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Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha is not ‘unprecedented’ – Here’s why

Dibakar Dutta
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Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha is not ‘unprecedented’ – Here’s why

The nomination of former Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, to the Upper House of the Parliament by the president has sparked a controversy with the left-liberal jamaat engaging in character assassination and casting aspersions about his “objectivity” in the Ram Janambhoomi case. While such a meltdown was not unexpected from the vicious group, Gogoi’s appointment to the Rajya Sabha is not “unprecedented” for two primary reasons.

First, while the Indian Constitution (Article 220) restricts a retired Judge from practising law in the same Court in which he was a judge, there are no restrictions that bar him from seeking employment, joining a political party or getting elected/nominated to the Indian Parliament. It is important to mention that there is no minimum time-limit (commonly referred to as the “cooling period”) before a Judge can ride the political bandwagon, following his retirement.

However, this is not the case with everyone. The “cooling period” applies to Group “A” Government officers who cannot seek commercial employment within 2 years, post their retirement, without the permission of the government. It must be clear by now that there are no legal hurdles that can prevent the nomination of Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha.

Second, India has a long history of judges becoming governors, contesting on the tickets of political parties, becoming Vice President and so on. For instance, the 9th Chief Justice of India, Koka Subba Rao who was at the helm of safeguarding the Fundamental Rights of citizens from the Legislature in the infamous Golaknath Vs State of Punjab case resigned 3 months before his scheduled retirement on July 14, 1967, to contest for the post of President. He was backed by the leader of the Opposition, Minoo Masani and secured 44% votes.

Mohammed Hidayatullah, the 11th Chief Justice of India, served as the Acting President from 20 July 1969 to 24 August 1969 and from 6 October 1982 to 31 October 1982. He also served as the Vice President of India between 1979 to 1984, despite having turned down requests for Presidential candidacy on three occasions.

Justice Kawdoor Sadananda Hegde served as a member of the Rajya Sabha prior to his joining the Madras High Court. He was sworn into the Supreme Court in 1967 where he became a part of the majority judgement that laid down the “basic structure doctrine” in the Kesavananda Bharati vs the State Of Kerala case.

The judgement in the case asserted that any amendment that is directed to alter the basic structure of the Constitution can be nullified by the apex court. An agitated Indira Gandhi thus superseded him to make AN Ray the Chief Justice. Hegde resigned during the Emergency and contested from a Janata Party ticket to defeat Congress candidate from North Bangalore in 1977 Lok Sabha elections.

Rangnath Mishra, the 21st Chief Justice of India, who gave a clean chit to the Congress party in the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots served as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Congress Party between 1998 and 2004.

Justice Baharul Islam was a member of the Rajya Sabha from the Congress Party between 1962 to 1972. Following his resignation, he became a judge in the Guwahati High Court. After his retirement from the High Court, he was appointed to the Supreme Court by Indira Gandhi in 1980. He then resigned in 1983 to become a Rajya Sabha member again from the Congress party.

Justice Abhay Thipsay, who heard cases such as Sohrabuddin fake encounter case and retired in 2017, announced his decision to join the Congress party in 2018. Justice Thipsay was the same judge who convicted 9 out of the 17 accused in the Best Bakery case. Justice Thipsay claimed that the Hindus carried out the 2008 Malegaon blasts. There was absolutely no need for him to say so when nothing has been proven in this case yet, and Islamic radicals were initially suspected to have carried out the 2008 blasts. Thipsay said that we should accept that Hindu organizations carry out bomb blasts.

Other examples include that of Palanisamy Sathasivam, the 40th Chief Justice of India, who was appointed the Governor of Kerala by the BJP Government in September 2014. When the Congress made a hullabaloo over the issue, Manish Tewari publicly acknowledged that there was “no constitutional or legal bar” on a former Chief Justice of India to accept the position of a governor. Vijay Bahuguna who became the 6th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from a BJP ticket also served as a Judge in Allahabad High Court and Bombay High Court.

In his last week of tenure as the CJI, Ranjan Gogoi passed a slew of key landmark judgments pertaining to government matters, religion, politics, and the applicability of the law to his own office. He etched his name in the annals history when a five-judge bench headed by him on November 9, 2019, brought an end to the Ayodhya land dispute, which dates back to even before the Supreme Court came into existence in 1950.

