Noting how democracy was thwarted at the grassroots, that too, by misusing the office of the Returning Officer to change the course of the election results, the Supreme Court on Tuesday flexed its extraordinary constitutional power under Article 142 to deliver Aam Aadmi Party a victory by declaring its candidate, Kuldeep Kumar, validly elected as Chandigarh Mayor. After watching the video of the polling at Chandigarh mayoral polls, a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud concluded that Returning Officer Anil Masih made a âdeliberate attemptâ to deface eight ballot papers in order to swing the poll results in favour of Kumarâs rival and BJP candidate, Manoj Sonkar. The court also held that Masih made a patently false statement in the Supreme Court on February 19 that the eight ballots had been defaced before it reached him. The court issued show cause notice to him, giving him three weeks to explain why criminal action should not be initiated against him. Congratulating Kumar, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in a post on X wrote, âThis became possible only because of Indian democracy and the Honorable Supreme Court. We have to preserve the impartiality of our democracy and autonomous institutions at any cost.â The court was hearing the plea of AAP candidate for the election Kuldeep Kumar, accusing Returning Officer Anil Masih of electoral malpractices. The Returning Officer faced the wrath of the top court which ordered his criminal prosecution for allegedly giving false statement before it and his âmisdemeanourâ during the counting of votes. The SC said Masih had put marks on eight ballot papers to create a ground for treating them as invalidly cast. âThat apart, it is evident that the presiding officer (Masih) is guilty of serious misdemeanour in doing what he did in his role and capacity as a presiding officer,â a bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said. The bench, also comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, directed the Registrar (Judicial) of the apex court to issue a notice to Masih to show cause as to why proceedings should not be initiated against him under Section 340 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for allegedly making false statement before the court. It said he can file his response to the notice and the matter would be taken up after three weeks. In its verdict, the Supreme Court bench said Masihâs conduct as the presiding officer has to be deprecated at two levels. âFirstly, by his conduct he has unlawfully altered the course of the mayoral election... Secondly, in making a solemn statement before this court on February 19, the presiding officer expressed falsehood for which he must be held accountable,â the bench said. It said as a Returning Officer, he could not have been unmindful of the consequences of making such a statement before the Court. The bench noted that before recording Masihâs statement during the hearing on Monday, the Court had placed him on notice about the serious consequences if he was found to have made an incorrect statement. The Supreme Court on February 19 had voiced its deep concern over the âhorse-tradingâ and said it will examine the ballot papers and video recording of the counting. It said instead of ordering fresh polls, it may consider declaration of results on the basis of votes already cast. The BJP had won the Chandigarh mayoral polls on January 30 defeating the comfortably placed AAP-Congress alliance candidate after the Returning Officer declared as invalid eight votes of the coalition partners, drawing accusations of tampering with ballots. Manoj Sonkar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had defeated Kuldeep Kumar after polling 16 votes against his rivalâs 12 to bag the Mayorâs post. Sonkar, however, resigned subsequently, while three AAP councillors defected to the BJP. Rules that edge out women from employment for getting married are âcoarseâ, unconstitutional: Supreme Court Rules that bully women employees out of their jobs for getting married or having domestic issues amount to âcoarse gender discriminationâ and are plainly unconstitutional, the Supreme Court has said. Terminating employment because the woman has got married is a coarse case of gender discrimination and inequality. Acceptance of such patriarchal rule undermines human dignity, right to non-discrimination and fair treatment. Laws and regulations based on gender-based bias are constitutionally impermissible,â the court said in a recent order. The observations were part of an order which upheld the rights of a woman Permanent Commissioner Officer in the Military Nursing Service who was discharged for getting married. A Bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna directed the Union Government to pay former Lieutenant Selina John â¹60 lakh in compensation within eight weeks as a full and final settlement of all her claims. The government had come in appeal against a decision of the Lucknow Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal which had ruled in her favour. Noting that her release from services was both âwrong and illegalâ, the Supreme Court, in a recent order, found that the rule against marriage was applicable only to women nursing officers. The rule was âex facie manifestly arbitraryâ. Rules making marriage of women employees and their domestic involvement a ground for disentitlement would be unconstitutional,â the order noted. The court also recorded that the Army instruction concerned with the terms and conditions of service for the grant of permanent commissions in the Military Nursing Service was withdrawn in 1995. NHRC seeks report from DGCA over death of 80-year-old who didnât get wheelchair at airport The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued a notice to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) over the death of an 80-year-old man at the Mumbai airport after he failed to get a wheelchair despite prior request to the airline. According to reports, there were 32 passengers who needed wheelchair on the particular flight, but there were only 15 available with the ground staff. The octogenarian, who was of Indian origin with a U.S. passport, walked alongside his wife who got a wheelchair. He collapsed after walking around one-and-half km to the immigration area. The NHRC said that if the incident is found to be true, it raises a serious issue of violation of human rights of the victim. The DGCA should send a detailed report to the commission on the matter within four weeks, it said. The report must include the status of compensation if any, provided to the next of kin of the deceased, and the steps taken/ proposed to be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur. Issuing the notice, the commission also observed that there has been a significant increase in the number of air passengers as well as airfare, but âthe standard of facilities doesnât seem to have improved proportionately resulting in several complaints reported in the media and posted on social mediaâ. Modi government tweaked âforestâ definition to help âcorporate crony friendsâ: Jairam Ramesh The Congress on Tuesday applauded the Supreme Courtâs interim order asking the States and Union Territories to act as per the definition of a âforestâ laid down by the top court in a 1996 judgement, and said that it was committed to protecting forests and environment when an INDIA bloc government is formed at the Centre. