Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday demanded that Chief Justice India D Y Chandrachud recuse himself from the cases tied to the disqualification petitions concerning rebel Shiv Sena and NCP MLAs.
The Rajya Sabha member’s demand comes amid a row over Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the Ganpati Puja celebrations at CJI Chandrachud’s residence.
Talking to reporters, Raut said doubt arises in the minds of people when “protectors of the Constitution meet politicians”.
“The Chief Justice of India should recuse himself from the cases because his relations with the prime minister are out in the open. Can he give us justice,” he asked.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by Uddhav Thackeray is caught in a legal wrangle with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, with the matter reaching the Supreme Court, after the split in the Bal Thackeray-founded party two years ago.
“Our case is going on before CJI Chandrachud. We have doubts whether we will get justice because the Centre is a party in our case and the (central) government is headed by the prime minister,” Raut said.
For three years, an “illegal government” has been in power in Maharashtra when someone like Chief Justice of India Chandrachud is in that position, Raut claimed.
“The CJI has repeatedly said that the government is unconstitutional but still a judgment is not given despite his retirement is nearing. Amid this, the prime minister has reached his residence,” Raut said.
PM Modi on Wednesday visited the residence of Chandrachud on the occasion of Ganesh festival and offered prayers.
Raut wondered whether the PM’s visit to Chandrachud’s residence was according to constitutional norms and protocol.
Doubts have become stronger that there is “something happening to save the government or completely finish NCP and Shiv Sena, and while doing so help is being taken from the judiciary”, he claimed.
There is doubt in the minds of people when “protectors of the Constitution meet political people”, he added.
Last year’s split in the Sharad Pawar-founded Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has also reached the apex court.
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Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.