India

The Supreme Court today concluded its historic hearing on triple talaq, but reserved its order. The six-day hearing was conducted on a clutch of petitions challenging triple talaq, polygamy and 'nikah halala' and was heard by a five-member Constitution bench of the apex court which included judges from different religious communities including Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Christian, and Parsi.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court had suggested that the Centre could put in place a law to deal with issues, including triple talaq, instead of waiting for it to decide on the matter judicially, and wondered whether it is possible to give the Muslim woman the option to oppose instant divorce.

"We may or may not (decide the issue), but you do," said the constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi as the latter urged the court to step in a situation where there is no legislation.

The five-judge Constitution bench has asked the Centre as to why it did not legislate to regulate marriages and divorce among Muslims.

"You (Centre) said if court quashes triple talaq then you will make a law but why the government did not make a law for last 60 years?" the bench, also comprising justices Kurian Joseph, RF Nariman, UU Lalit and Abdul Nazeer, asked.

Rohatgi replied that the hallmark of a secular court was to reform without waiting for a legislation, when such matters come to it.

"I will do what I have to do but the question is what will you (court) do? I have given statement on instruction. I speak for the government and can't speak for parliament," he said reiterating that the top court was guardian of fundamental rights and has to see whether there was any violation of such rights.

Earlier on Wednesday, the bench asked the All India Muslim Personal Law Board if it was possible to give the woman the option, before she gives her consent to nikaah, that the marriage she was entering into would not be dissolved through instant triple talaq.

The apex court suggested whether a clause can be added on the Nikaah Nama to say that the marriage can't be dissolved by the husband by pronouncing instant triple talaq.

As Rohatgi referred to the Vishakha guidelines that were framed by the top court to protect women at the workplace in the absence of any law, Justice Kurian said that it was in the domain of a statute and not the constitution.

In an obvious comparison to the steps taken to reform Hindu practices, when the Attorney General referred to the abolition of Sati, infanticide and Devadasi system, Justice Kurian said that all those (abolitions) were legislatively decided. "Did the court do it? No, legislation got rid of it," Chief Justice Khehar observed.

The court described the issue before it as something not between the majority and the minority communities but an intra-minority issue of tussle between Muslim men and women - which he said was a tussle between haves (men) and have-nots (women).

Describing instant triple talaq as a "pernicious practice", Rohatgi urged the court to "step in as a guardian of the fundamental rights".

RJD President Lalu Prasad has made it clear that he wants the presence of party president Sonia Gandhi or her daughter Priyanka Gandhi on behalf of the Congress in a huge rally to be held against the BJP on August 27. But RJD supremo said in gestures that Rahul Gandhi could not be present at the rally.

Lalu had called on Sonia Gandhi on the morning of 17th May and requested that she join his rally in Gandhi Maidan in Patna. According to the report of The Telegraph, in a 10-minute conversation Laloo said, if we fail to come against the BJP, then it will end.

He said, RJD wants all anti-BJP parties to unite.

A source quoted Lalu, "Madam, you must come on 27th. I am trying to bring an ideological party to a stage so that the BJP can be defeated.

He said in his invitation, "You must definitely come, if you can not come for any reason, send Priyanka Gandhi to the rally."

Lalu did not say in direct words that he does not want Rahul Gandhi, but by saying this he cleared his intentions. Earlier, Lalu had rejected the idea of projecting Rahul as the Prime Minister in 2019.

He said that there are many other leaders of anti-BJP parties who are capable of this post. He had earlier told former SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee and Bihar's CM Nitish Kumar as "marginal".

During the Bihar assembly elections of 2015, Rahul was not ready to cooperate with RJD, but under the pressure of his mother, he had to do it.

Despite the alliance, Rahul and Lalu did not campaign together. On April 17 this year, on the occasion of the centenary of Champaran Satyagraha, Lalu and Rahul were last seen together on stage in Patna for the last time.

Lalu has announced that which will be held on August 27, will be a historic rally to shove the BJP, save the country. On Wednesday only Laloo had called Mamta Banerjee (already ready), Mulayam Singh and BSP supremo Mayawati.

