Kalaburagi bench of Karnataka High Court upholds rejection of Lok Sabha nomination papers
Kalaburagi: It has been reported that the Kalaburagi bench of the Karnataka High Court convened an emergency session late into the night to address a crucial petition regarding the Lok Sabha election candidate's nomination papers. The court upheld the decision of the Election Commission to reject the nomination papers.
The petitioner, A. Rabindra, had submitted his candidacy for the Kalaburagi Lok Sabha constituency as an independent candidate. However, his nomination faced rejection on Sunday, April 21st. In response, Rabindra opted to approach the High Court. Given the urgency of the matter and the court's holiday on Sunday, Rabindra submitted an affidavit requesting an expedited hearing on Monday, April 22nd.
The High Court deliberated on the case at 4 pm on Tuesday, April 23rd, and initially ordered the Election Commission to accept Rabindra's nomination papers. However, the Election Commission challenged this decision and appealed to a two-judge bench of the Kalaburagi bench of the Karnataka High Court.
Subsequently, the court reconvened for a hearing at approximately 10:30 pm on Tuesday, ultimately upholding the original decision to reject Rabindra's nomination.
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Catholic Bishops' body slams Bhagwat's remarks
New Delhi: The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India on Thursday slammed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his reported remark that Pranab Mukherjee, when he was President, had said tribals would turn "anti-national" if there is no "ghar wapsi"Catholic Bishops.'
In a statement issued here, CBCI, a body of Catholic Bishops, referred to reports which said Bhagwat, at an event on Monday, claimed that Mukherjee, while he was President had appreciated ghar wapsi and told him that had it not been for the Sangh's work on reconversion, a section of Adivasis would have turned "anti-national".The CBCI called the report "shocking".
"Fabricated personal conversation being attributed to a former president of India and its posthumous publication with the vested interest of an organization with questionable credibility raises a grave issue of national importance," the CBCI claimed.
"Is it not the violent ghar wapsi program of VHP and other similar organizations, curtailing the exercise of freedom of conscience of economically deprived tribals, the real anti-national activity?" it asked.
'Ghar wapsi' is a term used by the RSS and affiliated organisations to refer to reconversion of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism, based on the belief that they were originally Hindus before converting to other religions.
The CBCI also questioned why Bhagwat did not speak about it while Mukherjee was alive.
"We, the 2.3 percent of Indian citizens who are Christians feel extremely hurt by such manipulated and motivated propaganda unleashed," it said.
In a post on X following the statement issued by CBCI, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said, "Speak up. This is a start!"
"Bishops body have issued a statement condemning remarks made by Dr Mohan Bhagwat and RSS for defaming the Christian community," he said.
O'Brien added that they should ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi more questions, including why Christmas Day has been turned into "Good Governance Day".
The TMC leader, in a blogpost earlier this month, had said "hard questions" must be asked to the government with regards to the Christian community, including why the FCRA has been 'weaponised', and why has Manipur been 'ignored'.