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the Narendra Modi-led government of tweaking the laws to make it easier to hand over Indiaâs forests and pollute the environment, to benefit Modiâs âcorporate crony friends.â âSo first, he changed the rules in 2017 so that projects that had violated their forest clearance could be legalised. Over 100 projects of big corporates including coal mines, factories and cement plants were allowed to brazenly start work in violation of environmental clearances,â Ramesh alleged in a long post on X. The SC ruling, that comes soon after a judgment against the âelectoral bonds scamâ, stopped another set of âblatantly illegal and disastrousâ Modi government schemes, he said. The Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act of 2023, the Congress leader said, stripped protection from two lakh square kilometres of forests. âThis was in complete violation of a 1996 Supreme Court judgment. This amendment would have made it easy to divert âdeemed forestsâ, as well as forests in the North East,â he claimed. Ramesh, a former Union Minister of Environment and Forests, was one of the six Opposition members to file a dissent note against a Parliamentary Committee report on the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, which had changed the definition of a âforestâ. âOne by one, the scams and frauds of the Modi government are being exposed in Indiaâs highest court of law,â he alleged. âThe Congress applauds this order, and commits to protecting Indiaâs forests and environment when we form an INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) government,â he added. In brief Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan on February 20, officials said. Bharatiya Janata Partyâs Chunnilal Garasiya and Madan Rathore were also elected unopposed to the Upper House from the State, Assembly Secretary Mahaveer Prasad Sharma said. February 20 was the last day for withdrawing nominations. As no other candidates were contesting, the three leaders were elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed, the officer said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 20 February 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Supreme Court sets aside Chandigarh mayoral poll results, declares AAP Councillor Kuldeep Kumar winner Noting how democracy was thwarted at the grassroots, that too, by misusing the office of the Returning Officer to change the course of the election results, the [Supreme Court on Tuesday flexed its extraordinary constitutional power under Article 142 to deliver Aam Aadmi Party a victory]( by declaring its candidate, Kuldeep Kumar, validly elected as Chandigarh Mayor. After watching the video of the polling at Chandigarh mayoral polls, a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud concluded that Returning Officer Anil Masih made a âdeliberate attemptâ to deface eight ballot papers in order to swing the poll results in favour of Kumarâs rival and BJP candidate, Manoj Sonkar. The court also held that Masih made a patently false statement in the Supreme Court on February 19 that the eight ballots had been defaced before it reached him. The court issued show cause notice to him, giving him three weeks to explain why criminal action should not be initiated against him. Congratulating Kumar, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in a post on X wrote, âThis became possible only because of Indian democracy and the Honorable Supreme Court. We have to preserve the impartiality of our democracy and autonomous institutions at any cost.â The court was hearing the plea of AAP candidate for the election Kuldeep Kumar, accusing Returning Officer Anil Masih of electoral malpractices. The Returning Officer faced the wrath of the top court which ordered his criminal prosecution for allegedly giving false statement before it and his âmisdemeanourâ during the counting of votes. The SC said Masih had put marks on eight ballot papers to create a ground for treating them as invalidly cast. âThat apart, it is evident that the presiding officer (Masih) is guilty of serious misdemeanour in doing what he did in his role and capacity as a presiding officer,â a bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said. The bench, also comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, directed the Registrar (Judicial) of the apex court to issue a notice to Masih to show cause as to why proceedings should not be initiated against him under Section 340 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for allegedly making false statement before the court. It said he can file his response to the notice and the matter would be taken up after three weeks. In its verdict, the Supreme Court bench said Masihâs conduct as the presiding officer has to be deprecated at two levels. âFirstly, by his conduct he has unlawfully altered the course of the mayoral election... Secondly, in making a solemn statement before this court on February 19, the presiding officer expressed falsehood for which he must be held accountable,â the bench said. It said as a Returning Officer, he could not have been unmindful of the consequences of making such a statement before the Court. The bench noted that before recording Masihâs statement during the hearing on Monday, the Court had placed him on notice about the serious consequences if he was found to have made an incorrect statement. The Supreme Court on February 19 had voiced its deep concern over the âhorse-tradingâ and said it will examine the ballot papers and video recording of the counting. It said instead of ordering fresh polls, it may consider declaration of results on the basis of votes