Madhya Pradesh ATS detains Maharashtra doctor over suspicious envelopes to Pragya Singh Thakur
Aurangabad:The Madhya Pradesh Anti- Terrorism Squad (ATS) has detained a doctor from Nanded district of Maharashtra for allegedly sending suspicious envelopes to controversial BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, police said on Saturday.
Thakur had lodged a complaint with the Madhya Pradesh police on Monday alleging that she had received some envelopes containing poisonous chemicals in them. Police had seized 3 to 4 envelopes from the BJP MP's residence, some of which had letters written in Urdu.
Talking to PTI, inspector Pradeep Kakade of Itwara police station in Nanded said that during its probe, the MP ATS found that Dr Sayyed Abdul Rehman Khan (35), who runs a clinic in Dhanegaon (in Nanded district), had sent these suspicious envelopes to Thakur.
"The MP ATS detained Khan on Thursday evening from Dhanegaon. He had been on the police's radar for the last three months, as he had previously written letters to some government officials, claiming that his mother and brother had terror links and they should be arrested," Kakade said.
The officer said that Khan was previously arrested for writing these letters. "The police tried keeping a tab on him using his mobile phone location. However, he would leave his phone at home and travel to Aurangabad, Nagpur and other cities to post these letters," Kakade added.
Khan also had a dispute with his brother and was earlier arrested for assaulting him, the official added.
Based on Pragya Singh Thakur's complaint, Kamla Nagar police in Bhopal had registered a case against an unidentified person on charges of criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing grievous hurt.
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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.
