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Maharashtra

Right to contest election neither fundamental, nor common law right: Supreme Court

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The Supreme Court has observed that the right to contest an election is neither a fundamental right nor a common law right and imposed Rs 1 lakh cost on a litigant who sought to contest Rajya Sabha polls without a proposer to propose his name.

A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia said: “An individual cannot claim that he has a right to contest election and the said stipulation violates his fundamental right, so as to file his nomination without any proposer as is required under the Act.”

The top court noted that petitioner Vishwanath Pratap Singh filed a writ petition before the Delhi High Court raising a grievance that a notification for election to Rajya Sabha was issued on May 12, to fill up the seats of members retiring from June 21 to August 1, and the last date for submission of the nomination was May 31.

“The stand of the petitioner is that he collected the nomination form but was not allowed to file his nomination without a proper proposer proposing his name. The petitioner sought his candidature without proposer which was not accepted and, therefore, he claims that his fundamental right of free speech and expression and right to personal liberty has been infringed.”

Citing a judgment of Rajbala vs State of Haryana (2016), the bench said this court held that the right to contest for a seat in either of the two bodies is subject to certain constitutional restrictions and could be restricted further only by a law made by the Parliament.

Thus, the petitioner did not have any right to contest election to the Rajya Sabha in terms of the law made by the Parliament, it said, adding that the Representation of People Act, 1950 read with the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 has contemplated the name of a candidate to be proposed while filling the nomination form.

“We find that the writ petition before the High Court was entirely misconceived and so is the present special leave petition. The right to contest an election is neither a fundamental right nor a common law right. It is a right conferred by a statute,” the court said.

In the order passed on September 9, the top court said, “We dismiss the present special leave petition with cost of Rs 1,00,000. The said cost be paid to the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee within four weeks. Pending application(s), if any, stands disposed of.”

disaster

Mumbai’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sudhakar Pathare, who was posted in the Port Zone, passed away in a road accident on Saturday.

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Pathare had visited Hyderabad for training. He was on his way to visit a temple with a relative when the accident occurred. Both Pathare and his relative lost their lives in the crash.

Mumbai Police have been informed about the incident.

More details are awaited.

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Maharashtra

Order to demolish the tomb of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Baba in Mira Bhayander

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Mumbai: The state government has issued an order to demolish the four hundred year old dargah of Hazrat Syed Bale Shah Peer Rahmatullah Alaih located in Mira Bhayander. Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation has sent a letter to the collector declaring this dargah illegal and ordered action against it. As the dargah is located on forest land, communalists had started demanding the demolition of the dargah. In the House, Darranjan Daukhre had also demanded action against the dargah, after which now the state government has ordered to run a bulldozer on the dargah. An order has also been issued to remove and demolish the dargah by May.

Dargah trustee Amjad Sheikh said that this dargah is ancient and this order is illegal in itself. In this case, communal forces had launched a campaign against the dargah, after which this order was issued.

There is a dargah on the beach and citing the threat of terrorist and illegal activities and the presence of terrorists here, there was a demand to demolish the dargah. The dargah is close to the sea and in such a situation, the threat of a terrorist attack on Mumbai from the sea has been expressed, while the dargah administration has clearly denied this and said that communal organizations are running their agenda against the dargah and there is no such threat. Muslims have opposed this decision of the government and Muslims have also expressed their displeasure and anger over it.

The trustee says that this dargah is ancient and earlier the collector and the municipal corporation had given a notice, after which the illegal shed and other premises were demolished here and the dargah administration has taken this action at its own level. Now an order has been issued to demolish the dargah itself.

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Maharashtra

Haji Ali Dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid due to rising sea level

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Mumbai: Due to rising sea level at Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims for a few hours on Eid. On March 31, the dargah will be closed for pilgrims from 12 noon to 3 pm. During this time, entry of pilgrims to the dargah will be restricted. The dargah will be closed on Tuesday, April 1 from 12:45 pm to 3:45 pm and on Wednesday, April 2 from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

Therefore, we have appealed to the pilgrims not to gather at the dargah during these hours. This information has been released by Tahir, administrative officer of Haji Ali Dargah. Pilgrims visit Haji Ali Dargah on Eid-Basi and Tiwasi, but due to the rising water level of the sea, water gets accumulated on the way to the Dargah and entry to the Dargah is prohibited and the gate of the Dargah remains closed during these days, due to which there is a lot of crowd there. Therefore, pilgrims have been requested to come to the Dargah only at the scheduled time.

The police also remains vigilant at the Dargah during the rising sea level, as there is a crowd of pilgrims here during Eid and festivals. The Haji Ali Dargah administration has said that on the occasion of Eid, lakhs of pilgrims visit the Dargah of Haji Ali (RahmatullahAlaih). These pilgrims include pilgrims from the country and abroad, so the Dargah administration has also claimed special security arrangements on Eid. Spiritual scenes are also seen at Haji Ali Dargah during Eid prayers.

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