Delhi court notice to Sonia, police on plea claiming 'forgery' in electoral roll inclusion
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court on Tuesday sought response from senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and the police on a plea challenging a magistrate's order refusing a probe on the allegation that she was included in the electoral rolls three years before acquiring Indian citizenship in 1983.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne was hearing a revision plea against the magisterial court's order of September 11, which had dismissed the plea, saying the complaint was "fashioned with the object of clothing the court with jurisdiction through allegations which are legally untenable, deficient in substance, and beyond the scope of this forum's authority".
Issuing notice to Gandhi and Delhi Police, Judge Gogne posted the matter on January 6 for further proceedings.
The revision plea was filed by advocate Vikas Tripathi, vice president of the Central Delhi Court Bar Association of the Rouse Avenue courts.
Tripathi's counsel, senior advocate Pavan Narang, had alleged before the magisterial court that in January 1980, Gandhi's name was added as a voter of the New Delhi constituency when she was not an Indian citizen.
He had claimed "some forgery" and a public authority being "cheated".
The magistrate, however, had dismissed the plea seeking a probe by holding that the complainant sought to set the criminal law in motion by persuading the court to assume jurisdiction, which did not vest in it legally.
He had observed "mere bald assertions, unaccompanied by the essential particulars required to attract the statutory elements of cheating or forgery" cannot substitute a legally sustainable accusation.
The plea, the magistrate had said, was merely relying upon an extract of the electoral roll, which was "a photocopy of a photocopy of an alleged extract of an uncertified electoral roll" of 1980.
Deprecating the complaint, the magistrate had said, "Such a course, in substance, amounts to a misuse of the process of law by projecting a civil or ordinary dispute in the garb of criminality, solely to create a jurisdiction where none exists."
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.
Stalin accuses Centre of trying to use women's quota as 'weapon,' slams EPS over delimitation
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has strongly criticised the Centre over the women's reservation and accused it of trying to use it as a "weapon" to tackle the opposition before taking up the delimitation exercise based on population.
"The Union government is not concerned about implementing reservations for women. If their concerns were genuine, they could have done it right away. Rather than doing that, the BJP-led Centre is thinking of using it as a weapon to tackle opposition and take up the delimitation exercise based on population," he told PTI in an interview.
"Hence, the women's reservation must be implemented immediately without showing delimitation as a reason," the DMK president added.
Expressing apprehensions on the proposed delimitation exercise, the CM said it was the DMK that raised the first voice asserting the rights of the state after realising that Tamil Nadu would be affected by the proposed exercise. He also attacked his rival and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami over the delimitation issue.
Recalling efforts made by the DMK to raise the issue of population-based delimitation, he said an all-party meeting and a meeting of CMs under the auspices of the Joint Action Committee seeking fair delimitation were convened. It sought to freeze delimitation for 25 years and stick to it based on the 1971 Census population.
"We urged the union government that states which successfully implemented population control programmes must not be punished," he added.
The party came up with "Tamil Nadu poradum, Tamil Nadu vellum" (Tamil Nadu will struggle, Tamil Nadu will win) and this is DMK's stand, he said.
"However, Palaniswami, who is seeking votes for the entry of the BJP through the backdoor, has till date been mute over delimitation, and this is a betrayal of the people of Tamil Nadu."
