1. Congress Leads Seven Opposition Parties in Bid to Impeach Chief Justice of India
Seven Opposition parties, led by the Congress, launched an unprecedented move on Friday to impeach the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra accusing him of corruption, misusing his authority and failing to protect the independence of the judiciary.
Party leaders met Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, who is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, and handed over the notice of impeachment bearing signatures of 64 MPs and seven former MPs, who recently retired.
This comes a day after a Supreme Court bench headed by CJI Misra rejected petitions seeking an independent probe into the death of Judge B H Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. CJI Impeachment: Dissent in Congress, Two Former Law Ministers Question Move – And its Motive
Hours after the Congress and six Opposition parties gave a notice for moving an impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, two senior Congress leaders and former Law Ministers expressed their reservations to The Indian Express.
While Ashwani Kumar said the move will be “counter-productive” arguing that “the remedy cannot be worse than the malaise,” Salman Khurshid said that he was “saddened” at the developments. Another former Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, who had earlier opposed the plan to move an impeachment motion, declined to comment.
Sources close to him said he was unhappy but would not like to openly question the party’s decision.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not sign the petition. Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh too were not signatories. Lawyer-politician Abhishek Singhvi was the last MP to sign last Sunday after some prodding from the Congress high command. Sources in the Congress said he had advised against the move and was reluctant to sign but had to relent.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Kodnani, 17 Others Cleared in Naroda Patia Massacre Case
The Gujarat high court on Friday acquitted the prime accused, Maya Kodnani, and 17 others in the 2002 Naroda Patia massacre case, giving her the “benefit of doubt”. In August 2012, the SIT court named Kodnani as “a kingpin of riots” in Naroda area and sentenced her to 28 years in jail in the post-Godhra riot case in which a mob killed 97 people.
The HC, however, upheld the convictions of 13 people, including Bajrang Dal’s Babu Bajrangi. Kodnani and Bajrangi now face trial in another 2002 carnage case — the Naroda Gam massacre in which 11 people were killed.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. Cabinet Set to Clear Death for Child Rape, New Law on Fugitives
The Union cabinet will take up for consideration on Saturday morning two draft ordinances, one prescribing the death penalty for those convicted of raping children below 12 years and the other empowering the executive to provisionally attach the property of suspected economic offenders who have left the country to escape trial, three senior government officials said on condition of anonymity.
The move seeking the death penalty for child rapists comes in the backdrop of nationwide outrage over the brutal rape of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, the alleged rape of a minor in Unnao by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, and rising anger over a spate of such incidents being reported over the past few weeks.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Yechury Gains in CPI(M) Patch-Up
The CPI(M) amended its tactical line on Friday to allow an “understanding” with the Congress ahead of the 2019 polls, and bridged a widening rift in the party in a decision that is also likely to lend more power to the latter’s efforts to build a front against the BJP in 2019. The communists will, however, have no political alliance with the Congress.
The final version of the political tactical line replaced the phrase “without any understanding or electoral alliance with the Congress” with “without political alliance with the Congress.”
As the two factions came to an understanding, party insiders said general secretary Sitaram Yechury may well get another term as his demands have been fully met. The other faction is headed by Prakash Karat.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Aadhaar a Must, Subject to SC Order, Says RBI
The RBI amended its “know your customer” guidelines on Friday, making Aadhaar key to conducting customer due diligence by banks and finance companies. It has also done away with sections relating to the use of other “officially valid documents” by lenders for address and identity proof but has said that the new norms are subject to the final judgment of the Supreme Court on Aadhaar.
In a circular, the RBI said the norms have been revised because the government had amended laws on the prevention of money laundering through a gazette notification in June 2017. However, it’s not clear when the new guidelines would come into force.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. No Students, Engineering Colleges Tell Regulator: Drop 1.36 Lakh Seats
Left with a large number of vacant seats, engineering colleges have approached the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to reduce intake by almost 1.3 lakh B.Tech and M.Tech seats from the new academic year starting July. According to the AICTE’s provisional data, 83 engineering institutes that collectively offer 24,000 seats have applied for closure.
Another 494 colleges have sought permission to discontinue some undergraduate and postgraduate engineering programmes, which would reduce the national intake by another 42,000 seats. That apart, 639 institutes have requested the regulator to reduce their intake by 62,000 seats collectively.
These applications represent a proposed cut of almost 1.3 lakh B.E/B.Tech and M.E/M.Tech seats. The AICTE hasn’t taken a final decision yet but sources told The Indian Express that it is likely to accept all requests for winding up of colleges.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. Modi to Visit Nepal on 11 May, Travel to Janakpur as Ties Get Back on Track
In another sign of the restoration of normalcy in bilateral relations between India and Nepal, Prime Minister Na rend ra Modi is set to visit Kathmandu and Janakpur on 11 May, according to two Nepali officials, one Indian official and one political leader involved with planning the visit.
Modi’s visit, which is at the planning stage, would come a little over a month after Nepal’s new Prime Minister KP Oli visited Delhi between 6 and 8 April on his first foreign visit after being elected.
Apart from Kathmandu, Modi is expected to travel to Janakpur, an important religious centre in the Terai plains, close to the border with Bihar, and where Lord Ram was supposed to have wed Sita according to the Ramayana.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. SC to Revisit its Order Diluting IPC Section on Abused Wives
The Supreme Court agreed with senior advocate Indira Jaising on Friday for a comprehensive relook into its earlier judgment diluting the stringency of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code that many believed was abused by some women to wreak vengeance on estranged husbands and in-laws.
Taking into account instances of such abuse, a bench of Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit had in July last year restrained police from effecting the immediate arrest of husbands and in-laws on receipt of complaints from women about cruelty in the matrimonial home and instead ordered setting up of committees to examine the complaint, talk to the couples and try for reconciliation.
“Every complaint under Section 498A received by the police or the magistrate be referred to and looked into by such committee,” the bench had said and warned against any arrest till the committee gave its report.
(Source: The Times of India)
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