Supreme Court reserves order on SIT probe into activists' arrest
New Delhi, Sep 20 : The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on a plea seeking court-monitored SIT probe into the charge that the five right activists have links with Maoist and were allegedly involved in a conspiracy to kill sovereign leaders.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud reserved the order with senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi taking the court through the sequence of events demonstrating that entire case is cooked up.
Picking holes in the Maharashtra police investigation leading to the arrest of five activists -- Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bhardwaj and Gautam Navlakha -- Singhvi told the bench that when there is a real doubt about the credibility and sanctity of the probe, it should be entrusted to a Special Investigating Team.
Singhvi pointed out that there was no separate FIR on the alleged Maoist plot to kill high dignitaries like the Prime Minister or Rajiv Gandhi assassination-type plot. He said that the aim of the entire exercise was to "create a climate of real threat".
Appearing for the complainant, senior counsel Harish Salve said that the court has to decide where free speech ends and unlawful activities begin. "If unlawful activities are involved, the investigation must continue."
Dwelling on the dangers of seeking court-monitored SIT probe every time, Salve said "if they did not trust the CBI, NIA, who will they call? the FBI".
"There is a danger of embarking on the path of SIT probe. People are framed day in and day out. Four tiers of courts are there," Salve said pointing that all important cases end up in the top court.
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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."
