-The Telegraph New Delhi: Yesterday's Supreme Court judgment debarring convicted lawmakers from continuing in their Houses has raised a tricky question: what happens if and when a convicted and thus disqualified legislator secures an acquittal from a higher court? Consider this hypothetical scenario: Some 160 candidates who face criminal charges are elected to the Lok Sabha in next year's elections. (Some 162 among the current Lok Sabha's members face criminal charges, so the...
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Judicial overreach
-The Hindu However well-intentioned the Supreme Court might be in its efforts to cleanse the political system of criminals, its decision to bar any person who is in jail or in police custody from contesting an election to legislative bodies is a case of the remedy being worse than the disease. By extending the curtailment of the right to vote of a person in prison or lawful police custody to...
More »Mamata Banerjee slams judiciary for poll 'game plan'
-The Times of India LALGARH: After the State Election Commission, it was the judiciary's turn on Monday. Speaking at an election meeting in Lalgarh, chief minister Mamata Banerjee came down heavily on the judiciary for its "game plan" regarding the rural polls. "We were forced to submit before the game plan of the court and the State Election Commission to let the panchayat elections take place in the month of Ramzan as...
More »Govt questions SC’s power to reopen death penalty cases -Dhananjay Mahapatra
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Centre is all set to legally lock horns with the Supreme Court by questioning the court's powers to call for judicial scrutiny the President's exercise of constitutional power to grant pardon or commute sentences of condemned prisoners. "The decision of the President under Article 72 of the Constitution, either accepting or rejecting a petition, is a sovereign act. This sovereign act is performed after the...
More »Mother tongue on court table
-The Telegraph New Delhi: A Constitution bench of the Supreme Court will dissect the concept of "mother tongue" - an issue that reflects the diversity of India and touches every child in the country. Besides deciding the very basic question of "what does ‘mother tongue' mean", the Constitution bench will look into whether it can be imposed by the State on all children as a compulsory medium of instruction at the primary...
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