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The KYC menace: Aadhaar-linked chaos frustrates daily transactions
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The Election Commission's special intensive revision of electoral rolls presently underway in Bihar has come in for much criticism for its rigid approach, which is being deemed respondent-unfriendly, and with possible political consequences. The Supreme Court's instruction last week to include Aadhaar is supposed to ease this situation somewhat.
However, in Aadhaar, and now its latest insistence on biometrics, we may have created another monster, which, in the name of adding to the ease of countless transactions, we need to undertake online almost daily, and which actually results in hindering many, making most people tear their hair.
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Business Standard
5 minutes ago
- Business Standard
SC bench to hear Presidential reference on timelines for bills on July 22
In a five-page reference, President Murmu posed 14 questions to the Supreme Court and sought to know its opinion on the powers of governors and the President Press Trust of India New Delhi A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled to consider on July 22 the Presidential reference on whether timelines could be imposed by judicial orders for the exercise of discretion by the President while dealing with bills passed by state assemblies. According to the cause list posted on the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, PS Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar will be hearing the matter. In May, President Droupadi Murmu exercised her powers under Article 143(1) and posed 14 crucial questions to the Supreme Court over its April 8 verdict that fixed timelines for governors and the President to act on bills passed by state assemblies. Article 143 (1) of the Constitution deals with the power of President to consult the Supreme Court "if at any time it appears to the President that a question of law or fact has arisen, or is likely to arise, which is of such a nature and of such public importance that it is expedient to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court upon it, he may refer the question to that Court for consideration and the Court may, after such hearing as it thinks fit, report to the President its opinion thereon". The April 8 verdict, passed in a matter over the powers of the governor in dealing with bills questioned by the Tamil Nadu government, for the first time prescribed that the President should decide on the bills reserved for her consideration by the governor within three months from the date on which such reference is received. In a five-page reference, President Murmu posed 14 questions to the Supreme Court and sought to know its opinion on the powers of governors and the President under Articles 200 and 201 in dealing with bills passed by the state legislature. Article 200 deals with situations with regard to the passage of bills by the state assembly and subsequent options available to the governor on grant of assent or withholding of assent or sending the bill to the President for reconsideration. Article 201 deals with the bills reserved for the President's consideration by the governor. The Centre has resorted to the presidential reference instead of seeking a review of the verdict, which has evoked sharp reactions in the political spectrum. The rules prescribe that the review petitions be heard by the same set of judges in the apex court in chambers, while presidential references are heard and considered by a five-judge Constitution bench. The apex court, however, may choose to refuse to answer any or all of the questions raised in the reference. Article 200, the reference underlined, which prescribes powers of the governor to be followed while assenting to bills, withholding assent to bills and reserving a bill for the President's consideration, does not stipulate any time frame upon the governor to exercise constitutional options. The President said that similarly, Article 201, which prescribes the powers of the President and the procedure to be followed while assenting to bills or withholding assent therefrom, does not stipulate any time frame or procedure to be followed by the President for the exercise of constitutional options under Article 201 of the Constitution. President Murmu also questioned the exercise of plenary power under Article 142 of the Constitution by the Supreme Court to make the bill re-presented to the Tamil Nadu Governor, as deemed to have been passed. "Whereas the concept of a deemed assent of the President and the Governor is alien to the constitutional scheme and fundamentally circumscribes the power of the President and the Governor," the reference of May 13 said. President Murmu said the contours and scope of provisions in Article 142 of the Constitution in context of issues which are occupied by either constitutional provisions or statutory provisions also require an opinion of the Supreme Court of India. "It appears to me that the following questions of the law have arisen and are of such nature and of such public importance that it is expedient to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court of India thereon," President Murmu said while posing 14 questions to the apex court for its opinion. The SC verdict has set a timeline for all governors to act on the bills passed by the state assemblies and ruled that the governor does not possess any discretion in the exercise of functions under Article 200 of the Constitution in respect to any bill presented to them and must mandatorily abide by the advice tendered by the council of ministers. It had said that state governments can directly approach the Supreme Court if the President withholds assent on a bill sent by a governor for consideration. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, which passed the verdict, said that reserving a bill on grounds such as "personal dissatisfaction of Governor, political expediency or any other extraneous or irrelevant considerations" was strictly impermissible by the Constitution and would be liable to be set aside forthwith on that ground alone. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Hindu
