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Is Congress trying to fix the bench to impeach CJI for alleged bench fixing?

Shantanu
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Is Congress trying to fix the bench to impeach CJI for alleged bench fixing?

After Rajya Sabha Chairman and VP Venkaiah Naidu rejected the Congress led impeachment notice against the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Congress decided to further politicize the matter. On 7 May, two Congress MPs approached the SC through another Congress MP and lawyer Kapil Sibal challenging VP Naidu’s decision as politically motivated.

Sibal initially approached a bench headed by Justice Chelameswar requesting an urgent hearing of the matter. Justice Chelameswar initially asked Sibal to mention the matter before the CJI, however the bench later asked Sibal and Prashant Bhushan to “come back tomorrow”.

Later in the evening, the matter got listed for 8 May before a five judge bench headed by Justice Sikri. Other members of the bench were Justice Bobde, Justice Ramana, Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Goel. During the hearing on 8 May, Sibal requested a copy of the administrative order for constitution of the bench so that the petitioners could decide whether to challenge that order or not.

The bench rejected Sibal’s request and asked him to argue on merits of the matter. At this point, the petitioners decided to withdraw their petition. Thus, the court dismissed the petition as withdrawn.

This raises the question that by questioning the constitution of the five judge bench, are the petitioners and Sibal fishing for a favorable bench? It is possible that the petitioners and Sibal want the four ‘rebel’ judges to hear the matter, hoping to get a favorable verdict. The judges in their press conference had made allegations against the CJI related to abuse of power, which were included in the impeachment notice given by Congress led RS MPs. This effectively means that the five senior most judges including the CJI have a conflict of interest in this matter. Hence the decision to form a bench excluding all five of them is a sound one. Members of the five judge bench which heard Congress MPs’ petition are next in the seniority order, with Justice Sikri at #6.

Also, Sibal’s refusal to argue on the merits of the matter is an indicator that he knows that the petition challnging VP Naidu’s decision doesn’t have any merit, just like the impeachment notice. But it is unlikely that Congress’ theatrics, driven partly by the party’s attempt to pressurise the judiciary especially in the Ram Mandir matter and partly by Sibal’s deflated sense of entitlement will soon.

Muslim personal law board member supports hanging Jinnah’s portrait inside Aligarh Muslim University

OpIndia Staff
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Muslim personal law board member supports hanging Jinnah’s portrait inside Aligarh Muslim University

A member of the All India Muslim personal law board (AIMPLB) has come in the support of hanging Jinnah’s portrait inside the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus, as per a Navbharat Times report.

Zafaryab Jilani who is a member of the AIMPLB as well as the convener of Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC), has been quoted as saying that Jinnah’s portrait cannot be removed owing to him being one of the founding members of the university. He contended that the portrait has been hanging on the University’s wall for the past 80 years, while further pushing for its retention.

A New Indian Express report quotes him as saying that, a political controversy has been created over this issue, owing to the upcoming Karnataka polls. This statement comes at a time when the University students are on an indefinite protest, which has resulted in the final exams getting deferred till 12 May. The University’s Vice Chancellor, all this while has been urging the students to restore normalcy in the campus.

As per a Patrika report, Jilani didn’t stop at supporting Jinnah’s portrait but even commented on the Triple Talaq issue. Jilani has been quoted as saying that if Rajya Sabha passes the Triple Talaq bill in its current form, then the AIMPLB would appeal against it in the Supreme Court.

Such a stance by Jilani might trigger a bit of a clash within the personal law board, as one of its other members named Maulana Khalid Rashid Phirangi Mahli asserted on Saturday that Jinnah’s portrait needed to be removed from the University. He also claimed that the Indian Muslims had nothing to do with Jinnah.

This opinion has been echoed by the senior mufti of the Dargah-e-Ala Hazrat in Bareilly, who has issued a Fatwa urging Indian Muslims not to support Jinnah while asking them to remove all the pictures and portraits of the Muslim League’s co-founder.

Congress admits its strength has dwindled in Bengal, blames TMC for weakening the party

OpIndia Staff
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Congress admits its strength has dwindled in Bengal, blames TMC for weakening the party

As per reports, West Bengal Congress party president Adhir Chowdhury accused the state’s ruling party Trinamool Congress of conspiring to weaken his party’s strength in the state while simultaneously promoting the rise of BJP.

