BJP protecting corrupt, silent on Rafale deal: Congress
New Delhi, May 13: The Congress on Sunday hit back at the BJP for "protecting its corrupt leaders and Ministers" and slammed Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for her silence on key defence controversies, including the Rafale deal.
It said the Income Tax Department was a "caged bird" of the BJP-led government and action against senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram over a disproportionate assets case was "politically motivated".
Addressing a press conference here, Congress Spokesperson Pawan Khera said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP had not replied to questions over the Rafale price, Vyapam scam, PDS scam in Chhattisgarh, mining scam in Rajasthan and cases involving Union Minister Piyush Goyal, and BJP chief Amit Shah's son Jay Shah.
"When will the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister respond to the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale scam? You also snatched offset business of Rs 30,000 cr from HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) in Bengaluru and gave it to your friend, who has no experience in this field. First, you give answers to these questions and then talk about other issues," Khera said.
In a press conference held earlier in the day over the Income Tax Department's chargesheet against Chidambaram for alleged non-disclosure of assets held abroad, Defence Minister Sitharaman asked if Congress President Rahul Gandhi will probe the matter against one of his senior colleagues.
Khera said Chidambaram had already clarified his stand on the issue and he would challenge the Income Tax Department's action in a court of law.
Taking a dig at Sitharaman, Khera said the Minister always took a lead in responding to all issues, except those related to her ministry, the Rafale deal and other defence deals.
"The Defence Minister chooses to defend her party only. Defence of the country is not her priority. She is not interested in even talking about the welfare of Army or providing resources to the Army," he said.
The Congress leader criticised top BJP leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, including Speaker Nirmal Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta for buying land rights next to the Army's ammunition depot in Nagrota.
Khera also said that the government should not behave like the opposition and give answers to the questions affecting the common man.
"There is no answer to all these issues in the last four years. And new questions are surfacing every day. These questions are related to the life of a common man. You are mired in corruption from head to toe. Who will answer those questions?" he asked.
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SC dismisses pleas seeking review of 2023 verdict declining legal sanction to same-sex marriage
New Delhi, Jan 9: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a batch of pleas seeking to review its October 2023 verdict declining legal sanction to same-sex marriage.
A five-judge bench of Justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, B V Nagarathna, P S Narasimha and Dipankar Datta took up about 13 petitions related to the matter in chambers and dismissed them.
"We do not find any error apparent on the face of the record. We further find that the view expressed in both the judgements is in accordance with law and as such, no interference is warranted. Accordingly, the review petitions are dismissed," the bench said.
It said the judges have carefully gone through the judgements delivered by Justice (since retired) S Ravindra Bhat speaking for himself and for Justice (since retired) Hima Kohli as well as the concurring opinion expressed by Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, constituting the majority view.
The bench also rejected a prayer made in the review petitions for hearing in an open court.
According to practice, the review pleas are considered in chambers by the judges.
The new bench was constituted after Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the present CJI, recused from hearing the review petitions on July 10, 2024.
Notably, Justice P S Narasimha is the only member of the original Constitution bench comprising five judges which delivered the verdict, as former CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices S K Kaul, Ravindra Bhat and Hima Kohli have retired.
A five-judge Constitution bench led by then CJI Chandrachud on October 17, 2024, refused to accord legal backing to same-sex marriages and held there was "no unqualified right" to marriage with the exception of those recognised by law.
The apex court, however, made a strong pitch for the rights of LGBTQIA++ persons so that they didn't face discrimination in accessing goods and services available to others, safe houses known as "garima greh" in all districts for shelter to members of the community facing harassment and violence, and dedicated hotlines in case of trouble.
In its judgement, the bench held transpersons in heterosexual relationships had the freedom and entitlement to marry under the existing statutory provisions.
It said an entitlement to legal recognition of the right to union, akin to marriage or civil union, or conferring legal status to the relationship could be only done through an "enacted law".
The five-judge Constitution bench delivered four separate verdicts on a batch of 21 petitions seeking legal sanction for same-sex marriages.
All five judges were unanimous in refusing the legal recognition to same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act and observed it was within Parliament's ambit to change the law for validating such a union.
While former CJI Chandrachud wrote a separate 247-page verdict, Justice Kaul penned a 17-page judgement where he broadly agreed with the former's views.
Justice Bhat, who authored an 89-page judgement for himself and Justice Kohli, disagreed with certain conclusions arrived at by the former CJI, including on applicability of adoption rules for such couples.
Justice Narasimha in his 13-page verdict was in complete agreement with the reasoning and conclusion of Justice Bhat.
The judges were unanimous in holding that queerness was a natural phenomenon and not an "urban or elite" notion.
In his judgement, the former CJI recorded Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's assurance of forming a committee chaired by the cabinet secretary to define and elucidate the scope of entitlements of such couples in a union.
The LGBTQIA++ rights activists, who won a major legal battle in 2018 in the Supreme Court, which decriminalised consensual gay sex, moved the apex court seeking validation of same-sex marriages and consequential reliefs such as rights to adoption, enrolment as parents in schools, opening of bank accounts and availing succession and insurance benefits.
Some of the petitioners sought the apex court to use its plenary power besides the "prestige and moral authority" to push the society to acknowledge such a union and ensure LGBTQIA++ persons led a "dignified" life like heterosexuals.
