The Evening Wrap: Supreme Court digest!

The Hindu Newsletter - Here are the biggest news stories of the day [The Hindu Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( Monday 02, November 2020 [alt_text]( The Evening Wrap [Here are the biggest news stories of the day]( [alt_text]( Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. A-G declines consent for contempt proceedings against AP CM, aide Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal on Monday [declined his consent to initiate contempt proceedings against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister]( Jagan Mohan Reddy and his Prinicipal Advisor Ajeya Kallam. Mr. Venugopal, however, said the timing of the Chief Minister’s letter to the Chief Justice of India containing allegations against Supreme Court judge, Justice N.V. Ramana, and the subsequent public release of the document could “certainly be said to be suspect.” Mr. Venugopal said Reddy’s letter on October 6 and its release by Mr. Kallam at a press conference held on October 10 was “suspect” because they came “in the background of the order passed by Justice Ramana dated September 16, directing pending prosecutions of elected representatives to be taken up and disposed of expeditiously”. In this context, the Attorney-General referred to Supreme Court advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay’s statement that Reddy had 31 criminal cases against him. “In this background, prima facie, the conduct of the said persons is contumacious,” Mr. Venugopal said. He said he found the letter to contain “objectionable statements”. “I have carefully gone through the contents of your petition. I find that the objectionable statements have been made in a letter dated October 6 written by the Chief Minister to the Chief Justice of India...” Mr. Venugopal noted. The Attorney-General was responding to a petition filed by Mr. Upadhyay for his prior consent under the Contempt of Court Act to initiate proceedings against Mr. Reddy and Mr. Kallam. The top law officer said Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde was already “seized of the matter”. Mr. Venugopal said the letter was sent to the CJI directly and, therefore, the latter was “well aware of the nature of the allegations contained in the letter”. “Hence it would not be appropriate for me to deal with the matter,” Mr. Venugopal wrote. SC stays ECI order revoking ‘star campaigner’ status of Kamal Nath The Supreme Court on Monday [stayed the October 30 order of the Election Comission of India (ECI)]( revoking the ‘star campaigner’ status of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde, heading a three-judge Bench, said the Commission had no power to determine who should be ‘star campaigner’ of a political party. “Who gives you the power to determine who is the leader of the party... We are staying this order. You have no power,” Chief Justice Bobde told the ECI, represented by senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi. Mr. Dwivedi said Mr. Nath’s petition against the October 30 order was already infructuous as the campaigning for by-polls to 28 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh was already over and polling is on November 2. “Never mind, we will examine this case closely... You have no power,” Chief Justice Bobde said. On October 30, the ECI found Mr. Nath guilty of violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in place for the by-elections. The ECI revoked his name on the basis of a complaint from the BJP that Mr. Nath derogatorily referred to its candidate, Imarti Devi, as an “item” during a campaign rally at Dabra in Gwalior district. Mr. Nath, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocates Varun K. Chopra and Gurtejpal Singh, said it was the prerogative of his party and not the ECI to remove his name as a ‘star campaigner’. SC refuses to extend security of former judge who pronounced Babri verdict The Supreme Court on Monday[refused a plea made by former CBI judge S.K. Yadav](, the author of the Babri Masjid demolition case verdict, to allow him to continue with his personal security. Mr. Yadav had acquitted top BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders such as L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and others in the case on his last day in office. He had written to the Supreme Court on September 30 to permit him to continue having a security cordon around him considering the sensitivity of the case. “We do not consider it necessary to continue the security,” a Bench led by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman concluded. The acquitted BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders were accused of criminal conspiracy which led to the demolition of the 16th century Babri Masjid by kar sevaks in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. Bihar elections: 89% of constituencies have 3 or more candidates with criminal records: ADR In Bihar, 89% of the assembly constituencies have three or more [candidates who have declared criminal cases]( against themselves in their affidavits for the ongoing elections, an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) found on Monday. The ADR analysis of election affidavits of 3,722 of the 3,733 candidates found that 32% of them had declared criminal cases. The affidavits of the remaining 11 were not available at the time of compiling the report, the ADR said. Releasing