The Evening Wrap: Supreme Court quashes Gujarat’s premature release of convicts in Bilkis Bano case

The Supreme Court on January 8 quashed the order of premature release granted by the State of Gujarat in August 2022 to 11 men sentenced to life imprisonment for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family during the 2002 riots. The court ordered them to report back to jail in two weeks. “Courts have to dispense justice and not see that justice is dispensed with,” Justice B.V. Nagarathna, heading a Bench also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, distinguished. The court held that the convicts were tried and sentenced in Maharashtra. It was Maharashtra, and not Gujarat, which had to consider and remit their sentence. Justice Nagarathna, in a detailed pronouncement of the judgment which spanned nearly an hour in open court, said Gujarat “usurped” the power of Maharashtra to pass an order of remission in favour of the convicts. Justice Nagarathna said Gujarat was not the “appropriate government” under Section 432(7)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure which covered the subject of power to suspend and remit sentence. The judge said it was clear from Section 432(7)(b) that the government of the State where the incident had occurred or the convicts were imprisoned was not authorised to grant remission. The authority rested solely with Maharashtra, to where the case was transferred and where the convicts were tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. Justice Nagarathna said the grant of remission to the men by Gujarat was an “abuse of discretion”. It amounted to usurpation of the power of remission when the authority given by law to one authority was exercised by another. The rule of law had been breached as the remission order was passed by an incompetent authority. Ordering status quo ante, Justice Nagarathna, speaking for the Bench in the judgment, reasoned that for the convicts to apply for remission again they have to be back in prison first. Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet 2024 | ₹6.64 lakh crore-worth investment proposals attracted: CM Stalin The two-day Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet (GIM) 2024 hosted by the DMK government got off to a blistering start at the Chennai Trade Centre on January 7 with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin unveiling a blueprint for making the State a $1 trillion economy by 2030. During the valedictory on January 8, Chief Minister Mr. Stalin said, “I am happy and proud to inform this august gathering that due to our tireless efforts and your participation during this Global Investors Meet, we have attracted an unprecedented ₹6,64,180 crore-worth of investments. A total of 26,90,657 jobs are expected to be generated from these investments that includes direct employment for 14,54,712 persons.” A slew of MoUs were also exchanged at the end of the day. The Tamil Nadu government is trying to get one of the Quantum Computing Centres, sponsored by the Government of India, the State’s Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said at the concluding day of the Global Investors Meet. “The Government of India has sponsored two Quantum Computing Centres. One has already been allocated to the Northeast. I am in touch with the Government of India to get the other one allocated to Tamil Nadu,” he said. While replying to a query during a session on ‘Gen AI & Deep Tech: The Game Changer’, the Minister also said that as Finland was one of the countries that did particularly well in building quantum computing, “We are in discussions with them for a few months now,” to see if it could help with start-ups. The Tamil Nadu government was in the process of coming up with some policies, including one for artificial intelligence, as the AI policy released by the State government about five to six years earlier, did not have any takers, Rajan said. Congress candidate Rupinder Singh Koonar wins Karanpur Assembly election in Rajasthan Congress candidate Rupinder Singh Koonar on January 8 won the Karanpur Assembly election, defeating BJP Minister Surendra Pal Singh by 11,283 votes. According to the Chief Electoral Office, Koonar bagged 94,950 votes while Singh got 83,667. There were 18 rounds of counting. “I am thankful to the people of Karanpur who voted for me... even central ministers had come for campaigning (but) people rejected them and made democracy win,” Koonar, whose late father Gurmeet Singh earlier held the seat, said after winning the election. Voting for the seat was held on January 5. Singh was inducted into the Rajasthan Ministry after the BJP won the Assembly polls, bagging 115 of the 199 seats. According to the rules, he has six months to get elected to the Assembly after being inducted as a Minister. The election for Karanpur seat was postponed due to the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar. The Congress then fielded his son from the seat. India-Maldives diplomatic row | Remarks against PM Modi do not represent its views, Male tells Indian envoy The Maldivian Government informed India’s High Commissioner Munu Muhawar that the derogatory remarks made by three now-suspended Deputy Ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi do not represent its views. The Indian High Commissioner had a pre-arranged