Deepika patriotic when endorsing Modi govt scheme, anti-national after visiting JNU: Kanhaiya Kumar
New Delhi, Jan 9: Taking a dig at the Centre, former JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on Thursday said actress Deepika Padukone was patriotic when she was an ambassador for a Modi government initiative but turned anti-national after visiting JNU.
Addressing a crowd outside the premises of the Human Resource Development Ministry here, he also said there was no "tukde tukde" government before 2014.
'Tukde tukde' gang is a term used by the BJP to refer to alleged sympathisers of separatists.
Padukone and shuttler PV Sindhu were on October 22 last year named ambassadors for 'Bharat Ki Laxmi', an initiative by the Modi government aimed at bringing to light the commendable work done by women across the nation ahead of the festival of Diwali.
The Bollywood star on Tuesday visited the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) here to express solidarity with the students who were attacked by a mob on January 5, though she did not address the crowd.
She earned bouquets as well as brickbats from various people, including politicians, for her act of showing support to the JNU students.
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.