already cast. The BJP had won the Chandigarh mayoral polls on January 30 defeating the comfortably placed AAP-Congress alliance candidate after the Returning Officer declared as invalid eight votes of the coalition partners, drawing accusations of tampering with ballots. Manoj Sonkar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had defeated Kuldeep Kumar after polling 16 votes against his rivalâs 12 to bag the Mayorâs post. Sonkar, however, resigned subsequently, while three AAP councillors defected to the BJP. Rules that edge out women from employment for getting married are âcoarseâ, unconstitutional: Supreme Court [Rules that bully women employees out of their jobs for getting married or having domestic issues amount to âcoarse gender discriminationâ and are plainly unconstitutional, the Supreme Court has said](. Terminating employment because the woman has got married is a coarse case of gender discrimination and inequality. Acceptance of such patriarchal rule undermines human dignity, right to non-discrimination and fair treatment. Laws and regulations based on gender-based bias are constitutionally impermissible,â the court said in a recent order. The observations were part of an order which upheld the rights of a woman Permanent Commissioner Officer in the Military Nursing Service who was discharged for getting married. A Bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna directed the Union Government to pay former Lieutenant Selina John â¹60 lakh in compensation within eight weeks as a full and final settlement of all her claims. The government had come in appeal against a decision of the Lucknow Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal which had ruled in her favour. Noting that her release from services was both âwrong and illegalâ, the Supreme Court, in a recent order, found that the rule against marriage was applicable only to women nursing officers. The rule was âex facie manifestly arbitraryâ. Rules making marriage of women employees and their domestic involvement a ground for disentitlement would be unconstitutional,â the order noted. The court also recorded that the Army instruction concerned with the terms and conditions of service for the grant of permanent commissions in the Military Nursing Service was withdrawn in 1995. NHRC seeks report from DGCA over death of 80-year-old who didnât get wheelchair at airport The [National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued a notice to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation]( (DGCA) over the death of an 80-year-old man at the Mumbai airport after he failed to get a wheelchair despite prior request to the airline. According to reports, there were 32 passengers who needed wheelchair on the particular flight, but there were only 15 available with the ground staff. The octogenarian, who was of Indian origin with a U.S. passport, walked alongside his wife who got a wheelchair. He collapsed after walking around one-and-half km to the immigration area. The NHRC said that if the incident is found to be true, it raises a serious issue of violation of human rights of the victim. The DGCA should send a detailed report to the commission on the matter within four weeks, it said. The report must include the status of compensation if any, provided to the next of kin of the deceased, and the steps taken/ proposed to be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur. Issuing the notice, the commission also observed that there has been a significant increase in the number of air passengers as well as airfare, but âthe standard of facilities doesnât seem to have improved proportionately resulting in several complaints reported in the media and posted on social mediaâ. Modi government tweaked âforestâ definition to help âcorporate crony friendsâ: Jairam Ramesh The [Congress on Tuesday applauded the Supreme Courtâs interim order asking the States and Union Territories to act as per the definition of a âforestâ laid down by the top court in a 1996 judgement]( and said that it was committed to protecting forests and environment when an INDIA bloc government is formed at the Centre. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the Narendra Modi-led government of tweaking the laws to make it easier to hand over Indiaâs forests and pollute the environment, to benefit Modiâs âcorporate crony friends.â âSo first, he changed the rules in 2017 so that projects that had violated their forest clearance could be legalised. Over 100 projects of big corporates including coal mines, factories and cement plants were allowed to brazenly start work in violation of environmental clearances,â Ramesh alleged in a long post on X. The SC ruling, that comes soon after a judgment against the âelectoral bonds scamâ, stopped another set of âblatantly illegal and disastrousâ Modi government schemes, he said. The Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act of 2023, the Congress leader said, stripped protection from two lakh square kilometres of forests. âThis was in complete violation of a 1996 Supreme Court judgment. This amendment would have made it easy to divert âdeemed forestsâ, as well as forests in the North East,â he claimed. Ramesh, a former Union Minister of Environment and Forests, was one of the six Opposition members to file a dissent note against a Parliamentary Committee report on the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, which had changed the definition of a âforestâ. âOne by one, the scams and frauds of the Modi government are being exposed in Indiaâs highest court of law,â he alleged. âThe Congress applauds this order, and commits to protecting Indiaâs forests and environment when we form an INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) government,â he added. In brief Congress leader [Sonia Gandhi was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan on February 20]( officials said. Bharatiya Janata Partyâs Chunnilal Garasiya and Madan Rathore were also elected unopposed to the Upper House from the State, Assembly Secretary Mahaveer Prasad Sharma said. February 20 was the last day for withdrawing nominations. As no other candidates were contesting, the three leaders were elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed, the officer said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [Sign up for free]( Todayâs Top Picks [[U.S. awaits Indiaâs findings in Pannun case: Senior U.S. official Richard Verma] U.S. awaits Indiaâs findings in Pannun case: Senior U.S. official Richard Verma](
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