He said that we should all be united against PM Narendra Modi by forgetting the differences.

Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave passed away suddenly on Thursday morning.

India Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences on Twitter, saying he was with Dave ''till late last evening''.

Sixty-year-old Dave complained of uneasiness at his home on Thursday morning and was rushed to AIIMS where he passed away, according to official sources. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha since 2009.

Only a day earlier, Dave had met a six-member delegation representing those protesting against the approval given for commercial use of genetically-modified mustard by the crop regulator.

He assured the protesters that their grievances would be addressed on the "right platform".

Colleagues from Dave’s party – Bharatiya Janata Party – took to Twitter to express their condolences. Most described him as soft spoken and kind.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and its counsel Kapil Sibal whether it was possible to give the bride the right to decline triple talaq at the time of the execution of the nikahnama.

The court also asked whether a "modern and model nikahnama" could be put in place "to provide for talaq."

"Why can't there be a modern and model nikahnama to provide for talaq? Can you ask your Qazis to have a model nikahnama? The new nikahnama can also do away with instant triple talaq and nikahnama," the SC told AIMPLB.

The court also asked the board if the Qazis at the ground level would follow its advisory to which the AIMPLB's lawyer Yusuf Muchala replied that the Qazis are not mandated to follow the board's advisory.

Yusuf Muchala added that the AIMPLB accepts the suggestions of the apex court with all humility and that it will look into it. The board also presented before the SC a resolution which said that the practice of triple talaq was a sin and that the Muslim community should boycott those who still follow the practice. The resolution was passed on April 14, 2017.

The AIMPLB lawyer also said that the board accepts the suggestions in all humility and will look into it. AIMPLB also showed SC a resolution passed on 14 April 2017 which says triple talaq is a sin and community should boycott person doing it.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal had told the apex court on Tuesday that the practice of triple talaq forms a part of faith under the Muslim law that has continued for centuries. He argued that it, therefore, cannot be tested by the apex court on the yardstick of violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

Sibal, who represented the AIMPLB, referred to Article 371A of the Constitution, which guarantees protection when it comes to matters of practice and customs of communities. He used the example of Lord Ram's birth in Ayodhya being a faith to defend triple talaq.

"That Ram was born in Ayodhya is a matter of faith, not Constitutional morality. Same is the case (with triple talaq)...The Constitution of India recognises 'personal law' of all religious denominations being communities and protects their faith by making them immune from challenge under Part III of the Constitution," Sibal told the five-judge Constitution bench on Tuesday.

"Triple talaq is there since 637 A.D. Who are we to say that this is un-Islamic. Muslims are practising it for last 1,400 years. It is a matter of faith. Hence, there was no question of constitutional morality and equity," he added.

The SC is hearing seven petitions, five of which have been filed by Muslim women, challenging the practice of triple talaq, polygamy and nikah halala within the Muslim community. The bench is headed by CJI Khehar and also comprises Justices Kurien Joseph, UU Lalit, RF Nariman and Abdul Nazeer.

Sibal, however, agreed with fellow AIMPLB counsel Yusuf Muchala's argument that triple talaq was "undesirable." Yusuf Muchala told the apex court that the practice "is an undesirable form of divorce. We are trying to educate people. We are working on it and we are advising people not to resort to the practice." Sibal agreed with him, saying: "We are not saying it is permanent or immutable. We are aware of the need to change. But we will do it in our own way. It is not for someone else to tell (us) what it is."

Sibal also referred to discrimination in Hindu law to support his defence of triple talaq. He said that the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 has put a ban on the practice of giving dowry to the groom's family during marriage. However, the Act does allow parents to give gifts to their daughters and therefore, this practice is continuing. "In case of Hindu law, you protect all customs. In case of Muslim law, you will say it violates provisions of the Constitution," Sibal told the court.

Justice Joseph asked why messengers needed to improvise on the practice if the Quran had already specified the divorce procedure. "Talaq is separation, which is conceived and well explained in the Koran. Then why go for anything else..What was the need for the messenger to lay down something when it is actually given in Koran," Joseph sought to know.

