Manipur Congress delegation meets Rajnath to protest citizenship law amendment
New Delhi, June 27: A delegation from Congress' Manipur unit on Wednesday met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and submitted a memorandum demanding scrapping of Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 and making public the framework agreement signed between the government and NSCN-IM.
The 25-member delegation led by former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh also sought appointment from President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi but did not get it. They marched from Vijay Chowk to Rashtrapati Bhawan but could not meet the President.
"We came here (Delhi) to submit a memorandum to the President, Prime Minister and Home Minister regarding three issues. One is about framework agreement signed between government of India and NSCN-IM. Another is citizenship amendment bill 2016
"The third issue is about the Vice-Chancellor of Manipur University," Ibobi Singh told reporters.
"If the citizenship bill is amended, there will be huge impact, particularly in northest because it will become dumping ground of all those citizens who are coming from Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan," he said.
Ibobi Singh said the bill should be withdrawn straight away. "We cannot accept it. We will fight it tooth and nail. This bill cannot be passed by the Parliament," he said.
He also demanded that the framework agreement signed between the Central government and the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah must be made public. "What are contents of that framework agreement, no one knows. Till today it has not been disclosed. Why has it been kept as a confidential document by the government," he asked.
"This is a huge problem for Manipur. Interlocutor R. N. Ravi said the framework agreement is in its final stage. So, one bill could be passed in the Parliament during the monsoon session....
"So we want to know what are the contents of the framework agreement. Without consulting the state concerned and the people of Manipur, we cannot accept it. It should be scrapped otherwise," he added.
On the third issue, he said: "For the last nearly one month, there is an unrest in Manipur University. The students are not attending classes, they have totally stopped the functioning of the university."
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K’taka HC judge whose controversial remarks triggered controversy expresses regret before open court
Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court judge, Justice V Srishananda, on Saturday expressed regret in open court after facing backlash over his controversial remarks in his recent court hearings, reported Bar and Bench.
Two purported video clips from Justice V Srishananda’s court hearing that show him making inappropriate comments went viral across social media platforms.
On Saturday, Justice Srishananda invited members of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and senior lawyers to his courtroom at 2:30 PM, where he read out a note expressing regret for inappropriate comments.
Quoting Advocates Association President Vivek Subba Reddy, Bar and Bench wrote, “He expressed regret for the comments and clarified that it was not his intention to offend any community or members of the Bar. He also requested the association to relay this message to all members of the Bar.”
Reddy further stated, “We also advised him to encourage young lawyers in the courtroom and refrain from making any irrelevant remarks during hearings.”
Another senior lawyer present during the session confirmed to the legal news portal that Justice Srishananda also addressed comments directed at a woman lawyer, who was seen in one of the videos being reprimanded by the judge. The judge Justice Srishananda clarified that his remarks were not intended to target her (woman lawyer) specifically, but rather pertained to the appellant she was representing. “He explained that his comment was meant to imply that the appellant seemed to know a lot about the other party,” said the lawyer.
In addition, Justice Srishananda assured those present that he would avoid making such comments in the future.
The controversy came to light on September 19, when a video clip from an August 28 Court hearing surfaced on social media, showing Justice Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority sub-locality in Bengaluru’s Goripalya as "Pakistan." Hours later, another video from the same courtroom emerged, in which the judge was seen making a gender-insensitive remark.
Following outrage over the viral videos, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, on September 20 took a suo motu cognizance and sought a report from the Karnataka High Court Registrar General in connection with the viral video.
