The Supreme Court on September 18 gave Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar a week’s time to open disqualification proceedings against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other MLAs accused of defection.
A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said four months have passed since the Speaker was entrusted the task by a Constitution Bench on May 11. The proceedings had hardly moved all this time.
The court had expected the Maharashtra Speaker to show “deference and dignity” to the court’s direction that he should decide the disqualification petitions within a “reasonable time”.
In its order on Monday, the court directed the Speaker to list the disqualification petitions no later than a week, ensure the case record is ready and chalk out a time schedule for the completion of the hearing and pronouncement of his decision. “The order of the Supreme Court requires the Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions within a reasonable period. While this court is cognisant of a need to ensure a sense of comity between the Speaker, who is the head of the Legislature Assembly, we would equally expect deference and dignity to be shown to the direction which have been issued by the Supreme Court in exercise of its constitutional power of judicial review,” a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said in the order.
The court listed the case after two weeks. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Speaker, was directed to produce in court the time schedule. On May 11, a five-judge Bench had directed the Maharashtra Speaker, in his capacity as tribunal under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) of the Constitution, to hear and decide the disqualification petitions within a “reasonable time”.
In his petition, Uddhav Thackeray loyalist Sunil Prabhu, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocates Amit Anand Tiwari and Nishant Patil, said the Supreme Court, in its May 11 judgment on the Thackeray-Shinde battle for control over Shiv Sena, had placed its hopes in Narwekar to impartially hear and decide the anti-defection proceedings against the Shinde camp.
“The Speaker is the appropriate authority to adjudicate petitions for disqualification under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law)... The Speaker embodies propriety and impartiality and that it was therefore inappropriate to express distrust in the office of the Speaker,” the May 11 judgment had observed.
“Four months have passed since the judgment. It has become a complete farce. There is a serious problem... We gave the Speaker representations on three occasions after May 11 — on May 15, May 23 and June 2. Till date only notice has been issued in the disqualification proceedings,” Sibal said.
A total of 56 MLAs are facing disqualification under the Tenth Schedule. There are 34 disqualification petitions pending, waiting for Speaker Narwekar to hear and decide.
Sibal said the Speaker had held a hearing on September 14, knowing that the case was listed before the Supreme Court on September 18. In the September 14 order, the Speaker said the hearing would come up again in “due course”.
The senior lawyer reminded the Supreme Court of Justice (retired) Rohinton F. Nariman’s January 2020 judgment in the Keisham Meghachandra Singh case which gave Speakers three months to decide the disqualification petitions. Justice Nariman had said three months was reasonable if not ample time.
“He cannot say ‘in due course’. He has to take up the matter immediately… What did the Speaker do after our direction on May 11? The Speaker is a tribunal under the Tenth Schedule. As a tribunal, he is amenable to our judicial review… As a tribunal, he has to abide by our orders passed after judicial review… Four months have passed, and he is still in the stage of issuing notices?” Chief Justice Chandrachud asked Mehta.
Haryana Congress MLA made accused in another Nuh violence case; again remanded to two days police custody
Congress Ferozepur Jhirka MLA Mamman Khan was again remanded to two days police custody on Sunday (September 17) after the Nuh Police arrested him in yet another case of violence during the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Jalabhishek Yatra on July 31. He was earlier arrested on September 14 and remanded to two days police custody the next day.
Mobile internet and bulk SMS services in Nuh were suspended from 6 p.m. on September 17 to midnight on September 19 as a precautionary measure. Prohibitory orders preventing gathering of five or more persons are already in force in the district.
Produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nuh, Jogender Singh, on completion of his police remand in the earlier case (FIR No. 149 at Nagina Police Station), Khan was remanded to police custody till September 19 in another case of violence registered on August 1 in connection with arson and vandalism inside an oil mill owned by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Nuh general-secretary Shiv Kumar.
Seeking five days police remand in the case registered as FIR No. 137 at Nagina Police Station, the Nuh Police told the court that the accused was “educated” and “clever” and had replied to most of the questions during the detailed interrogation saying that he did not know or remember anything. The police said the phone of the accused was formatted and he needed to be interrogated further to collect evidence in the case and identity the rioters by showing him the closed-circuit television footage and photos.
Defence counsel Tahir Hussain Ruparya opposed the police custody saying the accused was implicated and not present at the spot during the riots. Ruparya said the two mobile phones of the accused were already seized and no more recoveries were to be made from him. He said the accused was not required to be taken to any place for investigation since the police had not revealed so in its remand application and therefore there was no ground, cogent and convincing, for the police remand.
The court, however, granted the remand “in view of the grounds mentioned in the application” saying that proper and fair investigation was the fundamental right of both: the accused and the complainant.
The court said the accused had the right to meet an advocate of his choice during the interrogation under Section 41D of the Criminal Procedure Code and directed the Investigating Officer to comply with the legal provision.
Ruparya told The Hindu that Khan was so far made accused in four cases registered in connection with the Nuh violence including the two in which his police custody was already taken. He said there was no “direct or indirect” evidence against the Congress legislator.
Meanwhile, Haryana Congress has demanded a judicial inquiry under the supervision of a sitting High Court judge to bring out the truth about the Nuh incident. Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda and State Congress president Udaibhan, in a joint statement, questioned as to why the government was afraid of a judicial inquiry, if it was not guilty.
