In a press conference, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that she respects the Supreme Court’s directive asking her to challenge the linking of Aadhaar in an individual capacity. “They have not rejected my petition,” she says. "How can a state file such a plea. In a federal structure, how can a state file a plea challenging Parliament's mandate," a bench comprising Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan had said earlier in the day.
Aadhaar Deadline Hearing | The Supreme Court has decided to set up a Constitution Bench to hear pleas against the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with mobile numbers and bank accounts as the government remained unwilling to extend the December 31 deadline for those who already have the biometric ID. "We will argue the case," the government tells Supreme Court.
CLICK TO READ | SC Pulls Up Mamata Govt on Aadhaar, Asks How State Can 'File Such a Plea'; Centre Too Gets a Notice
The Supreme Court on Monday asked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to approach the court on Aadhaar as an individual.
Hadiya's father Ashokan KM pleads in court that the case proceedings be heard in-camera but CJI Dipak Misra says it will be in open court around 3 pm. By November 27, it would have been five months since Hadiya's custody was handed over to her parents. Meanwhile, the NIA has told SC that there is a well-oiled machinery involving radicalisation and love jihad cases in Kerala.
Earlier, in a video released in August, Hadiya was heard pleading with activist Rahul Eashwar to help end her confinement. "Get me out of here. Today or tomorrow, I am going to die. I am sure about this. My father is getting angry, I can make out. He pushes me, stamps at me," says the 24-year-old. Hadiya has been living with her father after the Kerala High Court annulled her marriage to Shafin Jahan in May this year and ordered her to return to live with her parents in Kottayam.
CLICK TO READ | Many 'Ifs and Buts' in Case, Says SC as Mahatma's Great-Grandson Opposes Reopening Assassination Probe
Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for Gandhi, said she will explain the locus if the court moves ahead with issuing of notice.
Mamata-Aadhaar Hearing | Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the West Bengal government, told the court that the plea has been filed by the labour department of the state as subsidies under these schemes have to be given by them. "You satisfy us how the state has challenged it. We know it is a matter which needs consideration," the bench said adding the Centre's move can be challenged by an individual but not by states. "Let Mamata Banerjee come and file a plea as an individual. We will entertain it as she will be an individual," the top court said. However, Sibal maintained that the state was entitled to file such a plea but said that they would amend the prayer in the petition.
Gandhi Assassination Case | Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, today moved the Supreme Court opposing a plea seeking to reopen the 70-year-old assassination case of the Mahatma. A bench of Justices SA Bobde and MM Shantanagoudar questioned the locus of Tushar Gandhi in the case. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for Gandhi, said she will explain the locus if the court moves ahead with issuing of notice. The bench said there were several ifs and buts in the case and will like to wait for the amicus curiae (friend of the court) Amrender Sharan's report.
Article 35A Hearing | The Sangh Parivar would be closely watching the Centre's stand on the Article 35A hearing in the Supreme Court. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had called for "necessary Constitutional amendments" in his annual Vijayadashmi speech late last month. Bhagwat, while lauding the government's muscular policy in Kashmir, had broached the subject to assimilate “the residents of Jammu & Kashmir, with rest of Bharat”.
CLICK TO READ | 'Kashmir Never Separated from Indian Dominion': A Look at 3 Petitions Challenging Article 35A
The hearing will be keenly watched in Kashmir where separatists claim the challenge to the provision is aimed at changing the state demographics.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier said that she would rather lose her mobile phone connection than link it to her Aadhaar card. “Under no circumstances will I link Aadhaar with my telephone number. If the authorities disconnect my phone, let them do it. It will actually save me a lot of trouble as I won’t have to go through a number of text messages,” she said. The TMC supreme further alleged that linking of Aadhaar with phone numbers was a ploy by the BJP to spy on people. "It is a direct attack on privacy," she had said.
The last of the three petitions was filed by a Delhi-based lawyer, Charu Wali Khanna. “Article 14 of the Constitution gives a fundamental right to equality before law. But 35A is heavily loaded in favour of males because even after marriage to women from outside, they will not lose the right of being permanent residents,” she told the court. The petitioner has argued that such laws only “perpetuate power politics” which leave behind women who are trying to claim their own spaces.
After the first petition in 2014, the West Pakistan Refugees Action Committee Cell moved the apex court through a writ petition in 2015. Its primary contention was that human rights of refugees, who crossed over to the state post-1947, were grossly violated. It argues that West Pakistan refugees have been living in the state for over four decades but still were deprived of their rights to property, right to vote or be recognized as permanent citizens.
Article 35A Hearing | The first petition was filed by 'We the Citizens', an NGO based in Delhi in 2014. The petition contends that ‘Kashmir never separated from the Federation of Indian dominion'. To buttress this point, the petition states that J&K had already acceded to the Indian dominion under the Government of India Act, 1935 and that a new instrument of accession was signed by the Dogra Ruler in 1947 was to only "remove doubt, confusion or ambiguity". The petitioners also argue that "no special provision was made in the Indian Constitution giving special status/treatment to the state of Jammu & Kashmir" as four representatives from the state were part of the constituent assembly which gave shape to the Indian constitution.
CLICK TO READ | What is Article 35A and How Kashmir's Sensitive Issue Reached the SC
The petitions have been filed by NGO on grounds that Article 35A was illegally added to the Constitution of India as it was never floated before Parliament.
Mamata-Aadhaar Hearing | West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier said that she would rather lose her mobile phone connection than link it to her Aadhaar card. “Under no circumstances will I link Aadhaar with my telephone number. If the authorities disconnect my phone, let them do it. It will actually save me a lot of trouble as I won’t have to go through a number of text messages,” she said. The TMC supreme further alleged that linking of Aadhaar with phone numbers was a ploy by the BJP to spy on people. "It is a direct attack on privacy," she had said.
Schools Safety Petitions | The safety in schools petitions were filed after the Ryan school murder put focus on children’s safety in schools. A 42-year-old bus conductor, Ashok Kumar, was arrested after confessing to slitting the throat of the Class 2 student who he allegedly tried to sexually abuse inside the private school’s toilet. Other than the Ryan schoolboy, two girls — aged five and six — studying in separate private schools in New Delhi were raped by housekeeping staff of the institutes. There were allegations that the schools didn’t check the background of these people before hiring them.
The Article 35A hearing comes after Congress leader P Chidambaram spoke for greater autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir. Chidambaram's comments were strongly rebutted by the BJP's top brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The Congress distanced itself from the comment by calling it an "individual opinion".