When Sibal replied saying that he did not know how to answer the question, Justice Joseph said that he was only trying to understand whether triple talaq was added to meet the need of the hour, which may not even exist in today's time.

The possible eviction of the Congress from its headquarters in central Delhi is being considered by the government, the Urban Development Ministry has said.

The party occupies four bungalows, including its head office at 24 Akbar Road, in the national capital, exceeding what it is entitled to, the ministry said in response to a Right to Information (RTI) query.

The other three bungalows are on 5 Raisina Road, 26 Akbar Road and C-II/109 Chanakyapuri. The Raisina Road bungalow is used by the Indian Youth Congress, while 26 Akbar Road and the Chanakyapuri quarters are used for party work.

The Directorate of Estates under the ministry said the allotment for the four was cancelled with effect from 26 June 2013.

The Congress was given land in June 2010 for building an office in the capital. The party was required to have the building constructed within three years of the land allotment and then vacate the four bungalows by June 2013.

The RTI reply said the All India Congress Committee had requested for an extension of three years and also to review the decision that it had to pay a 'damage rate of licence fee' with effect from 26 June 2013.

This rate, also referred to as the market rate of a bungalow, is considerably higher than the concessional rate that political parties enjoy.

The party has also requested the ministry to charge the 'normal rate of licence fee till further extended time', it said.

The request was under consideration in the ministry, the Directorate said in its reply to the RTI application filed by Delhi college student Aniket Gaurav, who said he was exercising his right to information to expose irregularities.

While the house at 5 Raisina Road (Type VII) has been under occupation since 5 July 1976, the one at Chanakyapuri has been in its possession since 23 February 1985.

The party's 24 Akbar Road office is under occupation from 18 July 1990 and the 26 Akbar Road bungalow since 8 March 1994.

The results of elections to seven municipal bodies in West Bengal have started trickling in, and early trends show that Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress is set to be the big winner of the day.

The victory for Mamata Banerjee's party comes at a time when the BJP is campaigning aggressively in the state to make inroads ahead of the General Elections in 2019.

Violence and booth-capturing were reported at some places during the polling day (Sunday) with the Opposition parties demanding scrapping of the elections.

The Opposition had alleged that the workers of Trinamool Congress (TMC) were involved in violence and booth capturing. The Trinamool Congress, however, rejected the charges and blamed the BJP for poll violence.

The seven municipalities which went to polls are Kurseong, Darjeeling and Mirik in Darjeeling district; Kalimpong in the newly announced Kalimpong district; Pujali in South 24 Parganas district; Raiganj in North Dinajpur district; and Domkal municipality in Murshidabad district.

In Mirik municipality in Darjeeling, the Trinamool Congress wins six of the nine wards. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has won the other three seats, reports ANI.

TMC workers celebrate after winning Mirik municipal election. TMC won 6 out of 9 wards, GJM won 3.

In Domkal municipality, the Trinamool Congress is leading in 18 of the 21 wards.

In Raiganj municipality, the Trinamool Congress is leading in 24 of the 27 wards.

In violence-hit Pujali municipality, the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is leading in nine of the 16 wards. Bombs were hurled at a polling booth in Pujali on Sunday when voting was underway.

The Narendra Modi government seems to be on a mission to crack down on senior leaders of the Opposition.

On Tuesday, 16 May, former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram was raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged criminal conspiracy in the grant of a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to INX Media.

On the same day, the Income Tax Department raided 22 locations with links to Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav. However, a defiant Lalu dared the government to take him on.

Meanwhile, Chidambaram and his son remained in news through the day. The CBI said it would look into other FIPB clearances granted during the senior Chidambaram's term as Union Finance Minister.

Sources said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is preparing to register a fresh case under the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

On Tuesday morning, the CBI booked Chidambaram's son Karti P Chidambaram, Sheena Bora murder accused media baron Peter Mukerjea and wife Indrani Mukerjea, the former owners of the INX Media and INX News, and unnamed Finance Ministry officials on charges of criminal conspiracy and cheating, among others.

Simultaneously, 16 premises in Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Gurugram and other cities were raided by the agency. The raids also targeted the residence of the former Union Minister.

