Mumbai, April 1: Indian stock markets on Tuesday witnessed a sharp decline on the first trading day of the new financial year. The fall came as investors reacted to global market concerns, especially the upcoming US reciprocal tariffs on April 2.

The Sensex, which represents 30 major companies, dropped by 1,390.41 points or 1.80 per cent to close at 76,024.51. During the trading session, it fluctuated between an intra-day high of 77,487.05 and a low of 75,912.18.

The Nifty index also tumbled 353.65 points or 1.50 per cent, ending at 23,165.70. It touched a high of 23,565.15 and a low of 23,136.40 during the intra-day.

Almost all stocks in the Sensex index ended lower, except Zomato, IndusInd Bank, and State Bank of India (SBI).

The biggest losers included HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, and Infosys, which saw their share prices decline by up to 3.66 per cent.

Midcap and smallcap stocks also faced pressure. The Nifty Midcap100 index closed 0.86 per cent lower, while the Nifty Smallcap100 index slipped 0.70 per cent.

The BSE Midcap index was down 0.9 per cent, whereas the Smallcap index managed to rise slightly by 0.2 per cent.

Sector-wise, most indices ended in the red, with IT, real estate, and consumer durables stocks falling by around 2 per cent each. Only media, oil & gas, and telecom stocks managed to stay positive.

Market volatility also surged as the India VIX, commonly known as the fear index, jumped 8.37 per cent to 13.78 points. This suggests that investors are increasingly cautious about the market’s direction.

Analysts suggest that market fluctuations may continue until there is more clarity on global trade relations and economic policies as investors remain concern about Trump’s tariff policies and their impact on international trade.

“Amid heightened global volatility ahead of the anticipated US reciprocal tariff announcement tomorrow (US time), the domestic market witnessed a significant sell-off today. Investors are eagerly awaiting the specifics of these tariffs while also keeping a close eye on ongoing negotiations for a potential Indo-US trade agreement,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited.

The IT sector was among the hardest hit due to its substantial exposure to the US market, and real estate stocks fell following Maharashtra’s upward revision of ready reckoner rates, which affect property valuations.

Kolkata, April 1: The internal disciplinary committee of Trinamool Congress’ legislative party in the West Bengal Assembly has finally shortlisted 30 party MLAs, including a member of the state cabinet for being absent on March 20, the last day of the second phase of the budget session, ignoring the party whip.

The absent MLAs had not even given prior intimation about their absence to the office of the Speaker, Biman Bandopadhyay.

These legislators, including the state minister, will have to personally appear in front of the disciplinary committee this month and justify why internal disciplinary action will not be initiated against them for ignoring the party whip.

The name of Manoj Tiwari, the cricketer-turned-politician and the current West Bengal Minister of State for Youth and Sports Affairs department, also figures in the list of those who will have to justify the reason behind their absence during House proceedings and ignoring party whip, said a member of the disciplinary committee who refused to be named.

Tiwari joined Trinamool Congress in 2021 before the state Assembly elections that year and was elected as a party legislator from the Shibpur Assembly constituency in the Kolkata-adjacent Howrah district. After the new state cabinet was announced, his name figured in the list.

Initially, it was decided that the meeting of the internal disciplinary committee would be conducted on March 29. However, the meeting on that date was cancelled because of the preoccupations of the MLAs including the members of the disciplinary committee because of the Eid festival.

The committee is chaired by the state Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay. The other members of the committee include the West Bengal Minister of State for Finance (independent charge) Chandrima Bhattacharya, the state Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, state Power Minister Arup Biswas and the chief whip of Trinamool Congress’s legislative party in state Assembly, Nirmal Ghosh.

Trinamool Congress had issued a whip, making the presence of all party legislators mandatory on the last two days of the second phase of the budget session on March 19 and March 20.

Although the presence on the part of the legislators was almost 100 per cent on March 19, several legislators, including the minister, skipped attendance on March 20.

New Delhi, April 1: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the constitutional validity of a provision of the Places of Worship Act, 1991.

In the alternative, a bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar suggested the PIL litigant to move an intervention application in the pending clutch of pleas challenging the validity of the contentious law, which prohibits the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.

The CJI Khanna-led Special Bench, in an interim order passed on December 12, 2024, ordered that no fresh suits would be registered under the Places of Worship Act in the country, and in the pending cases, no final or effective orders would be passed till further orders.

As per the latest petition filed through advocate Shweta Sinha, Section 4(2) of the 1991 Act is manifestly arbitrary, irrational and violative of Articles 14, 21, 25, and 26 of the Constitution.

“This provision not only closes the doors of mediation but also takes away the power of the judiciary. The legislature cannot take away the power of the judiciary to preside over disputes. This has been done through colourable legislation,” stated the plea.

In March 2021, a Bench headed by then Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde sought the Centre’s response to the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay challenging the validity of certain provisions of the law, prohibiting the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.

The plea said: “The 1991 Act was enacted in the garb of ‘public order’, which is a state subject (Schedule-7, List-II, Entry-1) and ‘places of pilgrimages within India’ is also a state subject (Schedule-7, List-II, Entry-7). So, the Centre can’t enact the Law. Moreover, Article 13(2) prohibits the State from making a law to take away fundamental rights, but the 1991 Act takes away the rights of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs, to restore their ‘places of worship and pilgrimages’, destroyed by barbaric invaders.”

“The Act excludes the birthplace of Lord Rama but includes the birthplace of Lord Krishna, though both are incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the creator and equally worshipped throughout the world, hence, it is arbitrary,” it added.