Karnataka govt has initiated procedures for banning outfits such as PFI, SDPI: Home Minister
Bengaluru, Jan 17: Karnataka government on Friday said steps had been initiated for legal action and banning organisations such as the Popular Front of India (PFI), Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) which are allegedly involved in anti-social and terror related activities in the state.
It has directed the police and authorities concerned to gather information regarding activities of such organisations so that the required inputs could be sent to the Centre (seeking the ban), state Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.
He made it clear that the action will not be limited against PFI and SDFI (Social Democratic Front of India) and all organisations involved in such activities and keep changing their names were under the scanner.
His statement comes in the backdrop of recent arrests of terror suspects from Karnataka and weeks after the Uttar Pradesh police sought a ban on PFI.
Two people with alleged links to some IS activists in Kerala and wanted in connection with the recent killing of a special sub-inspector in Tamil Nadu were arrested from the Udupi railway station on January 14.
The UP police have sought the ban on PFI after its complicity was suspected in the recent statewide violent protests against the amended citizenship law.
Several senior BJP leaders in Karnataka have been demanding a ban on PFI and other such organisations pointing to their alleged role in violence, including in Mangaluru during the recent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Because of certain recent incidents (anti-social and terror), it is necessary for us to take stringent action.
Already Uttar Pradesh government has decided to take action, we also have taken all these activities seriously, Bommai said.
Noting that there was a set of procedures for it, he said details about number of cases, complaints, prosecutions, convictions of members of such outfits and their links were required.
"We are making all preparations to stop their activities completely and ban them... I have ordered officials to collect all such materials, the Minister said.
Once the details were gathered, the law department would be consulted and information would be sent to the central government.
We have records relating to their previous activities and several attempts have been made by them in Bengaluru, also their involvement in several murder cases is quite clear, he said.
From recent arrests and action by the police from the state and Tamil Nadu and central intelligence bureau, the government has got a lot of information about the activities of various outfits, Bommai said.
He said several murders and terror related activities and conspiracies to carry out such activities had been going on in places like Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mangaluru among others in the last 7-8 years and the police had been able to bust such modules.
Stating that their activities have grown, he said "organisations like PFI and SDFI were involved in several murders, but cases against them were withdrawn by the previous government. So it helped them to continue with their activities and several incidents have occurred."
Pointing to incidents like the attack on Congress legislator Tanveer Sait and also killings and attacks on workers of right wing organisations, the Minister said, there have been several attempts to create violence and unrest.
They have links with terror outfits in various names that active in others states and countries, this has come across during several probes, he said.
The organisations which involve in such activities keep changing their name, he said and alleged that PFI and SDFI were the "political face" of violence and terror activities.
Responding to a question about a BJP MP from the stat being reportedly among the target of anti-social organisations, the Home Minister said We have taken the conspiracy to attack MPs very seriously, we are looking at all angles to take necessary actions.
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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.
