The BJP government in Gujarat has formed a five-member committee, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, to assess the need for the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state and to draft a bill for the same. The committee will submit its report within 45 days. The decision has sparked debate with the Opposition claiming it is an attempt to divert attention from pressing issues ahead of the upcoming local body polls, while the government insists the UCC will protect the rights of tribal communities. The committee will consult with religious leaders, including those from the Muslim community.
On the basis of her committee's report, the UCC in Uttarakhand established mandatory registration for marriages and live-in relationships, banned polygamy, and provided equal inheritance rights for women.
Several Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states in the country, including Gujarat and Assam, have expressed their keenness to follow the Uttarakhand UCC as a model.
Given the reality of the disparity and the enormous shift over the last 50 years, this can be done without an open and frank conversation with the people, something that has not begun and, knowing the style of our leader, is not expected to begin, asserts Aakar Patel.
'This action sends out a very nasty message in a very strong way -- that nobody is exempt.' 'It is also an attempt to extend the definition of who is an anti-national, who's a terrorist, a definition that's becoming looser under this regime.' 'The sad part is that by the time the courts acquit those arrested, they would've spent years in jail and been taught a lesson.'
The Centre is planning a series of political initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir which may include discussion with mainstream parties of the Union Territory and elections to the assembly in the early part of next year, officials said in New Delhi.
Alleging that all government authorities were ganging up on Adarsh Housing Society, the society's counsel on Friday told the Bombay High Court that the Ministry of Environment and Forests had cleared various construction projects in the city without insisting for a clearance from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority.
Stating that Adarsh Housing Society had brazenly violated the law, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on Monday ruled out the possibility of regularizing the 31-storey building, at a hearing before the Bombay High Court.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation, the investigating agency in Adarsh Housing Society scam, to look into the allegations of involvement of Union ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushil Kumar Shinde, and submit a progress report by next week.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a PIL seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the alleged siphoning off of funds given to an NGO Hind Swaraj Trust run by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and issued notices to the Centre and Maharashtra government. A bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Desai sought the governments' response on a petition filed by lawyer Manohar Lal Sharma, accusing Hazare of siphoning off of funds granted by the government.
The Bombay High Court admitted an appeal filed by maharashtra government against the acquittal of Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed in the 26/11 terror attack case and deferred till August 30 the hearing on confirmation of death sentence awarded to convicted terrorist Ajmal Kasab.
The Bombay high court on Monday dismissed a batch of petitions seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the murder of veteran crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey. The petitions seeking CBI probe had been filed in public interest by advocate V P Patil, the Mumbai Press Club, Marathi Patrakar Parishad and former scribes S Balakrishna and Ketan Tirodkar. Opposing the petitions, Advocate General Ravi Kadam argued that the police had already arrested 8 people.
Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab claimed photographs showing him and his slain companion Abu Ismael at Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus and Cama Hospital during the 26/11 attacks were morphed.
Eleven days after the murder of slain Mid-Day crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey at city suburb Powai, the Mumbai crime branch on Tuesday submitted a 24-page status report before the bench of Justice Ranjana Desai and Ranjit More in the Bombay high court.
A public interest litigation filed in the Bombay high court has demanded that provisions of `Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002' be invoked in the Adarsh Society scam case, and the source of the funds used for the purchase of flats be probed.
A lawyer on Wednesday approached the Bombay high court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the murder of senior journalist Jyotirmoy Dey, who was gunned down by unidentified assailants last week.
A confession should be accepted in toto and not partially, Nikam told justices Ranjana Desai and R V More who are hearing arguments on confirmation of death sentence awarded to Kasab for his role in 26/11 attacks. "Kasab's confession was true and voluntary but its value did not deteriorate only because it was given in the magistrate's chamber and not in open court," he argued.
The Bombay high court on Thursday decided to first hear arguments on confirmation of death sentence awarded to Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab for his role in 26/11 attacks and then proceed with his appeal against conviction and capital punishment. Justices Ranjana Desai and R V More asked the Maharashtra government to open arguments on confirmation of death sentence awarded to Kasab for killing 166 persons in the terror attacks on November 26, 2008.
