Candidates claim they were under pressure to withdraw from Gandhinagar LS contest
Ahmedabad, May 3: Three candidates have claimed that they were under pressure to withdraw their nominations from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency with one of them accusing "people associated with the BJP" of threatening him, a charge strongly denied by the ruling party.
Jitendra Chauhan, who has since withdrawn from the fray, said in a video that went viral last month that "people associated with the BJP" had been threatening him after he filed his nomination as a candidate of the 'Akhil Bhartiya Parivar Party'.
Jayendra Rathod, an independent, said he withdrew his candidature due to "soft pressure" by BJP leaders who said they wanted to keep the number of candidates in the fray low. "After having a word with my uncle, I withdrew my candidature; no one threatened me for that," he told reporters.
Sumitra Maurya, candidate of Prajatantra Aadhar Party who is still in the fray, claimed in a video shot at Somnath that ever since she filed her nomination papers, some people were calling and threatening her, and police were following her when she arrived in the temple town.
Denying the allegations, Gujarat BJP spokesperson Yamal Vyas said sitting MP and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the party's candidate from the seat, does not need to resort to such tactics, and the BJP never indulges in such practices.
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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.