Ranjan Gogoi also headed a bench which, by a majority 3-2 verdict, referred to a larger seven-judge bench the pleas seeking review of the apex court’s historic 2018 judgement allowing women and girls of all ages to enter Kerala’s Sabarimala temple.

Justice Gogoi’s name will also be remembered for heading a bench which gave a clean chit to the Modi government twice — first on the writ petition and then on the pleas seeking review of the December 14, 2018 verdict, in the Rafale fighter jet deal with French firm Dassault Aviation. It also censured Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for wrongfully attributing the “Chowkidar chor hai” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the top court.

Although Congress party and others are accusing quid-pro-quo citing the Ayodhya and Rafale judgements, it is important to note that these judgments were not delivered by CJI Gogoi alone. The Ayodhya verdict was given by a 5 judge bench, and the bench that heard the Rafale petition had 3 judges. Therefore, it is an insult to the other judges of those benches to allege quid-pro-quo.

Another important point to be noted is, while the previous judges were elected to the legislature by the Congress party, Ranjan Gogoi has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the president, as one of the 12 nominated members of the upper house. He has neither joined the BJP, nor BJP voted for him an election. Although it will be argued that it is still a political decision as the President acts on the advice of the Council of ministers, there is a crucial difference between elected and nominated members. Those who are elected to a house from a party are subject to whip of that party. They are bound to vote the way the party directs them, and in general, they can’t criticise the party and the govt if the party is in power. On the other hand, a nominated member is an independent member, not subject to any party whip. Therefore, if Ranjan Gogoi speaks against the BJP government in the Rajya Sabha, the government or the BJP will be able to do nothing to him.

#NoToSavarkar: JNU ‘students’ deface V D Savarkar Marg signboard, put up ‘Mohammad Ali Jinnah Marg’ poster

OpIndia Staff
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#NoToSavarkar: JNU ‘students’ deface V D Savarkar Marg signboard, put up ‘Mohammad Ali Jinnah Marg’ poster

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) ‘students’ allegedly defaced the newly put up V D Savarkar Marg signboard on campus and put up a poster calling it ‘Mohammad Ali Jinnah Marg’. JNUSU President elect Aishe Ghosh took to Facebook last night to show that the defaced signboard was changed to ‘B R Ambedkar Marg’.

“We can never ever accept apologists and stooges of the British who undermined our secular fabric. Let’s respect those who gave us our constitution,” She posted. However, later even the B R Ambedkar Marg signboard seems to have been defaced. A poster calling it ‘Mohammad Ali Jinnah Marg’ has now been stuck next to it.

Read: Read Indira Gandhi’s letter referring to Veer Savarkar as ‘remarkable son of India’

The decision to name the road on campus as ‘VD Savarkar Marg’ was taken in November last year.

“When Allah has given so many halal animals, why eat bats and spread virus?” Watch Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar blame the Chinese on coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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“When Allah has given so many halal animals, why eat bats and spread virus?” Watch Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar blame the Chinese on coronavirus

Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar has been having a total breakdown over coronavirus outbreak. Recently, Akhtar took to his YouTube channel to question the Chinese for eating non-halal animals like bats and then spreading the virus across the globe.

While he has edited the original video uploaded on his channel to remove the criticism of Chinese eating habits, the longer version of the video shows Akhtar talk about the Chinese eating the bats. “Mujhe samajh nahin aa rahi, ki Allah ne halal jaanwar banaye hai, to halal jaanwar kha lo. Zaruri hai chamkadar hi khaane hai? Unki urine peena hai, unka khoon peena hai aur poore duniya mein virus phaila dena hai. Main Chinese ki baat kar raha hoon. Mujhe samajh nahin aati jab itna Allah ne livestock diya hai halal maal mein se, woh kha lo. Kaunsa kha rahe hai? Chamkadar, kutte, billiyan kha rahe hai. Mujhe samajh nahin aa rahi poori duniya ko at stake mein le aaye hai Chinese. (I do not understand that when Allah has given halal animals, then eat halal animals. Is it necessary to eat bats? Drink their urine, their blood and then spread the virus across the world? I am talking about the Chinese. I don’t understand when Allah has given so much halal meat in livestock, eat that. Instead what are they eating? Bats, dogs, cats. I don’t understand how the Chinese have put the entire world at stake),” Akhtar said in his now edited rant.

