NATIONAL NEWS
Vacancies in key tribunals: ‘Not interested in confrontation but you are testing our patience,’ SC tells govt.
A Special Bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana said it was not interested in a confrontation with the government but the court was running out of patience and the Centre should conform and fill long-pending vacancies to key tribunals by the next hearing on September 13. The Bench, also comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and L. Nageswara Rao, said tribunals across the country were on the verge of collapse. Cases were being adjourned by a year. Many tribunals operated with just one member as no appointments had been made for months, if not years. You have no respect for the judgments of this court… You are testing our patience, Chief Justice Ramana addressed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the government, on Monday. The court said it had three options. One, close the tribunals. Two, to itself make the appointments. Three, to initiate contempt. Everybody is happy with the quick way in which the government cleared the Supreme Court appointments. We do not want any confrontation with the government. But if you can so quickly make appointments to the Supreme Court, you can very well do so with these small tribunals. The tribunals have virtually collapsed… Why are you being so particular about the tribunals? Chief Justice Ramana asked Mehta. Mehta, who asked and was refused an adjournment by the Bench as soon as the hearing began, showed a screenshot of a letter addressed to him by the Finance Ministry on September 6. In this letter, the Ministry said a new law — Tribunal Reforms Act of 2021 — has come into effect and would pave the way for filling of vacancies in the tribunals. The letter promised that the government will ensure that within next two weeks, a decision on appointments to all the tribunals is taken where the Search-cum-Selection Committees have already given their recommendations to the government. But Justice Chandrachud said the new Act hosted an astonishing replica of provisions expressly struck down by the Supreme Court in multiple judgments recently. This seems to continue. that when we strike down a law, they bring a replica, Justice Chandrachud expressed his annoyance. The judge said the legislature could bring a law which took away the basis of a judgment but could not bring a law simply to contradict a judgment.
Bombay High Court extends Varavara Rao’s interim medical bail to September 24
The Bombay High Court on Monday extended the interim medical bail of Telugu poet Varavara Rao (81) till September 24. It posted the matter for hearing on September 27. Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence, was granted the bail on February 22 for six months on a cash bond of ₹50,000 by a Division Bench of justices S.S. Shinde and Manish Pitale. However, due to a delay in obtaining a solvency certificate, he was released on March 6. From then on, he has been residing with his wife P. Hemalatha at Malad East. The bail expired on September 5. Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Rao, informed a Division Bench of Justices Shinde and N.J. Jamadar that Rao was living in a rented flat with his wife. His plea urged the court to allow him to reside in Hyderabad with his family instead of Mumbai. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the case, filed an affidavit that read, The Taloja jail authorities have been following the jail code and providing the best medical facilities as per jail manual. The surgery for cataract and hernia can be done in judicial custody under the supervision of doctors of government hospitals at Mumbai and there is no need for an extension of medical bail. Rao seeks an extension on the grounds that he takes 13 medicines daily for neurological problems, cholesterol, blood pressure, prostate, acidity, gastroesophageal reflux, constipation, cardiac issues, and pain relief. He has been suffering from constant headaches, known as cluster headaches, and needs further examination and constant supervision. A neurologist at Jaslok Hospital said he has asymptomatic Parkinson’s ailment and has retention problems, movement disorders with tremors, and gait instability.
Shiv Sena unhappy with Javed Akhtar’s comparison of RSS with Taliban
Noted poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar’s comparison of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with the Taliban was utterly misplaced, said the Shiv Sena on Monday. Analogising a fanatical movement with Hindutva constituted an insult to Indian culture, it noted. An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana observed that despite being a Hindu majority country, Indian governments had successfully raised the flag of secularism. How can you say those who favour the concept of a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ are of Talibani mindset? We [the Sena] do not agree with this…The proponents of Hindutva only want that Hindus should not be sidelined. While you can have differences with the RSS, to call their philosophy Talibani is completely wrong, said the editorial, rebuking Akhtar. At the moment, anyone perceived to be intolerant is labelled ‘Taliban’ because the Taliban regime in Afghanistan is the biggest threat to society and mankind presently. Nations like Pakistan and China have supported the Taliban regime because in these two countries, human rights, democracy and individual freedom have no value. But this is certainly not the case with India and we are an incredibly tolerant country. That is why it is not appropriate to compare the RSS with the Taliban, the editorial stated. Akhtar, in an interview with a television channel, had taken a thinly veiled jibe at the RSS without naming the outfit, by remarking there was an uncanny resemblance between the Taliban and those who wanted a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu-dominant nation). As the BJP clamoured for an apology from Akhtar, security was increased outside his home in Mumbai’s Juhu area.
