Women's reservation bill: SC grants Centre 2 weeks to respond to Congress leader's plea
New Delhi, Jan 22: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to respond within two weeks to a plea by a Congress leader seeking immediate implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Act-2023 so that one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies can be reserved for women before the general elections due this year.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta allowed the Centre time after its advocate Kanu Agrawal said the government needs some time to file a comprehensive reply.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for petitioner Jaya Thakur, said the court should issue a direction to ensure that the law can be implemented before the general elections.
Justice Khanna said the court cannot pass a direction and this stage and asked Singh to wait for the Centre's reply.
When advocate Prashant Bhushan said he wanted to file a petition on the issue, the bench told him his plea, being a fresh matter, can only be assigned to a bench by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
It posted the matter for further hearing after three weeks.
On January 16, the top court had deferred the hearing of the plea till January 22 after counsel who were to appear on the Centre's behalf were not available.
The SC had said on November 3, 2023 it would be "very difficult" for the court to strike down a part of the women's reservation law that says it will come into effect after the Census.
On September 21, 2023, the watershed bill to reserve one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women received the parliamentary nod.
The Lok Sabha passed the Constitution amendment bill with near unanimity, while the Rajya Sabha cleared it unanimously.
The law will take some time before it is implemented as the next census and the subsequent delimitation exercise for redrawing the boundaries of Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies will help identify the seats to be reserved for women.
The quota for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will continue for 15 years. Parliament can later extend the duration of the quota for women.
While there is quota within quota for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) women, the opposition had demanded that the benefit be extended to Other Backward Classes, too.
Data shows that women MPs account only for nearly 15 per cent of the Lok Sabha's strength, while their representation is below 10 per cent in many state assemblies.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