He again reiterates how eating halal animals never led to such a problem but then the Chinese had to eat the bats and dogs. This outburst against the Chinese eating habits was followed by his raking up the Kashmir issue amidst the pandemic.

With coronavirus outbreak, nations across the globe are taking precautionary measures to contain the spread of virus including self-imposed quarantine and lockdown. Pakistan, which refused to evacuate its own citizens from Wuhan when the crisis first hit, has been acting quite salty over the pandemic.

Day after the Pakistani representative in the SAARC nation video conference to combat coronavirus raked up Kashmir issue and politicised healthcare, Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar took to Twitter to compare coronavirus related preventive lockdown to the lockdown in Kashmir for internal security reasons.

Netizens were quick to point out one of the major reasons for lockdown in Kashmir has been Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the valley.

Some even pointed out how Kashmir and Kashmiris are safe and asked about the Pakistanis stuck in China.

Kashmiris also expressed their anger for being the victim of Pakistani-sponsored terrorism for decades.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan chose to stay away from the video conference of SAARC leaders initiated by PM Modi to combat coronavirus. Moreover, Khan’s representative in the meeting, Dr Zafar Mirza, who also raked up Kashmir issue in the video conference, is now himself under probe over allegations of smuggling 20 million face masks out of Pakistan.

The Rawalpindi Express may do himself good to introspect before leaving the station in a hurry.

President Kovind nominates ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha and ‘liberals’ and Congressis can’t keep calm

OpIndia Staff
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President Kovind nominates ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha and ‘liberals’ and Congressis can’t keep calm

On Monday, President Ramnath Kovind nominated former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha. Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi, the 46th Chief Justice of India, who was credited for many landmark verdicts on diverse topics like the decades-old politically and religiously sensitive Ayodhya land dispute, had retired as the chief justice of India last year on November 17. President of India nominates twelve members to the Upper House of the Parliament for a period of six years for their contribution in art, literature, science, law and social service.

His nomination to the Rajya Sabha led to a prolonged meltdown of the ‘liberals’ on social media. Aspersions were cast on the independence of judiciary.

Congress leaders also implied that the judgements were passed ‘in favour’ of the government as quid pro quo.

Gogoi’s father, Kesab Chandra Gogoi was a Congress leader and served as Chief Minister of Assam for two months in 1982.

‘Journalists’ also alleged that the nomination to Rajya Sabha is as a ‘bribe’ to Gogoi.

Congress workers were also quite ‘liberal’ fictionalising facts to sensationalise the news.

The Ayodhya verdict was delivered by a Supreme Court bench which also had justice Bobde (current CJI), justice Chandrachud (next in line to be CJI), justice Ashok Bhushan and justice S. Abdul Nazeer. The verdict was unanimous. Similarly, Rafale, too, was a three-judge bench verdict. But why let facts get in the way of a viral tweet?

Irony blatantly fawned over a politician on social media ahead of state assembly elections and got fired.

And here, irony really needs to stalk talking to the voices in her head.

In his last week of tenure as the CJI, Gogoi passed a slew of key landmark judgments pertaining to government matters, religion, politics, and the applicability of the law to his own office. He etched his name in the annals history when a five-judge bench headed by him on November 9, 2019, brought an end to the Ayodhya land dispute, which dates back to even before the Supreme Court came into existence in 1950.

The CJI also headed a bench which, by a majority 3-2 verdict, referred to a larger seven-judge bench the pleas seeking review of the apex court’s historic 2018 judgement allowing women and girls of all ages to enter Kerala’s Sabarimala temple.

Justice Gogoi’s name will also be remembered for heading a bench which gave a clean chit to the Modi government twice — first on the writ petition and then on the pleas seeking review of the December 14, 2018 verdict, in the Rafale fighter jet deal with French firm Dassault Aviation. It also censured Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for wrongfully attributing the “Chowkidar chor hai” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the top court.

The Supreme Court Bench of CJI Gogoi has also reserved its judgement on pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Finance Act, 2017 on the ground that it was passed by Parliament as a Money Bill.

On November 13, a five-judge constitution bench, headed by Gogoi, wherein a 3:2 majority verdict, the apex court referred the broader question of whether all provisions of the Finance Act 2017 could be construed as being part of Money Bill and hence didn’t need Rajya Sabha’s approval. The Supreme Court held that a larger bench should look into the correctness of the Aadhaar judgment since the Aadhaar Act was also passed as a Money Bill.

