DY Chandrachud and PS Narasimha Archives - Lokmarg

Manipur Violence: SC Seeks Fresh Status Report From Govt

By LokMarg 3rd July 2023

The Supreme Court on Monday sought an updated status report from the State of Manipur regarding the present situation and measures taken to curb the violence in the State.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices PS Narasimha, and Manoj Misra directed the State to update the position regarding rehabilitation camps, recovery of arms and law and order.
The bench posted the matter for hearing on July 10 and asked the government to file a detailed status report.

The apex court was hearing a petition filed by the Manipur Tribal Forum, Delhi seeking the protection of the Kuki tribe by the Indian Army.

At the outset, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the Manipur Tribal Forum, told the bench that situation in Manipur has worsened.

Solicitor General of India, appearing for the State, however, told the apex court that the “situation is improving, though slowly”.

Solicitor General said that the curfew has been reduced to 5 hours a day, which indicates an improvement.

Civil police, Manipur Commandos, Indian reserve battalions and 114 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are among those deployed in areas of violence in Manipur, he added.

Solicitor General also requested advocate Gonsalves, the counsel of Manipur Tribal Forum, to not give any communal angle like Christians or something as real human beings are being dealt with.

“My learned friend (Gonsalves) may not give this a communal angle- like Christians or something. Real human beings are being dealt with,” said Solicitor General.

He alleged that one leader from the Meitei group came to an interview hosted by Karan Thapar and gave open threats against Kukis.

“Last night, three tribals were killed and one was beheaded, the first beheading of tribals. These are the Meities, they are the dominant group… The Kukis are not attacking. The Kukis are in the villages defending. The armed groups are crossing the lines. Army released two press statements saying women gather in large numbers and stop the army and they are not allowed to do their duty and protect the people,” claimed Gonsalves.

Counsel appearing for Meities Organisation said that there should be an investigation into the source of assault weapons and the militant groups behind the violence.

“The suspicion is that the militants have come out of the shelters and are fighting, otherwise how will you explain the assault weapons? There should be a headcount of the militants. Union of India should look into this aspect,” he said.

The Manipur Tribal Forum filing an interlocutory application has that the Centre and State governments’ assurances to the apex court in the case concerning the recent outbreak of violence in Manipur are false and non-serious and it shall not rely on the “empty assurances” of governments.

The application asked for the protection of the tribe by the Indian Army saying the State and its Police force are not trusted by the tribe.

It sought “directions to be passed to the Indian Army to take full control of the law and order and public order situation in the districts of Churachanpur, Chandel, Kangpokpi, Imphal East, and Imphal West.”

The forum expressed no-confidence in the commission of inquiry constituted by the Centre under the head of former Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Ajai Lamba and urged that it be quashed and replaced by a single-member commission comprising former Delhi High Court Chief Justice and Law Commission chairperson, AP Shah.

It sought the constitution of an SIT headed by former Assam police chief Harekrishna Deka and an ex-gratia payment of Rs two crore to the kin of each of those killed within three months. The application also demanded a permanent government job for a member of the families of those slain.

The top court seized the cases relating to the violence in Manipur and sought status reports from the Centre and State on the relief and rehabilitation efforts for the people affected by the violence between Meitei and Kuki communities.

Earlier, the top court expressed concern over the loss of lives and properties in Manipur during the violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities and stressed taking adequate measures to restore normalcy there.

On March 27, the High Court directed the State to consider the inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes list.

The violence in Manipur between the Hindu Meiteis and the tribal Kuki, who are Christians, erupted after a rally by the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) on May 3.

Violence has gripped the entire State for over a month now and the Central government had to deploy paramilitary forces to bring the situation under control. (ANI)

Hope To See Legal Stamp On Rainbow Marriages Of Our Children: Parents Of LGBTQIA+ Children

By LokMarg 25th April 2023

In a letter to the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, the parents of Indian LGBTQIA+ children appealed to consider the plea for Marriage Equality and added that “we hope to see the legal stamp on rainbow marriages of our children in our lifetime.”

The letter written by the parents of Indian LGBTQIA+ children from a group named Sweekar – The Rainbow Parents, stated, “We desire to see our children and our children-in-law find legal acceptance for their relationship under the Special Marriages Act in our country. We are certain that a nation as big as ours, which respects its diversity and stands for the value of inclusion, will open its legal gates of Marriage Equality to our children too. We are growing old. Some of us will touch 80 soon. We hope that we get to see the legal stamp on the rainbow marriages of our children in our lifetime.”
Sweekar – The Rainbow Parents is a support group for parents of LGBTQIA+ by parents of LGBTQIA+ to help navigate their journey towards acceptance. There are more than 400+ parents from the length and breadth of the nation.

The letter further stated, “We are appealing to you to consider the plea for Marriage Equality.”

“From knowing about gender and sexuality to understanding the lives of our children, to finally accepting their sexuality and their loved one – we have gone through the whole gamut of emotions. We empathise with those who are opposing Marriage Equality because some of us were there too. It took us education, debate, and patience with our LGBTQIA+ children to realize that their lives, feelings, and desires are valid,” the parents said.

“Similarly, we hope that those who oppose Marriage Equality will come around too. We have faith in the people of India, the constitution and the democracy of our nation,” said the parents of Indian LGBTQIA+ children.

On September 6, 2018, the Supreme Court of India read down section 377 to decriminalize consensual sexual relationships. In doing so, with its statements, it ascertained that their children should be treated with dignity and acceptance, The Rainbow Parents said.

