Cop crushed to death by tractor-trolley used for illegal sand mining in MP; 2 held
Shahdol (MP) (PTI): An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) has been crushed to death by a tractor-trolley used for transporting illegally mined sand in Madhya Pradesh's Shahdol district, a police official said on Sunday.
Two persons have been arrested in connection with the incident which took place on the intervening night of Saturday-Sunday in Badoli village under Beohari police station limits, 90 km from the district headquarters, Superintendent of Police Kumar Prateek told PTI.
ASI Mahendra Bagri, posted at the Beohari police station, was going along with two colleagues to arrest a person in some case.
On the way, they saw a sand-laden tractor-trolley coming towards their direction and tried to stop it, the official said.
Bagri and the other policemen gave a signal to the driver to stop the tractor carrying the illegally mined sand. But he did not stop and the vehicle ran over the ASI, the police official said.
After the incident, the driver jumped from the tractor and ran away. The speeding vehicle went out of control, collided with a culvert and overturned, Prateek said.
Driver Raj Rawat and Ashutosh Singh, who was piloting the vehicle, were later arrested. The vehicle owner, Surendra Singh, is absconding, he said.
A case was registered against the accused on charges of murder and illegal sand mining under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Mines Act, the official said.
Additional Director General of Police, Shahdol zone, DC Sagar told reporters that a reward of Rs 30,000 has been announced for anyone providing information that would help the police to arrest Surendra Singh.
'Piloting' in Shahdol is used to refer to moving ahead a vehicle while seeing the road is clear and no checking is being done by authorities.
In November last year, a local revenue department official was crushed to death by a tractor-trolley used for transporting illegally mined sand from the Son river in Gopalpur area of Shahdol district.
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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.
