"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.
A day after a Bharatiya Janata Party delegation met President Ram Nath Kovind seeking dismissal of the Mamata Banerjee government over the "political murder" of a party MLA, the West Bengal chief minister wrote a latter to him claiming the saffron party might have presented "distorted facts".
The Supreme Court will hear on March 27 a batch of pleas challenging the remission of sentence of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case that also involves the killing of seven members of her family during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Centre and others to a plea challenging the third extension granted to Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra.
The deal in question is the sale of Devkripa Vyapar Pvt Ltd, the holding company of Akhon Samay, a news channel that never went of air.
Opposition leaders on Saturday lauded the Congress for its victory in Karnataka and thanked the people of the state, saying that this win has showed that 'Modi is not invincible'.
One fallout of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification will be reflected in the Opposition's role in Parliament and related institutions.
Observing that there are "definite and proved" allegations that complaints of the victims of violence in the aftermath of the West Bengal assembly polls were not even registered, the Calcutta high court on Thursday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into all alleged cases of heinous crimes like rape and murder, while accepting the recommendations of a National Human Rights Commission panel.
Speculation is rife that beleaguered Mukul Roy, a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and under the CBI scanner in the Saradha chit fund scam, may switch over to the BJP. Neither Roy or the BJP have commented on the rumours. But Roy's recent remarks seems to expose him. Sheela Bhatt and Indrani Roy report.
The central probe agency had on Friday carried out a fresh round of searches in connection with the case, they said.
Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday suspended Congress member of Parliament Rajani Ashokrao Patil for the remainder of the current Budget Session for filming House proceedings.
The agency had summoned him in January too but he sought time, citing the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, they said.
This is possibly the last election in Bengal where two sides are squaring off against each other. Don't expect the BJP to be a bystander five years hence, says Devanik Saha.
The government has readied a big legislative agenda for the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning Monday even as the Opposition is raring to corner the ruling dispensation over a host of issues, including handling of the second wave of COVID-19, rise in fuel prices and farmers' stir.
Suspended Trinamool Congress MP and Saradha scam accused Kunal Ghosh on Friday allegedly tried to commit suicide by taking sleeping pills inside the Alipore Central Jail, West Bengal Correctional Home Services Minister H A Swafi said.
Proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were disrupted as Opposition members raised slogans demanding a discussion and a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout.
"The chief minister's office has not been raided. The raid has nothing to do with Arvind Kejriwal or his tenure. There is a corruption case against an officer of Delhi government. The raid is in relation to that officer. It is the officer (office) that has been searched," Jaitley said in Rajya Sabha.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and Dipankar Datta took note of the submissions of lawyer Shobha Gupta that the review plea is yet to be listed.
Trinamool Congress General Secretary Mukul Roy on Friday presented himself before the CBI team to face interrogation in connection with the Saradha scam. Roy, former Railway Minister, arrived at the main gate of the CGO Complex and walked down to the CBI office.
The Rajya Sabha MP, who is also a spokesperson of West Bengal's ruling party, was asked to appear before a CBI team in the first week of August, officials said on Friday.
Another TMC MP Tapas Pal has been sent to judicial custody after six days in CBI custody.
While the Opposition is making a belated effort to form a joint front against the BJP, Mamata's ambiguous stand has created confusion, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The bomb attack on West Bengal minister Jakir Hossain snowballed into a political controversy with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleging that it was a preplanned conspiracy as certain people were 'pressuring' him to switch over to another party, while opposition parties demanded National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the issue.
In the prevailing difficult circumstances, the Congress is the only party that can provide capable and decisive leadership to the country, Kharge asserted.
Pakistan on Monday summoned India's Charge d'Affaires to the ministry of foreign affairs and conveyed its concern over the alleged hate speeches made at a conclave held in Haridwar recently to incite violence against the minorities.
Hitting out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah's 'Didi-Bhaipo' jibes, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday challenged him to contest an election against her nephew Abhishek Banerjee and then think of fighting her.
Addressing the protesters, opposition leaders attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal-United1 and demanded stringent punishment against those involved in such heinous crimes.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala assured Bano, represented through her lawyer Shobha Gupta, that the new bench will be formed at the earliest.
More screenings are expected to take place in some colleges in Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram later Tuesday, a senior police officer said.
Hasty, ill-conceived steps show how isolated Mamata Banerjee had been from the national political trend. A fascinating excerpt from Sugato Hazra's Losing The Plot: Political Isolation Of West Bengal.
Three TMC leaders Amit Mitra, Bratya Basu and Rathin Ghosh were sworn-in virtually. Mitra is unwell and both Basu and Ghosh are recuperating from COVID-19.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that her party would fight it both "politically and legally"
An initial probe has revealed that the 53-year-old singer, who was on a two-day tour to Kolkata to perform at two college programmes, was 'almost mobbed' by fan followers at the hotel where he had returned to after performing at Nazrul Mancha auditorium in the southern part of Kolkata.
While the leadership of the biggest Opposition party, the Congress, has not reacted, even non-Congress and (now) anti-BJP parties like the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) have voiced no view on Banerjee's appeal, reports Aditi Phadnis.
If the fear of ED could drive the powerful people of today to be honest or at least be minimally corrupt, will it not be a great thing for our nation?, asks Sudhir Bisht.
The bill was passed by a voice vote after Shah sought to allay concerns raised by the Opposition, which claimed the draft law was "draconian".
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has also filed a separate plea challenging the grant of remission to the convicts by the Gujarat government.
Non-BJP chief ministers are retaliating. If the Centre can use its agencies to threaten, intimidate and jail its rivals, so can they. The fightback will get more intense, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Bano was gang-raped and seven members of her family were killed during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider listing a plea challenging the grant of remission by the Gujarat government to 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case.
