Anna Hazare happy at Kejriwal's defeat, silent on allegations against Modi govt, claims Sanjay Raut
Mumbai, Feb 10 (PTI): Veteran social activist Anna Hazare is happy at the defeat of Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi assembly polls, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said on Sunday.
The BJP ended the Aam Aadmi Party's reign in Delhi by winning 48 seats in the 70-member assembly there. Among the prominent losers was Kejriwal from New Delhi constituency.
Raut also questioned the silence of Hazare on corruption allegations made over the past some years against the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
"Where was Hazare when corruption occurred during Modi's rule? Hazare is happy over Kejriwal's defeat. The country is being looted with wealth concentrated in the hands of a single industrialist. How can democracy continue in such a situation? What could be the secret behind Hazare's silence at such a time," Raut questioned.
"There was a similar pattern regarding voters' list confusion in Maharashtra as well as in Delhi. However, Hazare chose to remain silent on such issues. Similar complaints were made in Haryana as well. These will come up in the Bihar polls too," the Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP told reporters.
Since the BJP came to power in 2014, elections have not followed constitutional procedures, he alleged.
"Victory is being secured through manipulation and money power," Raut claimed.
The outcome of the Delhi polls would have been different if the AAP and Congress had contested in alliance, he opined.
Hazare, while speaking to reporters on Saturday, after the Delhi poll results were declared, claimed Kejriwal did not pay attention to what he had told him and "only focussed on liquor", a reference to the scrapped excise policy brought in by the outgoing government.
"I have always said a candidate's conduct and thoughts must be pure, his life should be without blame and and it must involve sacrifice. These are the qualities that builds trust among voters. I had told this to Kejriwal but he did not pay heed. He was overwhelmed by money power," Hazare had said a day earlier.
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‘Bulldozer Justice’ is like bulldozing the Constitution: Justice Ujjal Bhuyan
New Delhi: Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan has strongly criticised the practice of demolishing the properties of individuals accused of crimes, equating it to bulldozing the Constitution and undermining the rule of law.
Speaking at the 13th Justice PN Bhagwati International Moot Court Competition on Human Rights at Bharati Vidyapeeth New Law College in Pune, Justice Bhuyan described the trend as "disturbing" and "depressing." He questioned the justification of such actions, often defended as targeting illegal structures, and highlighted their impact on the families of the accused.
"Using a bulldozer to demolish a property is like running a bulldozer over the Constitution. It is a negation of the very concept of the rule of law and, if not checked, would destroy the very edifice of our justice delivery system," he said, as quoted by Bar and Bench.
The practice of ‘bulldozer justice’ gained prominence in Uttar Pradesh under the Yogi Adityanath government in 2017 and has since been adopted in other states. The Supreme Court had previously deemed this approach unacceptable under the rule of law.
Justice Bhuyan emphasised that demolitions impact not just the accused but their families as well. "In that house, his mother stays there, his sister stays there, his wife stays there, his children stay there. What is their fault?" he asked. He further questioned whether it was justifiable to render an accused or even a convicted person homeless through such measures.
On the same day, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, responding to queries about the recent violence in Nagpur, indicated that the government might consider similar measures. "The Maharashtra government has its own style of working… bulldozer will roll when necessary," he said.
Violence erupted in central Nagpur following rumours that a sacred text was burnt during an agitation by a right-wing group demanding the removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.
Justice Bhuyan, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2023 after serving as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, reiterated the importance of upholding due process and warned against actions that undermine constitutional principles.
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