Justice Gogoi, who was sworn on October 3, 2018, as the 46th CJI, had the tenure of a little over 13 months. On his last date at office, Gogoi circulated a parting note to journalists covering the Supreme Court, refusing one-on-one interviews. He said, “bitter truth must remain in memory.”

Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President

OpIndia Staff
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Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President

President Ram Nath Kovind has nominated Former Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, to the Rajya Sabha.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, in a gazetted notification, said: “In exercise of the power conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of Article 80 of the constitution of India, read with clause 3 of that article, the president is pleased to nominate Shri Ranjan Gogoi to the council of states to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the retired member”.

Gazette notification

Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi, the 46th Chief Justice of India, who was credited for many landmark verdicts on diverse topics like the decades-old politically and religiously sensitive Ayodhya land dispute, had retired as the chief justice of India last year on November 17.

In the last week of his tenure, Gogoi passed a slew of key landmark judgments pertaining to government matters, religion, politics, and the applicability of the law to his own office. He etched his name in the annals history when a five-judge bench headed by him on November 9, 2019, brought an end to the Ayodhya land dispute, which dates back to even before the Supreme Court came into existence in 1950.

The CJI also headed a bench which, by a majority 3-2 verdict, referred to a larger seven-judge bench the pleas seeking review of the apex court’s historic 2018 judgement allowing women and girls of all ages to enter Kerala’s Sabarimala temple.

Read: Read full details: CJI Ranjan Gogoi bats for NRC, slams media and ‘arm-chair commentators’ for their skewed reportage

Justice Gogoi’s name will also be remembered for heading a bench which gave a clean chit to the Modi government twice — first on the writ petition and then on the pleas seeking review of the December 14, 2018 verdict, in the Rafale fighter jet deal with French firm Dassault Aviation. It also censured Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for wrongfully attributing the “Chowkidar chor hai” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the top court.

The Supreme Court Bench of CJI Gogoi has also reserved its judgement on pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Finance Act, 2017 on the ground that it was passed by Parliament as a Money Bill.

On November 13, a five-judge constitution bench, headed by Gogoi, wherein a 3:2 majority verdict, the apex court referred the broader question of whether all provisions of the Finance Act 2017 could be construed as being part of Money Bill and hence didn’t need Rajya Sabha’s approval. The Supreme Court held that a larger bench should look into the correctness of the Aadhaar judgment since the Aadhaar Act was also passed as a Money Bill.

Justice Gogoi, who was sworn on October 3, 2018, as the 46th CJI, had the tenure of a little over 13 months. On his last date at office, Gogoi circulated a parting note to journalists covering the Supreme Court, refusing one-on-one interviews. He said, “bitter truth must remain in memory.”

Shaheen Bagh ‘protestors’ to defy coronavirus advisory, circumvent Delhi govt prohibitions by using loopholes: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Shaheen Bagh ‘protestors’ to defy coronavirus advisory, circumvent Delhi govt prohibitions by using loopholes: Reports

The Shaheen Bagh ‘protestors’ have refused to follow the containment orders and decided not to curl off their protest even after the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has ordered that the protestors must comply with the ban on gatherings of over 50 people.

As per a report by Times now, a faction of Muslim protestors gathered there have said that a meeting has taken place where it has been decided that they would not end the protest, instead spilt themselves into groups of 50 and take precautions by sitting at a certain distance.

Another meeting is expected to take place soon after which the ‘protestors’ will take a final call.

The media coordinator of the Shaheen Bagh protest, Qazi Emad, said the protesters respect the ban imposed by the government at cinema halls and events such as IPL. “But those are a form of entertainment whereas our agitation is about our fight for survival. It cannot be compared,” Emad said. As per a statement released by the ‘women of Shaheen Bagh’, they are in talks with the legal and medical experts to see how they could take the ‘protests’ forward.

Moreover, advocate Anwar Siddiqui, a member of their legal team had also said: “We will not take any decision on the protest unless the Supreme Court directs us to do so.”

Earlier in the day, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 and declared a new set of bans to limit the spread of the highly contagious disease.

In the press release, the AAP supremo announced a complete ban on social, religious and political gatherings of more than 50 people in the national capital. The ban, effective immediately, will also be applicable on Shaheen Bagh ‘protest’ site where Muslim women have been sitting on a ‘protest’ against the amended Citizenship Law for the past three months now, had said the Chief Minister.

