Jethmalani moves SC against Karnataka Governor's decision
New Delhi, May 17: Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani on Thursday approached the Supreme Court in his personal capacity against Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision of inviting BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa to form a new government in the state despite being eight short of a simple majority in the assembly.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud asked Jethmalani to mention his plea on Friday before the bench concerned.
Jethmalani, who had taken retirement from law practice, told the bench that the Karnataka Governor's order is a "gross abuse of Constitutional power".
The apex court early on Thursday after a midnight hearing refused to stall the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa as Karnataka's new Chief Minister.
Yeddyurappa took the oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Thursday at 9 a.m. at the Raj Bhavan amid tight security.
The court, however, sought the communications which Yeddyurappa had written to Karnataka Governor informing him his election as BJP legislature party.
The apex court said that the swearing-in is subject to the final outcome of the matter before it.
The bench headed by Justice A.K. Sikri, while seeking Yeddyurappa's response on the petition by Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) seeking to stall his swearing-in, has directed further hearing of the matter at 10.30 a.m. on Friday.
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Chhattisgarh: 3 Naxalites killed in Sukma encounter carried cumulative bounty of Rs 18 lakh
Raipur (PTI): Three Naxalites killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district a day ago were senior members carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 18 lakh, police said on Friday.
An encounter broke out on the hill of Paliguda-Gundrajgudem in Sukma, where a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxalite operation on Thursday morning. Bodies of three Naxalites were recovered from the scene.
One of the slain Naxalities, Korsa Mahesh, was an expert in improvised explosive devices (IED) and was the alleged mastermind of violent incidents in 2023 and 2024 in Bedre (Bijapur) and Jagargunda (Sukma) areas, an official said.
Mahesh was active as deputy commander of Maoists' platoon no. 30 and carried a bounty of Rs 8 lakh, Sukma superintendent of police Kiran Chavan said.
He said the two others, Madvi Naveen and Avlam Bheema, were area committee members and carried a bounty of Rs 5 lakh each.
The official said two barrel grenade launchers (BGLs), a 12-bore rifle, three tiffin bombs, five BGL shells and a cache of explosives and Maoist-related items were recovered from the encounter site.
"Mahesh was an expert in making, planting and triggering IEDs. He was allegedly involved in several incidents, including the Naxal attack in December, 2023 near Bedre, in which CRPF sub-inspector Sudhakar Reddy was killed, and the IED blast on a truck in June last year in Jagargunda that killed two CRPF personnel," Chavan said.
According to the police, nine Naxalites have been killed in three encounters at separate places in the state so far this year.
