Latest news with #N.KotiswarSingh
Hans India
25-07-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Supreme Court rejects plea to increase Assembly seats in Andhra, Telangana
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to issue a direction to the Centre to increase the number of Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh was dealing with pleas seeking implementation of the provisions under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, which provided for delimitation of Assembly seats in the two successor states. In its judgment, the Justice Kant-led Bench refused to direct delimitation in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, observing that Article 170 of the Constitution allows delimitation only after the first census conducted post-2026. Delimitation under Article 170 has been frozen until the first census after 2026, as per the 84th and 87th Constitutional Amendments. The apex court rejected the contention that the Centre's decision to carry out delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir, raising the number of Assembly constituencies from 83 to 90 based on the 2011 census, while excluding Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, was arbitrary and discriminatory. Highlighting the constitutional distinctions, it opined that J&K, having been reconstituted as a union territory, is regulated by parliamentary legislation and provisions of the Constitution under Chapter III of Part VI will not apply. In a related development, the Telangana Assembly, in a resolution passed in March this year, urged the Centre to increase the number of seats from 119 to 153, pursuant to the A.P. Reorganisation Act, 2014 and as per the latest census. The state Assembly urged the Union government to introduce necessary Constitutional amendments for this purpose in order to strengthen representative democracy. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy pointed out that the Centre, in reply to his question when he was a member of the previous Lok Sabha, had stated that the delimitation of Assembly constituencies would be done only after the 2026 census. Reddy slammed the Centre for its double standards on the issue. He said the Centre increased the number of Assembly constituencies from 83 to 90 as per the 2011 census in Jammu and Kashmir, and, in Sikkim, a resolution was passed in the Cabinet in 2018, and the process of delimitation of constituencies is currently underway.
Hans India
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Bombay HC judgement acquitting 2006 Mumbai train blasts accused won't be treated precedent: Supreme Court
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said that the Bombay High Court judgment acquitting 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case will not be treated as a binding precedent. A Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and N. Kotiswar Singh passed the order after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that the questions of law decided in the impugned judgment will affect other pending trials under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 (MCOCA). The Justice Sundresh-led Bench also issued notice on the Maharashtra government's plea challenging the Bombay High Court order in the July 11, 2006, Mumbai blast case. Directing immediate release of 12 accused, of whom five were on death row and seven others on life imprisonment, the acquittal order passed by a bench of Justices Anil Kilor and S. Chandak on Monday came as a major blow to the investigation agencies in Maharashtra. The Justice Kilor-led Bench castigated the shoddy probe prosecution, opining that the prosecution failed to even establish the type of bombs used in the crime. The 12 accused -- incarcerated for 19 years -- succeeded in establishing before the Bombay High Court the fact of torture inflicted on them to extort confessional statements. As a result, it held the statements inadmissible, saying, "On all the tests relating to voluntariness and truthfulness of the confessional statements, the prosecution failed." On July 11, 2006, seven bomb serial blasts in packed Mumbai local trains brought the maximum city to its knees within 11 minutes. The terror attack left 189 dead and over 800 injured. Earlier in 2015, a special court convicted 12 individuals in the case, sentencing five -- Faisal Shaikh, Asif Khan, Kamal Ansari, Ehtesham Siddiqui, and Naveed Khan -- to death, while the remaining seven were given life imprisonment. The prosecution had argued that the attack was planned by Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI, and carried out by operatives of Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba with help from the Students' Islamic Movement of India, a banned Indian group. Last week, Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai agreed to urgently list the Maharashtra government's special leave petition (SLP) for hearing on July 24. Seeking an urgent hearing on the state government's special leave petition (SLP), Solicitor General Mehta said that it was a 'serious matter' requiring the top court's consideration on 'some important issues'.
The Hindu
24-07-2025
- The Hindu
Supreme Court stays Mumbai blasts case verdict; says convicts need not surrender
The Supreme Court on Thursday (July 24, 2025) stayed a Bombay High Court judgment acquitting all 12 convicts in the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts in 2006, but said the released men need not return to jail. Appearing for a Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and N. Kotiswar Singh Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Maharashtra, pushed for a stay of the judgment primarily on the ground that it contained observations which would affect pending trials under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). 2006 Mumbai Train Blasts: Why 12 men were acquitted after 18 years The Bench ordered that the High Court judgment would not be treated as precedent by trial courts hearing MCOCA cases. The apex court further issued notice to the former convicts on the State's appeal against the acquittal. Justice Sundresh pointed out that some of the persons involved seemed to be Pakistan nationals. The State said they had committed the deed and left India. 'They were not arrested,' a State counsel informed. In a brief mentioning of the case by Maharashtra on June 23 regarding a technical hitch in the case records, Chief Justice of India BR Gavai had remarked that a stay of a judgment of acquittal was 'rarest of rare'. The Bombay High Court had concluded that the prosecution 'utterly failed' to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt. It had set aside the 2025 judgment of the Special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court, which had awarded death penalty to five and life imprisonment to seven others. On July 11, 2006, a series of seven bomb blasts occurred in the first-class compartments of seven suburban local trains of Mumbai between 6:23 p.m. and 6:29 p.m. The coordinated explosions led to the tragic loss of 187 lives and left approximately 824 people injured. eom
New Indian Express
22-07-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Supreme Court says eateries along Kanwar Yatra route must display licence, registration
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea seeking a stay on the recent directive issued by the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, mandating all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display QR codes. A Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and N. Kotiswar Singh directed that hotel and eatery owners along the Kanwar Yatra route in the two States must display their licences and registration certificates in accordance with statutory requirements. Refusing to stay the State governments' directives, the apex court was hearing a plea filed by academician Apoorvanand Jha and others. The petitioners had sought directions to halt the implementation of the QR code mandate, citing concerns over privacy and religious profiling. 'We are told that today (Tuesday) is the last day of the yatra. In any case, it is likely to come to an end in the near future. Therefore, at this stage, we would only pass an order that all the respective hotel owners shall comply with the mandate of displaying the licence and the registration certificate as per statutory requirements,' the Bench observed.
New Indian Express
22-07-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
SC refuses to entertain plea against QR code order for eateries on Kanwar Yatra route
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea seeking a stay on the recent directive issued by the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, mandating all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display QR codes. A Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and N. Kotiswar Singh directed that hotel and eatery owners along the Kanwar Yatra route in the two States must display their licences and registration certificates in accordance with statutory requirements. Refusing to stay the State governments' directives, the apex court was hearing a plea filed by academician Apoorvanand Jha and others. The petitioners had sought directions to halt the implementation of the QR code mandate, citing concerns over privacy and religious profiling. 'We are told that today (Tuesday) is the last day of the yatra. In any case, it is likely to come to an end in the near future. Therefore, at this stage, we would only pass an order that all the respective hotel owners shall comply with the mandate of displaying the licence and the registration certificate as per statutory requirements,' the Bench observed.
