Court issues arrest warrant against Manju Verma
Begusarai (Bihar), Oct 31: A court here on Wednesday issued arrest warrant against former Bihar minister Manju Verma, who has been booked in an Arms Act case following the recovery of a huge cache of ammunition from her residence during a CBI raid in connection with the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Prabhat Trivedi issued the warrant against Verma, who stepped down as the social welfare minister in August following reports suggesting "close links" between her husband Chandrashekhar Verma and the prime accused in the shelter home scandal, Brijesh Thakur.
According to Begusarai Superintendent of Police Avakash Kumar, the court also granted two days' police remand for Chandrashekhar Verma who had surrendered before the court on Monday.
His surrender had come a few days after the Supreme Court had rapped the Bihar government for failing to secure his arrest.
The warrant against Manju Verma comes a day after the Bihar government faced flak from the apex court upon its submission that the former minister was "untraceable".
The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up Bihar Police for not arresting Manju Verma.
The anticipatory bail plea of Manju Verma, an MLA of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), was rejected by a court here and subsequently by the Patna High Court.
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Women's bill: This is democracy, not Hitler rule, says Dy CM Shivakumar
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday criticised the BJP-led Centre over the timing and handling of the Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill, saying the opposition was not taken into confidence.
He also called for wider consultation in a democratic framework.
The deputy CM said the Congress has consistently supported women’s reservation, but objected to the manner in which the Bill was brought forward, alleging that it was introduced without adequate discussion with opposition parties.
“This is democracy; this is not a Hitler-style rule. They cannot bring it in the middle of elections and try to alter the entire constituencies,” Shivakumar told reporters here.
The Deputy Chief Minister maintained that the move should have been discussed across party lines.
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“They have to take everyone into confidence, but they have not done that. That is why the opposition parties have done a very good job. So, it is a victory of the INDIA alliance,” Shivakumar, who is Congress Karnataka unit president, said.
He was speaking about the setback to the BJP-led Central government, where a Constitution Amendment Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated on Friday, with the ruling dispensation asserting that the struggle to give the rights to women will continue.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill in Lok Sabha, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-third majority.
According to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to 816 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
Responding to BJP’s charge that the Congress is anti-women, he said, “This is not anyone’s personal property—women are the nation’s asset. We had passed this in the Rajya Sabha and Congress has already given 50 per cent reservation to women in local bodies. Even today, we support it.”
Alleging that the proposed changes could impact regional representation, Shivakumar said, “Without consulting us, they are trying to redraw constituencies, giving more weight to North India and reducing representation in South India. No one can tolerate this.”
He added that leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and several South Indian Chief Ministers have opposed the move, terming the defeat of the bills a "major victory for democracy".
The Congress Karnataka chief asserted that the Congress and the INDIA bloc stand firmly in support of women’s rights.
