After a two-month-long summer vacation, the Supreme Court is set to resume regular hearings starting on Monday (July 11). The Legal Observer takes a look at some of the upcoming cases listed in this week.
Maharashtra Political Crisis
On Monday, the Supreme Court is likely to hear several petitions regarding the Maharashtra political crisis. They are: A petition was filed by the Thackeray faction against Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s decision on June 30 to invite 39 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs supported by BJP to form a government. The case is to be heard by the Supreme Court on July 11.
This causes the rebel MLAs of Shiv Sena liable to be disqualified under the Tenth Schedule of the constitution. A vacation bench comprising Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari agreed to list the petition before the appropriate bench with a similar batch of cases coming up on Monday. The apex court is likely to hear the petition filed by 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs against disqualification notices issued by Deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal. n application was filed by Shiv Sena General Secretary, Sunil Prabhu seeking the suspension of 16 rebel MLAs from membership of the Maharashtra legislative assembly as an interim order till the disqualification pleas are heard. But the court said that it will take up the matter on July 11 along with the disqualification plea by the Shinde faction.
A fresh plea was filed by the Thackeray faction through general secretary Subash Desai hallenging the validity of a special assembly session on July 3 and 4 where the rebel faction proved the majority in the house and supported the appointment of the BJP’s new speaker.
A petition was also filed by the General Secretary of Shiv Sena, Sunil Babu challenging the newly elected speaker of Maharashtra assembly Rahul Narvekar’s decision to recognise the appointment of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s man Bharat Gogawale.
The vacation bench led by Justice Indira Banerjee will hear the case on July 11 along with other petitions.
Agnipath Scheme
A batch of six petitions challenging the Defence Ministry’s scheme of recruitment of youth into the Armed forces is listed before the court. The pleas are seeking for cancellation of the Agnipath scheme and get back to the old method of the selection process.
A Vacation Bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari informed that the matter would be again taken by the Supreme Court when it reopens after summer vacation.
The plea contended that aspirants training currently are waiting for appointment letters, but now their careers are cut short to four years from 20 years.
The petitioners argue that they are not responsible for the lag in the recruitment process which was gone through by them, despite the Agneepath scheme. The top court is likely to take up the matter in the coming week.
ALT News Co-Founder Mohammad Zubair
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the plea of Mohammad Zubair, Co-Founder of ALT News, regarding the bail for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through one of his tweets in 2016.
The vacation bench has listed the matter for hearing before the Supreme Court for quashing the FIR and bail in the matter.
Zubair argued that ALT-News is a solution-based organisation, which takes up multiple activities – journalism, education etc. to promote information and media literacy. He said that due to a wide reachability of the stories, he was often subjected to trolls, abuses and threats.
Bhima Koregaon Case
The apex court is likely to take up bail petitions on July 11 filed by an 82-year-old Telugu poet and accused in the Bhima Koregaon case on medical grounds and old age. It came up challenging Bombay’s High Court order refusing to grant permanent bail on medical grounds.
The Bombay HC refused him the permission to stay at his residence in Telangana but extended 3 months temporary bail for his cataract operation.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has accused Varavara Rao and others of supporting the agenda of banned CPI (Maoist) in an Elgar Parishad cultural event. They are booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act based on the letters and emails retrieved from electronic devices.
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