Connect with us
Sunday,11-October-2026
Breaking News

National News

SC judge, part of judgments upholding PMLA provisions, decriminalising gay sex, retires

Published

on

Supreme Court judge, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar — who has been part of several crucial judgments including the Aadhaar case, most recently the one upholding several provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and also the one where the court upheld SIT’s clean chit to then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots — retired on Friday.

Justice Khanwilkar, who was sitting with Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and two other judges on the ceremonial bench, said: “As parting words I will only say thank you to all for the love and affection. Thank you so much. God bless you.”

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Vikas Singh said Justice Khanwilkar is known as a “workaholic” and added: “It is always difficult for us when a judge retires… He has been there as a colleague of ours. As members of this Bar, we used to share our chambers in the same corridor in the Supreme Court.”

Singh said the age of 65 years is very young for a Supreme Court judge to retire.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is down with Covid, appeared virtually, said the Attorney General is also down with Covid-19, otherwise he would have expressed his views on Justice Khanwilkar.

Mehta said: “We will miss the smile on his face. Everyone will agree with me that even while dismissing a petition, he would do this with a smile on his face… never left the courtroom with bitterness.”

Senior advocate Harish Salve, who was appearing virtually, said: “It has been an honour and pleasure of knowing Justice Khanwilkar for almost four decades as a colleague… I would say only one thing, that please treat it as the beginning of a second inning and not a retirement.”

Justice Khanwilkar, authored the verdict upholding the Enforcement Directorate’s powers to arrest, attachment of property, search and seize under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

He was also part of a constitution bench which declared that the central government’s flagship Aadhaar scheme is constitutionally valid but struck down some of its provisions — linking it to bank accounts, mobile phones, and school admissions.

He was part of the bench, which, in 2018, held Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) , which criminalised consensual gay sex, as “irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary”.

The bench struck down part of the British-era law that criminalised consensual sex on the ground that it violated the constitutional right to equality and dignity.

Recently, a bench headed by Justice Khanwilkar upheld the SIT’s clean chit to Modi and 63 others in the 2002 Gujarat riots. The top court said the SIT investigation into 2002 Gujarat riots revealed that no material was discovered pointing to a meeting of minds in the higher echelons, or the political establishment conspired with other persons to cause riots or turned a Nelson’s eye when the riots were raging.

In a judgment on petitions challenging provisions of the FCRA Amendment Act in April this year, a bench headed by Justice Khanwilkar said that receiving foreign donations cannot be an absolute or even a vested right, and free and uncontrolled flow of foreign contributions has the potential of impacting the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.

Justice Khanwilkar was also part of the five-judge constitution bench, which paved the way for entry of women of all ages into the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in Kerala. He was also part of a constitution bench which ruled adultery is no longer a crime in India.

Justice Khanwilkar was elevated as an apex court judge in May 2016. He was born on July 30, 1957 in Pune, and did LLB from a law college in Mumbai. He was appointed the Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh on April 4, 2013, and later the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on November 24, 2013.

National News

Regime change certain in 2027: Akhilesh lashes out at BJP, Election Commission

Published

on

Lucknow, Oct 11: The Samajwadi Party (SP) Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday asserted that a change of power was certain in 2027 Assembly elections and criticized the Election Commission (EC) over alleged police action on the protesters in the national capital.

Speaking to the press, after paying respects to Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan at the Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre (JPNIC) in Lucknow on latter’s birth anniversary, the SP supremo said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be shown the door by people in 2027 Uttar Pradesh polls and the ‘partisan’ Election Commission won’t be able to save its ‘sinking’ fortunes.

Swearing by the Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan (JP)’s ‘Total Revolution’ (Sampoorna Kranti) slogans, Akhilesh Yadav said that the movement remains relevant even today for challenging the regime and his party will bring out the ‘desired’ result by walking down that path.

“The process of change has begun. The anguish among the public will accelerate the process of change,” he added, after garlanding the statue of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan at the memorial.

The SP supremo also took a swipe over Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the Ayodhya seat, days after he challenged the latter to contest the elections from the holy city.

Responding to the Chief Minister’s questions regarding Ayodhya, Akhilesh Yadav said that “arrogant individuals” would not be able to withstand the strength of his ‘PDA’ (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak—Backward, Dalit, and Minority) alliance.

The SP Chief said that the public is now familiar with the BJP’s politics and the party will have to give befitting reply to its actions.

He claimed that a change would occur in 2027 and that the process has already begun.

He said that the BJP is rattled by political strength of the PDA and questioned the role of Election Commission.

He said that EC’s duty is to encourage maximum voter participation and ensure a smooth voting process.

