Page 10 - Kiren Rijiju

Govt returned 10 proposals reiterated by SC Collegium: Govt in RS

Amid an ongoing tiff between the Executive and the Judiciary over the procedure to appoint judges, the government has asked the Supreme Court Collegium to reconsider 10 proposals reiterated by it, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju told Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Out of these 10 proposals, the SC Collegium has reiterated its earlier recommendation for appointment in three cases. On the remaining seven reiterated proposals, the collegium has sought additional inputs from the high court collegium, he said in a written reply to a question. "Ten proposals reiterated by SCC (Supreme Court Collegium) were recently referred back to the SCC for reconsideration," he said. In view of various reports and input received by the government, which in its opinion warrant further consideration by the Collegium, the Centre has sent such reiterated cases for reconsideration as was done in the past as well, Rijiju explained. "There have been instances in the past when the SC Collegium had agreed to the views ...

No provision for reservation in judiciary, says Kiren Rijiju in Parliament

The government informed Parliament on Thursday that the existing policy does not provide for reservation in the judiciary but judges, especially collegium members, have been told to keep in mind sections of people who are not represented adequately while making their recommendations for appointments of judges. During Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, DMK leader Tiruchi Siva asked if the government would consider the possibility of introducing a reservation policy in the appointment of judges. Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju said, "As per the existing policy and provision, there is no reservation in the Indian judiciary." "However, I have already reminded all the honourable judges, especially the collegium members, to keep in mind while recommending the names to include members from backward communities, women and other categories which are not represented adequately in the Indian judiciary," he added. Responding to a separate query on the pendency of cases in Gujarat, Ministe

Bombay HC dismisses PIL seeking action on VP Dhankhar, Law Minister Rijiju

The Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed a public interest litigation filed against Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar for their remarks on judiciary and the collegium system for appointment of judges. The plea filed by Bombay Lawyers Association had claimed Rijiju and Dhankhar showed lack of faith in the Constitution with their remarks and conduct. It had sought for orders to restrain Dhankhar from discharging duty as the vice president, and Rijiju from discharging duty as cabinet minister for the central government. The PIL claimed the "frontal attack not just on the judiciary but the Constitution" by the two executive officials has lowered the prestige of the Supreme Court in public. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice S V Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne briefly heard the petitioner's lawyer, Ahmed Abdi, and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh for the respondents. "We are not inclined to grant any relief. The petition is

Rahul questions rise in Adani's fortunes, says happened during BJP's rule

A belligerent Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday led a blistering opposition attack in Lok Sabha over the Hindenburg report, claiming that the meteoric rise in Gautam Adani's fortunes happened after the BJP came to power in 2014 as he rose in the global rich list from the 609th to the second spot eventually. The Congress leader's remarks drew a sharp response from the treasury benches, with Law Minister Kiren Rijiju asking him not to level "wild allegations" and furnish proof of his claims. Outside Parliament, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Rahul Gandhi of making baseless, shameless and reckless allegations and charged that the Congress and the Gandhi family were involved in "big scams" which "tarnished" the image of the country. Speaker Om Birla disapproved of the Congress leader displaying two pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - one in which he can be seen with Adani inside a plane and the other in which he is getting down from a plane which has an Adani logo on it - to ...

Adani saga in Lok Sabha: BJP takes exception to Rahul's 'magic' jibe

Gandhi said that during the yatra people also asked him how Adani's net worth incre­ased from $8 billion to $140 billion between 2014 and 2022

Rijiju supports view that lawyers with political affiliation can be judges

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday appeared to support the view that lawyers with political affiliation can become judges. This comes amid a debate on the issue following a recent recommendation by the Supreme Court Collegium. Rijiju retweeted a post by Supreme Court advocate and former governor Swaraj Kaushal who said that in the past too, sitting members of Parliament representing political parties had been elevated as high court judges. "Justices K S Hegde and Baharul Islam were both sitting Congress MPs when they were appointed as HC judges. Justice V R Krishna Iyer was a Cabinet Minister in Kerala. Once you take the oath of office, you have to live by the oath," Kaushal had tweeted a couple of days ago. Kaushal tagged a news report which said that Madras High Court advocates had urged the SC Collegium to recall its proposal to elevate Victoria Gowri, who had been associated with the BJP, as a high court judge citing her alleged remarks against minorities and political ...