At time of writing this report, the raids were still on at the offices of Chess Management Services, a company where Karti Chidambaram is a director.

Vineet Vinayak, Joint Director of the CBI, in a press briefing, said that the agency seized documents and hard drives during the course of searches. The CBI official said the investigations were in the preliminary stages, and everybody related to the investigations will be examined in due course, suggesting that the former minister may be interrogated by the agency.

P Chidambaram, meanwhile, did not speak to the media outside the Bengaluru High Court, he released a statement calling the raids an attempt to silence him. "The government, using the CBI and other agencies, is targeting my son and his friends,” he said in the statement.

Karti Chidambaram, too, told the media that the investigating agencies have no proof against him, and were just targeting him to stifle his father’s voice.

Several leaders of the Congress party, including general secretary Digvijaya Singh and spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, jumped to their colleague's defence, saying the former minister will not be cowed down by such acts.

Union Cabinet Minister and senior BJP leader Ananth Kumar, meanwhile, reacting to Chidambaram's allegations of vendetta, said, ''Only black money and corruption is being targeted.''

ED had registered a case against INX Media for suspected FEMA violations in 2010. The case was initiated when it was found that foreign entities based out of Mauritius bought INX shares at Rs 862.31 apiece, which was 86.2 times more than the face value.

The agency reportedly claimed that the FDI received by INX Media was invested in stepdown subsidiaries without approval of the FIPB. The ED is learnt to have come across these violations while it was investigating the financial dealings of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia.

The ED, which is probing FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis deal, in which Karti Chidambaram's name has cropped up, is learnt to have come across the role of Karti-linked firms in the FIPB approval granted to the INX Media and INX News, last year.

INX media group companies were also subjected to an inquiry by the Serious Fraud Investigations Office of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on its shareholding pattern.

Insiders also say that both the agencies had seen renewed coordination since Alok Verma took over as Director of the CBI.

After CBI raids, trouble is set to rise for former finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti as the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is likely to initiate a probe into the reported irregularities in foreign investment approval for a media firm in 2007.

CBDT chairman held a meeting with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) hours after Karti Chidambaram's house in Chennai and his office in Gurgaon and other places were raided by the CBI on Tuesday. Raids were also conducted at former media baron Peter Mukerjea's house in Worli, Mumbai.

"We received information on Karti some two years ago, we have been investigating the cases. We will act on all information shared by the CBI. We are monitoring the case on a regular basis and can call Karti for questioning as well," CBDT chairman told India Today.

According to sources Enforcement Directorate (ED) had shared information regarding Karti Chidambaram with concerned department two years ago. The Income Tax department will now take up the probe further on the basis of information gathered during Tuesday's raids.

It is alleged that Karti received money from INX Media, which was owned by Peter Mukerjea and Indrani Mukerjea, for using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) conditions to receive investment from Mauritius.

According to the CBI, INX Media clearly states in its records that Rs 10 lakh was given to Advantage Straetgic Consulting (P) Limited, a firm 'indirectly' owned by Karti, for management consultancy charged towards FIPB notification and clarification.

The FIR also alleges that invoices of approximately Rs 3.5 crore were raised in favour of INX group in the name of other companies in which Karti had substantial interests 'directly or indirectly'.

The Income Tax Department has launched an online facility to correct errors in names and other details in permanent account number (PAN) and Aadhaar document.

Alongside the facility to link biometric identifier Aadhaar with PAN, the department has also put two separate hyperlinks on its e-filing website, one to update changes in existing PAN data or for application of new PAN by an Indian or a foreign citizen.

The second hyperlink is for individuals who want to update Aadhaar details by logging into 'Aadhaar Self Service Update Portal' using the unique identity number. The individual can then upload scanned documents as proof for data update request. Over 1.22 crore assessees already have Aadhaar-linked PAN but the number is abysmally low as there are over 25 crore PAN card holders in the country, while Aadhaar has been issued to 111 crore people.

As per statistics with the tax department, only 6 crore people file income tax returns at present.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, through an amendment to the Finance Bill for 2017-18, had made Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns and provided for linking of PAN with Aadhaar to curb tax evasion through use of multiple PAN cards.