According to Chowdhury, Trinamool is resorting to different tactics like blackmailing, registering fake police cases to scare the Congress leaders and activists away from the party. He admitted while speaking to the media reporters that the strength of the Congress had gone down in Bengal since 1977. He further went on to say that winning 44 seats in the state assembly polls shows that Congress is still a formidable force here.

Chowdhury implicated that West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee was conspiring with the BJP as they shared the same political DNA. He further went on to predict that the upcoming panchayat polls, which is supposed to be held on 14th may, will be mutilated with violence by the Trinamool-backed miscreants and urged the State Election Commission to take necessary steps to conduct the election in a proper way.

Adhir Chowdhury seems to be under constant threat of BJP coming to power in West Bengal as earlier he had advocated for a real electoral alliance with the Left Front, or else, he said, the road to BJP’s victory in West Bengal will be easier and widened further. He urged both the parties to put aside their petty differences and start a meaningful electoral alliance or else the BJP would emerge as a beneficiary.

He had, a few days earlier, demanded President’s rule in West Bengal, when violence erupted in West Bengal’s Birbhum district over the filing of fresh nominations for panchayat election that claimed one Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker’s life, saying that without imposing President’s rule, no one will be able to exercise their democratic right. This is the need of the hour,” Congress state president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told ANI.

Mohammed Rafiq, man arrested for planning to assassinate PM Modi, suffers heart attack

OpIndia Staff
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Mohammed Rafiq, man arrested for planning to assassinate PM Modi, suffers heart attack

Mohammed Rafiq, the man arrested in Coimbatore last month for masterminding a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has suffered from a heart attack and has been shifted to intensive care unit of Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.

He was arrested on April 23 near a house in Apple Garden, Saramedu, after his audio conversation about the assassination conspiracy with a Salem businessman went viral on a social media platform. His remand was ordered by Judicial Magistrate VII R Pandy and he was sent to Central Prison, Coimbatore. He was kept in judicial custody for 15 days till May 7. The police had told that the eight-minute long conversation was between someone who has completed a jail term in the February 1998 Coimbatore serial blast case, a resident of Kuniyamuthur in the city, and a transport contractor.

Rafiq, a member of the banned Al Ummah, was released in 2007 after serving his jail term in the Coimbatore blast case. He was named in another case of the blast at the RSS headquarters in which he was acquitted in 1993. Sub Inspector Damodaran had prepared the reports and sent to the Coimbatore city police commissioner K Periaiah who ordered the arrest.

After the investigation, the police commissioner had further informed that the threat was just to extract money from the businessman in their finance deals. The name of the businessman wasn’t disclosed. Mohammed Rafiq was booked under sections 153 (A) (promoting enmity on grounds of religion) and section 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

India Today insults Indian Army in its cover page, Army seeks response

Sanghamitra
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India Today insults Indian Army in its cover page, Army seeks response

The Army has been the favourite punching bag for the media lately. From dishing out ‘expert advise’ on how the army should handle the Doklam crisis to hailing terrorists as rebels, media leaves no stone unturned in denigrating and disrespecting the armed forces.

However, India Today has recently gone a step ahead. In their new magazine cover titled ‘The Army Is Broke’, the magazine has run a morphed photograph of an Army general with medals and regimental insignia. The image shows the Army General showing his empty pockets and the sword hanging on his side been torn out.

The photo also has an eerie resemblance former Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag. The attempt to show a decorated army officer as broke and depicting turned out pockets of the uniform was objected to by the Indian Army.


The Indian Army’s official Twitter handle has stated that the cover has deeply hurt the sentiments of veterans and serving soldiers and they have conveyed the same to the concerned people at India Today. It also added that a response to the magazine is being awaited.

The social media too did not take the cover photo well. Several people have condemned the cover image and called out the magazine’s attempt to insult the soldiers.


There were people who tried to defend the cover and criticise the Army’s response to the cover. There were some who suggested that the Army’s reaction was uncalled for and some even went as far as to call it a ‘political response’. Twitter users saw through the irony and were quick to claim that to claim the Army’s reaction as politically motivated was itself a politicisation of the issue.


There were many social media users arguing that the India Today cover is just a representative design and the Army is wrong to react to the cover in such manner. But the thing to be understood here is, for the Army, the uniform is a symbol of what they represent and pictures of a decorated officer turning out his empty pockets must have been hurtful to many. The Army has strict rules to adhere to when it comes to the uniform and it being a disciplined organisation, is expected to object to uniforms being used or rather misused for commercial gain.

