BJP want to finish the Constitution: Mallikarjun Kharge
SC order on reservation in appointments: Kharge demands that Centre file review petition
Bengaluru, Feb 9: Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday demanded that the union government either file a review petition in the Supreme Court or amend the constitution to make reservation a fundamental right in the wake of the recent apex court order.
"At least now the Government of India should wake up.
They can either take up this matter and amend the Constitution related to Article 16(4)(b) or (c) after consulting the law department or file a review petition,asking that a constitutional bench should hear the case," Kharge said at a press conference at the Congress office here.
Kharge said his party would raise the matter inside and outside Parliament.
The Supreme Court had said that states are not bound to provide reservation in appointments and there is no fundamental right to claim quota in promotions.
The apex court said this while dealing with pleas on the Uttarakhand government's September 5, 2012 decision to fill up all posts in public services in the state without providing reservations to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The Congress leader claimed that a constitutional matter should not have been heard by a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, but the full constitutional bench.
"It is a constitutional matter and only two people have given a judgement, which will have an impact from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and Calcutta to Ahmedabad," the former union minister said.
He stressed that such matters, which would affect Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and the economically weaker sections, who are entitled for 10 per cent reservation, should be represented properly.
The judgement, he said, will have repercussions not just in Uttarakhand, but also in Uttar Pradesh and several other states.
The Congress leader accused the BJP of trying to 'abolish' the Constitution and having reservation on its agenda.
"I know their (BJPs) agenda. They want to finish the Constitution, finish reservation in promotions, so they are going step by step.
But they cannot do it immediately because people are awakened now," Kharge said.
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Kerala: Court imposes 41-year jail term on man for sexual assault of minor
Kozhikode (Kerala) (PTI): A Kerala court on Wednesday sentenced a man to 41 years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor boy near Valayam in 2021.
Nadapuram Fast Track Special Court judge K Naushad Ali sentenced 64-year-old Panchara Musa, also known as Ganapathiyat Musa, under various provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), according to special public prosecutor Manoj Aroor.
As the sentences are to run concurrently, the convict will have to serve the highest term of 20 years’ imprisonment, SPP Aroor said. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 52,000 on Musa.
The incident took place in August 2021 when the accused allegedly took the 14-year-old boy to a bus stop in Valayam town and sexually assaulted him, the prosecutor said. The accused also gave Rs 50 to the boy, he added.
Following the incident, the boy and his father lodged a complaint at the Valayam police station.
A case under various provisions of the POCSO Act and the IPC was registered, and the accused was subsequently arrested, the SPP said.
The prosecution examined 16 witnesses and submitted 16 documents to substantiate its case against the accused, he added.
