Court orders FIR against senior Congress leaders Sabarimala temple: SC to pronounce its verdict today
BHOPAL: A court here has directed police to register an FIR against senior Congress leaders Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia and an RTI activist on charges of “fabricating evidence” in the Vyapam scam case.
The special court of Additional District Judge Suresh Singh here in Madhya Pradesh issued the order Wednesday in response to a private complaint filed by advocate Santosh Sharma. The judge asked police to immediately register an FIR and submit its copy before the court, and also sought the investigation report in the case by November 13.
The Vyapam scam refers to irregularities in exams held by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, also called Vyavasayik Pareeksha Mandal or Vyapam, for admission in professional courses and state services.
Sharma had filed the private complaint in the court Monday, alleging that the Congress leaders and Prashant Pandey, a whistle-blower earlier in the Vyapam issue, were providing false evidence and misguiding the court in this connection.
His complaint came after Digvijay Singh deposed on Saturday in a court here in connection with his private complaint seeking criminal prosecution of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union minister Uma Bharti and five others in the Vyapam scam.
Singh had deposed for over two hours before judge Suresh Singh of the special court dealing with cases related to MLAS and MPS. Singh’s lawyer Kapil Sibal had then said that the former had submitted the copy of a document connected with the Vyapam scam in which Chouhan’s name figures 48 times. NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Friday its verdict on a clutch of pleas challenging the ban on entry of women between 10 and 50 years of age into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had reserved its judgement on August 1 after hearing the matter for eight days.
The bench, which also comprised Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, had earlier said that the constitutional scheme prohibiting exclusion has “some value” in a “vibrant democracy”.
The top court’s verdict would deal with the petitions filed by petitioners Indian Young Lawyers Association and others.
The Kerala government, which has been changing its stand on the contentious issue of women of the menstrual age group entering the Sabarimala temple, had on July 18 told the Supreme Court that it now favoured their entry.
The apex court had on October 13 last year referred the issue to a constitution bench after framing five “significant” questions including whether the practice of banning entry of women into the temple amounted to discrimination and violated their fundamental rights under the Constitution.