Delhi riots case: Umar Khalid withdraws bail plea after police objects to maintainability, files fresh appeal
Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid, arrested under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, has withdrawn his bail application and filed a fresh one after the city police objected to its maintainability. Senior advocate Trideep Pais, appearing for Khalid, told Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat that the application seeking bail under section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has been substituted with the one under Section 437 after the police objected to it. Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, representing the police, objected to the fresh plea that purportedly accused the prosecution of adopting dilatory tactic and called it not fair. In the interim application you have filed, you have made certain allegations that the objections taken by the prosecution are dilatory tactics. Therefore, to paint the prosecution by saying that it is dilatory tactics is not fair, the prosecutor said. The fresh application was filed after Prasad submitted that the court hearing the plea is a special court designated under the UAPA Act and therefore exercises all powers that are before the Court of Magistrate within the rigours of section 437 of CrPC. ASJ Rawat sought the police reply on the fresh bail application and posted the matter to September 8. In the last hearing on the bail plea on September 3, Khalid told the court that the charge sheet in the case has made hyperbolic allegations without any factual basis and reads like a script from a web series and news channels. Delhi Police had earlier said the bail plea had no merit and that it will demonstrate the prima facie case against him before the court by referring to the charge sheet filed in the case. Khalid, along with several others, has been booked under the anti-terror law in the case. They are accused of being the masterminds of the February 2020 violence, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. He has sought bail in the case.
NIA files charge sheet against 13 Bangladeshis in Bengaluru human trafficking case
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on September 5 filed a charge sheet before a Special Court in Bengaluru against 13 Bangladeshi nationals for their involvement in trafficking women and children from the neighbouring country after illegally crossing over to India, an official said. The accused have been charged with sections of the IPC, the Foreigners Act and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, an NIA official said. The case was registered in June in Bengaluru city against the 13 accused based on a raid conducted by the police at a rented house where seven women and one child of Bangladeshi nationality were rescued from the custody of four human traffickers, the official said. The NIA took over the case and found that the 13 charge-sheeted accused had illegally crossed over to India from Bangladesh, the official of the premier investigation agency said. They were luring women from Bangladesh and trafficking them to India with promise of jobs, the NIA official said. The women were then confined in rented accommodations and subjected to sexual exploitation, the official said. The accused had also forged identity cards and used these forged documents as genuine to obtain Indian identity cards such as Aadhaar and PAN for themselves and their victims, the NIA official said.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Taliban claim complete control of Afghanistan’s Panjshir province
The Taliban claimed victory on Monday over opposition forces in the Panjshir valley northeast of Kabul, completing their takeover of the country following the stunning capture of Kabul last month and the chaotic withdrawal of foreign troops. Pictures on social media showed Taliban members standing in front of the gate of the Panjshir provincial governor’s compound after fighting over the weekend with the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), led by Panjshiri leader Ahmad Massoud. Panjshir province completely fell to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Islamist militant group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a tweet on Monday, adding that some enemy fighters had been killed in battle and others had fled. With this victory and latest efforts our country has come out of the whirlpool of the war and our people will have a happy life in peace, liberty and freedom in the entire country. The Taliban assured the people of Panjshir, who are ethnically distinct from the Pashtun-dominated Taliban and fought against the Islamists during their 1996-2001 rule, that there would be no discriminatory act against them. They are our brothers and would work together for a joint purpose and welfare of the country, Mujahid said. There was no immediate word from Massoud, who leads a force made up of remnants of the regular Afghan army and special forces units as well as local militia fighters. Ali Maisam Nazary, head of foreign relations at the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), said the Taliban’s claim of victory was false and opposition forces continued to fight. The NRF forces are present in all strategic positions across the valley to continue the fight, he said on his Facebook page. The Taliban earlier said their forces had made it into the provincial capital, Bazarak, and had captured large quantities of weapons and ammunition. The Taliban seized control of the rest of Afghanistan three weeks ago, taking power in Kabul on August 15 after the Western-backed government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Panjshir was the last pocket of armed resistance against the Taliban. It has a history of being difficult for enemies to take. The rugged mountain valley is still littered with the wreckage of tanks destroyed during the long war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. The NRFA said on Sunday its main spokesman, Fahim Dashti, had been killed in the fighting. Dashti had survived the suicide attack that killed Massoud’s father, Ahmad Shah Massoud, on September 9, 2001, just days before the September 11 attacks on the United States. The Panjshir fighting has been the most prominent example of resistance to the Taliban.
Israel searches for 6 Palestinians after rare prison break
Israel launched a massive manhunt in the country’s north and the occupied West Bank early Monday after six Palestinian prisoners tunneled out of their cell and escaped from a high-security facility in the biggest prison break of its kind in decades. The escape marks an embarrassing security breach just ahead of the Jewish New Year, when Israelis flock to the north to enjoy beaches, campsites and the Sea of Galilee. The prisoners appear to have gone into hiding and there was no indication Israeli authorities view them as an immediate threat. Palestinians consider prisoners held by Israel to be heroes of their national cause, and many celebrated the escape on social media. Efforts to capture the escapees will likely draw attention to the Palestinian Authority’s security coordination with Israel, which is deeply unpopular among Palestinians. There was no immediate comment from the PA, but President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party praised the escape. Israeli officials said they have erected roadblocks and are conducting patrols in the area. Israel’s Army Radio said 400 prisoners are being moved as a protective measure against any additional escape attempts. The radio said the prisoners escaped through a tunnel from the Gilboa prison, just north of the West Bank, which is supposed to be one of Israel’s most secure facilities. A photo released by the prison service showed a narrow hole in the floor of a cell, and Israeli security forces could be seen examining a similar hole on a stretch of gravel just outside the walls of the prison. It appeared to be the biggest Palestinian escape from an Israeli prison since 1987, when six Islamic Jihad militants broke out of a heavily guarded prison in Gaza months before the outbreak of the first intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israel.war in May, and it has cracked down on a wave of protests following.