The letter further said that Gender and Sexuality made to election manifestos and corporate India has also begun opening up gradually to the idea of queer lives.

“Society is a changing and evolving phenomenon. Just as a rising tide lifts all boats, the judgment by the honourable Supreme Court created a ripple effect on society and has helped move the needle from hate to tolerance to acceptance,” the rainbow parents said. (ANI)

Don’t Mess Around With My Authority: SC To Lawyer

By LokMarg 11th April 2023

“Don’t mess around with my authority,” said Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Tuesday to a lawyer who was trying to mention a matter to get an early date of hearing.

The counsel mentioned the matter for an early listing of his case, but the CJI said, “The matter is already listed for hearing on April 17.”
The counsel then sought to mention the case before another bench. To which the CJI asked the counsel, “Your date is 17th, you want to mention it before another bench to get a date of 14th?”

The counsel then told the bench that a similar matter was taken up on Monday by the court and some fresh matters were also mentioned.

“If it is listed for 17th it will come on 17th. Don’t mess around with my authority,” said the CJI.

The CJI further told him, “Do not play these tricks with me. You can’t mention it here and then elsewhere for an earlier date.”

Earlier in March, there was a heated exchange of words as the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud lost his calm at the Supreme Court Bar Association president Vikas Singh while hearing a land allotment matter relating to lawyers’ chambers.

An exchange of words was witnessed when the SCBA President stressed for listing a matter before a bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud.

SCBA President Vikas Singh apprised the court that they are struggling to get the matter listed for the last six months.

When the SCBA President urged for listing the matter, he also said that they have to take it to the judge’s residence if the matter did not get listed.

CJI Chandrachud lost his temper and asked the senior lawyer, “Is this the way to behave?”

“I will not be cowered down by you,” CJI DY Chandrachud said adding that he has been in this profession for 22 years and never allowed himself to be browbeaten by a member of the Bar, litigant or anyone else and will not let that happen in the last two years of his profession.

SCBA President also refused to maintain silence. Thereafter, the court said that it will list the matter on March 17 but not as item 1 in the cause list.

During the mention of cases, the SCBA president urged the court to list the matter early as the matter is not listed for six months. Senior Advocate said that the Appu Ghar land came under the Apex court premise on the petition by the SCBA but the Bar got only one block (ANI)

SC Declines Urgent Hearing On Joshimath Subsidence

By LokMarg 10th January 2023

Everything important in the country can’t come to Supreme Court, said the top court on Tuesday as it declined an urgent hearing of the plea relating to the Joshimath sinking incident.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and PS Narasimha said there are democratically elected institutions to look into the issue, as it posted the hearing for January 16.
“Everything which is important need not come to the apex court. There are democratically elected institutions working on it,” the top court said.

The court said this after the lawyer appearing for the petitioner mentioned the matter for an urgent hearing.

Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court asked an advocate to mention on Tuesday a plea seeking immediate intervention by the top court to assist the reparation and providing of urgent relief to people of Joshimath in Uttarakhand, who are living in fear in the wake of a landslide and subsidence.

The plea was filed by Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, a religious leader, seeking a direction to declare the current incidents of landslide, subsidence, land sinking, land burst, and cracks in the land and properties as a national disaster and direct the National Disaster Management Authority to support the residents of Joshimath at this time.

Several families were evacuated from Joshimath after cracks appeared in their houses in the wake of the subsidence.

The petition sought to provide immediate financial assistance and compensation to the people of Uttarakhand, who have lost their houses and land to subsidence.

“In the name of and/or for the cause of development the respondents have no right to push the people in the mouth of death and the religious sacred town in extinction and thereby infringe the fundamental right of the people of the Joshimath including the petitioner as well as inmates of his Monastery guaranteed under article 21, 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India,” it stated.

The entire mess of environmental, ecological, and geological disturbances occurred due to large-scale manly intervention in the form of Industrialisation, urbanization, and destruction of natural resources by the Union and State government in the State of Uttarakhand, the petition stated further.

It added, “No development is needed at the cost of human life and their ecosystem and if anything such is happening it is the duty of the State and Union government to stop the same immediately at war level.”

The petition was filed to “secure the life and personal liberty of the people of Joshimath town in the Chamoli District of Uttarakhand, wherein the life of the people is lurching large due to imminent and sudden cases of land subsidence, land sliding, the sudden eruption of water, cracking of houses and subsidence and cracking of agriculture plots resulted on account of man-made activities which given rise to recurrent natural calamities which were earlier very rare”.

“Issue direction to the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to provide insurance coverage to the residents of Joshimath and to duly compensate the affected residents for the disaster caused by land sliding, land sinking, land burst, subsidence resulting into the cracking of houses and lands,” it added.

It also sought direction from the SC to the NTPC and Border Road Organisation (BRO) to rehabilitate the affected citizens at safer and more convenient places.

“Direct Centre, National Disaster Management Authority, Uttarakhand to take effective and proactive steps to protect the spiritual and religious and cultural places of Hindus including Sikhs at Joshimath; especially the Jyotirmath and adjoining sacred shrines/temples wherein deities are being worshipped since time immemorial,” the plea read.

“Direct the respondents to immediately stop construction and building work of the Tapovan Vishnugad Hydro Electric, Project tunnel and not to begin again till the high-level committee of geologists, hydrologists and engineers constituted by this court,” it added. (ANI)