Legislature cannot be in contempt simply for passing laws: Supreme Court in Salwa Judum case
The state Legislatures or Parliament cannot be held in contempt of court for simply passing a law, the Supreme Court has ruled as it closed the Salwa Judum case after 18 years.
The court said this while disposing of a 2012 contempt plea filed by sociologist and former Delhi University Professor Nandini Sundar and others against the Chhattisgarh government's 2011 Auxiliary Armed Police Force Act.
In its May 15 ruling that was released recently, the bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma said that state Legislatures had the 'plenary powers to pass an enactment' and would have the force of law as long as it 'has not been declared to be ultra vires the Constitution or, in any way, null and void by a Constitutional Court'.
'We must remember that central to the legislative function is the power of the legislative organ to enact as well as amend laws,' the court said. 'Any law made by the Parliament or a state Legislature cannot be held to be an act of contempt of a court, including this court, for simply making the law.'
In 2005, the Salwa Judum, a state-supported civil vigilante campaign, was launched with an aim of targeting villages seen as harbouring Maoists. Armed vigilantes allegedly torched homes and forced villagers to flee to government-run camps.
Translated as 'purification hunt' in Gondi language, Salwa Judum was presented by the state government as a spontaneous movement by the region's tribal community against the Maoists. However, human rights activists accused the Salwa Judum of coercing people into leaving their villages and supporting the group. With the tribal community split between both sides, there were several deaths for months.
In May 2007, Sundar and others filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court alleging that the state government was using men from the tribal community as cannon-fodder in its fight against the Maoists.
Four months later, the state government enacted the Chhattisgarh Police Act to absorb many of the Judum activists as special police officers.
This was struck down by the Supreme Court on July 5, 2011, saying that the state actions amounted to 'an abdication of constitutional responsibilities' and that it represents 'an extreme form of transgression of constitutional boundaries'.
The court also said that Salwa Judum was unconstitutional and ordered the group to be disbanded.
Amid criticism, the Chhattisgarh Cabinet on July 22, 2011, promulgated an ordinance to introduce the Auxiliary Armed Police Force Act. Under the new Act, the special police officers were recruited as assistant constables on better terms and conditions.
Sundar then filed a contempt plea before the Supreme Court in 2012 accusing the Chhattisgarh government of failing to stop its support for civil vigilante groups such as the Judum in its fight against Maoists.
The plea argued that the 2011 law had simply legalised the existence of special police officers instead of complying with the court's order of winding up their activities.
Other petitioners in the case The Indian Express reported.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
41 minutes ago
- Time of India
Five more Maoists killed in op in which top guns Sudhakar & Bhaskar were eliminated
Raipur: Seven Maoists – including central committee member Sudhakar and another top commander, Bhaskar – have been killed in an operation that is on in Indravati National Park area of Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, Bastar police said on Saturday. Sudhakar, the ideological chief of Maoists, was gunned down on Thursday and Bhaskar, a Telangana State Committee Member, on Friday. Skirmishes continued all night and on Saturday, the bodies of five more cadres were found. Two of them are women. Police are trying to identify them. Other high-level Maoist operatives, including Telangana State Committee's press in-charge Bandi Prakash, have been spotted in the encounter zone. With this operation, sources say, security forces have foiled a crucial Maoist attempt to coordinate their activities in the region following the encounter killing of CPI(Maoist) general secretary Basavaraju. Security forces have been battling not only insurgents' bullets and treacherous hilly terrain, but also snakes and other threats in the wild as the operation continues deep inside the jungles. Bastar range IG P Sundarraj announced the elimination of 7 Maoists and said that a large cache of arms and ammunition, including two AK-47 rifles, has been seized from the encounter zones. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn IC Markets Đăng ký Undo "Search operations and area domination exercises continue in the dense forest terrain to flush out any remaining insurgents and ensure complete control of the region," Sundarraj said. "A few personnel sustained snake bites and bee stings and suffered severe dehydration but the forces kept up the momentum. All injured personnel are currently in stable condition and receiving medical care," Sundarraj said. High-intensity encounters were spread across three consecutive days — June 5-7. The encounter in which Bashar was killed was the most fierce, said police sources. On Thursday, Sundarraj had said that the operation was launched after precise inputs on the location of some top Maoist commanders. District Reserve Guards, Special Task Force and CRPF's CoBRA commandos moved out to intercept the group on Wednesday night. They went on foot to maintain stealth and took the Maoists completely by surprise the next morning. As the insurgents scattered, the forces also spread out and running gunbattles broke out across a large swathe of the jungle. The operation, still underway, is one of the most significant missions in the red corridor in recent years, said an officer, adding that they are hopeful of more success. Sudhakar, a native of Andhra Pradesh, was in charge of the Maoists' Revolutionary Political School and was in the insurgent outfit for nearly four decades. He was the third central committee member to be killed in Bastar this year after Jai Ram alias Chalpathy on Jan 21 and Basavaraju on May 21.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Edu council issues 5-point norms to strengthen safety in Bihar schools
