'Supreme Court is ours, Ram temple will be built': Uttar Pradesh minister Mukut Bihari Verma
Stirs row with remark
Uttar Pradesh, Sept 08: Uttar Pradesh minister Mukut Bihari Verma on Saturday stirred a controversy with his comments on the Ram mandir. Verma said the temple will be built in Ayodhya because "the Supreme Court is ours".
"The temple is our blessing. The temple will be built," Verma said. "The Supreme Court is ours. The government is ours. The country is ours."
#BREAKING -- UP Mantri Mukut Bihari Verma stirs controversy, says "Supreme Court is ours, Ram Mandir will come up" | @pranshumisraa with more details pic.twitter.com/sNauPzUuQD
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 8, 2018
Reacting to Verma's remarks, BJP leader Anila Singh told CNN-News18: "The Supreme Court is independent. We can't say that the Supreme Court works under any influence."
Adding that the matter of the Ram temple is sub judice, she added: "The Supreme Court doesn't belong to any organisation or political party."
However, Congress leader Sanjay Jha lashed out at the Uttar Pradesh minister for his remarks. "These are extremely condemnable statements," he said. "For a BJP minister to say that the Supreme Court is theirs is virtually insulting the judiciary and questioning the independence of the judiciary at the highest level."
"Can you imagine the kind of damage such dangerous propaganda does to the minds of so many ordinary people?" Jha told CNN-News18. "I hope the Supreme Court takes very stern action (against Verma)."
In August, Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had said he hoped that if the need arose and there was no way out, the Centre would take the legislative route to construct the Ram temple in the disrupted spot in Ayodhya when it has adequate numbers in both Houses.
Maurya had said: "At present, we do not have adequate strength in Parliament. Even if we bring the matter up in the Lok Sabha, our strength in the Rajya Sabha is less, and it will definitely be defeated. Every devotee of Lord Ram knows this. The court will soon give its judgement. The day we have the strength, it will be constructively used and not misused."
With inputs from PTI
Courtesy: www.firstpost.com
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41 lakh illicit liquor seized, 1.84 lakh arrested in major drive: K'taka Minister tells Assembly
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Excise Department has conducted a statewide crackdown on illegal liquor trade over the last two years, resulting in arrests and seizures of alcohol, Karnataka Excise Minister R B Timmapur said on Tuesday.
As many as 1,09,017 people were arrested, and seizures included 13.66 lakh litres of liquor and 27.19 lakh litres of beer, he said in a written reply to a starred question by Harihar BJP MLA B P Harish in the Karnataka Assembly.
The Minister said the enforcement drive covered the financial year 2023–24, 2024–25 up to June, and 2025–26 from July to October, targeting unauthorised liquor manufacture, storage, sale and transportation across the State.
"During this period, statewide enforcement drives resulted in a total of 1,84,570 raids against illegal liquor sales,” Timmapur said.
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He noted that 9,179 non-bailable cases and 91,968 bailable and compoundable cases under Section 15(A) of the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, were registered during the same period.
According to him, there have been no reports indicating that students have become addicted to alcohol due to illegal liquor sales.
The sale of alcohol to minors is strictly prohibited under the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, and the department has issued periodic instructions to initiate legal action against violators, with strict enforcement and investigation measures in place, the Minister said.
Excise officials are carrying out regular road and night patrols, collecting intelligence, monitoring habitual offenders and conducting raids to identify illicit distillation units, unauthorised liquor outlets and spurious liquor manufacturing centres, he said, adding the department is also enforcing the law to prevent the production, storage, sale and transport of spurious, non-duty-paid and unauthorised liquor.
Regular patrols are being conducted on national and state highways, with suspicious vehicles being subjected to checks.
At the district level, standing committee meetings are held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners, and joint operations are carried out with the police and forest departments to curb excise-related offences.
The department is also conducting awareness programmes through Gram Sabhas and in schools and colleges to educate the public and students about the physical, mental and social health hazards associated with alcohol addiction and substance abuse, Timmapur added.
