SC's 5-judge Constitution bench not to sit this week
New Delhi, Apr 22: A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court which was scheduled to hear certain important cases, including the land acquisition matter from Tuesday, will not sit in this week.
According to the notice uploaded on the apex court website, the hearing of cases by the Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was cancelled.
Other cases included as to whether lawmakers enjoy immunity from prosecution for accepting bribes to vote in Parliament or an Assembly.
"In supersession of earlier notice dated April 16, 2019 uploaded on the Supreme Court website mentioning that Constitution bench will sit in Chief Justice's court from April 23, 2019, now, take further notice that the Constitution bench will not sit in the week commencing from April 23, 2019," the notice said.
As per the earlier notice of April 16, the five-judge bench was scheduled to hear from April 23, two matters pertaining to interpretation of Section 24 of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013.
The two cases were referred to the Constitution bench as two benches of the apex court of same strength had taken a taken a contradictory view on the issue.
The apex court had on April 2 asked the Centre and the parties concerned, who have challenged the validity of various provisions of the Act, to consensually frame the questions of law to be answered by a five-judge Constitution bench.
The hearing in two land-acquisition matter is ongoing.
The third case to be taken up by the bench related to the issue of whether a lawmaker enjoys immunity under Article 194(2) of the Constitution from prosecution for accepting bribes to vote in Parliament or Assembly.
This crucial question with "wide ramification" and of "substantial public importance", will be dealt by the apex court as it has decided to revisit its 21 year-old verdict in the sensational Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) bribery case earlier this month.
In 1998 five-judge constitution bench had held in the PV Narasimha Rao versus CBI case that lawmakers have immunity under the Constitution against criminal prosecution for their speech or vote given in the house.
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Oracle lays off around 12,000 employees in India, another round likely within a month
New Delhi (PTI): US-based IT firm Oracle is believed to have laid off approximately 12,000 staff in India, with another round of layoffs expected within a month, impacted employees said on Tuesday.
Globally, the company has fired around 30,000 employees.
"In India, around 12,000 employees have been laid off. The company is planning another mass layoff within a month," said two people impacted by the retrenchment, including one from the company's human resource department.
The company has approximately 30,000 employees in India, including those affected by the layoffs.
Oracle declined to comment on the development.
Oracle, in an email sent to staff, said the employees were informed about certain organisational changes and "because of these changes, a decision has been taken to streamline the operations, and as a result, unfortunately, the position you currently hold will become redundant".
The company has offered 15 days' salary to each employee who has completed a year of service in India, in addition to one month of unpaid wages till termination date, leave encashment, gratuity based on eligibility and pay for a one-month notice period.
Oracle has also offered a two-month salary as a top-up.
However, the severance package is available for those who voluntarily and amicably resign from the company.
An ex-employee of Oracle, Merugu Sridhar, said that he was laid off in September for protesting against the 16-hour work shift that the company has in India.
"I contacted my friends and those who are in human resources. They shared that most of the Indians working in the US with the company have been impacted because the local laws there are very strict when it comes to the retrenchment of their citizens," Sridhar said.
