The Supreme Court on July 15 agreed to consider a submission for setting up a Constitution Bench to hear pleas challenging the validity of passage of laws such as the Aadhaar Act as Money Bills allegedly to bypass the Rajya Sabha.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) D. Y. Chandrachud and justices J. B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was urged by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who also heads the Supreme Court Bar Association, that the pleadings are complete and the petitions needed to be listed for hearing. “I will take the call when I form the constitution Benches,” the CJI said.
Earlier, the top court had said it would constitute a seven-judge Bench to consider the issue of validity of passage of laws such as the Aadhaar Act as a Money Bill.
The decision was aimed at addressing the controversy around Money Bills after the government introduced legislations such as the Aadhaar Act and even amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as Money Bills, apparently to circumvent the Rajya Sabha where it did not have a majority then.
A Money Bill is a piece of legislation which can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha cannot amend or reject it. The Upper House can only make recommendations which may or may not be accepted by the Lower House.
What to watch as the Republican National Convention kicks off days after Trump assassination attempt
The Republican National Convention starts on July 15 in Milwaukee, two days after Donald Trump was injured in an assassination attempt, with the violent scene at his campaign rally horrifying the country and amplifying already intense political divisions.
Trump and his advisers are pledging resilience in the face of the attack, with plans going forward for the event to showcase the former president and his platform as his party formally chooses him to be its nominee.
It was not immediately clear if and how Saturday’s attack would alter the four-day event, which normally has a celebratory atmosphere. Republican officials have said they want to defy the threat Trump has faced and stick to their plans and their schedule. But at the very least, the event is expected to include a heightened focus on security and a grim recognition of how stunningly close the presumptive Republican nominee came to losing his life.
The shooting has drawn bipartisan condemnation and bipartisan calls for unity. But it has also led to some Republicans blaming President Joe Biden, pointing to his words casting Trump as a threat to democracy. Some have demanded that prosecutors now drop the four criminal cases Trump faces, including one in which he’s been convicted.
As elected officials, politicians and a few regular Americans address the conference, the question is which tone will prevail in the aftermath of the attack: Will it make speeches even more fiery or will calls for calm prevail?
Even before the attempt on Trump’s life Saturday, Republicans were largely firmly aligned with him and planned to show party unity at the convention. But that message is expected to be even more pronounced as the former president and GOP officials look to project resolve, with Trump saying Sunday that “it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win.”
The show of unity is a departure from the party’s recent history. In 2016, the first time Republicans formally crowned Trump as their nominee, the opening day of their convention was marked by angry dissent from anti-Trump delegates on the floor of the event. After his turbulent presidency concluded with an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by his supporters, his political standing seemed weaker than ever when he launched his third White House campaign in 2022. But Trump flattened a field of GOP challengers and his legal problems have galvanised his supporters.
Trump has still not named a running mate, and an announcement could come as soon as Monday. His top three contenders, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, are scheduled to speak to Republican delegates at some point this week, according to event organisers. And per tradition, the person Trump selects as his vice-presidential running mate is expected to give an address Wednesday night.
Trump has compared his search for a new vice president to his former reality TV show, “The Apprentice,” leading to speculation that the showman might opt for an onstage reveal of his pick at the convention. He could also make the announcement on social media, as he did in 2016 when he selected Mike Pence to be his running mate.
Before the shooting, the 2024 race was rocked by upheaval among Democrats after Biden’s shaky debate performance last month led members of his party to start staging a public intervention calling for him to bow out as their nominee and raising the real possibility that Trump may be running against someone else.
Republicans have long sought to paint Biden as incompetent, but since Biden’s campaign has become seriously questioned, Trump and the GOP have stepped up their criticisms of Vice President Kamala Harris. That’s expected to continue as the convention kicks off, with more references to “the Biden-Harris administration.”
The theme for Monday’s program is “Make America Wealthy Once Again,” according to Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee. Focusing on economics not only makes sense because it can be a key issue for swing voters, but it’s an area where Trump might have an edge over Biden when it comes to voter views on job creation and cost of living.
