NEWS

New Delhi: To fill the vacancies, the Supreme Court of India collegium cleared names of justice R Subhash Reddy, justice Hemant Gupta, justice M R Shah, and justice Ajay Rastogi for elevation as Supreme Court judges.

Gujarat high court chief justice Reddy, Madhya Pradesh high court chief Justice Gupta, Patna high court chief justice M R Shah, and Tripura high court chief justice Ajay Rastogi’s elevation was recommended unanimously.

The collegium is a body of the five top judges, which is responsible for all appointments to the top court. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi heads it and also includes justice MB Lokur, justice Kurien Joseph, justice A K Sikri and justice S A Bobde.

New Delhi: Opposition political parties said that they would honour the Supreme Court decision in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the sensitive issue to polarise people. The Congress called for restraint without linking the issue to “votebank politics” hours after the top court deferred the hearing into the title suit to January.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram dismissed allegations by BJP leader Vinay Katiyar that the issue was being delayed “under pressure” from the Congress. “Well, this is a familiar story. Every five years before elections, the BJP tries to polarise views on Ram Mandir,” he said.

The Samajwadi Party said its stand on the issue was that the dispute should either be decided by an out-of-court settlement or all parties should respect the court’s decision.

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah has expressed a desire to visit Sabarimala next month when the shrine re-opens. The BJP, whose state president PS Sreedharan Pillai has announced a rath (chariot) yatra starting on November 8 from Kasargod to Sabarimala has come out strongly in support of people protesting the entry of women in the 10-50 age group into the temple. So far, the state government has detained around 3500 protestors.

The protestors are opposing a Supreme Court judgement that allowed women of all ages to enter the temple. Analysts say that the BJP’s response has helped it take over the mantle of the state’s main opposition from the Congress, which has aked party workers not to resort to direct action.

New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Police’s sub-inspector Imtiyaz Ahmed Mir had shaved off his beard and had changed his appearance to dodge militants in desperation to see his parents prompted but of no avail. Terrorists had laid a death trap for him in his village.

Mir, 30, was shot dead by militants at Wahibug in militancy-infested Pulwama district of South Kashmir when he was on his way home. Posted in the CID department, Mir had been warned against venturing into his village as there was a possibility of attack by militants, who have been targeting policemen in the state recently.