for economically backward groups.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted to announce the appointment of Justice Pankaj Mithal, Chief Justice, Rajasthan High Court; Justice Sanjay Karol, Chief Justice, Patna High Court; Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, Chief Justice, Manipur High Court; Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah of Patna High Court; and Justice Manoj Misra of Allahabad High Court as apex court judges.
In the Union Budget for Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had held forth on the need for better governance and investor protection in the banking sector. She had proposed certain amendments to the Reserve Bank of India Act (RBI Act), 1934; the Banking Regulation Act (BR Act), 1949; and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970.
The observations came from a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala while reserving the verdict on an appeal filed by NGOs -- Just Rights for Children Alliance of Faridabad and New Delhi-based Bachpan Bachao Andolan -- challenging a Madras high court verdict.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday said it was a "matter of grave concern" that certain portions of sensitive reports of the Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing were put in public domain by the Supreme Court collegium.
Sandeshkhali, a village in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, has been at the centre of a political storm for nearly a month and has witnessed unprecedented protests over allegations of sexual abuse by scores of women against a local Trinamool Congress leader.
It noted that Article 15(5) of the Constitution does not empower the State to compel a minority educational institution to admit students from the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes or Backward Classes of citizens.
The NGO challenges the validity of a provision of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023.
The principal opposition party though appeared content securing 99 of the 543 seats in the 2024 national elections as against its all-time low of 44 in 2014 and then 52 in 2019.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday admitted the pleas seeking talaq-e-hasan and all other forms of "unilateral extrajudicial divorce" to be declared unconstitutional.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states and Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Though these bye-elections are not going to have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept. Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.
In his letter to President Droupadi Murmu, SCBA President Adish C Aggarwala urged her to seek presidential reference of the apex court judgement in the electoral bonds scheme case.
The bench said the petitioner must know that the high court has already passed certain directions on the issue.
The observation came when Upadhyay, a lawyer, said since population comes under the concurrent list of the Constitution state governments can also make laws to control it.
Though seven opportunities have been granted to the states, it appears that full compliance has not been affected and several states are in default, it said.
