FRIDAY’S SOLUTIONS (14180)
But his supporters were in action on Friday itself when they broke barricades, burnt banners and protested outside a ticket booth on being told the match was sold out.
Alleging tickets were sold in bulk to the BJP while the public was left out, Patel has demanded that the cricket association explain itself.
The association has denied wrongdoing.
“We don’t know where it is coming from. We sold all our tickets by asking buyers to produce identity cards. Where is the question of any political party buying out tickets,” asked Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Saurashtra Cricket Association.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS
On Saturday, party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi asserted, “We are not going to support adventurism of the government per se and the adventurism we have seen till now has been of subverting hallowed institutions and, certainly, the judiciary is the most hallowed of them.”
“You may not have seen a direct assault till now but given past record, in less than 18 months in trying to dilute and subvert institutions, I think it is a very fair warning where the judiciary is concerned.”
He added, “You have to forget the past and look ahead. The way forward is to realise there is a great trust deficit as far as the government is concerned.”
The main opposition party, however, pointed out the collegium system of judges appointing judges, which has now been restored, was far from perfect as it was “shrouded in secrecy and over confidentiality”.
“We certainly don’t accept the collegium as excellent or unexceptional. It has much to answer and much to improve and that understanding and
acknowledgement is there in the judiciary in this judgment itself, which is why on November 3 you are having a hearing to try and address that part of the issue,” Singhvi said.
Admitting to weaknesses in the collegium system, the Supreme Court had in its ruling sought suggestions for improvement. Other parties, however, did not seem to share the Congress’ new stand. In line with the BJP’s response that it was a “setback for parliamentary sovereignty”, the Samajwadi Party said the verdict had put a question mark on the legislative powers of Parliament and assemblies. “Not just our party, all parties were unanimous on the new law. We will raise the issue in the next session of Parliament,” senior leader Naresh Agarwal said.
Senior lawyer and former solicitor general Harish Salve called the SC verdict “unacceptable” and the court’s arguments “fallacious”. “The Constitution isn’t about just one branch working independently but, rather, all three arms (legislature, executive, and judiciary) working together in harmony,” he said in an interview to Karan Thapar.
The DMK and AIADMK did not have any immediate response, preferring to study the order and discuss it with the leadership.
“Repeated rape of minors is shameful and worrying. Delhi police has completely failed to provide safety. What are PM and his LG doing?” he tweeted.
“PM sir, give control of delhi police to del govt for one year. If situation does not improve, take it back.” His remarks highlighted a long-running tussle between the Delhi government and Centre for jurisdiction over the Capital’s police department which reports to the union home ministry, with the chief minister frequently blaming law and order concerns on the prevailing circumstances.
Officials said at around 10.45pm the two-and-a-half-year-old girl ran out of her home towards the neighbouring Ramlila ground after hearing her favourite song.
There was a power cut at this point and the two men allegedly abducted her taking advantage of the situation.
The toddler’s father who ran behind her raised an alarm after failing to locate her.
“The girl was found in a park in the area at around 2.30am. She was bleeding profusely and had scratch marks all over her face,” a senior police officer said. “She was then rushed to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital. Her condition is now stable.”
In the second incident, the five-year-old’s landlord allegedly
took her to his room and sexually assaulted her with two of his tenants joining in. The girl and all the accused lived in the same building.
Locals rescued the child on hearing her cries for help and she was rushed to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital at 11pm in a critical condition. Doctors said she was stable and was being counselled.
A court remanded the accused in police custody for 14 days.
India strengthened its laws to take on violence against women following the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapist on a moving bus in the Capital three years ago that sparked street protests and nationwide outrage. But incidents of sexual assault have not declined significantly.
The country recorded 36,735 rape cases last year, with 2,096 of them in Delhi, while 1,004 minors were sexually assaulted in the Capital in 2014, according to government data. However, experts say the numbers only reveal part of the grim situation as many incidents of sexual violence go unreported in India. In the story headlined ‘Luxury car runs over man, 1 held’, (Oct 17, page 7) Sonia Malhotra, the person who allegedly drove the car, was inadvertently referred to as Singh in a subsequent paragraph.
We regret the error.