A similar issue had come to light recently when an army veteran had objected to former actress Twinkle Khanna selling her husband’s costume in the Rustom movie as ‘Original Uniform’. Though the veteran’s choice of words was criticised by some people, it was a general opinion that selling a costume as ‘Uniform’ was not ok. While there might be differences of opinion on whether the Army is right to react or not, to term the reaction as ‘political’ is but a symbol of the mentality that views every issue from a political lens. The Uniform may seem to the rest of us as just a symbol, but for those who have served in the Army and faced the hardships, it is something they cannot take lightly.

Assam: Congress opposes amendment to Citizenship Act seeking to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants

OpIndia Staff
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Assam: Congress opposes amendment to Citizenship Act seeking to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants

The Joint Parliamentary Commission (JPC) on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 began its hearing in Assam on Monday amid protests over the BJP government’s alleged attempt to make the northeastern state a “dumping ground for Bangladeshi Hindus”. While certain Assamese sections are staunchly opposing the Bill, Bengalis are lending strong support to it.

The Bill amends the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship. The Congress party has issued a statement against the proposed amendment which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus and other non-Muslim migrants from the three countries.

In a memorandum signed by Bora, former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, opposition leader Debabrata Saikia and other senior leaders, the Congress said, “The State had already passed a turbulent period between 1979 to 1985 when there was a mass movement against illegal migrants in which many people got martyred. This new Bill will endanger the cultural, political and social identity of Assam.”

Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that Assam will no more bear the burden of outsiders. Assam state Congress chief Ripun Bora, said, “We will not allow dilution of the Assam accord inked in 1985 by former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. We will oppose the bill in Parliament and if required will move the Supreme Court against the bill.”

Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) founder Akhil Gogoi told the media at the venue of the JPC hearing, “The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is a threat to the very identity and existence of the people of Assam. It also negates the secular tenets of the Constitution of India and hence can neither be acceptable nor legally tenable. In no way can religion be the basis of citizenship and the Constitution is specific about that. The Bill is unconstitutional.”

The JPC is expected to meet more than 200 organizations during its visit to Bengali dominated Barak district on Tuesday. Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal stated, “The JPC will take a decision only after weighing divergent views.”

Muslim-Dalit tensions in UP village after Muslims molest women taking part in wedding procession

OpIndia Staff
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Muslim-Dalit tensions in UP village after Muslims molest women taking part in wedding procession

Numerous people have been arrested and cases have been registered against 70 individuals in connection with abuse and assault on Dalits during the marriage procession of a Dalit couple. The incident occurred at Gorya village falling under Itwa police station of the Siddharthnagar district in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday evening when members of a ‘particular community’ started teasing and harassing some women participating in the procession.

When the women objected, the harassers reportedly attacked them. They further attacked those too who came to the rescue of the women. As per media reports, the goons assaulted them after entering their homes as well.

Police have arrested Mijaz, Thappu, Izhar, Nashir, Arshad, Altaf Hussain and Moh. Firoz and cases have been registered against them under sections 147, 148, 149, 307, 452, 323, 336, 504, 506, 427 of the Indian Penal Code. Itwa Police chief Anjani Kumar Rai said the rest of the accused will soon be arrested.

BJP MLA Dr Satish Dwivedi reached the spot and talked to the victims of the family and directed the authorities to ensure that the perpetrators do not escape justice. Raghavendra Pratap Singh, Dumriyaganj MLA, stated that there was a concerted attempt by members of the particular community to disturb the communal harmony of the place and demanded that compensation is immediately issued to the victims.

This incident is one of many instances of Muslim atrocities against Dalits. Only yesterday, reports had emerged of clashes between the two communities after Muslims opposed the funeral procession of Dalit woman through ‘their street’ in Tamil Nadu. Last year, reports had emerged of clashes between the two communities at Kalinagar area under Madhothanda Police Station, Pilibhit district, Uttar Pradesh after a Muslim man and his friends hurled casteist slurs at a Dalit man. Earlier in January, this year, a Dalit family had alleged that they were beaten up for refusing to convert to Islam and casteist slurs were hurled at them.

As per reports, a curfew is currently in place at the Gorya village where the incident occurred after communal clashes took place in the area. Propagators of Dalit-Muslim unity are yet to find their voice on the latest act of atrocity perpetrated on the Dalits by members of the Muslim community.