meeting with Dr. Ali Naseer Mohamed, the Ambassador-at-Large at the Foreign Ministry on January 8. “High Commissioner Munu Mahawar had a pre-arranged meeting with H.E. Dr Ali Naseer Mohamed, Ambassador at Large, at MoFA, Maldives, today to discuss bilateral issues,” the Indian High Commission posted on X. A top Maldivian government official said that Naseer made it clear that the remarks do not reflect the views of the Maldivian Government, and reaffirmed Maldives’ continued support for its neighbour, the Sun Online reported. The meeting came after India summoned Maldivian envoy Ibrahim Shaheeb on January 8 to the External Affairs Ministry and conveyed strong concern over remarks posted on social media against the Indian Prime Minister by three ministers of the Maldives Government. In New Delhi, official sources said the Indian high commission in Male strongly raised the matter with the Maldivian foreign ministry on January 7. Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid, three Deputy Ministers at the Youth Ministry, made derogatory remarks against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media platform X, in response to a video promoting tourism in Lakshadweep. They were suspended on January 7 after the remarks sparked an uproar on Indian social media. The Maldives government has distanced itself from the remarks made by its Ministers. The Maldivian Foreign Ministry earlier said the government is aware of “derogatory remarks” on social media platforms against foreign leaders and that the personal views do not represent its position. Supreme Court stays Bombay High Court order asking Election Commission to hold Pune Lok Sabha bypoll immediately Observing that it will lay down the guidelines on conducting by-elections, the Supreme Court stayed the Bombay High Court order asking the Election Commission to immediately hold the by-poll for the Pune Lok Sabha seat, which is vacant since March 29, 2023, after the death of MP Girish Bapat. The Supreme Court rapped the Election Commission for not holding the by-poll for the seat for such a long period despite the law mandating conducting polls expeditiously. “The seat got vacant on March 29, 2023. What was the Election Commission doing since then?” asked the Bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. “We will lay down guidelines on holding of elections on account of vacancy,” the Bench said. The top court took note of the Election Commission’s submission that the tenure of the present Lok Sabha is ending on June 16 this year, and holding the by-election will not serve the purpose as the general elections are also due later this year. It issued notices to Pune resident Sughosh Joshi and others on the plea of the Election Commission against the December 13 order of the Bombay High Court. It said the guidelines may be needed keeping in mind section 151A of the Representation of the People Act. On December 13, 2023, the Bombay High Court asked the Election Commission to immediately hold the by-election for the Pune Lok Sabha seat, stressing that people from the constituency cannot be left unrepresented for a long time. Pakistan Supreme Court rules against life-long disqualification of lawmakers from holding public office Pakistan’s Supreme Court on January 8 quashed the lifetime disqualification for lawmakers, ruling that parliamentarians would be barred from holding office for five years, in a major relief to leading politicians, including former Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan. A 2018 judgment by a five-member bench of the apex court had declared that disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) was for life but changes made in the Elections Act 2017 on June 26, 2023, by a coalition government led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) restricted it to a five-year term only. A seven-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, on January 8 ruled that no person can be barred for a lifetime from running in elections if they are disqualified under Article 62 (1)(f). The bench with a 6 to 1 split judgment abolished the lifetime disqualification and thus went against the judgment of its five-member bench which in 2018 had ruled in favor of lifetime disqualification. Justice Yahya Afridi differed from the other six judges and wrote a note of dissent in favour of lifelong disqualification. The verdict has determined once and for all the controversy around the period of disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution and the Elections Act 2017. In brief Aviation watchdog DGCA on January 8 said the checks of operational Boeing 737-8 Max planes in the country have been completed satisfactorily, an inspection that was ordered as a precautionary measure in the wake of an incident involving an Alaska Airlines aircraft last week. The checks of the wing emergency exits have been completed for 32 aircrafts. “These checks have been satisfactorily performed on the operational fleet of Boeing B737-8 Max aircraft by Air India Express (4), Spicejet (8) and Akasa (20). Akasa Air fleet includes one B737-8 200 aircraft which has a mid-cabin door on which the operational check has also been completed satisfactorily,” the DGCA said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 08 January 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Bilkis Bano