Look for Republicans to focus on Trump’s proposals to impose higher tariffs on foreign-made goods along with extending the tax cuts he signed into law in 2017, which expire next year. Biden wants to extend the middle-class tax cuts while raising taxes on highly profitable companies and the richest Americans.
As Trump tries to win over undecided and middle-of-the-road voters, one of the key questions is to what degree he’ll feature some of the far-right characters in his orbit, his lies about his loss in the 2020 election, his calls for retribution against his opponents and his embrace of those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Key messages of Trump’s third campaign for the White House have included venting his grievances from the past election and decrying his legal problems. He has said that if he’s elected president, he expects to pardon many of those arrested or convicted for their roles in the violent siege on the Capitol and has even played a song at his rallies that he recorded with some of the jailed defendants.
Though candidates typically try to moderate their message as they move into the general election, Trump has rarely been typical — or moderate — and some of the messages he’s featured in his campaign could be jarring to the voters he’s looking to sway.
NEET-UG 2024 row: Supreme Court issues notice on NTA plea to transfer NEET cases in High Courts to top court
The Supreme Court on July 15 sought responses from students-petitioners to a request made by the National Testing Agency [NTA], which is under a cloud over the conduct of NEET-UG 2024 marred by leaks and other irregularities, to transfer their pleas pending in High Courts to the Supreme Court.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud issued notice to the students, who are the petitioners in the High Courts.
NTA had applied to the Supreme Court to transfer the pending cases in the High Courts to the Supreme Court for an authoritative ruling. The three-judge Bench of the Chief Justice and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra are hearing over 40 separate petitions seeking various reliefs from fresh NEET to abolishment of the NTA itself.
The NTA has urged the Supreme Court to tag its petitions to transfer the High Court cases with these petitions. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the NEET case on July 18. The primary question before the Supreme Court is whether or not to order a re-test. The court has indicated that its first priority is to examine whether the wrongdoers among the exam-takers could be segregated from the innocent students.
The court has made it clear that it did not want to pass any orders which would upset the future of 23 lakh students who took NEET on May 5.
Arvind Kejriwal lost 2 kg in prison, say Tihar sources amid AAP’s allegations
A day after the AAP claimed that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had lost 8.5 kg in prison, Tihar jail sources on July 15 said he had only lost 2 kg and he was being regularly monitored by a medical board of AIIMS.
The sources said the jail administration has written to the Delhi Government’s Home Department regarding the allegations levelled by AAP Ministers and leaders, saying that such a narrative “confuses and misleads the public”.
Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said that with this, the Tihar authorities have accepted that Kejriwal has lost weight.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had on Sunday alleged that the BJP was conspiring to harm Kejriwal’s health by keeping him in jail and that he was not getting the necessary medical attention as a diabetic.
Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi had expressed concern over Kejriwal’s “unexplained weight loss of 8.5 kg” since his arrest and claimed that his sugar level had dropped below 50 mg/dL more than five times in prison.
According to Kejriwal’s health report shared by the Tihar sources, Kejriwal weighed 65 kg when he first came to prison on April 1 and 66 kg between April 8 and 29. When he returned to prison on June 2 after a 21-day bail, his weight was 63.5 kg. “On July 14, his weight was 61.5 kg. So, effectively, he lost 2 kg,” an official source said.
According to the sources, Kejriwal is being provided home-cooked food but he has been regularly returning portions of it since June 3. A medical board of AIIMS has been constantly monitoring the Chief Minister and his wife Sunita Kejriwal remains in regular touch with the board, the sources said.
They said the jail administration has written to the Delhi Government’s Home Department rejecting the AAP’s allegations regarding Kejriwal’s health.
In its letter, the prison administration said that “such a narrative confuses and misleads the public with false information and ulterior motives with intent to browbeat the prison administration”.
“The blood pressure and sugar levels and weight of the accused are regularly being monitored and he is provided adequate treatment for all his ailments and is regularly having home-cooked food thrice a day. These facts are brought on record in the light of the media vilification being carried out by vested interest groups,” it said.
