Charges were framed against self-style godman Asaram on Friday for rape, criminal conspiracy and other offences by a Jodhpur court in connection with sexual exploitation of a minor girl in his ashram in Jodhpur.
The bench asked the government why the victim has not been examined till now.
Twelve people were convicted and seven acquitted by a Mumbai court on Friday in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case of Gujarat. The sentencing is on Monday.
The CBI arrested 12 people, including a BJP worker, from Dahod district in Gujarat in connection with the gang rape of three women and the massacre of seven villagers during the post-Godhra communal riots in March 2002.
In a special sitting on a Saturday, a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan observed that there should be a sense of urgency in such cases and not a 'lackadaisical attitude' of treating the matter as any normal case and just adjourning it.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to resume hearing on Thursday a clutch of petitions challenging the remission granted to all 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Twenty-five fast-track courts are proposed to be set up in Maharashtra for time-bound disposal of serious crimes against women, as more rape victims in several states turned out to report sexual assault.
"Public outcry will not affect our judicial decisions," the Supreme Court asserted on Tuesday, as it began weighing the legality of the remission granted to all the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad has arrested five persons for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to extort Rs 8 crore from a retired Indian Police Service officer by preparing and circulating a false affidavit to claim he had raped a woman, an official said on Monday.
While indicating that he might not allow the petition if both the girl and foetus were healthy, Justice Samir Dave of the high court also referred to the Manusmriti during the hearing on Wednesday.
Apprehending threat to the life of family members, father of the child rape-victim has moved the Supreme Court on Thursday opposing the bail plea of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu.
The Aam Aadmi Party tops the list with 61 such candidates.
"When an authority does not have the jurisdiction to deal with a matter or it is not within the powers of the authority i.e. the State of Gujarat in the instant case, to be the appropriate Government to pass orders of remission under Section 432 of the CrPC, the orders of remission would have no legs to stand," it added.
Defending the manner in which the apex court went ahead in providing security to the riot victims, he said: "The court has only discharged its constitutional obligations."
While posting the matter for hearing on April 18, a bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna said there is a gamut of issues involved and it needs to hear the matter in detail.
"Why are our jails overcrowded? Why is the the policy of remission being applied selectively?"
Supreme Court judgement pronounced on Monday quashing the Gujarat government's decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in the case of gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 riots in the state, said the orders were "stereotyped".
"He is lodged in the prison in connection with a rape case and sections of the Pocso Act. Rinku is not a physiotherapist," the sources said.
The Supreme Court on Monday fixed August 7 for the start of the final hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the remission granted last year to all the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The disgrace is compounded by the fact that the 81-year-old self-styled godman is already serving a life sentence in a Jodhpur jail for raping a minor girl at his ashram in Rajasthan in 2013.
K C Patel, the MP from Gujarat's Valsad, filed the complaint with the police last week following which the woman approached a city court, claiming police did not act on her rape complaint against the lawmaker.
The accused in the Mumbai gang rape case have admitted to having earlier committed two rapes and a molestation inside the deserted Shakti Mills compound, investigators said on Tuesday.
Among the major parties, out of the 25 BJP candidates, four, or 15 percent, have criminal cases against them, with two facing serious charges, as per the data of ADR.
The top court said the faith of people in the efficacy of law is the saviour and succour for the sustenance of the rule of law.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar termed the plea as "absolutely misconceived" and said how can it sit in appeal over an order passed by another bench of the apex court.
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Karnataka had the most number of minor rape victims in 2016.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is contesting 88 seats out of the total 89, tops this list among major political parties in the fray with 36 per cent of its candidates having criminal cases. Thirty per cent of its candidates are facing serious cases such as murder, rape, assault, kidnapping, among others, the ADR said in its report. The number of candidates having criminal cases fielded by the AAP is 32.
The review plea filed by Ramesh Rupabhai Chandana said the top court erred while passing the impugned order and overruling judgment dated May 13, 2022, passed by another bench of the apex court.
The victim's father said the alleged conversation was recorded eight months ago and he had got the tape from Kripal Singh, the slain key witness in the Jodhpur rape case.
One of the undertrials was accused of murder, two of rape under the provisions of Protection of Children for Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), and one under the Prohibition Act of the state, Kumar said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre and the Gujarat government to submit by October 16 the original records related to the remission of sentence of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Prashant Kumar Mishra noted, in accordance with its May 9 order, notices have been published in local newspapers, including those in Gujarati and English, against the convicts who could not be served (the notice).
Diwali celebrations have started in the United States from the iconic Times Square in New York, with the United States Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump celebrating the festival of lights at their residences on Friday.
"Law is supposed to be a noble profession," the Supreme Court observed on Thursday, and voiced surprise over how can one of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and murder of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots practise law after his conviction, the remission of his sentence notwithstanding.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday remarked the Gujarat government's reply to pleas challenging the remission granted to 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case is very bulky wherein a series of judgments have been quoted but factual statements are missing.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had on October 12 last year reserved its verdict after an 11-day hearing on the petitions, including the one filed by Bano.
The Supreme Court on Monday held as nullity the May 13, 2022, judgment of another bench of the apex court, which had directed the Gujarat government to consider the remission applications of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and murder of seven of her family members, saying it was obtained by "playing fraud on court".
Bilkis, whose cross-examination was concluded on Thursday, had earlier identified in the court the 12 accused.
Commencing arguments on the plea challenging the remission granted last year to all the 11 convicts, advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bilkis Bano, submitted she was brutally gang-raped while she was pregnant and her first child was smashed with a rock to death.
Narayan Sai, son of arrested self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, remained untraceable on Friday even as the Gujarat police raided an ashram in Bihar's Darbhanga district to arrest him on rape charges while his aide was nabbed in Delhi for allegedly helping him.
