India

New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) Party sources said on Monday that interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has hinted that she does not have any reservations against senior party leader Shashi Tharoor running for Congress President's post.

Sonia Gandhi gave her nod shortly after meeting Tharoor and a few other Congress leaders on her return following a medical check-up abroad. Tharoor, who was one of the G-23 members of the party who had demanded sweeping reforms in the Congress, is now likely to throw his hat into the ring for the race to the top party post, voting for which will be held on October 17.

Meanwhile, Congress' state units have been passing resolutions to make Rahul Gandhi the next party President, including in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, among others. However, Congress' Central Election Authority (CEA) has said that such resolutions will not have any bearing on the election process.

Madhusudan Mistry, Chairman of CEA, said, "These resolutions have no bearing on the election process."

While the notification for the Presidential election will be issued on September 22, there is still suspense over the candidates who will contest for the top party post.

While the G-23 group is gearing up to field a candidate and Thiruvananthapuram MP Tharoor is its top choice, for party loyalists, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is the preferred choice, sources said.

However, Gehlot is reportedly reluctant to leave chief ministership and move to Delhi. In that scenario, former Union minister Mukul Wasnik or leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, could emerge as the front-runners, as both belong to the Scheduled Caste community.

The nominations are to be filed between September 24 and September 30.

--IANS
miz/arm

New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the majority decision of a bench of larger strength would prevail over the decision of a bench of lesser strength, regardless of the number of judges taking the majority view.

A five-judge constitution bench, headed by Justice Indira Banerjee, said: "In view of Article 145(5) of the Constitution of India, concurrence of a majority of the judges at the hearing will be considered as a judgment or opinion of the court. It is settled that the majority decision of a bench of larger strength would prevail over the decision of a bench of lesser strength, irrespective of the number of judges constituting the majority."

Justice Banerjee authored the judgment on behalf of herself and also for Justices Surya Kant, M.M. Sundresh, and Sudhanshu Dhulia.

Justice Hemant Gupta, in his separate and concurring judgement, said that a decision delivered by a bench of largest strength is binding on any subsequent bench of lesser or coequal strength.

He noted that senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan referred to Article 145(5) to contend that a judgment of this court is mandated to be delivered with the concurrence of a majority of the judges present at the hearing of the case, but nothing in this clause shall be deemed to prevent a judge who does not concur from delivering a dissenting judgment or opinion. Thus, the Constitution itself envisaged that the judgment is by the majority of the judges.

Justice Gupta said: "A decision delivered by a Bench of largest strength is binding on any subsequent Bench of lesser or coequal strength. It is the strength of the Bench and not number of Judges who have taken a particular view which is said to be relevant. However, conclusion (2) makes it absolutely clear that a Bench of lesser quorum cannot disagree or dissent from the view of law taken by a Bench of larger quorum. Quorum means the bench strength which was hearing the matter."

He said it has been rightly concluded that the numerical strength of the judges taking a particular view is not relevant, but the bench strength is determinative of the binding nature of the judgment.

According to this apex court judgment, in a seven-bench decision of 4:3, the majority view would prevail over the unanimous view of a five-judge constitution bench.

In 2017, a two-judge bench of the apex court had referred to the matter to the constitution bench.

--IANS
ss/vd

New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday said in death penalty cases, the accused is scarcely expected to place mitigating circumstances on the record and this tilts the scales heavily against him, and therefore, it is necessary to have clarity to ensure a uniform approach on the question of granting real and meaningful opportunity to such convicts.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and comprising Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia, said: "It is also a fact that in all cases where imposition of capital punishment is a choice of sentence, aggravating circumstances would always be on record, and would be part of the prosecution's evidence, leading to conviction, whereas the accused can scarcely be expected to place mitigating circumstances on the record, for the reason that the stage for doing so is after conviction.

"This places the convict at a hopeless disadvantage, tilting the scales heavily against him."

"This court is of the opinion that it is necessary to have clarity in the matter to ensure a uniform approach on the question of granting real and meaningful opportunity, as opposed to a formal hearing, to the accused/convict, on the issue of sentence," it added.

The apex court referred the suo moto matter to the constitution bench to frame guidelines for courts, while examining mitigating factors for the convicts in death penalty cases.

During the hearing, the bench noted that it was suggested that the social milieu, the age, educational levels, whether the convict had faced trauma earlier in life, family circumstances, psychological evaluation of a convict, and post-conviction conduct, were relevant factors at the time of considering whether the death penalty ought to be imposed upon the accused.

The bench said noticing the lack of a uniform framework in this regard, the present suo motu case was initiated wherein this court has indicated by its orders the necessity of working out the modalities of psychological evaluation, the stage of adducing evidence in order to highlight mitigating circumstances, and the need to build institutional capacity.