Disregarding the government appeal to avoid large gatherings and crowded places, the Shaheen Bagh protestors have been recklessly continuing with their demonstration. They have apparently been praying and reading the Quran at the protest site, believing that praying to Allah would safeguard them from the coronavirus crisis. And now they seem to have found a loophole to circumvent the advisory to continue with their road blockade.

The Delhi government had last Friday ordered a ban on any gathering of more than 200 people, including sports events such as the Indian Premier League (IPL). The government has also shut all cinema halls, schools and colleges till March 31.

For about three months now, protesters in Shaheen Bagh have blocked one of the busiest thoroughfares in the national capital in protest against the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act that intends to grant citizenship to a persecuted minorities from the neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The blockade of the road is causing massive inconvenience to lakhs of daily commuters who now have to circumvent the blocked road to reach their destination.

In addition, there have been allegations that the protesters at Shaheen Bagh are treating it as an independent enclave, with strict regulations enforced in allowing on who joins them in their protest based on their ideological inclinations.

The apex court, last week, stated that Shaheen Bagh protesters cannot carry out indefinite protests in common area inconveniencing people for eternity. It also issued notices to the Centre, Delhi government and the Delhi Police on the pleas seeking removal protesters from Shaheen Bagh. But the ‘protestors’ have refused to vacate the spot unless CAA is repealed.

Bihar: FIR filed against Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Ambassador to India for the spread of coronavirus, court to hear the matter on April 11

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: FIR filed against Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Ambassador to India for the spread of coronavirus, court to hear the matter on April 11

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in India, a lawyer in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur has filed an FIR against the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping and the Chinese ambassador to India for allegedly spreading coronavirus across the world. Advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha cited a book written in 1981 to reinforce his stand that China has hatched a conspiracy to disseminate the novel coronavirus in the world.

The matter has been listed by the court to be heard on April 11. Informing about the development, advocate Ojha said, “A book was published in 1981 in which it was written in clear terms that China is surreptitiously preparing a virus in Wuhan which has manifested in the form of coronavirus today. China has deliberately spread the virus through a conspiracy and a lot of people have contracted the virus, while many others have died of it. In this regard, I have filed a case of abetment under Section 120(B)(criminal conspiracy to commit an offence) and Section 270(malignant act likely to spread disease) against Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and the Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong in the Muzaffarabad court. The court has taken the matter seriously and granted a hearing on the case on April 11.”

Coronavirus pandemic is believed to have emerged from one of the streets of the wet markets in the Chinese central city of Wuhan. The contagion spread like a wildfire across the world, affecting about 1,75,000 people globally and has so far claimed lives of more than 6600 people across the globe. The spread of the pandemic in India is so far under control, with about 115 cases reported from the across the country so far. Several state governments and local authorities have endorsed social distancing and ordered closures of public places to curtail the spread of the virus.

It is pertinent to note that the case against the Chinese President was filed by one Sudhir Kumar Ojha who had previously sought to slap a sedition case against Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. He wanted Khan to be tried for waging a war against India and his speech at the UNGA. A serial litigant, Ojha is known for dragging multiple celebrities to court over issues as diverse as obscenity in Bollywood movies and junk food ads. Recently, Ojha had filed a case against self-proclaimed ‘historian’ Ramchandra Guha, actor Konkana Sen Sharma, Shyam Benegal, and other 46 celebrities for writing a letter to PM Modi highlighting the rising intolerance in the country.

In 2006, Ojha filed a complaint against MNS chief Raj Thackeray for calling Chhat festival as “drama”. Ojha claims that a warrant was issued against Raj Thackeray and he had to procure bail from the apex court. The matter is still in the Delhi High Court, he claims. In 2007, he filed a case against the makers of movie Dhoom 2 for promoting obscenity by the film through a kissing scene in the movie. Ojha had also filed a case against Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan in 2013 for encouraging consumption of Maggi which he termed was hazardous to health. The PIL was, however, rejected by the court. Another case was lodged by the serial litigant against former PM Manmohan Singh and former West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for their alleged remarks claiming that the Ram Setu between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka was a natural structure and not man-made.

Note: The earlier version of the report wrongly mentioned it as Muzaffarabad, Uttar Pradesh instead of Muzaffarpur, Bihar. The error is regretted.

