BJP wants to end reservation, change Constitution: Kejriwal
Lucknow (PTI): AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the BJP wants to get more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls as it wants to end reservation.
Kejriwal also reiterated his claim that Home Minister Amit Shah will be made the next prime minister and Yogi Adiyanath will be removed as Uttar Pradesh chief minister if the BJP returns to power.
"The people of BJP have always been against reservation. They will change the Constitution and end reservation of SC/ST/OBC after coming to power," he said at a joint press conference along with Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav here.
Kejriwal claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a rule that anyone over 75 years of age will not be given any post in the government and the organisation and will be retired.
L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were retired as per this rule and several BJP leaders, as per this rule, were removed or not given ticket.
"PM Modi is going to cross the age of 75 next year and has decided to make Amit Shah the prime minister of the country," Kejriwal said.
He claimed that Modi has been working to ensure the same.
The leaders who could have caused an hindrance were sidelined. Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Vasundhra Raje, Raman Singh, Devendra Fadnvis and Manohar Lal Khattar have been finished, he asserted.
Kejriwal said Adityanath will be removed as Uttar Pradesh chief minister if the BJP again comes to power.
"There is only one person who could prove to be a thorn in the way of Amit Shah and that is Adityanath. They have now decided to remove Yogi Adityanath within two months if their government is formed," Kejriwal said.
"They say the BJP is going to do something big after coming to power. The big thing they want to do is to end reservation. We know their ecosystem -- RSS, BJP -- has been against reservation. I want to alert that they want more than 400 seats because they want to destroy the reservation made by B R Ambedkar," he claimed.
Kejriwal said trends coming from across the country show that the BJP is getting less than 220 seats. The seats of BJP in Haryana, Delhi, Karanataka, UP, Maharastra, West Bengal, Bihar and Jahrkhand are reducing and the party is not winning a single seat in Punjab, he claimed.
The SP chief claimed that BJP will win only 143 of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats.
"The BJP has been defeated in the first four phases. It was giving the slogan of wining 400 seats but is winning only 143 of the total 543 seats," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister 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.