Citing apex court decisions, the bench said the common thread that runs through all these decisions is the express acknowledgment that meaningful, real and effective hearing must be afforded to the accused, with the opportunity to adduce material relevant for the question of sentencing.

"What is conspicuously absent, is consideration and contemplation about the time this may require. In cases where it was felt that real and effective hearing may not have been given (on account of the same day sentencing), this court was satisfied that the flaw had been remedied at the appellate (or review stage), by affording the accused a chance to adduce material, and thus fulfilling the mandate of Section 235(2)," it said.

The top court observed that the question of what constitutes "sufficient time" at the trial court stage, requires consideration and clarity. "Consequently, this court is of the view that a reference to a larger bench of five Hon'ble Judges is necessary for this purpose. Let this matter be placed before the Chief Justice of India for appropriate orders in this regard," it said.

--IANS
ss/vd

New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) India needs to remain India instead of following any other country for development, said Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat on Monday.

"If we start following other nations like China, Russia, America, it will be an imitation. The nation can develop in its originality", said Bhagwat. To achieve the long-term goal of development, it is necessary to take pride in the geography and history of India.

The RSS Chief was speaking at the launch of a book titled 'Connecting with the Mahabharata' here on Monday. While launching the book, he said that there have been efforts to make Indians forget their 'itihaas' (history) for their selfish motives.

"India's history and civilization is extremely old, but for our colonialists it was necessary to make us believe that no culture in the world is older than theirs. They preached that our ancestors were fools and our holy literature is wrong, it was our folly to continue believing them", he said.

Talking about climate change and the issue of zero emissions, he said that the world needs to learn from India's scriptures and the centuries-long tradition. However, the world is now coming to that stage again, but it will take time, Bhagwat added.

While speaking about India's two epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, he said that we are told that these are just imagined stories and poetry. But it is important to understand that does any imagination last so long?

"It is now considered that Ramayana and Mahabharata are not historical texts, but just mahakavyas or epic poems. However, for a text to continue to be relevant and persistent in popular memory as Mahabharata and Ramayana are, there have to be facts in them. It is considered that history has no use. The 'itihaas' in these epics has been narrated like a story, not for entertainment or information, but so it continues to be told and people continue taking lessons from history to better their present and future," the RSS Chief said.

The book 'Connecting with the Mahabharata' has been authored by research scholar Neera Misra and Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Rajesh Lal, son of Indian archaeologist Prof BB Lal.

The book is dedicated to the late Prof BB Lal whose first set of excavations was at Hastinapur followed by Indraprastha in 1952-53, when he went on a journey to discover the historicity of the Mahabharata.

The book is divided into eight sections, where the authors introduce the storyline and contents of the 18 parvas, connecting them to the vast geospatial landscape covered in the narrative. The book highlights the significant Mahabharata locations excavated by prominent archaeologists.

--IANS
avr/bg

Mumbai, Sep 19 (IANS) The Congress' Maharashtra unit on Monday passed a unanimous resolution urging Rahul Gandhi to accept the post of party President, top leaders said here.

At a meeting of the newly-elected state representatives of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, two separate resolutions were unanimously accepted.

A resolution, moved by former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, and seconded by former ministers Chandrakant Handore and Naseem Khan, requesting Rahul Gandhi to accept the responsibility of Congress President was passed unanimously.

Another resolution, moved by state Congress President Nana Patole and seconded by Congress Legislative Party Leader Balasaheb Thorat, authorised the Congress President Sonia Gandhi with all powers to choose the state President, office-bearers, treasurer and AICC delegates, which was approved by all present.

State Election Officer and former Union Minister M.M. Pallam Raju said that the entire election of the Congress has been conducted properly with the full cooperation of all and this will help strengthen the party organisation.

He also appealed to the Congressmen and people to join Rahul Gandhi's ongoing Kanyakumari-Kashmir 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in large numbers.

Presided over by Raju, the meeting - held at the Y.B.Chavan Centre - also discussed in detail the preparations for the Yatra which is expected to enter Maharashtra on November 7.

Congress state in charge H. K. Patil, top state leaders including Patole, Chavan, Thorat, Handore, Khan, Prithviraj Chavan, Vijay Wadettiwar, Sunil Kedar, Madhukar Chavan, Manikrao Thakre, state women President Sandhya Savvalakhe, AICC Secretary Sonal Patel, Sampath Kumar, Basavaraj Patil, A. Kunal Patil, Dinesh Kumar, Naresh Rawat, Siddharth Hattambire, Vishal Muttemwar, Pramod More, Devanand Pawar, Mohan Joshi and others were present.

--IANS
qn/vd

Chandigarh, Sep 19 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann was deplaned in Frankfurt from a Delhi-bound Lufthansa flight as he was "too drunk to walk".