case | Supreme Court quashes Gujarat’s premature release of convicts The [Supreme Court on January 8 quashed the order of premature release granted by the State of Gujarat in August 2022 to 11 men]( sentenced to [life imprisonment for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano]( and the murder of her family during the 2002 riots. The court ordered them to report back to jail in two weeks. “Courts have to dispense justice and not see that justice is dispensed with,” Justice B.V. Nagarathna, heading a Bench also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, distinguished. The court held that the convicts were tried and sentenced in Maharashtra. It was Maharashtra, and not Gujarat, which had to consider and remit their sentence. Justice Nagarathna, in a detailed pronouncement of the judgment which spanned nearly an hour in open court, said Gujarat “usurped” the power of Maharashtra to pass an order of remission in favour of the convicts. Justice Nagarathna said Gujarat was not the “appropriate government” under Section 432(7)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure which covered the subject of power to suspend and remit sentence. The judge said it was clear from Section 432(7)(b) that the government of the State where the incident had occurred or the convicts were imprisoned was not authorised to grant remission. The authority rested solely with Maharashtra, to where the case was transferred and where the convicts were tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. Justice Nagarathna said the grant of remission to the men by Gujarat was an “abuse of discretion”. It amounted to usurpation of the power of remission when the authority given by law to one authority was exercised by another. The rule of law had been breached as the remission order was passed by an incompetent authority. Ordering status quo ante, Justice Nagarathna, speaking for the Bench in the judgment, reasoned that for the convicts to apply for remission again they have to be back in prison first. Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet 2024 | ₹6.64 lakh crore-worth investment proposals attracted: CM Stalin The two-day [Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet (GIM) 2024]( hosted by the DMK government got off to a blistering start at the Chennai Trade Centre on January 7 with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin unveiling a blueprint for making the State a $1 trillion economy by 2030. During the valedictory on January 8, Chief Minister Mr. Stalin said, “I am happy and proud to inform this august gathering that due to our tireless efforts and your participation during this Global Investors Meet, we have attracted an unprecedented ₹6,64,180 crore-worth of investments. A total of 26,90,657 jobs are expected to be generated from these investments that includes direct employment for 14,54,712 persons.” A slew of MoUs were also exchanged at the end of the day. [The Tamil Nadu government is trying to get one of the Quantum Computing Centres, sponsored by the Government of India, the State’s Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said]( at the concluding day of the Global Investors Meet. “The Government of India has sponsored two Quantum Computing Centres. One has already been allocated to the Northeast. I am in touch with the Government of India to get the other one allocated to Tamil Nadu,” he said. While replying to a query during a session on ‘Gen AI & Deep Tech: The Game Changer’, the Minister also said that as Finland was one of the countries that did particularly well in building quantum computing, “We are in discussions with them for a few months now,” to see if it could help with start-ups. The Tamil Nadu government was in the process of coming up with some policies, including one for artificial intelligence, as the AI policy released by the State government about five to six years earlier, did not have any takers, Rajan said. Congress candidate Rupinder Singh Koonar wins Karanpur Assembly election in Rajasthan [Congress candidate Rupinder Singh Koonar on January 8 won the Karanpur Assembly election, defeating BJP Minister Surendra Pal Singh by 11,283 votes](. According to the Chief Electoral Office, Koonar bagged 94,950 votes while Singh got 83,667. There were 18 rounds of counting. “I am thankful to the people of Karanpur who voted for me... even central ministers had come for campaigning (but) people rejected them and made democracy win,” Koonar, whose late father Gurmeet Singh earlier held the seat, said after winning the election. Voting for the seat was held on January 5. Singh was inducted into the Rajasthan Ministry after the BJP won the Assembly polls, bagging 115 of the 199 seats. According to the rules, he has six months to get elected to the Assembly after being inducted as a Minister. The election for Karanpur seat was postponed due to the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar. The Congress then fielded his son from the seat. India-Maldives diplomatic row | Remarks against PM Modi do not represent its views, Male tells Indian envoy The [Maldivian Government informed India’s High Commissioner Munu Muhawar that the derogatory remarks made by three now-suspended Deputy Ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi do not represent its views](. The Indian High Commissioner had