Country run by people, guided by Constitution: Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

The Union Law Minister attended the 150th anniversary of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association in Prayagraj

672,000 cases pending in district, subordinate courts for 20 yrs: Rijiju

Nearly 6.72 lakh cases are pending in various district and subordinate courts for more than 20 years, government told Lok Sabha on Friday. In case of High Courts, there are 2,94,547 such cases. In a written reply, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said, "The number of cases pending for more than 20 years in the Supreme Court of India, as per the data retrieved from the Integrated Case Management Information System (ICMIS) as on January 27, 2023, is 208 cases." "In case of the (25) high courts, there are 2,94,547 cases and 6,71,543 cases in the district and subordinate courts that are pending for more than 20 years as per data available on National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) on February 01, 2023," he said. So far as the reasons for such long pendency of court cases is concerned, the Supreme Court has stated that there is no conspicuous reason which can be depicted for long pendency of cases, he said. "Pendency of court cases is a multi-faceted problem. Due to the increase in the population

No proposal to use remote voting machine in upcoming election: Rijiju in LS

There is no proposal to use the remote electronic voting machine (RVM) in the "upcoming election" in the country and it is also not proposed for the use of Non-Resident Indian (NRI) voters, Lok Sabha was informed on Friday. Responding to a question in the Lower House of Parliament, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in a written reply that according to the Election Commission (EC), it has "not proposed to introduce the RVM for the upcoming election in the country". Several assembly polls are due this year, while the Lok Sabha elections will be held in 2024. The minister said the EC has also informed that the RVM is not proposed for the use of NRI voters. Rijiju noted that public sector unit Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), under the guidance of the EC and the Technical Expert Committee of the poll panel, has developed a prototype of the Multi Constituency Remote Electronic Voting Machine. The EC, he said, had circulated a concept note to all national and state political

Five names recommended by Collegium for SC to be cleared soon: Centre

The Centre on Friday assured the Supreme Court that the Collegium's recommendation for the appointment of five judges in the apex court will be cleared soon. Attorney General R Venkataramani told a bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka that warrant of appointments of these five names is expected to be issued soon. The bench expressed displeasure over the delay by the Centre in clearing recommendations for transfer of high court judges, saying "it is a very, very serious issue". "Don't make us take a stand which will be very uncomfortable," the bench observed. The apex court, which was hearing a matter related to the Centre's alleged delay in clearing names recommended by the Collegium for appointment as judges to the Supreme Court and high courts, has posted it for further hearing on February 13 The Collegium on December 13 last year recommended five judges for elevation to the apex court -- Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal, Patna High Court Chief Justice Sanjay

PIL in Bombay HC against Dhankhar, Rijiju for recent remarks over judiciary

The Bombay Lawyers Association has filed a plea in the Bombay High Court against Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju for their remarks against the Judiciary

Union Budget 2023: Kiren Rijiju hails outlay of Rs 7,000 crore for e-courts

Rijiju has termed the allocation as "unprecedented", which will create paperless courts for faster delivery of justice

SC to hear pleas against BBC docu ban on Feb 6, Rijiju slams petitioners

The Supreme Court will hear next Monday pleas challenging the Centre's decision to block a controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots even as Law Minister Kiren attacked the petitioners for "wasting precious time" of the top court. Taking note of the submissions of lawyer M L Sharma and senior advocate C U Singh, appearing for veteran journalist N Ram, TMC MP Mahua Moitra and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan, seeking urgent listing of the petitions against the Centre's ban on the two-episode BBC series using its emergency powers, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said it will hear the matter on February 6. One of the petitioners also alleged that the ban on the documentary 'India: The Modi question' was "malafide, arbitrary and unconstitutional". Reacting strongly, Rijiju tweeted "this is how they waste the precious time of Hon'ble Supreme Court where thousands of common citizens are waiting and seeking dates for justice".

