IPS officer Ravi Sinha appointed RAW chief
New Delhi (PTI): Senior IPS officer Ravi Sinha, an expert on neighbourhood countries and operations, was on Monday appointed as the new head of external spy agency R&AW, succeeding Samant Goel who completes his four-year stint on June 30.
According to an order issued by the Ministry of Personnel, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of 59-year-old Sinha, a 1988 batch IPS officer from Chhatisgarh, as the Secretary RAW for a tenure of two years.
Sinha, who has had an over two-decade-long stint in the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), is at present the second-in-command in the organisation. Before being promoted, he was looking after the operations wing.
Considered to be a specialist on countries in India's immediate neighbourhood, Sinha's appointment comes at a time when Pakistan is politically and economically unstable, Sikh extremism is being fanned from abroad and attempts are being made in the northeast to promote violence.
Sinha has served in Jammu and Kashmir, the northeast and foreign countries in the past.
His predecessor Goel was appointed R&AW chief for two years in June 2019. He was later given two extensions of one year each in 2021 and June 2022.
Goel, an expert on matters related to Jammu and Kashmir, is believed to have played a key role in planning the February 2019 surgical strike in Pakistan's Balakot.
The surgical strike was carried out to avenge the Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed by a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
In response to the attack, the Indian Air Force had struck a JeM terrorist training camp in Balakot on February 26, 2019.
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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.