Patna: To enhance students' safety and ensure a secured environment, Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC) has issued fresh directives to all district education officers (DEOs) and district programme officers (DPOs), mandating strict adherence to the "School Safety and Protection Guidelines – 2021". "This is in line with Supreme Court directives and National Education Policy 2020. Every school must now adhere strictly to the prescribed standards," said state project director Mayank Warwade in a letter to all DEOs and DPOs across the state. The guidelines cover five broad areas, including infrastructure, health, emotional safety, cybersecurity and disaster management. Warwade said the infrastructure includes boundary walls and emergency exits from the schools. "Health and physical security requires schools to provide first aid kits, conduct regular health check-ups and maintain comprehensive health cards for each student. The emotional safety stresses classroom monitoring and age-appropriate education on personal safety, including the difference between "good touch" and "bad touch". Cybersecurity protocols talks about computer labs with internet access," he said. Talking about the disaster management guidelines, the project director said all schools must now have a disaster management plan and conduct mock drills regularly. "We want students and staff to be prepared, not panicked, in an emergency situation," he said, adding that the full guideline is available for download on the Union education ministry's website and will be monitored for compliance.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Election Commission of India says absurd to defame us after electoral loss in Maharashtra
On a day when the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, levelled allegations of irregularities in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election yet again, the Election Commission (EC) said it was completely 'absurd' to 'defame' the poll body after 'any unfavourable verdict by the voters'. In articles published in different languages in various publications on Saturday, the Congress MP claimed that the outcome of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election was 'glaringly strange', and the 'scale of rigging' was so desperate that, despite all efforts to conceal it, tell-tale evidence has emerged' from official statistics. He also claimed he was 'not talking about small-scale cheating but of industrial-scale rigging involving the capture of our national institutions'. The Leader of the Opposition had raised the issue earlier in the Lok Sabha as well as at a joint press conference with other Opposition parties, and during his tour to the United States. The poll body, on December 24, 2024, wrote to the Congress explaining its position. In April also, it had rebutted similar allegations made by Gandhi in the U.S. EC sources on Saturday said that the poll body has already elaborated the procedure behind the updation of electoral rolls. Any deletion and addition in the electoral roll is strictly as per the given framework under Article 324 of the Constitution, provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of the Electors Rules, 1960, as well as the extant instructions issued by the commission from time to time. The process was undertaken in the full glare of 1,03,727 booth-level agents appointed by the political parties, including 27,099 agents by the Indian National Congress (INC) themselves. After the finalisation of the electoral rolls during the Maharashtra election, out of the 9,77,90,752 electors, only 89 appeals were filed before the first appellate authority (District Magistrate) under Section 24(A) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and only one appeal was preferred before the second appellate authority (Chief Electoral Officer) under Section 24(B) of the same Act. Section 24 of the Representation of People Act, 1961, says that appeals can first be filed with the District Magistrate (DM) and then with the Chief Electoral Officer. As per Rule 27 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, the first appeal to the District Magistrate can be filed within 15 days of the order of the Electoral Registration Officer, and the second appeal to the Chief Electoral Officer can be filed within 30 days of the order of DM. However, the delay in filing appeals can be condoned by the DM and/or Chief Electoral Officer as per the proviso of Rule 27. Partners should understand India's zero tolerance for terror policy, not put India and Pakistan on par, says Jaishankar India expects its partners to understand its 'policy of zero tolerance' on terrorism, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told visiting British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, adding that the country could not 'countenance' equating 'perpetrators of evil' with their victims. The stern statement from the External Affairs Minister came at the beginning of talks during Lammy's one day visit to Delhi on Saturday, and follows a few weeks after Lammy's visit to Pakistan, where he said that the U.S. and the U.K. were working with India and Pakistan to ensure 'an enduring ceasefire', dialogue, and Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) between India and Pakistan. The comments, in an interview to Reuters in Islamabad on May 17, had ruffled feathers in New Delhi as India has repeatedly denied any third country's role in the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack. 