However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has refuted the allegations against Mann, saying the Chief Minister returned to Delhi as per schedule.

According to media reports, Mann, who was on a eigh-day trip to Germany till September 18, delayed his departure as he was reportedly in 'an inebriated state'.

However, AAP has strongly denied the charge, saying Mann was not deplaned at the Frankfurt airport. The party termed it as false and frivolous propaganda by political rivals.

A passenger in the flight said in a message, "The CM was not steady on his feet as he had imbibed excessive alcohol and had to be supported by his wife/security."

"Our political opponents are spreading these rumours to defame our CM. They cannot digest that Mann is working hard to bring investments to Punjab. The CM returned as per schedule," the party's chief spokesperson in Punjab, Malwinder Singh Kang, told the media here.

Officials in the Chief Minister's Office claimed that Mann could not board the flight because of emergent health concerns.

Responding to the allegations, Cabinet ministers Kuldeep Dhaliwal and Meet Hayer told the media, "Anyone can have health issues. The Opposition does not have any issue to talk about. That is why they are highlighting this issue which is meaningless and fake."

With many different versions doing the rounds, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal said the reports of the Chief Minister being deplaned from a Lufthansa flight as he was "too drunk to walk" have "embarrassed and shamed Punjabis all over the globe".

"Disturbing media reports quoting co-passengers say Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was deplaned from a Lufthansa flight as he was too drunk to walk. And it led to a 4-hour flight delay. He missed AAP's national convention. These reports have embarrassed & shamed Punjabis all over the globe," Badal tweeted.

He also said that AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal should come clean on the issue.

Badal asked the Indian government to raise the issue with its German counterpart if Mann was deplaned in Frankfurt.

"Shockingly, Punjab government is mum over these reports involving Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Arvind Kejriwal needs to come clean on this issue. The Government of India must step in as this involves Punjabi and national pride. If he was deplaned, GoI must raise the issue with its German counterpart," Badal tweeted.

Setting aside the charges, AAP's director of media communication, Chander Suta Dogra, said Mann was a little unwell.

Meanwhile, Mann went to Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal's official residence upon his arrival in New Delhi amid the brewing row on Monday.

The Lufthansa Group in a statement said the flight departed late due to "a delayed inbound flight and an aircraft change".

"Our flight from Frankfurt to Delhi departed later than originally planned due to a delayed inbound flight and an aircraft change," it said in a statement.

It added, "For data protection reasons, we do not provide any information regarding individual passengers."

--IANS
vg/arm

New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) Two-time Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in presence of Union Ministers Narendra Tomar and Kiren Rijiju.

Among those present included senior leaders Ashwani Sharma, Sunil Jakhar and others.

Besides Capt Amarinder Singh, others who joined the BJP included former Deputy Speaker Ajaib Singh Bhatti, former MPs Amrik Singh Aliwal, and Kewal Singh, former MLAs Prem Mittal, Harchand Kaur, Harjinder Thekedar, Balbir Rani Sodhi, former Punjab Mahila Congress President, Raninder Singh, Beeba Jaya Inder Kaur, Nirvan Singh, Kamaljit Saino and Farzana Alam, who was represented by her daughter.

Earlier, Amarinder Singh met union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J.P. Nadda.

Welcoming Amarinder Singh and others into the party, Tomar said he had always kept national interests above partisan interests. He said with his joining the party, the BJP will be strengthened further in Punjab.

Amarinder Singh expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Shah and BJP chief Nadda for reposing trust and confidence in him.

He assured that he will give in his best to strengthen the party in Punjab.

Amarinder Singh, a veteran of many political and military battles, left the Congress last year after resigning as the Chief Minister.

He set up his own political outfit, the Punjab Lok Congress, which fought February 2022 Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP. However, it did not win any seat.

--IANS
vg/vd

Leicester, Sep 19 (IANS) Fifteen people have been arrested in an operation to "deter further disorder" in Leicester, a media report said.

There was large-scale unrest on Saturday amid tensions involving mainly young men from sections of the Muslim and Hindu communities, BBC reported.

The police said it had been sparked by an "unplanned protest". Another protest involving about 100 people followed on Sunday.

Leicestershire Police said there had been no further disorder overnight. The force added that all 15 people arrested on Sunday remained in custody.

Leicester's elected mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, said he and community leaders were "baffled" by the events, saying they had been "fanned by some very distorted social media" and "a lot of people who came in from outside", BBC reported.

During Sunday's protest, people congregated on Belgrave Road, with members of the crowd telling the BBC they were on the streets as a result of the recent unrest.

Officers closed the road and some of the crowd briefly tried to push through police lines, complaining they were being prevented from marching.

Later, the protesters walked along Green Lane Road in the North Evington area, followed by officers.

There was also police presence on Humberstone Road, with several nearby streets closed off.

