The Gujarat government told the Supreme Court on Thursday that the petitioners who have sought a probe into the alleged fake encounters in the state from 2002 to 2006 need to explain the reasons for their "selective public interest" in raising the issue.
Nariman received the Padma Bhushan in January 1991 and in 2007, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.
The CBI has registered a case of alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act against human rights activist Harsh Mander and his NGO, and searched his premises on Friday, officials said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the Centre over the procedure adopted for the appointment of election commissioners and asked how six names were shortlisted from 200 within a few hours.
Right to Information activist Anjali Bhardwaj said the VVPAT system should be re-calibrated to be fully voter-verifiable.
'My suspicion is that most of the bonds were given by companies who had got contracts or who had benefited from policy changes by the government.'
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta took note of the submissions of lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGOs 'Common Cause' and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, that the plea needed to be listed for hearing at the earliest.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia had heard the matter on November 20 and posted it for further hearing on Tuesday.
More than 750 eminent citizens, including historian Romila Thapar, economist Jean Dreze and actor Naseeruddin Shah, on Wednesday came out in support of a news website which is alleged to have received dubious funds to spread Chinese propaganda.
'We were not protesting for a wage hike or provident fund. We were protesting for the safety of the larger population. There is no personal gain.'
The Supreme Court on Tuesday deprecated criticism of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and calls for reverting to ballot papers, saying the electoral process in India is a "humongous task" and attempts should not be made to "bring down the system".
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear pleas challenging the Centre's decision to block a BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Underscoring the importance of voter satisfaction and trust in the electoral system, the Supreme Court on Thursday told petitioners who sought its direction to go back to using ballot papers not to suspect the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and appreciate if the Election Commission does good work.
The Supreme Court said on Wednesday it cannot 'control the elections' or issue directions simply because doubts have been raised about the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), as it reserved its judgment on a clutch of petitions claiming the polling devices can be tinkered with to manipulate the results.
'The BJP was supporting him from behind in order to bring down the Congress government.'
In its verdict last month, the top court directed the SBI to furnish the details to the Election Commission (EC) by March 6.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued notice to the Centre on a plea filed by an NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms, and listed the matter along with other pending petitions on the issue for hearing in April.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) what the capital markets regulator intends to do for ensuring the protection of investors from extreme volatility in the stock market.
A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih told the petitioners, who pointed out that a meeting for the selection of ECs was pre-poned, to file a separate application pointing out the fact.
The plea came up for hearing before a bench comprising Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan.
The bench said it was not questioning the credentials of the election commissioners appointed but the procedure.
Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Adish C Aggarwala Thursday wrote to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud expressing "shock" at an open letter to the head of the judiciary by a senior member of the bar.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, which was hearing an application filed by the Election Commission (EC) seeking a modification of the operative portion of its March 11 order in the electoral bonds case, directed its registrar (judicial) to ensure that the data filed earlier by the poll panel before it in a sealed cover be scanned and digitised.
A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled to commence hearing from October 31 a batch of pleas challenging the validity of the electoral bond scheme for political funding of parties.
"It is very easy to fling allegations and letters," an anguished Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said on Thursday while clarifying that the bail plea of Aam Aadmi Party leader Satyendar Kumar Jain in a money laundering case was listed before a bench headed by Justice Bela M Trivedi as Justice A S Bopanna was unavailable due to illness.
The court was hearing two pleas including one alleging delay by the Centre in clearing the names recommended by the collegium for appointment and transfer of judges.
Away from the courtroom and legal circles, Nariman was a familiar figure for residents of Hauz Khas who would see him walk regularly, even in the cold winter months of December and January.
The apex court was hearing separate pleas filed in 2007 by senior journalist BG Verghese, and noted lyricist Javed Akhtar and Shabnam Hashmi, seeking a probe into the alleged fake encounters.
The apex court orally observed that if FIRs are given to those unrelated to the case like busybodies and NGOs, they might be misused.
He cited examples of journalists reporting about coronavirus cases and related issue such as lack of ventilators, being charged with fake news provisions.
'After a month of working on the new machine, I realised that the black glass on the VVPAT lets the programmer manipulate not just the electronic system, but the paper vote too.' 'And it will not be detected even during the mock poll or the actual voting because of the black glass.'
A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled to commence a crucial hearing from Tuesday on a batch of pleas challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties.
The Supreme Court on Friday said it has no reason to "discredit" SEBI, which probed allegations against the Adani group, as there was no material before it to doubt what the market regulator has done and the court does not have to treat what was set out in the Hindenburg report as a "true state of affairs".
While asking the Centre to set up the delimitation panel, the top court, however, said it cannot direct Parliament to amend or make laws for giving proper representation to other communities that form part of the STs as that would amount to "venturing into the legislative domain".
A fresh PIL was filed on Thursday in the Supreme Court challenging the Centre's decision to block a BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The top court had in November 2009 issued contempt notice to Bhushan and Tejpal for allegedly casting aspersions on some sitting and former top court judges in an interview to a news magazine.
'Kejriwal could have easily deputed someone to step in as chief minister, but being the authoritative and self-centered personality that he is, he chose not to do it.' 'If the AAP loses Delhi, where it has a huge majority, the only one to blame would be Kejriwal,' asserts Ramesh Menon.
'Meddling with our national emblem was totally unnecessary and avoidable'
Alleging that the BBC has been biased against India and the Indian government, the plea alleged that its documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a 'result of deep conspiracy against global rise of India and its prime minister'.
The bench refused to entertain the plea filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms and dismissed it.