“Judicial inquiry will bring out the truth and everything would be revealed to the public, which will be acceptable to all. The people of the State know that Congress MLA Maman Khan has been arrested due to political hatred, hence it is necessary for the truth to come out,” Udaibhan said.
Nehru’s outlook was inclusive, took Opposition along: Mallikarjun Kharge
Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge recalled former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s contribution to Indian democracy in the Rajya Sabha on September 18, saying his outlook was inclusive as he took the Opposition along and had laid the foundation of the Constitution.
Participating in a discussion on the ‘Parliamentary Journey of 75 Years Starting from Samvidhan Sabha — Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings’, Kharge hit out at the BJP-led government over the issues of unemployment in the country and ethnic violence in Manipur. He asked the government what did it achieve by shifting the parliamentary proceedings to a new building.
“Badalna hai to halat badlo, aise naam badalne se kya hota hai. Dena hein to yuva ko rozgar do, sab ko berozgar karke kya hota hai. Dil ko thoda bada karke dekho, logon ko marne se kya hota hai. Kuch kar nahi sakte ho, kursi chor do, baat baat mein darane se kya hota hai,” the Congress leader said.
He slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting violence-hit Manipur, not showing up in the House to listen to the Opposition’s views and not giving speeches beyond the customary ones.
Kharge also expressed concern over the passage of several Bills in a manner faster than the “bullet train”, without referring to parliamentary standing committees, while accusing the government of using the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to weaken the Opposition.
“He [Modi] goes to every corner of the country, but why does he not visit Manipur? He should visit Manipur and see the pain and sufferings of the people,” the LoP said in the Upper House. Ethnic violence has gripped Manipur since May 3, he said, adding that people in the State are getting killed and houses burnt. The Congress has sought a statement on this, Kharge said.
Stating that Nehru had a big heart as he took the Opposition along, the Congress chief said the first prime minister of independent India used to meet Opposition members to discuss key issues with them and take their views. He used to patiently listen to the debates in Parliament. In fact, he had inducted an Opposition party leader, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, in his Cabinet, Kharge pointed out.
“What happens today? No one listens to us... Now, he [Modi] does not enter the House,” he said, adding that Nehru believed that if the Opposition was gaining in strength, there must be some flaw as far as governance is concerned.
However, “there is a strong Opposition now, but the ED and the CBI are being used to weaken them”, he alleged. Kharge recalled that Nehru had laid the foundation of the Constitution, based on which Parliament is functioning.
“That was a time when everyone was taken along... The foundation stones are not visible now, but the names on the plank are seen,” he said and highlighted the efforts of B.R. Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution.
Lakhimpur Kheri case: SC relieves monitoring judge, SIT of their responsibilities; says they have become functus officio
The Supreme Court on September 18, 2023, relieved a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), which probed the Lakhimpur Kheri killings case, and former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, who monitored the investigation, of their responsibilities.
A Bench headed by Justice Surya Kant recorded that the investigation was over, charge sheet were filed on the basis of two FIRs and the trial court had commenced proceedings. The Supreme Court, which is monitoring the case, said the trial judge has been sending periodic status reports.
“It appears the SIT has become functus officio [accomplished their purpose]. Members of the SIT and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain can be relieved of their responsibilities,” the court observed in its order. The court however said the SIT could be reconstituted in future in case it was found necessary.
Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra is an accused in the case. The prosecution case is that an SUV allegedly belonging to Mr. Mishra’s convoy mowed down farmers protesting controversial agricultural laws in a rally at Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh on October 3, 2021.
Former Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain was appointed as monitoring judge of the probe to “ensure transparency, fairness and absolute impartiality”. The retired judge’s appointment was meant to assure “full and complete justice to the victims of crime”.
The SIT was composed of directly recruited IPS officers, S.B. Shiradkar, Padmaja Chauhan and Dr. Preetinder Singh. The Supreme Court, while appointing the members, was insistent that they had no roots in Uttar Pradesh in order to avoid any “lurking suspicion in respect of the fairness and independence of the investigation and preserve the faith and trust of the people in the administration of the criminal justice system.
In fact, both Justice Jain and the SIT had urged the State of Uttar Pradesh to appeal against an Allahabad High Court order granting bail to Mishra last year in the case. They had raised the apprehension that Mishra was influential and could tamper the evidence or “influence witnesses” while out.
However, in an unexpected turnaround of events, the apex court had itself deemed it fit to grant Mishra interim bail in January 2023 even as it described the crime as “ghastly” and “unfortunate”. The apex court had directed Mishra to leave Uttar Pradesh so that he posed no danger to witnesses waiting to testify against him in the main murder case. He was also banned from entering Uttar Pradesh or staying in Delhi.
It had justified that the interim bail and conditions imposed on Mishra was a balancing of the right of the accused to liberty, the right of the State to conduct a fair trial and the right of the victims to get justice.
In Brief:
Hunter Biden sued the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on September 18, alleging that two agents who claimed interference into the case against him wrongly shared his personal tax information amid escalating legal and political struggles as the 2024 election looms. The suit says the agents “targeted and sought to embarrass Biden.” Biden says federal whistleblower protections sought by the agents don’t include the sharing of confidential information in press interviews and testimony before Congress. The suit comes as a long-running investigation into Hunter Biden continues to unfold against a sharply political backdrop, including an impeachment inquiry aimed at his father, President Joe Biden.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