The Maharashtra government has submitted a CD of CCTV footage showing Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab assaulting jail staff to the Bombay High Court.
In a breather for the Adarsh Housing Society, the Bombay high court on Wednesday said that before passing any "drastic" order -- such as giving a nod for demolition -- it would first hear the society and the environment ministry.
A division bench of justices Ranjana Desai and R V More also reserved the verdict on the appeal filed by Maharashtra government against the acquittal of LeT suspects Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed in the 26/11 case.
Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab on Monday claimed he was not part of the 26/11 attacks conspiracy hatched in Pakistan by Lashkar-e-Tayiba and argued his confession recorded by a magistrate and plea of guilt made before the trial court should be discarded as they were contrary to each other.
The criminal case filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act is linked to the recovery of at least two diaries by the ED after raids on an alleged associate of Mehbooba, a former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister.
The PDP led by former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has decided to stay away from the delimitation process, saying the body lacks 'constitutional and legal mandate' and is part of the overall process of political disempowerment of people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Justices Ranjana Desai and R V More, while dismissing the plea, said they had viewed a CD of CCTV footage submitted by Government Counsel Ujjwal Nikam which showed Kasab attacking prison personnel on September 1 and also considered the past experiences of Kasab on his aggressive posture in jail.
The division bench of Justices Ranjana Desai and R V More, apart from pronouncing the judgement on confirmation of death sentence to Kasab, will also deliver its verdict on Maharashtra government's plea against the acquittal of two Indians accused of aiding in commission of the crime.
The Bombay high court on Monday said it would deliver its verdict on February 21 on confirmation of death sentence awarded to Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab for his role in the 26/11 terror attacks and also on his appeal against his conviction.
The Bombay High Court on Friday, issued a show cause notice to the Union Defence Secretary and the Chief of Naval Staff on a contempt petition which alleges that the Navy did not follow the assurance given to the court last year in a matter related to service rules.
Holding that a person can be charged under MCOCA even if no charge sheet has been filed against him in the past, the Bombay High Court has refused to discharge an alleged aide of gangster Guru Satam from trial.
Moving the court of Justices Ranjana Desai and Dilip Bhosale, Harish Bhalchandra Vichare's lawyer C U Singh said, "He (Vichare) has vital information about the incident in question and wants to give the information to state CID."
The tussle between Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and his brother Anil's Reliance Natural Resources over gas supply came to the fore in Bombay High Court on Thursday with RIL alleging that RNRL wanted to trade the fuel.
The Bombay high court on Monday deferred till August 16 a petition filed by 1993 serial bomb blast accused Abu Salem challenging a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court's order to separate his trial from other accused.
However, Justice Desai made it clear that what she said was merely a prima facie observation and not an order. "We are not on merit of his application," the judge clarified.
The Mumbai high court on Friday ordered CBI to probe the complaint filed by Tata Finance Ltd against its former managing director Dilip Pendse for allegedly cheating the company to the tune of Rs 400 crore.
The new judges of the top court include Justice B V Nagarathna, who will be in line to be the first woman Chief Justice of India (CJI) in September 2027, Justice Bela M Trivedi, Justice Hima Kohli, Justice C T Ravikumar, Justice M M Sundresh, and senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha.
The Mumbai high court has asked the Censor Board to grant a certificate on Anand Patwardhan's anti-nuclear short film.
In an unprecedented decision, the Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the names of three women judges for appointment in the apex court which, if cleared, would give the country its first woman Chief Justice of India (CJI) in the form of Justice B V Nagarathna on February 10, 2027.
The suspect, Saquib Nachan, feared that the cops might kill him in a fake encounter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to chair a meeting with all political parties from Jammu and Kashmir on June 24 as part of the Centre's initiatives to bolster political processes, including holding assembly elections, in the union territory, officials said in New Delhi.
The voluminous report has proposed redrawing of the Anantnag Parliamentary seat by including Rajouri and Poonch from the Jammu region, besides carrying out massive changes in the Kashmir division, they said.
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