The Union Cabinet on Wednesday unanimously accepted the report submitted by a high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind that explored the feasibility of ‘one nation, one election’.
Ram Nath Kovind-led panel had submitted the report in March ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections. Placing the report before the Cabinet was a part of the Law Ministry’s 100-day agenda.
Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Ram Nath Kovind-led panel’s report on simultaneous polls found widespread support and that the Union Cabinet approved its proposal unanimously.
The high-level committee had recommended simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days. The panel had also proposed setting up of an ‘Implementation Group’ to look into the execution of the recommendations made by the committee.
Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said ‘one nation, one election’ was not practical and alleged that the BJP comes up with such things to divert attention from real issues when elections approach
Asked about the issue, Kharge said at a press conference In New Delhi, “It is not practical. It will not work. When elections come, and they are not getting any issues to raise, then they divert attention from real issues.”
Simultaneous polls will help save resources, spur development and social cohesion, deepen “foundations of democratic rubric” and help realise the aspirations of “India, that is Bharat”, the panel had said.
The panel also recommended the preparation of a common electoral roll and voter ID cards by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in consultation with state election authorities.
At present, the ECI is responsible for the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, while the local body polls for municipalities and panchayats are managed by State Election Commissions.
The panel recommended as many as 18 constitutional amendments, most of which will not need ratification by State Assemblies. However, these would require certain Constitution amendment Bills that would need to be passed by Parliament. Some proposed changes regarding the single electoral roll and single voter ID card would need ratification by at least half of the States.
Separately, the Law Commission is also likely to come up soon with its own report on simultaneous polls, of which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a strong votary.
Sources said that the Law Commission is likely to recommend holding simultaneous polls for all three tiers of the government — the Lok Sabha, state Assemblies and local bodies like municipalities and panchayats — starting with 2029 and a provision for unity government in cases like hung house.
J&K sees 58.19% voter turnout till 5 p.m.
The voter turnout till 5 p.m. in the 24 assembly constituencies was around 58.19%, an official said. The first phase of the long-awaited Jammu and Kashmir elections is underway, with seven districts voting on September 18, 2024 -- the first Assembly polls since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
The polling has been peaceful and incident-free so far according to the Election Commission. “Polling is being conducted on a large scale. The way polling is progressing indicates a high turnout. We anticipate over 60% polling, said J&K Chief Electoral Officer P. K. Pole.
More than 23.27 lakh voters — 11.76 lakh men and 11.51 lakh women — are eligible to cast their votes in the first phase which will see 24 Assembly constituencies contested across the Chenab Valley districts of Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban, as well as the South Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, and Shopian.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the people in Jammu and Kashmir to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy. Similarly, Congress general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge, J&K L-G Manoj Sinha, Union Home Minster Amit Shah and other leaders have called upon the youth, women and first-time voters to exercise their franchise responsibly.
Prominent candidates in Kashmir include CPI (M)‘s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, who is seeking a fifth consecutive term from Kulgam segment. AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir is hoping for a third term from Dooru, while National Conference’s Sakina Itoo is seeking another term from Damhal Hajipora. However, all eyes will be on Srigufwara-Bijbehara and Pulwama assembly segments where PDP’s Iltija Mufti and Waheed Para are contesting polls, respectively.
Supreme Court says government may argue on law if it chooses not to file a counter to pleas to criminalise marital rape
Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Wednesday said if the Union government did not want to file a response on petitions seeking the criminalisation of marital rape, it would present oral arguments on the tenets of the law when the case comes up for hearing in the Supreme Court.
The observation followed an oral mentioning made by senior advocate Indira Jaising requesting a Bench headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud to fix a specific date for hearing the case. The case is listed on the board of the Chief Justice Bench, waiting for its day in court.
On Wednesday, the Chief Justice asked Jaising and other lawyers appearing for the various petitioners to wait and see how the board progressed in the coming weeks. The court refrained from giving a specific date. Chief Justice Chandrachud is retiring in November. The month of October is speckled with court holidays.
On an earlier occasion, the Centre, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, had said the case posed legal ramifications as well as societal viewpoints. The petitions were triggered by mutually exclusive decisions from Karnataka and Delhi High Courts, calling for an authoritative pronouncement from the apex court.
