New Delhi, Feb 12: Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has filed a petition at the High Court in Nainital challenging the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand.

The UCC was implemented in Uttarakhand in January. In response, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, under the leadership of its president, Maulana Arshad Madani, submitted a petition and mentioned the matter before the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand. The case is expected to be heard later this week.

A senior Supreme Court advocate will represent Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind.

Maulana Madani stated that they approached the court with the hope of securing justice and upholding the Constitution, democracy, and the rule of law. He emphasised that courts remain their last resort.

“We will not accept any law that is against Sharia. Muslims can compromise on many things, but never on their Sharia and religion. This is not just about Muslim existence but also their Constitutional rights. The government is attempting to take away the rights granted to Muslims through the UCC,” he asserted.

He argued that the implementation of UCC conflicts with fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. “The issue is not just about Muslim personal law, but about preserving the secular fabric of the country. India is a secular nation, meaning the government has no religion, and people are free to follow any faith,” he said.

Madani also contended that the UCC is detrimental to the country’s unity and integrity. He pointed out that while Article 44 is cited as the basis for UCC, it is only a directive principle and not a binding provision. Meanwhile, Articles 25, 26, and 29, which guarantee religious freedom, are being ignored. The Shariat Application Act of 1937 also protects Muslim personal law.

“The government insists that one country should have one law, yet we already have variations in IPC, CrPC, and even cow slaughter laws across states. The idea that there cannot be two laws under one system is flawed,” he argued.

Kolkata, Feb 12: Amid the crucial Assembly polls due next year in West Bengal, Minister of State for Finance Chandrima Bhattacharya, on Wednesday, presented a Rs 3,89,194.09 crore budget for the financial year 2005-26 at the floor of the state Assembly with enhanced dearness allowance and higher budgetary allocation for the state’s own affordable housing scheme for the poor being the main attractions of the budget proposals.

The budget size was Rs 3,66,116 crore.

Bhattacharya announced an increase in the dearness allowance for the state government employees by four percentage points to 18 per cent from the current rate of 14 per cent. The new rate will be applicable from April 1, 2025.

However, the enhancement has not made the state government employees happy considering that even after the increase, the gap with the dearness allowance enjoyed by the central government employees remains quite high at 35 per cent.

The Union government employees are currently receiving a dearness allowance at the rate of 53 per cent. This is the last full state budget before the Assembly election due next year.

However, what has come as a surprise for many is that, although largely expected, even in the last full budget before the Assembly elections, there was no proposal for an increase in the amount paid under Lakshmir Bhandar, the monthly dole scheme for women in the state.

The amount paid under the scheme will remain the same — Rs 1,000 for women in the general category and Rs 1,200 for the women under the reserved category.

The main sectors where the budgetary allocations had been substantially increased include housing, road infrastructure, health and education.

Under ‘Banglar Bari’ (Bengal’s House), the state government’s own affordable housing scheme for the poor, a proposal was mooted to construct 16 lakh additional houses and hence an additional Rs 9,600 crore has been allocated for the scheme.

For the development of road infrastructure under the ‘Pathashree’ scheme, an additional allocation of Rs 1,500 crore has been made in the budget proposals.

For higher education, budgetary allocation for 2025-26 has been earmarked at Rs 6,593.58 crore, while an amount of Rs 41,153 crore has been set aside for school education.

The budgetary allocation for the health sector has been announced at Rs 21,355 crore for 2025.26. The allocation for the fiscal under review for rural development and panchayat affairs has been fixed at 44,000 crore.

On Wednesday, Bhattacharya announced that the state government will provide smartphones to 70,000 accredited social health activists (ASHA) workers.

She also announced a new scheme christened ‘Nadi Bandhan’, aimed at the prevention of river banks at different river banks and allocated Rs 2000 crore for that project. An amount of Rs 500 crore was allocated for the construction of a new bridge at Sagar Islands, the venue for the annual Gangasagar Mela.

Chennai, Feb 12: A 43-year-old private school teacher was arrested on the charges of sexually assaulting a Class 9 boy in Ashok Nagar, Chennai.

The accused, identified as Sudhakar (43), was a Tamil teacher at the school.

He was arrested after a case was registered against him under three sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The incident came to light when the boy developed health complications.

Concerned about the boy’s condition, his parents enquired, and the child alleged that Sudhakar had sexually harassed him.

Due to an infection, the boy was admitted to Royapettah Government Hospital for treatment. Following a complaint by the parents, the K.K. Nagar police initially registered a case and launched an investigation.

The case was later transferred to the Saidapet All-Women Police Station.

Meanwhile, the school administration announced that Sudhakar had been dismissed.

It may be recalled that a few days before a 13-year-old girl from a government school in Bargur, Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu, had accused three of her teachers of rape.

The incident occurred in the first week of January and came to light only on February 3, when schoolteachers visited the girl’s home to investigate her prolonged absence from school.

Tamil Nadu opposition leader and AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) expressed shock over the incident.

In a social media post, he criticised the DMK government for “failing” to ensure students’ safety in government schools and called upon Chief Minister M. K. Stalin to take full responsibility for the incident.

BJP Tamil Nadu Chief K. Annamalai condemned the incident and said sexual assault on women and girls had become a horrifying reality in Tamil Nadu.