a pre-arranged meeting with Dr. Ali Naseer Mohamed, the Ambassador-at-Large at the Foreign Ministry on January 8. “High Commissioner Munu Mahawar had a pre-arranged meeting with H.E. Dr Ali Naseer Mohamed, Ambassador at Large, at MoFA, Maldives, today to discuss bilateral issues,” the Indian High Commission posted on X. A top Maldivian government official said that Naseer made it clear that the remarks do not reflect the views of the Maldivian Government, and reaffirmed Maldives’ continued support for its neighbour, the Sun Online reported. The meeting came after India summoned Maldivian envoy Ibrahim Shaheeb on January 8 to the External Affairs Ministry and conveyed strong concern over remarks posted on social media against the Indian Prime Minister by three ministers of the Maldives Government. In New Delhi, official sources said the Indian high commission in Male strongly raised the matter with the Maldivian foreign ministry on January 7. Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid, three Deputy Ministers at the Youth Ministry, made derogatory remarks against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media platform X, in response to a video promoting tourism in Lakshadweep. They were suspended on January 7 after the remarks sparked an uproar on Indian social media. The Maldives government has distanced itself from the remarks made by its Ministers. The Maldivian Foreign Ministry earlier said the government is aware of “derogatory remarks” on social media platforms against foreign leaders and that the personal views do not represent its position. Supreme Court stays Bombay High Court order asking Election Commission to hold Pune Lok Sabha bypoll immediately [Observing that it will lay down the guidelines on conducting by-elections, the Supreme Court stayed the Bombay High Court order]( asking the Election Commission to immediately hold the by-poll for the Pune Lok Sabha seat, which is vacant since March 29, 2023, after the death of MP Girish Bapat. The Supreme Court rapped the Election Commission for not holding the by-poll for the seat for such a long period despite the law mandating conducting polls expeditiously. “The seat got vacant on March 29, 2023. What was the Election Commission doing since then?” asked the Bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. “We will lay down guidelines on holding of elections on account of vacancy,” the Bench said. The top court took note of the Election Commission’s submission that the tenure of the present Lok Sabha is ending on June 16 this year, and holding the by-election will not serve the purpose as the general elections are also due later this year. It issued notices to Pune resident Sughosh Joshi and others on the plea of the Election Commission against the December 13 order of the Bombay High Court. It said the guidelines may be needed keeping in mind section 151A of the Representation of the People Act. On December 13, 2023, the Bombay High Court asked the Election Commission to immediately hold the by-election for the Pune Lok Sabha seat, stressing that people from the constituency cannot be left unrepresented for a long time. Pakistan Supreme Court rules against life-long disqualification of lawmakers from holding public office [Pakistan’s Supreme Court on January 8 quashed the lifetime disqualification for lawmakers, ruling that parliamentarians would be barred from holding office for five years]( in a major relief to leading politicians, including former Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan. A 2018 judgment by a five-member bench of the apex court had declared that disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) was for life but changes made in the Elections Act 2017 on June 26, 2023, by a coalition government led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) restricted it to a five-year term only. A seven-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, on January 8 ruled that no person can be barred for a lifetime from running in elections if they are disqualified under Article 62 (1)(f). The bench with a 6 to 1 split judgment abolished the lifetime disqualification and thus went against the judgment of its five-member bench which in 2018 had ruled in favor of lifetime disqualification. Justice Yahya Afridi differed from the other six judges and wrote a note of dissent in favour of lifelong disqualification. The verdict has determined once and for all the controversy around the period of disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution and the Elections Act 2017. In brief [Aviation watchdog DGCA on January 8 said the checks of operational Boeing 737-8 Max planes in the country have been completed satisfactorily]( an inspection that was ordered as a precautionary measure in the wake of an incident involving an Alaska Airlines aircraft last week. The checks of the wing emergency exits have been completed for 32 aircrafts. “These checks have been satisfactorily performed on the operational fleet of Boeing B737-8 Max aircraft by Air India Express (4), Spicejet (8) and Akasa (20). Akasa Air fleet includes one B737-8 200 aircraft which has a mid-cabin door on which the operational check has also been completed satisfactorily,” the DGCA said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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