Services row: SC to consider listing plea of Delhi govt against central law
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday told the Delhi government that it would consider listing its plea challenging the central government's law establishing pre-eminence of the lieutenant governor over the elected dispensation in controlling services in the national capital.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was urged by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the AAP government, that the whole administration has come to a standstill and the matter needed to be heard.
The CJI said presently a nine-judge bench matter is going on and he will consider the submission.
Presently, the nine-judge bench headed by the CJI is hearing petitions raising a vexed legal question whether private properties can be considered "material resources of the community" under Article 39(b) of the Constitution, which is a part of the Directive Principles of State Policy.
The top court had earlier referred to a five-judge Constitution bench the Delhi government's plea challenging the Centre's May 19, last year ordinance which took away the control over services from the city dispensation and set off a fresh tussle between the two power centres.
Later, a central law replaced the ordinance on the issue.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Hamas accepts cease-fire proposal for Gaza, but Israel's stance still uncertain
Jerusalem, May 6: Hamas announced Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but there was no immediate word from Israel, leaving it uncertain whether a deal had been sealed to bring a halt to the seven-month-long war in Gaza.
It was the first glimmer of hope that a deal might avert further bloodshed. Hours earlier, Israel ordered some 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating the southern Gaza town of Rafah, signalling that an attack was imminent. The United States and other key allies of Israel oppose an offensive on Rafah, where around 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of Gaza's population, are sheltering.
An official familiar with Israeli thinking said Israeli officials were examining the proposal, but the plan approved by Hamas was not the framework Israel proposed.
An American official also said the US was still waiting to learn more about the Hamas position and whether it reflected an agreement to what had already been signed off on by Israel and international negotiators or something else. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as a stance was still being formulated.
Details of the proposal have not been released. Touring the region last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had pressed Hamas to take the deal, and Egyptian officials said it called for a cease-fire of multiple stages starting with a limited hostage release and some Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza. The two sides would also negotiate a “permanent calm” that would lead to a full hostage release and greater Israeli withdrawal, they said.
