Supreme Court to examine ‘material’ against activists, extends their house arrest till Sept 19
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Monday extended the house arrest of the five activists held in connection with the investigation into the Bhima-Koregaon violence till September 19, when the court will hear the matter next. Five activists — P Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha — were arrested last month for their alleged Maoist link.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra extended the date after the government said it would produce the case diary and other evidence related to the investigation on that day. “Every criminal investigation is based on allegations; We have to see whether there is some material,” the bench said. The bench said if there were some grave lapses, then it may consider the prayers like an investigation by a SIT in the case.
During the hearing, the government objected to the Supreme Court’s hearing in the case. Questioning the way the petitioners directly approached the apex court, the government’s counsel said, “Every case can’t come to the Supreme Court. It is a wrong procedure. They have options to approach the lower court, high courts or even other legal options to seek redressal. What is it that creates doubts in their minds that lower judicial forum won’t hear them? They have not said that courts below are not hearing them.”
Appearing for the Maharashtra government, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the petitioners were strangers to the matter and could not be allowed to intervene in a criminal case. Lawyers appearing for petitioners Romila Thapar and others countered this, saying that families of some of the victims had also filed affidavits and “this was now as good as a petition by people under house arrest”. On this, CJI Misra said that the court entertained the plea on the foundation of liberty. “Issues like independent enquiry, etc, comes at a later stage,” he said.
Appearing for the petitioners, Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that they had approached the Supreme Court as they needed a court-monitored investigation in the case.
Several people including historian Romila Thapar had filed a petition in the Supreme Court last month challenging the arrests of the activists.
courtesy : indianexpress.com
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“Full prepared..going to win,” Congress MP KC Venugopal ahead of Kerala polls
EC not functioning as a neutral institution: Venugopal
Congress MP K. C. Venugopal on Monday raised concerns over the election schedule announced by the Election Commission of India for the upcoming Kerala Assembly election, questioning the timing of the poll dates and alleging that the schedule leaves limited time for campaigning.
Speaking to news agency ANI in Delhi after the poll panel announced elections in five states and Union Territories, Venugopal said that the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) are fully prepared for the elections and confident of victory. At the same time, he questioned the pattern of dates announced by the Election Commission.
“We are fully prepared, we are going to win the elections... You can see how the Election Commission has set the dates. The first phase of elections is on the 9th, nominations are due until the 23rd, scrutiny is on the 24th, nominations can be withdrawn until the 26th, and after that, there are 11 days for campaigning,” he said.
“As for Kerala, there is Easter and Good Friday in the first week...The Election Commission could have announced the dates earlier... The counting date is on May 4th, so what was the point of holding elections in Kerala so early? What is their intention behind holding elections on the same day in Kerala, Puducherry, and Assam?... We are confident that we will win, but the people of the country are seeing the biased attitude of the Election Commission...,” he added.
He further stated that his party was ready for elections irrespective of the dates announced by the poll body.
“We are going to win the election. India's strategy has been set up. And we are all ready for winning this election. But one thing as far as declaring election, even though they are giving only for five days, we are going to win the election. We have no problem,” he said.
Detailing the poll schedule while questioning the time available for campaigning, he stated, “but you can see the pattern of date which the election commission announced. Yesterday they declared election, and today they notified us. The first phase of election on April 9th, filing of nomination will be over on the 23rd of this month, 24th scrutiny, 26th withdrawal of nomination. After 26, four plus seven, 11 days campaign.”
“As far as Kerala is concerned, April first week is a holy week. The holiday week means, Good Friday is there. Nobody will do anything on Good Friday. Easter is the big festival. These festivals are natural, you have to see that. Among the 11 days, working days, two, three days will go for holidays. Then hardly seven, eight days for campaigning in this election for candidates,” the Congress MP questioned.
The Congress leader said the Election Commission could have announced the dates earlier if there was a need for an early election schedule.
Questioning the urgency behind placing Kerala in the first phase of polling, he added that the counting date is much later.
“Which is the date of counting? Fourth May. Then what is the urgency of putting Kerala in the first phase without giving sufficient time for candidates? And putting Kerala, Puducherry, Assam together, what is the intention behind that?” Venugopal questioned.
He also alleged that the Election Commission was not functioning as a neutral institution.
“The Election commission is completely losing that capacity as a neutral player. You can see 14 of our prime minister's programs over and on the 15th they announce the election, 16th notification comes,” he said.
Venugopal further stated that such tactics would not affect the Congress’ prospects in the election.
“They think that this type of techniques and tactics, because of these techniques and tactics, UDF is going to lose, and Congress is going to lose. This is their complete dream only. This is not going to happen. We are very much confident at any cost, whether they are not giving any time also, we are going to win the election,” he said.
“But the people of India are watching this. The tricks of the election commission. To restrict the campaign, people of India are watching. This I want to bring into the notice of the nation. That's all,” Venugopal said.
The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced the schedule for the Kerala Assembly election. Polling in the state will be held in a single phase on April 9 while the counting of votes is scheduled to take place on May 4.
