Rush Hour: Assam constable's son held as suspected Bangladeshi, blasts acquittal challenged and more
The Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court challenging a Bombay High Court order on Monday acquitting all 12 persons accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case.
The High Court said that the prosecution had 'utterly failed' in establishing the guilt of the 12 men. This came nearly 10 years after a special court had sentenced five of them to death and others to life imprisonment.
It remarked that while punishing the perpetrators of a crime is an essential step, creating a 'false appearance of having solved a case' leads to a misleading sense of resolution.
The Supreme Court will hear the matter on Thursday.
The Supreme Court refused to examine the legality of the directives issued by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments requiring eateries along the Kanwar Yatra pilgrimage route to display quick response codes with their owners' identities. The bench reiterated that the eateries must display their licences and registration certificates as required by law.
The petitioners had argued that the governments' orders violated the court's 2024 interim order that prohibited vendors being forced to disclose their identities.
The pleas had contended that the directives not only undermine the spirit of the court's stay, but also risks discriminatory profiling, particularly of vendors from minority communities, under the guise of public safety and licencing requirements. Read on.
An Assam Police constable has said that his son is among nine Muslims of Bengali origin who have been detained in Gurugram since Sunday on suspicion of being undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants.
Sannat Ali, a constable in the Assam Industrial Security Force, told Scroll that his son, 23-year-old Ashraful Islam, is a resident of Barbala village in Barpeta district. He had gone to Haryana on July 11 to work at a construction site, said Ali.
Ali said that his son had submitted his voter ID card, school certificates, Aadhaar card and PAN card, which were not accepted by the police. 'They call them illegal Bangladeshis,' Ali alleged.
He added: 'We have sent more documents like my service identity card and voter cards. Senior police officials have contacted me this morning. They are working to release him.'
An assistant commissioner of police-rank in Gurugram told Scroll that the action was taken as per the Union home ministry's guidelines to verify the credentials of persons suspected to be undocumented migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar. Read on.
A day after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned as the vice president, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished him good health and said that the Rajya Sabha chairperson had 'got many opportunities to serve our country in various capacities'. Dhankhar had cited medical reasons for stepping down with immediate effect on Monday, which was the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Several Opposition leaders raised questions about the timing of Dhankhar's resignation. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that there were 'far deeper reasons' behind Dhankhar's decision.
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Hindustan Times
23 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
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'The statutory age of consent fixed at eighteen years must therefore be strictly and uniformly enforced. Any departure from this standard, even in the name of reform or adolescent autonomy, would amount to rolling back decades of progress in child protection law,' the Centre said, adding that 'introducing a legislative close-in-age exception or reducing the age of consent would irrevocably dilute the statutory presumption of vulnerability that lies at the heart of child protection law.' The Centre's categorical stand assumes significance amid a deluge of cases where courts are increasingly confronted with situations involving consensual relationships between adolescents, often leading to the prosecution of young boys under POCSO, even when the alleged victim does not complain of coercion or exploitation. 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Emphasising the deliberate and coherent statutory policy behind setting 18 as the age of consent, the Centre, however, stated: 'The legislative determination to fix the age of consent at eighteen years, and to treat all sexual activities with a person below that age as an offence irrespective of purported consent, is a product of a deliberate, well-considered and coherent statutory policy.' This policy, the submissions said, is reflected not just in the POCSO Act but also across several legal instruments, including the Indian Penal Code, its successor the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Indian Majority Act, the Juvenile Justice Act, and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act -- all of which view individuals under 18 as legally incapable of full agency in decisions with lasting consequences. 'It is submitted that this policy decision is an outcome of careful and ongoing legislative discussions, considering India's cultural diversity, socio-economic conditions, and the practical challenges faced across the country,' the government said. 'It reflects a clear understanding of the vulnerability of minors, the common occurrence of coercion and manipulation in such situations, and the challenges in proving the absence of consent when minors are involved,' added the submissions, settled by additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati. The government also warned that lowering the age of consent would shift focus from the conduct of the accused to the perceived willingness of the child, undermining the spirit of child-centric justice and increasing the risk of victim-blaming. 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'This principle is not confined to a single enactment but is consistently reflected across multiple enactments…This formulation is a deliberate choice, grounded in the recognition that minors lack the legal and developmental capacity to give meaningful and informed consent in matters involving sexual activity,' the government submitted. Invoking international commitments, the Centre also pointed to India's obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which defines a child as anyone under 18 and mandates States to protect them from all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse. The POCSO Act, it added, was 'enacted in direct response to this obligation, codifying a strict liability regime wherein all sexual acts with children under 18 are criminalised, irrespective of perceived consent.' The Centre firmly urged the top court to reject any proposition to amend or dilute the age of consent, stating that such a move would embolden exploitative conduct and harm the very children the law seeks to protect.
Time of India
26 minutes ago
- Time of India
SC asks Karnataka, Centre to act on 5 tigers' death
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Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Time of India
SC turns down plea to stay NEET counselling
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