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Supreme Court To Hear Mosque Committee’s Plea In Shahi Eidgah- Krishna Janmabhoomi Dispute On January 15

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The Supreme Court would on January 15 hear a plea of the mosque management committee against an order rejecting its petition in the Shahi Eidgah- Krishna Janmabhoomi dispute in Mathura, UP.

A single judge bench of the Allahabad High Court on August 1, last year, rejected the plea of the Committee of Management, Trust Shahi Masjid Eidgah, challenging the maintainability of 15 cases related to the temple-mosque dispute in Mathura, and ruled the “religious character” of Shahi Eidgah needed to be determined.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, on December 9, last year commenced the final hearing in the case and the matter is set to come up before the bench on January 15, according to the SC website.

One of the Hindu parties, represented by advocate Barun Sinha, had argued the mosque committee could have moved the Allahabad High Court against the single judge’s order over the dispute.

He said the plea of the mosque committee was not maintainable in the top court at the present stage.

The lawyer referred to the Allahabad High Court rules and argued, “In view of Chapter 8 of the Allahabad High Court Rules, a special appeal before the division bench of the high court would be maintainable.”

He said an appeal in the Supreme Court was not “maintainable against the order of a single judge bench of the high court” and an intra-court appeal in the high court should have been filed. The lawyer therefore sought the plea to be dismissed.

On November 29, last year, the CJI-led bench agreed to hear the plea.

“This we will hear at length. We will take it up on December 9, at 2 pm… We have to decide what is the legal position,” the CJI said.

Speaking for the bench, the CJI prima facie felt that an intra-court appeal would lie against the single judge bench’s August 1 order of the high court.

“We will certainly give you an opportunity to argue,” the bench said.

The mosque committee said the suits filed by Hindu litigants over the dispute over the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple, and the adjoining mosque, violated the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, and were therefore not maintainable.

The 1991 Act prohibits changing the religious character of any shrine from what existed on the day of the country’s Independence. The Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute was however kept outside it purview.

The cases filed by the Hindu party side seek the “removal” of the Aurangzeb-era mosque, claiming it was built after the demolition a temple that once stood there.

The high court said the 1991 Act did not define the term “religious character” and the “disputed” place couldn’t have a dual religious character — of a temple and a mosque, which are “adverse to each other” — at the same time.

“Either the place is a temple or a mosque. Thus, I find that the religious character of the disputed place as it existed on August 15, 1947, is to be determined by documentary as well as oral evidence led by both the parties,” the high court said.

The high court concluded the cases did “not appear to be barred by any provisions of the Wakf Act, 1995, the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, the Specific Relief Act, 1963, the Limitation Act, 1963 and Order XIII Rule 3A of the Code of Civil Procedure Code, 1908”.

Hindu side’s advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain had said his client would move the Supreme Court for vacating its stay on a previous Allahabad High Court order allowing the mosque’s survey.

The mosque management committee and the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board argued the suits were barred under Places of Worship Act and other laws.

On May 31, 2024, the Allahabad High Court reserved its judgment on the maintainability plea after hearing both sides.

But the court reopened the hearing at the request of Shahi Eidgah counsel Mehmood Pracha.

The Mathura dispute mirrors the legal tussle in Varanasi, where the Gyanvapi mosque and the Kashi Vishwanath temple are located next to each other.

National News

PM Modi urges people to stay calm after earthquake tremors shake Delhi-NCR

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New Delhi, Feb 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged residents of Delhi-NCR to stay calm and follow safety precautions after strong earthquake tremors were felt in the early hours of the day.

Taking to social media platform X, the Prime Minister wrote, “Tremors were felt in Delhi and nearby areas. Urging everyone to stay calm and follow safety precautions, staying alert for possible aftershocks. Authorities are keeping a close watch on the situation.”

The tremors, measuring a magnitude of 4.0 on the Richter scale, struck the region at around 5:36 a.m., causing panic among residents. The National Center for Seismology (NCS) reported the earthquake had a depth of 5 kilometres.

The earthquake hit at a latitude of 28.59 North and longitude of 77.16 East, with the impact felt across various parts of the National Capital Region (NCR), including Delhi, Noida, Indirapuram, and surrounding areas.

The NCS confirmed the tremors in a social media post, stating: “EQ of M: 4.0, On: 17/02/2025 05:36:55 IST, Lat: 28.59 N, Long: 77.16 E, Depth: 5 Km, Location: New Delhi, Delhi.”

Although the tremors lasted only a few seconds, their intensity was enough to unsettle residents. People in the affected areas reported feeling a sudden jolt, prompting many to take immediate safety measures, such as evacuating buildings and seeking shelter.

While no significant damage or casualties have been reported as of yet, authorities have assured that they are closely monitoring the situation and will continue to provide updates as needed.