Last week, the income tax department launched a facility to enable a taxpayer to link his Aadhaar and PAN. It required a person to put in PAN and Aadhaar number along with his name as per the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) data.

After verification from the UIDAI, the linking will be confirmed. In case of any minor mismatch in Aadhaar name provided, Aadhaar OTP (one-time password) will be sent to the mobile number registered with the UIDAI. Additionally, the income tax department has now launched a facility to correct anomalies in PAN or Aadhaar document.

The Indian monsoon, upon which rides the lives of a billion people, as also a significant chunk of the country's GDP, is the hottest topic of discussion in the country at the moment. And if forecast from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) is to be believed, most hearts in the country will be heartened by the southwest monsoon, scheduled to arrive in India in three weeks' time.

On 18 April, the IMD released its first forecast regarding the southwest rains, and said India will experience a "normal" monsoon. It expected 96 percent rainfall over the next four months, with a margin of five percent.

As of 14 May, the southwest monsoon has advanced into some parts of southeast Bay of Bengal, Nicobar Islands, entire Andaman Sea and parts of north Andaman sea. The IMD forecast stated that the conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into some more parts of the region during the next 72 hours. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is predicted at isolated places over Andaman and Nicobar islands.

This would have come as especially good news given the state of acute drought large parts of India find themselves in. The IMD had also said the rainfall will be evenly distributed across the country.

More importantly, however, the IMD also discounted the possibility of El Nino hampering the monsoon season, saying the storm could only build towards the end of the season. A strong El Nino could have played havoc with India's Kharif crop season, which would have been particularly problematic since a majority of India's agricultural production consists of rain-fed Kharif crops like rice, maize, bajra, soybean, groundnut, cotton, sugarcane, jute, tur, urad, moong, etc.

El Nino is a phenomenon associated with warming of Pacific waters, but despite the IMD initially declaring its chances to be low, it cannot be discounted altogether. Ministry of Earth Sciences secretary Madhavan Nair Rajeevan said the climatological models indicate that the situation predicted in April could improve slightly. "There are modest chances of occurence of El Nino. However, we need to see the data of May after which will come up with the second forecast in the first week of June," he said.

Moreover, the monsoon would not only be above average, it may also start earlier than normal. PV Joseph, an acclaimed researcher and former director of IMD, told The Hindu Business Line that the monsoon may make landfall in Kerala by 25 May. Joseph, who, the report said, is often consulted by the IMD, based his assessment of the onset prospect on the observed "pre-monsoon rain peak" phenomenon, represented by a band of raining cloud extending from Kerala eastwards into the Bay of Bengal.

On Wednesday, however, the IMD went a step even further, revising its earlier forecast and now predicted a "higher than average" rainfall. Speaking to the news agency IANS, IMD director general KJ Ramesh said an update will be known only in June.

"From the current trend, where the strong El Nino is weakening, the monsoon may increase. We will still have to wait and watch though," Ramesh said.

According to the IMD official, the actual status of rainfall depends on the eventual status of El Nino and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) activities. The pattern suggests that a moderate or strong El Nino and a positive IOD results in good rainfall. El Nino is a climatic phenomenon which is the warm phase of the cycle in the Pacific Ocean and IOD is a climate event occurring over the equatorial Indian Ocean. Both impact the monsoon.

Meanwhile, private weather forecaster Skymet said that the monsoon would be not more than 98 percent, or in normal conditions around 97 percent. "However, there are no chances of a 100 percent rainfall," Mahesh Palawat, director Skymet, told IANS.

He added that the season will be good for the farmers anyway. "There are no heavy pre-monsoon rains to destroy the wheat during harvest season, and by June, the time of planting the paddy, rainfall would range from good to moderate," Palawat said.

He added that while eastern and central India would see normal monsoon, the pattern in northwest region ''Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and parts of western Uttar Pradesh'' where monsoon had been below normal for past two years, will see a comparative weaker monsoon.

"But these areas have irrigation facilities, which would balance the water consumption with the rainfall," Palawat added.