'We practice a policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and expect our partners to understand it, and we will never countenance perpetrators of evil being put at par with its victims,' Jaishankar told Lammy, while thanking the U.K. government for its condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack, and support for India's fight against terrorism. In a statement ahead of the visit, the U.K. High Commission had said that Lammy would address the 'recent escalation in tensions following the Pahalgam terrorist attack and how welcomed sustained period of peace can be best supported in the interests of stability in the region'. Jaishankar's strong words are part of a diplomatic pushback by the government against other countries over what is seen as India's 'hyphenation' with Pakistan in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, where many countries expressed concern and offered to help stop the military escalation during the four-day conflict. The government has faced criticism from the Opposition over U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that he mediated the crisis, a claim seemingly bolstered by Russian Presidential Aide Ushakov and Lammy in their respective statements. In addition, the Opposition has claimed that the government has failed diplomatically to stop Pakistan, which is a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), from becoming the Chair of the Taliban Sanctions Committee and the Vice-Chair of the Counter Terrorism Committee for the year, despite India's ties with permanent members the U.S., the U.K., France, Russia, and others on the council. Official sources said that 'India will be working closely with its friends' in the UNSC to keep a watch on Pakistan's activities on the council, given that Pakistan will also assume the Presidency of the UNSC in July. The sources said that Pakistan had requested Chairpersonship of four committees dealing with terrorism, and had only been nominated to the top of two, and Co-chair of some informal working groups (IWGs) due to a move by the Council to 'reign in Pakistan'. They added that at least 50 of 343 individuals and entities that have been designated by the UNSC as terrorists are linked to or reside in Pakistan, and many globally wanted terrorists, including Osama Bin Laden had lived and trained there. The Ministry of External Affairs did not respond to requests for a comment on whether the issue of Pakistan's role in the UNSC terror committees had been discussed between Jaishankar and Lammy. Lammy met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday morning, the second time he was accorded the meeting, after his previous visit in July 2024. He is also meeting Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to take forward discussions on the India-U.K. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that was finalised in May, and discussions over signing could be held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the U.K. PM Keith Starmer when they meet in Canada in mid-June on the sidelines of the G7 summit, where India is a special invitee. In his opening remarks, Jaishankar also referred to the India-U.K. FTA, as a 'milestone' in ties, and the potential of other bilateral agreements, including the Technology Security Initiative (TSI) for Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Strategic Exports and Technology Cooperation Dialogue to 'propel' ties forward. 'Signing a Free Trade Agreement is just the start of our ambitions — we are building a modern partnership with India for a new global era,' Lammy said in a statement ahead of his visit to India, pointing to cooperation in growth, technology, tackling the climate crisis, delivering 'migration priorities', and security issues. Musk deletes post claiming Trump 'in the Epstein files' Tech billionaire Elon Musk has deleted an explosive allegation linking Donald Trump with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that he posted on social media during a vicious public fallout with the U.S. President this week. Musk, who exited his role as a top White House advisor just last week, alleged on Thursday that the Republican leader is featured in secret government files on former associates of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while he faced sex trafficking charges. The Trump administration has acknowledged it is reviewing tens of thousands of documents, videos and investigative material that his 'MAGA' movement says will unmask public figures complicit in Epstein's crimes. 'Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files,' Musk posted on his social media platform, X, as his growing feud with the President boiled over into a spectacularly public row on Thursday. 'That is the real reason they have not been made public,' he said. Musk did not reveal which files he was talking about and offered no evidence for his claim. He initially doubled down on the claim, writing in a follow-up message, 'Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.' However, he appeared to have deleted both tweets by Saturday morning. Supporters on the conspiratorial end of Trump's 'Make America Great Again' base allege that Epstein's associates had their roles in his crimes covered up by government officials and others. They point the finger at Democrats and Hollywood celebrities, although not at Trump himself. No official source has ever confirmed that the President appears in any of the material. Trump knew and socialised with Epstein but has denied spending time on Little Saint James, the private redoubt in the US Virgin Islands where prosecutors alleged Epstein trafficked underage girls for sex. 'Terrific guy,' Trump, who was Epstein's neighbour in both Florida and New York, said in an early 2000s profile of the financier. 