Busy week for top court after break
NEW DELHI: Convening after Diwali holidays on Monday, the Supreme Court will take up pleas on India’s most-debated issues and talking points in the next three days, when it will hear petitions pertaining to an infighting in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the entry of women into Kerala’s Sabarimala temple and the deal to buy 36 Rafale jets from France.
To kick-start what is expected to be a high-voltage week, the court is expected to hear on Monday the petition of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Alok Verma, who has challenged the government’s move to divest him of powers last
month over an internal battle with deputy Rakesh Asthana, who too has been sent on leave. Both have accused each other of bribery.
The Chief Vigilance Commission (CVC) is investigating allegations against Verma. In an October 26 order, the court gave CVC two weeks to complete the probe against Verma, who has accused the government of interfering with CBI’s independence
and autonomy.
It also said the inquiry will be done under the supervision of a retired SC judge in a “one-time exception”.
People familiar with the matter say CVC has completed its probe and will file a report before the court on Monday.
The Congress party’s leader in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, has also filed a petition in the matter, saying he should be heard because he is a member of the three-member committee that selects the CBI chief.
The other two panel members include the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Kharge is part of the panel as the leader of the largest opposition party in Parliament’s lower house.
Next on Tuesday, a threemember bench led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi will hear pleas challenging the court’s verdict lifting the ban on the entry of women of all ages into Kerala’s Sabarimala Temple.
Divinity and devotion cannot be subject to the rigidity and stereotypes of gender, the court ruled in a 4:1 majority verdict on September 28.
The court added that the exclusion on the basis of biological and physiological features was unconstitutional and discriminatory because it denied women the right to be treated as equals.But traditionalists staged protests, clashed with police and intimidated journalists to stop women between 10 years and 50 years to enter Sabarimala.
They believe the presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa, is celibate.
The petitioners who have challenged the court order say faith cannot be judged by scientific or rationale reasons or logic.
They say the ban is not on physiological grounds but based on the deity’s celibate character.
And on Wednesday, the court will take up the Rafale case. On October 31, the court asked the Centre to submit pricing details of the Rafale jet deal in a sealed cover within 10 days. The government argued that the information is so sensitive that it has not been shared even with Parliament.
The Opposition has accused the government of overpaying for the planes and a lack of transparency in the deal. The government has repeatedly dismissed the charges.