Those moving SC against BBC documentary ban wasting its time, says Rijiju

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday hit out at those moving the Supreme Court challenging the Centre's decision to block a BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying this is how they "waste" precious time of the top court. Responding on Twitter to news reports that veteran journalist N Ram, activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan and others have moved the Supreme Court challenging the Centre's decision to block the documentary "India: The Modi Question" on social media, Rijiju said that "this is how they waste the precious time of Hon'ble Supreme Court where thousands of common citizens are waiting and seeking dates for justice". A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Monday took note of the submissions of lawyer M L Sharma and senior advocate C U Singh, appearing for N Ram and Bhushan, seeking urgent listing of their separate PILs on the issue. On January 21, the Centre issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the ...

You are bound to follow collegium decision: former SC judge to Rijiju

This comes after Kiren Rijiju criticized the SC's collegium system of seeking RAW and IB inputs on the appointment of judges in the High Courts

Comprehensive consultations with stakeholders must for reforms: Rijiju

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday said comprehensive consultations with stakeholders, including political parties, are essential for implementing electoral reforms. Referring to various proposals on electoral reforms moved by the Election Commission, he said consultations and discussions are a "symbol" of a vibrant democracy. He said the changes made in election laws a year ago have resulted in addition of over 1.5 crore new voters in the electoral list. Four cut-off dates instead of the one earlier has helped young eligible citizens to register as voters once they turn 18, he said. The minister also lauded the move to allow those above 17 years of age to register with the EC in advance. Once they turn 18, their names are added in the voters' list. Addressing the 13th National Voters' Day event here in the presence of President Droupadi Murmu, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, companion Election Commissioners and representatives of various political parties, Rijiju ...

Making IB, RAW reports public a matter of grave concern: Kiren Rijiju

Intelligence agency officials work in a secret manner for the nation, said Kiren Rijiju

Are you strengthening judiciary with controversial remarks: Sibal to Rijiju

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Tuesday took a swipe at Law Minister Kiren Rijiju over his remarks that the government has not taken a single step to undermine the judiciary, asking whether his "controversial statements" were meant to strengthen it. Sibal's remarks come a day after Rijiju said there can be a difference of opinion between the government and the judiciary but that does not mean the two are attacking each other and a "Mahabharat" is going on. Addressing a gathering at the Tis Hazari courts complex here to mark Republic Day, Rijiju said the Modi government has not taken a single step to undermine the judiciary. Reacting to the remarks, Sibal tweeted, "Rijiju: Another gem. 'The Modi government has not taken a single step to undermine the judiciary...'." "Are all your (Rijiju) controversial statements meant to strengthen the judiciary," the former law minister asked. "You might believe it. We lawyers don't," the senior advocate said.

Law minister Rijiju slams controversial BBC documentary on Gujarat riots

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has slammed the controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying India's image cannot be disgraced with "malicious campaigns". In a series of tweets in English and Hindi on Saturday and Sunday, he said minorities, or for that matter, every community in India is moving ahead positively. "India's image cannot be disgraced by malicious campaigns launched inside or outside India," he said, adding that Prime Minister Modi's voice is the voice of 1.4 billion Indians. "Some people in India have still not gotten over the colonial hangover. They consider BBC above the Supreme Court of India and lower the country's dignity and image to any extent to please their moral masters," Rijiju. He said much cannot be expected from members of the "tukde-tukde gang who seek to weaken the might of India.

'Constitution hijacked by SC': Rijiju says this is sane view of majority

The law minister also said that "actually majority of the people have similar sane views"