Why Coronavirus suspects ‘escaping’ hospitals is a worry. Here is how just 1 person caused massive spread in South Korea

OpIndia Staff
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Why Coronavirus suspects ‘escaping’ hospitals is a worry. Here is how just 1 person caused massive spread in South Korea

States and communities across the world are enforcing strict measures to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus. With the vaccine/antidote of the virus yet to be prepared, the most effective means suggested by the infectious disease experts and epidemiologists to reduce its alarming expansion is “social distancing” and placing those who have contracted the virus in quarantine.

While citizens are expected to assist their respective governments in containing the proliferation of the contagion, there are a few cases in which the victims who tested positive for coronavirus have defied the measures and fled away from the hospitals, potentially sabotaging their country’s efforts to keep the virus at bay.

In one of such cases where victims exhibited flagrantly irresponsible behaviour, 11 persons suspected of coronavirus infection fled from a hospital in Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai. They were kept in isolation and their test results were awaited. Their escape is a matter of great concern, considering that even if 1 of the 11 patients turns positive, he/she stands to infect hundreds of others who might inadvertently catch the disease after coming in contact with the victim. Earlier, another 4 people suspected of being affected by coronavirus had fled from an isolation ward in Nagpur.

The immensity of the danger posed by coronavirus victims fleeing quarantine is encapsulated by the meteoric rise of outbreak in South Korea, enabled by a coronavirus patient who refused to employ social distancing and now believed to have engendered 80 per cent of the total coronavirus cases in the country.

The rise of the zoonotic contagion, which is believed to have emerged from one of the wet markets in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, was limited and controlled in South Korea until the 31st patient who chose to disregard the measures suggested by the government authorities and acted as vector in the spread. The patient, now accused of being a super spreader, said to have transmitted the virus to at least 1160 people, setting off a chain event and fundamentally altering the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea.

According to a Reuter report, the 31st patient, a woman checked into the Oriental medicine hospital after having met a minor traffic accident in Daegu. While she was at the hospital, she overlooked repeated insistence from the doctor to get tested for coronavirus despite her worsening fever. In between, she attended services at Daegu branch of Shincheonji Church of Jesus and attended a buffet lunch with one of her friends. After her symptoms aggravated further, she visited another hospital for coronavirus test and was declared as country’s 31st case. However, before long, the outbreak snowballed with several others in hundreds tested positive at Shincheonji church and nearby areas.

It is notable to mention that the 31st patient of the coronavirus was a patron of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a Christian sect with secret religious practises. It is also accused by the South Korean authorities for the uncontrollable surge of coronavirus patients in the country. Speculations are rife that the death cult had actively participated in disseminating the intractable contagion.

The 36-year-old death cult-Shincheonji Church is led by an octogenarian named Lee Man-hee, who fancies himself the new “messiah” and the leader of a South Korean sect whose teachings are based on his unique interpretation of the biblical texts. In addition, members of the Shincheonji cult are forbidden from fearing diseases, wearing face masks, skipping meetings, and are ordained to pray together in close-knit circles.

Furthermore, it is claimed that Shincheonji Church is based on eschatology- a theological concept concerning death, judgment and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind. Many believe that the cult is not simply biding its time for the Judgment Day, but it is actively seeking ways and means to pursue it. It is, therefore, believed by many that the virus was deliberately spread by the cult.

The investigators in South Korea are planning to criminally charge 12 executives of the controversial Shincheonji Church of Jesus for the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the country, the disease that results from the coronavirus, France 24 reports. The authorities suspect that the cult’s extreme and exclusionary teachings might be one of the motivations for its adherents to defy law and partake in spreading the virus. The sect’s head, Lee, in what appears as an admission of guilt, had tendered his apology for the spread of the disease and asked his patrons to get themselves tested for virus if possible.

The wilful negligence observed even by just one of the coronavirus patients in a populous country like India can spell doom for the whole nation, pushing it in the bottomless abyss of deteriorating public health crisis.

TADA court frames charges against Yasin Malik and 6 others in the murder of IAF officials

OpIndia Staff
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TADA court frames charges against Yasin Malik and 6 others in the murder of IAF officials

The Special TADA court of Jammu has framed charges against the banned terrorist organization Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front(JKLF) chief Yasin Malik in the case pertaining to the murder of four Air Force officers in January 1990. Malik has been charged under sections Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) 302, 307, TADA Act, Sections 3 (3) and 4 (1) of the Arms Act.