In a statement, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said Tihar authorities have accepted that Kejriwal’s sugar levels dropped multiple times and that he has lost weight. He claimed the AAP chief could go into a coma or suffer a brain stroke if his sugar levels drop while he is asleep.
Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Government’s now-scrapped excise policy 2021-22. He was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a corruption case related to the alleged scam from Tihar jail on June 26.
Supreme Court rejects D.K. Shivakumar plea to dismiss CBI corruption case
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to quash a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation accusing him of corruption linked to a disproportionate assets case.
Appearing before a Bench of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and SC Sharma, senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Vipin Sanghi, for Shivakumar, said the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) case was ”completely illegal”.
Justice Trivedi reminded Rohatgi that the charges were serious and involved offences under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act. Rohatgi argued that Section 17A of the PC Act was not complied with by the central probe agency.
The provision mandated that “no enquiry or inquiry or investigation shall be conducted by a police officer into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the PC Act without prior approval from appropriate authority”.
“Section 17A puts an embargo on enquiry or investigation into an FIR unless the required sanction is taken,” Rohatgi submitted.
Justice Trivedi was not impressed, saying the case cannot be quashed. The judge pointed out that ₹ 41 lakh was recovered from Shivakumar’s premises during Income Tax raids. Rohatgi said the CBI cannot start a simultaneous investigation on the same issue the Income Tax department was already probing.
Justice Trivedi said these were two different investigations, dismissing Shivakumar’s contentions to quash the CBI case. The Karnataka High Court had in October last year had similarly refused to quash the CBI case registered in 2020.
The Income Tax Department had raided Shivakumar in 2017. Subsequently, the Directorate of Enforcement Directorate (ED) had started its own probe. Following the ED investigation, the CBI had sought sanction from the State government to register an FIR against him.
The sanction came on September 25, 2019. On October 3, 2020, Shivakumar was booked by the CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act for the alleged possession of disproportionate assets to the tune of ₹74.93 crore.
Pakistan Government to ban jailed ex-PM Imran Khan’s party PTI for alleged anti-state activities
In a controversial move, the Pakistan Government on July 15 announced that it will ban jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan’s party for its alleged involvement in anti-state activities and slap cases against him and two of his senior party colleagues for treason.
“In view of the foreign funding case, May 9 riots, and the cipher episode as well as the resolution passed in the U.S., we believe that there is very credible evidence present to have Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) banned,” Information Minister Attaullah Tarar made the surprising announcement at a press conference.
Khan, 71, has been lodged at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on account of multiple cases against him since his ouster as prime minister in April 2022. Upping the ante against PTI, the federal government has decided to ban the former ruling party as well as file cases against PTI founder Khan and former Pakistan president Arif Alvi for treason under Article 6, Geo News said.
Tarar said that if the country is to move in a forward direction, it cannot do so with PTI’s existence. “Our patience and tolerance are considered as our weaknesses. The PTI and Pakistan cannot co-exist as the government is trying to stabilise the country politically and economically, while efforts are being made to thwart its efforts,” Tarar said and added that the federal government would move the apex court to file a petition to ban the party.
Tarar also announced that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led government and its coalition partners have decided to file a review appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court granting reserved seats to the PTI in the National Assembly. “The apex court gave relief to the PTI which had not even asked for it,” the Minister said.
In Brief:
The Supreme Court on July 15 refused to grant interim bail to activist Jyoti Jagtap, who is in jail in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case. A Bench comprising justices M.M. Sundresh and Aravind Kumar also adjourned the hearing on the main bail plea of the activist. “We are not inclined to give interim bail”, Justice Subdresh said. Jagtap has moved the apex court challenging the October 17, 2022 order of the Bombay High Court that refused to grant her bail, saying the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) case against her was “prima facie true” and that she was part of a “larger conspiracy” hatched by the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit. The High Court had said Jagtap was an active member of the Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) group, which during its stage play at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017 gave not only “aggressive, but highly provocative slogans”.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
