1 dead, policemen injured as mob hurls stones to oppose plan to raze dargah; tear gas used, 174 held
Junagadh (PTI): One person died apparently after being hit by a stone, while at least five police personnel were injured in Gujarat's Junagadh city after a group of people hurled stones and torched a vehicle to oppose the civic body's plan to raze a dargah to clear "encroachment", officials said on Saturday.
The incident occurred on Friday night near Majevadi Darwaja in the city, during which the police lobbed tear gas shells and baton-charged the protesters to control the situation, and later rounded up 174 people, they said.
The exact reason behind the civilian's death would be known after the post-mortem, but the police suspect that he died after being hit by a stone hurled by the mob.
"On June 14, the Junagadh Municipal Corporation issued a notice to a mosque near Majevadi Darwaja to produce documents regarding the ownership of land. Agitated over the notice, around 500-600 people gathered near the religious structure and blocked roads on Friday night," Superintendent of Police Ravi Teja Vasamsetty said.
Deputy SP of Junagadh and other staff, who were present at the site, tried to convince them. After nearly an hour-long deliberations aimed at finding a peaceful resolution of the matter and clearing the protesters' road blockade, some stones were thrown at the police staff around 10.15 pm, he said.
Shouting slogans, some people, agitated over the notice to the dargah, charged towards the police personnel and tried to attack them, he added.
Police lobbed tear gas shells and baton-charged to disperse the unruly crowd. Junagadh DySP, three sub-inspectors and two other police personnel were injured in the incident, but all of them are out of danger, he said, adding that a mob also set a vehicle on fire.
"A civilian died and it appears that stone-pelting was the cause of his death. But we are waiting for a post-mortem report to know the exact cause. Police teams rounded up 174 people in a combing operation," Vasamsetty said.
Police personnel are deployed in the area to avoid any further untoward incident and efforts to nab all those involved in the clash are being taken, he said.
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Ordinance issued to increase number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38
New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.
So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.
The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.
With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.
A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.
The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.
This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.
A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.
Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.
An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.
The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.
