Accused in Lankesh case sold Patanjali products in Aurangabad
Aurangabad, Jan 10: Rishikesh Dewerkar, arrested by Karnataka SIT in the journalist Gauri Lankesh murder, was living in central Maharashtra's Aurangabad city until 2016 and sold Patanjali products, the people who knew him said here on Friday.
The Special Investigation Team of Karnataka arrested him from Katras town near Dhanbad in Jharkhand on Thursday.
In Aurangabad, Dewerkar sold Patanjali products from a shop he had rented in M2 area here from local resident Jagdish Kulkarni.
According to Kulkarni, he ran the shop from 2014 to 2016. "He paid rent on time. Beyond that we had no interaction," he said.
In 2016, he shifted to a house owned by Yeshwant Shukla in the same area.
"The longest meeting I had with him was when he came to fianalise agreement for the house in February 2016," Shukla told PTI, describing him as taciturn.
"He said he wanted a house on the ground floor as his parents were old. He himself stayed there for only one and a half months," Shukla said.
"He then shifted to Solapur and his parents continued to live in the house till April 2019. He used to visit them for a day or a night. His parents did stitching work. Last year they shifted to Mumbai where their other son lives," he added.
"Dewerkar's involvement in the Gauri Lankesh case is a shock to all of us," Shukla added.
Dewerkar is the 17th accused to be arrested in the Lankesh murder case.
Lankesh, a firebrand journalist and writer, was shot dead in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017.
An official of the SIT said Dewerkar was suspected to be part of the conspiracy to kill Lankesh.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
