New Delhi, Feb 14: The Centre is yet to file its counter affidavit to a clutch of petitions pertaining to the Places of Worship Act, 1991, though the Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday the 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.

As per the causelist published on the website of the apex court, a bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna, Sanjay Kumar and K.V. Viswanathan will resume hearing the matter on February 17.

In an application filed before the apex court on January 21, the Committee of Management of Mathura’s Shahi Masjid Eidgah pleaded that the right of the Centre to file its reply in the matter should be closed. The application said that in an order passed on December 12, 2024, the apex court noticed that the Union government had not filed its reply to the petitions challenging the 1991 Act for over three years and directed that a common counter affidavit be filed by the Centre within four weeks.

The mosque committee said that the Union of India is “deliberately” not filing its counter affidavit with the intention to delay the hearing, and thereby, obstructing those who are opposing the challenge to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 in filing their respective written submissions, as the stand of the Centre would have a bearing on the same.

The Shahi Masjid Eidgah’s application contended that since the Supreme Court has fixed the date of hearing of the batch of petitions as February 17, “it would be in the interest of justice if the right of the Union of India to file its counter affidavit/ reply/pleadings/submissions is closed”.

In March 2021, a Bench headed by then Chief Justice of India (CJI) 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 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.”

It further added, “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.”

In an interim order passed on December 12, 2024, CJI Sanjiv Khanna-led Special Bench had 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.

The CJI-Khanna bench had asked the Union government to file within four weeks its reply to the batch of petitions challenging the validity of the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions), 1991.

New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday announced that the state will ‘completely’ roll out the new criminal laws within the next six months. This came following a review meeting in the North Block with Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the implementation process of the new provisions.

Speaking to reporters, Fadnavis shared that Maharashtra has already made significant strides in implementing the new laws and mentioned that 27 vans have been deployed to enhance forensic infrastructure for cases older than seven years.

Additionally, he stated that the state has established online systems for courts, but under the new provisions, dedicated and designated cubicles needed to be set up in courts and forensic labs.

Furthermore, Fadnavis said that 90 per cent of Maharashtra’s police force, which consists of 2 lakh personnel, has already been trained to implement the new laws.

“Today, Union HM Amit Shah called a review meeting regarding the three criminal laws… The HM reviewed how we are working on the new provisions in the laws. On behalf of the state of Maharashtra, we informed him we have deployed 27 vans for the forensic infrastructure for cases older than seven years… We have established online systems for courts, but according to the new law, we have to set up a designated, dedicated and notified cubicle in courts and forensic labs. We have started working on this, and it will be completed in the next 6 months,” the Maharashtra CM stated.

“Cases will be heard in court via videoconferencing, and the accused will not have to be presented in court time and again… It was a good meeting… We will completely roll out the new laws in the next 6 months,” he added.

The three new criminal laws come under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023; Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023; and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023.

These laws were conceptualised with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to replace colonial-era laws that persisted post-independence and to reform the judicial system by shifting the focus from punishment to justice.

The new criminal laws, which were implemented nationwide on July 1, 2024, aim to make India’s legal system more transparent, efficient, and adaptable to the needs of contemporary society. These landmark reforms represent a historic overhaul of India’s criminal justice system, bringing in new frameworks to tackle modern-day challenges such as cybercrime and organised crime and ensuring justice for victims of various offences.

According to the Union Home Minister, Chandigarh became the first city in the country to fully implement the new criminal laws.

New Delhi, Feb 14: Dishing out data on the AAP government’s good financial performance, outgoing Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Friday sought to plug any chance for the next BJP government offering an excuse of lack of funds for not implementing schemes like Rs 2,500 monthly financial assistance to women.

Addressing the media here, Acting Chief Minister Atishi took pains to justify the AAP government’s freebies or free social welfare schemes, dispelling doubts that the Arvind Kejriwal brand of welfare politics did not mean ‘bad economics’.

The Acting Chief Minister said she was sharing the data about the AAP government’s good economic performance so that BJP leaders do not blame the outgoing government for the alleged poor state of finances and delay the implementation of the BJP’s poll promises.

“I hope the new BJP government will not make financial excuses and fulfil all its promises made to women and others,” she said.

She said Delhi’s Budget outlay under Central rule in 2014-15 was Rs 31,000 crore and under the Congress government in 2009-10 the outlay was Rs 25,000 crore, she said.

After the 10-year rule under the AAP government, in 2024-25 the city’s Budget outlay was Rs 77,000 crore, marking a rise of 2.5 times, she said.

Talking about the debt that the AAP government acquired in legacy from the previous Congress government, she said the debt to GDP ratio in 2014 was 6.6 per cent and it came down in 2023 to 3.9 per cent and in 2024 the figure stood at 3 per cent.

“Under Arvind Kejriwal, the city’s debt to GDP ratio was halved from 6.6 per cent to 3 per cent,” she said, highlighting how well the AAP government managed the finances.

Acting CM Atishi also tried to showcase the poor performance of BJP governments in other states by sharing debt to GDP ratio in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

“In BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, the debt to GDP ratio is 32.5 per cent and in Madhya Pradesh, the debt to GDP ratio is 33 per cent,” she said.

She also highlighted a CAG report in 2022 which complemented the AAP-led Delhi government for being the only revenue-surplus state in the country since 2015.