BJP leaders and Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Anurag Thakur had accused Gandhi of insulting OBCs.
He claimed that out of 90 secretaries of the government of India, only three are from the Other Backward Classes and control only five per cent of the Budget, which he said was an "insult" to the backward classes.
The proceedings began at 11 am with two-minute silence for those killed in the ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kukis that began on May 3.
The Law Commission has said it is of the considered view that Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code dealing with sedition needs to be retained, though certain amendments could be introduced to bring about greater clarity regarding usage of the provision.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday condemned the demand made by some Karnataka leaders that Mumbai be declared a Union Territory.
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.
A total of 11 advocates and two judicial officers were on Monday appointed as additional judges in the high courts of Allahabad, Karnataka and Madras.
The Commission also suggested changes to the phrasing of Section 124A and added words "a tendency to incite violence or cause public disorder".
What some of our leaders were up to on the weekend.
'The (Collegium system of appointing judges) is absolutely whimsical.'
This is in contrast to a Supreme Court judgment of March which said the panel should comprise of the prime minister, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India.
Justice Sodhi said the right to frame laws lies with Parliament.
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday said formalities are being carried out ahead of the appointment of the next chief justice of India and hoped that everything will go smoothly because the government is "always particular" about rules and conventions.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Monday the government does not "disturb" the personal freedom and activities of individuals but the issue related to the institution of marriage was a matter of policy.
The government on Thursday said it has suggested to the Supreme Court that the search-cum-evaluation committee for the appointment of judges in the apex court and chief justices of high courts should consist of a representative nominated by the Centre.
Odisha's Law and Urban Development Minister Raghunath Mohanty resigned on Friday on "moral grounds" after his daughter-in-law filed a dowry case against him and his family members.
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.
Senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, are accompanying Rahul Gandhi to the court.
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.
The Kerala government has not excluded the industrial units situated in special economic zones from labour laws, State labour minister P K Gurudasan told the Assembly on Thursday. He was replying to a calling attention motion on the difficulties experienced by the employees of new generation banks, IT sector and private insurance and financial institutions functioning in the state due to non-compliance of labour laws by the respective units.
"From time to time, complaints are received in the Department of Justice (in the law ministry) against sitting as well as retired judges of Supreme Court and high courts. Department of Justice is concerned only with the appointment and service conditions of the sitting judges of the Supreme Court and high courts," he said.
Replying to questions in the Upper House of Parliament, the law minister said the Centre has limited powers over appointments of judges.
The Madras high court had said in its 2021 judgment that a new law to ban online gambling may be enacted by the government and this made it clear that the state legislature is competent to pass a Bill to ban online rummy, Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Regupathy said in Chennai on Thursday.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government had requested the 21st Law Commission to undertake examination of various issues relating to uniform civil code and to make recommendations.
Talking to reporters in Bilaspur town of the state, he also accused the saffron party of trying to take political advantage of last week's communal violence in Biranpur village of Bemetara district.
However, it is unlikely for Khan to promulgate the ordinance soon as the tussle between him and the state government over the issue was yet to die down, sources added.
Chief Justice of India Justice Chandrachud administered the oath of office to the new judges in a swearing-in ceremony at the apex court's auditorium.
In her article, Sonia Gandhi underlined that the next few months will be a crucial test of India's democracy and that the country is at the crossroads with the Modi government bent on "misusing every power" and elections approaching in several key states.
DMK Parliamentary Party leader T R Baalu told reporters in New Delhi that Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Regupathy, who led a delegation, handed over to the President what state Chief Minister M K Stalin has 'written', but repeatedly insisted the content of the communication was only known to the CM.
Several opposition MPs have petitioned President Droupadi Murmu for immediate action over social media trolling of Chief Justice of India Justice D Y Chandrachud while he was deliberating on a case related to the Governor's role in Maharashtra during the last government formation.
Stepping up their attack on Rahul Gandhi for his 'democracy under brutal attack' remark in the United Kingdom, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Union ministers, on Thursday demanded an apology from the Congress leader insisting that he was 'not above Parliament'.
Sources said there was no need 'immediately' to look into legal aspects or consider anything else (such as the possibility of political interests over the dismissal and a counter-strategy to frustrate it), as the dismissal was now on hold.
Sodhi told the news channel that Parliament makes the law and the courts have the power of judicial review over it and added it was not right to make his opinion "political".
The minister said the Constitution of India is a 'religious document' for everyone, especially the government, and 'anything which is alien to the Constitution merely because of the decision taken by the courts or some judges, how do you expect that the decision will be backed by the country'.
In a landmark overhaul of colonial-era criminal laws, the Centre on Friday introduced in the Lok Sabha three bills to replace the IPC, CrPC and the Indian Evidence Act, proposing among other things repeal of the sedition law and introducing a new provision with a wider definition of the offence.
"My heart is full of pain and anger," he told reporters in his remarks ahead of Parliament's Monsoon Session, amid his criticism by opposition parties for not speaking on the ethnic violence in the north east state.
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it was mystified as to how bureaucrat Arun Goel applied for voluntary retirement on November 18 last year if he was not aware about the proposal to appoint him as an election commissioner.
The NJAC Act, which sought to overturn the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and high court judges, was struck down by the top court in 2015.
Justice Sonia Giridhar Gokani, senior-most judge of the Gujarat high court, was appointed its chief justice.
Glimpses of a memorable Sunday morning at the Mumbai Marathon captured by Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com.
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