However, Delhi-NCR falls under Seismic Zone IV, so the region remains susceptible to moderate to strong earthquakes. Residents are urged to stay alert and follow safety protocols during such events.

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Crime

Puducherry school teacher arrested for sexually assaulting six-year-old girl student

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Puducherry, Feb 15: Puducherry Police arrested a school teacher for sexually abusing a six-year-old girl student of his school. The teacher identified as Manikandan, who is teaching at a private school was arrested on Saturday.

The child is a Class 1 student in the private school where Manikantan teaches. The incident came to light when the girl complained of physical discomfort and was taken to a hospital, where doctors confirmed that she had been sexually harassed.

The girl’s parents and relatives alleged that the school administration and police failed to take action despite being informed about the incident.

Infuriated by this, over 200 locals and relatives of the child staged a protest and blocked the Puducherry-Cuddalore road, causing a three-hour traffic jam.

On information, the police arrived at the scene and held talks with the protesters after which Manikandan was arrested.

The police have registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and are investigating.

Earlier, three government school teachers of Tamil Nadu were arrested for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl at Panchayat Union Middle School in Bargur, Krishnagiri district. The crime, which occurred in early January, only came to light on February 3 when schoolteachers visited the girl’s home to inquire about her prolonged absence.

During their visit, the girl disclosed the sexual assault, which reportedly occurred inside a toilet on the school campus. Following her revelation, the school’s headmistress and the block education officer filed a complaint, leading to the arrest of the three accused teachers on February 4.

Krishnagiri District Collector Dhinesh Kumar confirmed that the girl is being provided mental health support by psychiatrists and psychologists.

The accused teachers have denied the charges but were suspended pending investigation.

In another shocking incident, Tamil Nadu Police have arrested a science teacher at a government school in Yercaud, Salem, for sexually abusing ten female students. The accused, Ilayakannu (37), was arrested by Yercaud Police and charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.

Ilayakannu, who taught science to students in classes 10 and 12, allegedly assaulted ten girls. The incident came to light when one of the victims gathered the courage to inform the school’s headmistress and demanded action against the teacher.

The headmistress immediately reported the matter to officials of the Education Department and the District Child Protection Unit. Following this, an inquiry team visited the school and conducted investigations with the students.

Preliminary inquiries confirmed that the teacher had abused ten students. Based on the complaint filed by the District Child Protection Unit, the Kondalampatti All Women’s Police Station registered a case under the POCSO Act and arrested Ilayakannu.

Further investigations are underway.

The incident sparked outrage, with former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) expressing shock. 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.

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Business

FM has given very clear picture of Indian economy, reforms: PM Modi

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New Delhi, Feb 15: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while responding to the debate on the Union Budget 2025-26 in the Parliament this week, has given a very clear picture of the Indian economy and ongoing reforms, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

“During her remarks in Parliament, Finance Minister @nsitharaman has given a very clear picture of the Indian economy and the reform trajectory we are undertaking,” PM Modi posted on social media platform X.

During the Budget debate in the Lok Sabha, the Union Finance Minister said the Indian economy will continue to be the world’s fastest-growing economy backed by the increase in the government’s capital expenditure in the Budget for 2025-26 and rising consumption levels, especially in the rural areas.

The Finance Minister said that the effective capital expenditure works out to 4.3 per cent of the GDP in the Budget for 2025-26 while the fiscal deficit is 4.4 per cent.

She further cited figures from the Budget to show that the capex allocation in the budget has increased to Rs 1.21 lakh crore, dismissing the opposition’s claim that the outlay has been reduced.

According to her, inflation management is the highest priority of this government and overall retail inflation is within the notified tolerance band of 2 per cent to 6 per cent.

During the Budget debate in the Rajya Sabha, FM Sitharaman said that the Budget for FY26 was prepared during a challenging time, with serious external challenges beyond estimates or forecasts.

“For decades, we have been talking about globalisation. Now we are facing the issue of fragmentation in the world. Everybody wants to have a free market but there are increasing tariff barriers. The world is growing through a major change,” said Finance Minister.

She further stated that there are no models that you can build and understand how the trends will be because they are very dynamic.

“Despite that, we have tried keeping the assessments as close as possible, keeping India’s interests as topmost. This immense uncertainty is still playing out and many Indian imports which are very critical for our economy to grow are also going to be left with uncertainty,” she mentioned.

The Budget has not reduced sectoral allocations and the effective capital expenditure during the next fiscal is estimated at Rs 19.08 lakh crore, according to FM Sitharaman.

She also introduced the new Income Tax Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha this week, as part of the tax reforms to streamline and simplify the provisions so that they are easier to understand and reduce the scope for legal disputes.

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