The Karnataka High Court had held that a husband was liable to be charged for rape if he had forcible sex with his wife. The Karnataka government had supported the High Court judgment in an affidavit in the apex court subsequently.
Exception two to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) decriminalised marital rape. It had provided that non-consensual sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, aged under 18, did not amount to rape. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which replaced the IPC, retained the same exception. The exception is reflected in Section 63 of the BNS.
“A man is a man; an act is an act; rape is a rape, be it performed by a man the ‘husband’ on the woman ‘wife’,” the Karnataka High Court had observed.
But a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court delivered a split verdict in a separate case on the identical issue in May 2022. Justice Rajiv Shakdher, the lead judge on the Bench, struck down the exception to Section 375 as unconstitutional.
However, Justice C. Hari Shankar, the associate judge on the High Court Bench, took the reverse view. Justice Shankar adopted the traditional stance that changes in the law was the sole terrain of the legislature.
The Justice JS Verma Committee of 2013 had recommended the removal of the exception. It had proposed the law to specify that “marital or other relationship between the perpetrator or victim is not a valid defence against the crimes of rape or sexual violation”.
Arvind Kejriwal will move out of official residence in a week: AAP
Delhi ex-Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will move out of his official residence within one week, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said on Wednesday.
At a press conference here, Singh said Kejriwal would also give up all the facilities he enjoyed as the Chief Minister. Kejriwal, accompanied by a delegation of AAP legislators, visited the L-G Secretariat to tender his resignation on Tuesday and formally stake claim to form a new government under Atishi’s leadership.
“Yesterday after tendering his resignation, Kejriwal said he will leave all the facilities that a Chief Minister gets, including security, and live as a commoner among the people. We tried to persuade him, saying a lot of attempts to harm him physically have taken place in the past but he was not deterred. He said, ‘I have lived in jail for six months, God saved me then, God will save me now,’” Singh said. The AAP leader said it was yet to be decided where Kejriwal will live.
Chandigarh court issues notice to Kangana Ranaut over movie ‘Emergency’
A court here has issued notices to BJP MP and actress Kangana Ranaut and others on a complaint accusing them of maligning the image of Sikhs in her upcoming movie ‘Emergency’.
The notices were issued by the Chandigarh district court on Tuesday on a plea filed by advocate Ravinder Singh Bassi, who is also the president of the NGO Lawyers for Humanity. The respondents have been asked to file their replies by December 5.
Bassi in his petition alleged that Ranaut and other respondents have in the movie ‘Emergency’ tried to “malign the image of Sikhs” and particularly “targeted” the former Jathedar of the Akal Takth by portraying him as a “terrorist”.
“The accused without studying the proper historical facts and figures had portrayed Sikhs in bad shape and also made wrong and false allegations against the supreme temporal seat of the Sikh community as in the trailer of the movie it was shown that the sitting Jathedar of Sri Akal Takth Sahib was demanding separate State which is totally false and it was shown just to malign the image of Sikhs and the Akal Takth Jathedars,” Bassi alleged in the plea.
“That by this act and conduct of the accused, they hurt the sentiments and feelings of the Sikh community in general and the deponent,” the petition filed by Bassi, the former president of the District Bar Association, Chandigarh, said.
He also alleged that “the actress, producer and director of the film ‘Emergency’, whose trailer has been released on the social media platform is a trouble creator and many times, created differences between communities by uttering provoking statements and speeches against the minorities”.
The petitioner has demanded an FIR against Ranaut and two other respondents under section 196(1) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, and doing acts of prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 197(1) (punishment for making or publishing false or misleading information that could jeopardise India’ sovereignty, unity, integrity or security), 302 (uttering words etc with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any person) and 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
In Brief:
Congress leader Ajay Maken approached Delhi Police on Wednesday to register an FIR against BJP leaders over open threats to ‘eliminate’ or cause physical injury to the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. Maken in the letter for FIR named Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu, Delhi BJP leader Tarvinder Singh Marvah, Shiv Sena (Shinde) Sanjay Gaikwad, and U.P. Minister Raghuraj Singh. The FIR was filed at the Tughlak Road police station.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
Published - September 18, 2024 08:11 pm IST