The force said in a statement: "Officers became aware of groups of young men gathering on Sunday afternoon in the North Evington area of the city. Officers spoke to them and took steps, including putting in place a temporary police cordon, to minimise harm and disturbance to communities."

The police have said they wanted to avoid a repeat of Saturday night's confrontations, and that dispersal powers would be used to break up any further gatherings, BBC reported.

--IANS
san/arm

New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing some petitioners challenging the Karnataka High Court judgment on hijab, on Monday told the Supreme Court that there is a pattern to marginalise a community and citing the Pulwama attack, added that only one suicide bombing took place in India, which shows minorities have placed their faith on the country.

Dave submitted before a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia that more than 10,000 suicide bombings have taken place in Islamic world and this country only faced one suicide bombing in Pulwama, which shows minority communities' faith in the country.

He added that religion is a very difficult frame of mind to guide the masses and it is leaders who can guide them.

Dave said the whole issue of "love jihad" and now, the prevention of Muslim girls from wearing hijab in educational institutions, reflects a pattern to marginalise the minority community, and Muslim girls wearing hijab cannot hurt anybody's sentiments and hijab is their identity.

Emphasising the significance of liberal aspect of Indian civilisation, Dave said the country is built on liberal tradition and there is unity in diversity. He submitted that if a Hindu girl asks a Muslim girl wearing hijab "why is she wearing it? And, she talks about her religion. This is really beautiful".

Dave added that the West has already permitted hijab and the American army has also allowed turbans. He said as one cannot quarrel with right of Sikhs to wear turbans, similarly, one should also have no quarrel with right of Muslim women to wear hijab, and stressed that for centuries, Muslim women have been wearing hijab in countries across the world.

He contended that hijab is important for Muslim women and it is their faith and added that somebody wants to wear tilak, somebody wanting to wear cross, everybody has the right and that is the beauty of social life.

"How would wearing hijab threaten the unity and integrity of the country?" he said. At this, the bench replied that even the Karnataka High Court judgment does not say that and nobody is saying that.

The bench also said the argument here could be self-contradictory, saying the right to wear hijab flows from Article 19 and it can be restricted only under 19(2) only by a statutory law. Dave submitted that fundamental rights, in this case under Article 25, can be exercised anywhere.

The bench said some judgments talk about religious practice inside the religious places. Dave said Article 25 uses the words freely practice, profess, and propagate religion, and a person can exercise fundamental rights anywhere, be it a classroom too.

He said if a Muslim woman thinks that wearing of hijab is conducive for her religion, no authority, or no court can say otherwise.

The hearing on the petitions challenging the Karnataka High Court's judgement of March 15 upholding ban on hijab in pre-university colleges will continue on Tuesday.

--IANS
ss/vd

Mumbai, Sep 19 (IANS) A Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act Court extended the judicial custody of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut by 14 days till October 3 here on Monday.

Raut was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on August 1 in connection with the alleged Patra Chawl redevelopment scam case, and has been in custody since.

The ED had recorded the Sena MP's statement and later raided his home on July 31, detained and then arrested him early on August 1 in the Patra Chawl, Goregaon case.

The issue pertains to the stalled redevelopment project of the Patra Chawl for 672 tenants which was taken up by Guru Ashish Constructions Pvt. Ltd. in which Sanjay Raut's close associate Pravin Raut was one of the Directors.

The ED has claimed that Pravin Raut benefitted to the tune of Rs 112 crore by illegal sale of the FSI from the project and he had allegedly passed on a certain portion of the proceeds to Sanjay Raut and his wife.

Last Wednesday, Raut had applied for bail before the Special Court contending that he was arrested and being victimised by the change of power (in Maharashtra) to crush the Opposition.

In his bail plea, he pointed how the ED had shown the Rs 112 crore as proceeds of crime in the Patra Chawl cse and again in the Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC) case where Pravin Raut is one of the accused.

According to Raut, the ED has claimed that the Rs 112 crore was tainted money earned from the PMC Bank fraud, and in the Patra Chawl matter it was from the illegal sale of FSI.

He argued that the ED cannot be allowed to show the same amount in two different cases and take action against different persons for it.

Furthermore, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had conducted a forensic audit which concluded that Pravin Raut had not received any money from the Patra Chawl project fraud, said Sanjay Raut.

Accordingly, if the amount received by Raut was not tainted money, then no offence can be made out as the ED case was based on the EOW's report, and sought immediate bail.

In its supplementary charge sheet filed in the case last Thursday, the ED has accused Sanjay Raut of playing a 'major role' through Pravin Raut, whose role has been brought in comprehensive details by the investigations.

The ED has also alleged that Sanjay Raut received Rs. 1.06 crore from Pravin Raut.

--IANS
qn/dpb