Legal
Supreme Court strikes down Maratha reservation
Save Merit Save Nation? chief campaigner President Dr Anil Laddhad in apex court, in three petitions, challenged the Mumbai High Court judgement.
The Court said that there were no extraordinary circumstances to grant reservation to Maratha community over and above the 50 percent ceiling on reservation prescribed by the Supreme Court in its 1992 judgment in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India.
“The 2018 Act as amended in 2019 granting reservation for Maratha community does not make out any exceptional circumstance to exceed the ceiling limit of 50 percent reservation,” the Court held.
The Act of 2018 violates the principles of equality and exceeding ceiling limit of 50 percent clearly violates Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, the Court added.
In the process the Court also ruled that the 1992 judgment of the Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India need not be referred to larger Bench and the 50 percent ceiling on reservation laid down in Indra Sawhney case is good law.
“We do not find any substance in the argument to refer the judgment in Indra Sawhney to a larger Bench. The said judgment has been repeatedly followed by this Court and has received approved by at least four Constitution Benches of this Court. We also follow and reiterate the proposition laid down in Indra Sawhney in paragraph 809 and 810,” the Court made it clear.
The Court further said that neither the Gaikwad Commission report nor the judgment of the Bombay High Court has made out an extraordinary situation in the case of Marathas so as to exceed the ceiling of 50 percent.
“Conclusions of the Commission are unsustainable.There is no case of extraordinary situation for exceeding the ceiling limit of 50 percent for grant of reservation to Marathas over and above the 50 percent,” the Court emphasised.
A Constitution bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, S Abdul Nazeer, Hemant Gupta and S Ravindra Bhat delivered the judgment.
While senior advocates Arvind Datar, Gopal Shankarnarayan, Shyam Dewani, Dr Rajiv Dhavan, Siddharth Bhatnagar, Ravi K Deshpande, (assisted by Adv Hrishikesh Chitaley and Adv Ashwin Deshpande) appeared for petitioners, KK Venugopal, Mukul Rohatgi, Patwaliya, Kapil Sibal appeared for respondent.
Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) added 25 additional beds in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital Kalwa apart from arranging a special ward dedicated to COVID-19 patients. The total number of active patients in the city stood at 252 while five succumbed to the virus. Meanwhile, TMC Commissioner Abhijit Bangar said a ‘death audit’ of patients who died of COVID would be conducted. The TMC has ensured it has additional stock of oxygen concentrators, testing kits, medicines, to name a few. Bangar told HT, “Due to the increasing number of Covid patients, it is necessary for everyone to be alert.”
He added, The number of Covid tests should be increased to stay one step ahead of the disease. As a result, the number of patients is likely to increase due to increased testing. However, as per the ‘test, isolate, treat’ protocol for Covid, it becomes necessary to isolate and treat more and more patients. The testing centres will not remain closed even for a single day. At the same time, more arrangements for testing will be made immediately in public places, markets, railway stations, malls.”
India recorded 3,095 new COVID cases and five deaths in last 24 hours.
Also read: Nagpur records 22 COVID cases in 24 hours
Politics
After Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification, his namesake who contested from Wayanad disqualified
Rahul Gandhi
An independent candidate for Lok Sabha elections named Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from contesting polls for failing to lodge account of election expenses. Gandhi, who’s name figures as ‘Rahul Gandhi K E S/o Valsamma’ in an Election Commission list of persons, had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as an Independent and had received 2196 votes from the Wayanad seat in Kerala – a constituency from where ex-Congress MP Rahul Rajiv Gandhi had won with over seven lakh votes.
However, since it is mandatory for all contestants to submit their account of election expenses among other mandatory requirements under EC rules and the Representation of the People Act.
Rahul Gandhi K E S/o Valsamma stood disqualified to contest polls from September 13, 2021 till September 13, 2024. According to Section 10A, the Election Commission can disqualify a contestant for a period of three years from the date of the order if he/she has failed to lodge an account of election expenses within the time and in the manner required by law and has no good reason or justification for the failure.
Also read: ‘CBI under UPA govt. pressurised me to frame Modi,’ recalls Amit Shah
A total of 22 patients tested positive for COVID-19 in Nagpur in past 24 hours on Thursday. Almost 242 people were tested in the city, out of which 15 belonged to urban area while and 6 were from the rural areas, and one from outside Nagpur district.
At present, there are 72 active patients in the city. Three new cases of the new XBB.1.16 variant of COVID-19 were detected that took the total tally to five in the district.
India recorded 3,095 new COVID cases and five deaths in last 24 hours.
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Thane Municipal Corporation adds 25 beds as COVID cases rise
After Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification, his namesake who contested from Wayanad disqualified
Nagpur records 22 COVID cases in 24 hours
‘CBI under UPA govt. pressurised me to frame Modi,’ recalls Amit Shah
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