Raising the issue of the alleged assault on residents of Uttar Pradesh in Delhi, Akhilesh Yadav questioned the Election Commission’s accountability and demanded its resignation.

Continue Reading

Crime

Newlywed poisons husband, 3 family members in Maharashtra Jalgaon

Published

on

Jalgaon, Oct 11: A shocking incident has come to light in Maharashtra Jalgaon district, where a newlywed woman attempted to kill her husband and three members of his family by mixing rat poison into their food just two days after their wedding, officials said on Sunday.

Police have arrested two women, including the bride, who were allegedly attempting to flee after the incident. The case came to light after the affected family members fell ill, prompting police to launch an investigation into the suspected poisoning and the circumstances surrounding the women’s disappearance.

The incident took place in Velhane village in Parola taluka of Jalgaon district. According to officials, the couple got married on October 7, and the alleged poisoning occurred on October 9, the third day of their wedding celebrations.

Police said the bride allegedly mixed rat poison into the food prepared for her husband and his family members. After the food was consumed, she reportedly left the house with another woman, taking some jewellery and the money received during the wedding with her.

The incident came to light when members of the family began experiencing health problems after consuming the food. The elders of the house were subsequently admitted to a government hospital in Dhule for treatment, officials said.

After receiving information about the suspected poisoning, police reached the spot and initiated an investigation into the incident.

The incident triggered anger among the family members and local residents, who gathered outside the police station and blocked the road. They demanded that the two women be arrested and that appropriate charges be filed against them.

The police intensified their efforts to locate the accused. The two women, who were allegedly trying to escape, were eventually detained near Nimgul village in Dhule district, officials said.

After their arrest, preliminary details emerged about the accused women’s backgrounds. Police found that the bride, identified as Suman Subhash Sahni, was a resident of Jharkhand. The other woman, identified as Aarti Suryaksh Patel, was also reportedly from Jharkhand.

It was also reported that the man had married Suman after paying Rs 2.5 lakh.

Police are investigating the allegations and gathering further details to establish the exact circumstances of the incident.

Continue Reading

Crime

Gujarat Police nab three more accused in Punjab’s Mad Sandhu murder case

Published

on

Ahmedabad/Valsad, Oct 11: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Valsad Special Operations Group (SOG) have arrested three men wanted in connection with the murder of social media influencer and makeup artist Madhu Sudan Singh alias Mad Sandhu, who was shot dead in Punjab Amritsar earlier this month.

The three accused, identified as Harsimranjit Singh alias Simu Singga, Fateh Singh and Arman Singh, were detained in Vapi in Valsad district following a joint operation by the state police units.

According to the Gujarat ATS, Mad Sandhu was shot dead by two unidentified persons near a car washing centre on Lorahka Road in Amritsar on October 3.

“A case was subsequently registered at Cantonment Police Station in Amritsar City,” officials said.

The ATS received information about the suspects from senior officials of the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) in Punjab, who shared details of the case with their counterparts in Gujarat.

Following instructions from senior officers, an investigation was initiated under the supervision of Superintendent of Police (SP) K. Siddharth, with Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Harsh Upadhyay and Police Inspector Krupesh Patel leading the investigation.

The inquiry revealed that the three men allegedly involved in the murder were in Vapi.

Harsimranjit Singh, Fateh Singh, and Arman Singh, are all originally from Sange village under Sadar Police Station in Tarn Taran district of Punjab.

Given the possibility that the suspects could leave the area, the ATS shared their profiles, location details and other relevant information with the Valsad SOG.

Police Inspector D.D. Parmar and his team subsequently detained all three men in Vapi.

A Gujarat ATS team comprising Police Inspector J.N. Chavda, Police Sub-Inspector M.L. Solanki, Police Sub-Inspector K.R. Patel, Police Sub-Inspector V.B. Khant and other personnel then brought them to the ATS office for questioning.

“During interrogation, investigators gathered details about the alleged roles of the three accused in the murder, the reconnaissance conducted before the shooting and other aspects of the case,” the ATS said.

The Punjab Police was subsequently informed of their detention.

On October 10, a Punjab Police team arrived at the Gujarat ATS office, took custody of the three accused and transported them to Punjab for further legal proceedings.

The investigation into the murder is being pursued by the Punjab Police.

Earlier, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested Parminder Prasad alias Parminder Kaka, the alleged main shooter in the murder, in the Vadaj area of Ahmedabad on October 8, following an input from the Amritsar Police.

According to Crime Branch officials, Parminder allegedly opened fire on Mad Sandhu and arranged the motorcycle used in the attack.

Punjab Police subsequently took him to Amritsar for further investigation, while investigators were also probing the suspected links of the killing with the network of foreign-based gangster Goldy Dhillon.

Continue Reading

Trending