the report at a virtual press conference, ADR founder Jagdeep S. Chhokar said the Bihar elections were the first general elections to be held after the Supreme Court directions to parties on February 13 to publish the reasons for choosing a candidate with a criminal background. He said the number of “red alert constituencies”, which have three or more contestants with criminal cases pending, is usually around 50%, but had increased to 89% in the Bihar polls. He said parties had largely not followed the court’s directions. “The directions of the Supreme Court have had no effect on the political parties in selection of candidates as they have again followed their old practice of giving tickets to around 32% candidates with criminal cases,” the ADR report said. The court had directed the parties to give reasons why a candidate without criminal antecedents could not be chosen. “As per these mandatory guidelines, the reasons for such selection have to be with reference to qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate concerned. Therefore, such unfounded and baseless reasons given by political parties like popularity of the person, does good social work, cases are politically motivated, etc are not sound and cogent reasons for fielding candidates with tainted backgrounds,” the report said. The report also found that the assets declared by the 201 re-contesting MLAs had increased by ₹2.02 crore, or 71% on average, from the 2015 Assembly polls. [ Urdu poet Munawwar Rana at his residence in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on November 2, 2020. ] Urdu poet Munawwar Rana at his residence in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on November 2, 2020. Poet Munawwar Rana booked for remarks on France attacks Renowned Urdu poet Munawwar Rana was [booked by the Uttar Pradesh police]( for allegedly spreading enmity between groups with his recent comments in which he purportedly provided a justification for the murders in France by extremists over caricatures of Prophet Muhammad. In an interview to a Hindi television channel last week, Mr. Rana condemned the person who drew the caricatures of the prophet. In the same breath, however, he said that persons who committed the murders over the caricature had committed even more deplorable acts. What landed him in a soup was the part where he said that if someone had drawn a cartoon of his parents or even of Hindu gods and goddesses, he would have done the same (murder). “If someone makes such an obscene cartoon of my father or mother, I will kill that person”, he said. When asked by the reporter if he endorsed the killings, Mr. Rana repeated, “I will kill [that person]”. Mr. Rana went on to say that he would also feel like killing a person who makes disgusting, obscene and objectionable cartoons of Sita, Lord Ram or other gods and goddesses. A case was lodged against Rana at the Hazratganj police station on the complaint of a sub-inspector. The FIR accuses Mr. Rana of justifying the murders and spreading communal discord. Talking to a news agency after the FIR, Mr. Rana said he stood by his statement. “I stand by my statement. Na Dal badlu hoon, na byan badlu hoon [Neither do I change sides, nor do I change my statements]”, he said. Talking to other media, he said his remarks were taken out of context and that he only meant to provide the perspective for acts committed in the name of religious fanaticism. Covid watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported[coronavirus cases from India](stood at 82,60,470 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,23,279. After a gap of almost seven months, schools and colleges reopened in Andhra Pradesh today. High schools, junior, degree and PG colleges began half-day classes, following Covid-19 protocols. Schools began classes for ninth and tenth standard classes. In Brief: As part of the plan to cut down surging pollution levels, [no new manufacturing units will be allowed in the industrial areas of the national capital](, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced today. Hereafter, only service sector and hi-tech firms will be allowed and given space at cheaper rates in industrial areas, Mr. Kejriwal said. He added that the new rule will benefit sectors such as IT, media, call centres, HR services, BPOs, TV video production houses, and market research and placement agencies. Priyanca Radhakrishnan on Monday became[New Zealand’s first-ever Indian-origin minister](after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern brought five new ministers into her executive. Born in India, Radhakrishnan, 41, went to school in Singapore before moving to New Zealand for higher studies. She has spent her work life advocating on behalf of people whose voices are often unheard — women survivors of domestic violence, and migrant workers who have been exploited. She was first elected first as a Member of Parliament belonging to the Labour Party in September 2017. Manipal Hospitals, a multi-specialty healthcare provider, on Monday entered into a definitive [agreement to acquire 100% stake in Columbia Asia Hospitals]( Private Limited (Columbia Asia). The deal is valued at ₹2,100 crore, as per market sources. This effectively makes Manipal Hospitals the country's second largest healthcare chain, after Apollo Hospitals. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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