'He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.' Just last week, Trump gave Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But their relationship imploded within days as Musk described as an 'abomination' a spending bill that, if passed by Congress, could define Trump's second term in office. Trump hit back in an Oval Office diatribe and from there the row detonated, leaving Washington and riveted social media users alike stunned by the blistering break-up between the world's richest person and the world's most powerful. With real political and economic risks to their row, both then appeared to inch back from the brink on Friday, but the White House denied reports they would talk. India central to key supply chains; must be part of G7 discussions: Canadian PM Carney India is the fifth largest economy in the world, and it is central to a number of critical global supply chains, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said, arguing that the leadership of the country must be part of discussions at the upcoming G7 summit. Carney's comments came after some of his political opponents in Canada criticised him for inviting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit in view of a probe into allegations of Indian links to the killing of a Khalistani separatist in 2023. Prime Minister Modi accepted Carney's invitation to attend the G7 summit during a phone conversation on Friday. Canada is hosting the G7 summit in the Alberta province from June 15 to 17 in its capacity as the current chair of the grouping. To a specific question on the case of killing of pro-Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023, Carney told reporters that it is not appropriate for him to comment as the legal process in the case is underway. The Canadian Prime Minister said the G7 summit will deliberate on a range of key issues including energy security, digital future, critical minerals and on partnerships in building infrastructure in the emerging and developing world. Carney suggested that he extended the invitation to Modi after talking to other G7 member countries. 'There are certain countries that should be at the table for those discussions,' he said when asked why PM Modi was invited when there have been allegations of Indian links to the Nijjar case. 'India is the fifth largest economy in the world; effectively the most populous country in the world. [It is] central to a number of those supply chains; [it is] at the heart of a number of those supply chains, so it makes sense,' he said. Without elaborating, Carney noted that India and Canada have agreed to continue law enforcement dialogue. 'Bilaterally, we have now agreed importantly to continue law enforcement dialogue. There has been some progress on issues of accountability,' he said. Canada's NDP party slammed Carney for extending the invitation to Modi. 'This decision is profoundly troubling,' it said. The India-Canada relations hit rock bottom following then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in 2023 of a potential Indian link to the killing of Nijjar. In October last year, India recalled its High Commissioner and five other diplomats after Ottawa attempted to link them to the Nijjar case. India also expelled an equal number of Canadian diplomats. However, Liberal Party leader Carney's victory in the parliamentary election in April triggered hopes for reset of the relationship. In the last few months, the security officials of India and Canada resumed contacts and both sides were looking at the possibility of appointing new high commissioners. India had accused Trudeau's government of allowing pro-Khalistani elements to operate from Canadian soil. After Trudeau's exit, New Delhi said it hoped to rebuild ties with Canada based on 'mutual trust and sensitivity'. Five Maoists gunned down in encounters in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district Five Maoists were killed in two encounters with security forces in an ongoing operation in the Indravati National Park area of Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said on Saturday. With the latest casualties, seven Maoists, including top leaders Sudhakar and Bhaskar, were neutralised in the operation in the last three days, they said. 'Security forces have recovered the bodies of seven Maoists during the ongoing anti-Naxal operations in the Indravati National Park area of the district,' a senior police official said. On Saturday, two bodies were recovered following a gunfight, while three were found after the exchange of fire on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, he said. The official said the operation involving personnel from the state police's Special Task Force (STF) and District Reserve Guard (DRG) as well as the CRPF's specialised unit CoBRA, was launched on June 4 based on input about the presence of Maoist leader Sudhakar, Telangana State Committee member Bandi Prakash, Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) member Pappa Rao, and a few other armed cadres. On Friday, security forces neutralised Bhaskar, alias Mailarapu Adellu, a special zonal committee (SZC) member of the Telangana State Committee (TSC) of Maoists who carried a reward of Rs 45 lakh in Chhattisgarh and Telangana, and Maoists' central committee member Narasimha Chalam, alias Sudhakar, who had a bounty of Rs 40 lakh in Chhattisgarh, was killed on Thursday, he said. The official said the identity of five more killed Maoists, two of them women, is yet to be ascertained. A huge cache of arms and ammunition, including two AK-47 rifles, has been seized in the operation, he said, adding that search and area domination operations were underway in the surrounding forested terrain to track remaining Maoist cadres and ensure complete sanitisation of the region. A few security personnel have suffered injuries due to snakebite, honeybee sting, dehydration and other operational injuries during the operation and were provided medication, the official said. The outlawed CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju (70), was neutralised in the Bastar region on May 21, 2025. In brief: At least 76 army personnel were on Saturday airlifted from Chaten in north Sikkim, where road connectivity has been snapped due to multiple landslides triggered by heavy rain, officials said. This marks the 'completion of coordinated evacuation efforts', which included the rescue of all stranded tourists earlier, they said. 'Altogether 76 army personnel were airlifted by three MI-17 helicopters. The air evacuation operation from Chaten has concluded today with the helicopters transporting army personnel from Chaten to Pakyong Greenfield Airport,' an official said. The state government continues to closely monitor the overall situation and remains committed to providing all necessary support in the disaster-hit region and assistance to those affected by natural calamities, another official said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