Special Task Force of Kolkata police busts racket smuggling arms from Rifle factory to Maoists

OpIndia Staff
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Special Task Force of Kolkata police busts racket smuggling arms from Rifle factory to Maoists

In a huge victory for the Kolkata police, a special task force (STF) of Kolkata police arrested six persons including two Rifle Factory Ishapore (RFI) officials from the Babughat area in connection with arms being smuggled to Maoists on 7th may.

The STF seized seven revolvers, one carbine and ten rounds of ammunition from the miscreants. Kolkata Police, Deputy Commissioner, STF, stated that STF acted on a tip-off and laid a trap at the Babughat area and caught four men with arms.

Two of the miscreants, Ajay Kumar Pandey and Jayashankar Pandey were arrested by the STF from Bihar’s Nalanda District and Umesh Roy and Kartik Shaw was arrested from Ichchapur in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas.

According to the deputy commissioner, after the interrogation of Ajay and Jayashankara, they got to know about the involvement of junior work managers Sushanta Basu and Sukhda Murmur. The managers were arrested from their respective residences in the North 24 Parganas District.

The STF suspects this racket has been active since 2008 and the accused were supplying arms and ammunition to Maoists in Bihar. It is believed that these two junior officers helped to get the arms out of the rifle factory. Talking about the modus operandi of these smugglers, the officer remarked that often times the scrapped items were repaired outside the factory and then sold to the Maoists. The amount fetched for such arms in the black market is around 4 lakh. The smugglers supplied arms which were meant for the Indian army to such terror groups.

“They (the arrested) used to smuggle out parts of the arms scrapped by the rifle factory and these smugglers used to mend and sell them to Maoists in Bihar,” – the officer stated.

A large number of Insas and Slr’s were among the arms supplied to the Maoists in Bihar –

“Ajoy and Jayasankar have admitted that they had smuggled out 16 Insas rifle and several SLRs a couple of years ago and had sold them to Maoists in Bihar”.

The STF has brought charges of criminal conspiracy, The Arms act, and dealing with stolen property against the accused.

In a hilarious faux pas Siddaramaiah says ‘every vote for Narendra Modi is a vote for me’

Nithesh S
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In a hilarious faux pas Siddaramaiah says ‘every vote for Narendra Modi is a vote for me’

As the final leg of campaigning for Karnataka elections is on, the Narendra Modi factor has clouded the minds of people and Congress party. The Modi factor has particularly rattled the current chief minister Siddaramiah. He has been actively attempting to counter the PM’s rallies on Twitter. Recently he has also sent a notice to the PM and Amit Shah for spreading lies about him.

Modi worry seems to be affecting Siddaramaiah offline as well. While campaigning for a Congress candidate named Narendra Swami in Malavalli (Mandya district) he ended up saying, Narendra Modi. In his first faux pas, he said that development works like roads, water supply and housing had happened because of Narendra Modi. Even after he was corrected on the first occasion, he made a second faux pas where he said that ‘a vote for Narendra Modi is a vote for me’.


Translation of his words :

First faux pas: In all the villages if the work related to concrete roads, drainages, drinking water and housing has happened, it is because of Narendra Modi and my government…sorry…Narendra Swamy. [crowd shouts] Narendra is important. We have our Swami here, Modi is from Gujarat. Narendra Modi is a lie, Narendra Swamy is true.

Second faux pas: So, please listen, every vote you give to Narendra Modi is a vote for me. [someone corrects again] sorry Narendra Swamy.

Congress can proudly add these two brand new mistakes to their illustrious list of faux pas’.

Nirmala Sitharaman criticizes victim blaming in rape cases

OpIndia Staff
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Nirmala Sitharaman criticizes victim blaming in rape cases

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman criticized the claim about a woman’s attire is the reason behind rape. Sitharaman, the first woman Defence Minister of India was addressing an event organized by FICCI titled –“Stories that Matter”. She called for a change of mindset in matters regarding the safety and dignity of women.

Often times, people blame the victim and engage in moral policing whenever an incident of rape takes place. Sitharaman pointed out that the elderly and toddlers also get raped, and hence clothing has nothing to with rapes.


The minister also spoke about a much needed proactive role of law agencies in providing safety to women and preventing such instances from happening.

As indicated by earlier reports most of the times the rapist is a known face to the victim. The minister talked about how law agencies must take cognizance of such facts and incorporate them in their investigations accordingly.

“Out of every 10 such incidents, seven are committed by people who know the victim– relative, friends, neighbour. Law enforcement agencies need to be far more proactive, I concede all that,” she stated.

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