According to public prosecutor Rakesh Singh, who is representing the Central Bureau of Investigation, Yasin Malik and Showkat Bakshi and five others have pleaded not guilty and demanded a trial. The court will be listed on March 30, he informed.

Shalini Khanna, the widow of one of the slain Air Force officials- Squadron leader Ravi Khanna, believes that justice will finally be served to her and the families of the IAF officials killed by Yasin and his associates. She had been relentlessly pursuing the case against her husband’s murderers for last 3 decades. Shalini claims that she has been an eyewitness of the atrocity meted out against the 4 IAF personnel. She stated that the 4 IAF officers including her husband Ravi Khanna, were shot dead in front of her eyes by Yasin Malik.

Last year, Khanna said, “Yasin Malik not only killed Squadron Leader Ravi Khanna but also murdered my mother-in-law, my father-in-law and my mother. Childhood of my two small children was lost and our happiness was snatched away from us.”

The TADA court had earlier observed that there is enough prima facie evidence against the JKLF chief Yasin Malik for prosecuting him in connection with the murder of IAF personnel in Kashmir in 1990. The court had stated that there are “sufficient grounds for drawing presumption that the accused Yasin Malik” and others have “prima facie have committed” the crime of murdering Indian Air Force (IAF) officer Squadron Leader Ravi Khanna and three others.

On 25 January 1990, at 7:30 am a group of JKLF terrorists had opened fire at 40 Air Force personnel who were unarmed and waiting at the Sant Nagar crossing, Srinagar, to board a bus. As a result, 40 of the unarmed Air Force personnel were injured, and two of them had lost their lives. CBI filed a charge sheet on August 31, 1990, against terrorist Yasin Malik and other members of JKLF under Section 120-B read with section 302 of RPC, sections 3 and 4 of TADA and Section 27 of arms act in the court of third additional sessions judge against the accused.

Malik is currently lodged in Tihar Jail after the National Investigative Agency(NIA) arrested him in a terror funding case.

Delhi anti-Hindu riots: AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain sent to 4-day police custody in Ankit Sharma murder case

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi anti-Hindu riots: AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain sent to 4-day police custody in Ankit Sharma murder case

The Delhi Police on Monday arrested suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor, Tahir Hussain, from a court in Delhi in connection with the brutal murder of IB sleuth Ankit Sharma during the recent anti-Hindu riots in northeast Delhi. He has been sent to 4-day police custody.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Singh Rajawat sent the AAP leader for interrogation after police sought his custody for five days. The court, while granting four-day police custody, said: “I find force in the submissions of the IO that to unearth the conspiracy which led to the riots and massive loss of life and property, police remand is required.”

The Delhi police on Monday told the court, that they required Hussain’s custody to “unearth the conspiracy behind the riots which led to the murder of Ankit Sharma and identify other members from the mob”.

Hussain’s lawyers had opposed the police demand, stating that identifying the other accused and recording Hussain’s confession could not be a ground for remand. The Delhi police had filed a case against the AAP leader under Section 302(a) for murder, in the Dayalpur police station of Delhi.

The role of Aam Aadmi Party leader Tahir Hussain in the brutal murder of Intelligence Bureau(IB) employee Ankit Sharma and also inciting riots in the Delhi has now been under scanner.

The dead body of an Intelligence Bureau constable was recovered from a drain in North East Delhi amidst anti-Hindu riots in the national capital. Ankit Sharma, who lived in Chand Bagh, was returning home on Tuesday evening when he was allegedly attacked by a violent mob on the Chand Bagh bridge and beaten to death. The Muslim mob had thrown his body into a drain.

The family of the deceased Ankit Sharma had accused AAP leader Tahir Hussain and his Muslim mob of dragging their son and brutally murdering him.

A day after Sharma’s family alleged his role in the riots and his murder, many crates of petrol bombs and stones have been found on the rooftop of the AAP leader.

Addition to that, in the anti-Hindu riots that erupted in North East Delhi earlier this week, AAP leader Tahir Hussain has emerged as one of the main perpetrators. Many videos have emerged which show hundreds of people throwing stones, petrol bombs from the roof of his building. Other videos show Tahir Hussain allegedly himself supervising the stone and petrol bomb pelting from his building, with a lathi in his hand.

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