35 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Family from Birbhum deported to Bangladesh, says West Bengal migrant board Chief
A woman from Murarai in West Bengal's Birbhum district has claimed that she and five of her family members were picked up from the Rohini area in Delhi and forcibly deported to Bangladesh. In her video message, shared by Chairperson of the West Bengal Migrant Welfare Board and Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam on Saturday (July 19, 2025), Sweety Bibi appealed to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to help her return to India. 'We were arrested in Delhi, where we had gone to work. We showed our Aadhaar card and pleaded that we were not Bangladeshis, but the police threatened us. They said they will make us Bangladeshis,' Ms. Bibi is heard saying in the video. 'She is a permanent resident of the Murarai Assembly constituency and her family has lived there for generations. But no, she isn't speaking from her ancestral home. She is now in Bangladesh, where she and five others, including three minors, were deported by the Delhi Police,' Mr. Islam said on social media. Referring to remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Durgapur on Friday, when he spoke about 'Bengali asmita [pride]' being paramount to the BJP, the Rajya Sabha MP said, '@narendramodi, you came to Bengal and spoke extensively about infiltration. Let me introduce you to a woman named Sweety Biwi, an Indian citizen from Birbhum — the land of Rabindranath Tagore. In the video, she shares the painful ordeal she's going through.' 'What a tragedy! Despite being Indian citizens, their only 'crime' was speaking Bengali in BJP-ruled Delhi, where they had lived for years,' Mr. Islam said. Sonali Khatun, who is eight months pregnant, is among the group deported to Bangladesh. She has been wandering helplessly in Bangladesh, Mr. Islam said, adding is not the first time residents of West Bengal are being pushed into Bangladesh by security agencies. There have been reports of around half a dozen migrant workers from West Bengal being arrested in different parts of the country and pushed into Bangladesh, and later repatriated to India. Along with the 'push back', there have been reports of detention of migrants in different States like Odisha and Delhi on suspicion of being Bangladesh nationals. Among those detained were members of the Matua community, which comprises Hindu Namasudras who had migrated from Bangladesh. Mr. Islam on Friday (July 18, 2025) had shared a video of Nishikanta Biswas, a resident of Ranaghat in Nadia district hailing from the Matua community, who had said that his sons Manishankar and Nayan were languishing in police custody for the past six months in Maharashtra, where they travelled to find work. The detention of Matua members is significant as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act passed in 2019 and Rules framed in 2024 had granted citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
NDTV
35 minutes ago
- NDTV
Chief Justice BR Gavai Joins Delhi Government's Plantation Drive
New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai on Saturday said forests do not belong to us alone but to future generations and stressed the need to strike a balance between development and environmental preservation. #WATCH | Delhi Forest & Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa says, "Today, Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, and other Supreme Court judges joined the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign... They gave a message that to make Delhi pollution-free, we all have to… — ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2025 Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai was speaking at a mega plantation drive organised by the Delhi Government under Van Mahotsav 2025 at the PBG Ground in Delhi Ridge. "Everyone starts getting worried as soon as October arrives," the chief justice said, alluding to Delhi's annual battle with pollution. "While development is important, we must understand the cost at which it comes. Forests, which are a part of humanity's lineage, do not belong to us alone, "they belong to future generations too. They play a vital role in reducing Delhi's pollution," he added. Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, accompanied by 20 judges of the Supreme Court, participated in the drive alongside Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa. The event was also part of the nationwide 'Ek Ped Ma Ke Naam' campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The chief justice highlighted the Supreme Court's consistent emphasis on sustainable development and its landmark advisories on pollution control, urging all stakeholders to recognise their shared responsibility in addressing the capital's environmental crisis. Sirsa thanked Gavai and the judges for their participation, saying their presence sent a powerful message about the importance of collective action. "As the CJI rightly said, collective responsibility is key to protecting Delhi's environment," the environment minister said. "Their participation under the 'Ek Ped Ma Ke Naam' campaign reinforces our commitment to restoring Delhi's green cover and reclaiming clean air," he said. Officials said thousands of saplings were planted during the drive, which aims to mitigate urban heat, improve air quality, and enhance Delhi's biodiversity.
