New Delhi: After a Surat court rejected Rahul Gandhi's appeal in a defamation case involving his "Modi surname" remark, the Congress party criticised the decision on Thursday, calling it "erroneous and unsustainable" and claiming the judge seemed "over-shadowed" by the high office of the prime minister.
Abhishek Singhvi, a senior Congress spokesperson, said the party would appeal to the High Court "very shortly" because the ruling is "fallacious" and "contrary to all basic principles of law."
Rahul Gandhi's petition for judicial review of his two-year prison term for defamation was denied by the court of Additional Sessions Judge R P Mogera.—Inputs from Agencies

After a Surat court rejected Rahul Gandhi's appeal in a defamation case involving his "Modi surname" remark, the Congress party criticised the decision on Thursday, calling it "erroneous and unsustainable" and claiming the judge seemed "over-shadowed" by the high office of the prime minister.

Surat court dismissing Rahul Gandhi's plea 'erroneous, unsustainable'; will challenge: Cong

New Delhi: The Delhi government petitioned the Supreme Court on Friday, claiming LG V K Saxena has failed to nominate the head of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC).
The Office of the Lieutenant Governor's chief secretary received notice from the bench consisting of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha.
Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the AAP administration, argued that Saxena had been dragging his feet on the issue because he wanted a legal advice to see if he needed the approval of the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court to appoint the judge.—Inputs from Agencies

The Delhi government petitioned the Supreme Court on Friday, claiming LG V K Saxena has failed to nominate the head of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC).

SC notices LG office on Delhi govt's DERC chairman appointment request

New Delhi [India]: The Supreme Court on Thursday resumed hearing on the bail plea of Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia in liquor policy irregularities matter. Senior Advocate AM Singhvi took the Supreme Court through the evidence related to the case and told the apex court that the allegations were hearsay and none of them pointed to the petitioner. 
He said that Vijay Nair is not an associate of the petitioner. Notably, he is one of the accused in the Delhi excise policy case. The money laundering case has arisen from a CBI FIR which was lodged after Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the new excise policy in 2021 which was later scrapped. Singhvi also apprised SC about a news report related to the court asking the Enforcement Directorate why AAP was not made an accused.
Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to explain why the political party, which was allegedly the beneficiary of the Delhi Excise Policy 'scam', has not been made an accused in the money laundering case. However, the Supreme Court clarified that yesterday's query was not meant to implicate anyone but a legal question if 'A' and 'B' are implicated and 'C' is a beneficiary, then why 'C' can't be prosecuted in the matter. SV Raju, arguing for CBI, said that Delhi liquor policy was formed in such a manner to deliberately benefit wholesalers, who have paid the prime amount. He also took the court through the differences between the old and the new excise policy and said that the policy was allegedly modified to make particular persons the wholesalers. A bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice SVN Bhatti is hearing the matter.
—ANI

The Supreme Court on Thursday resumed hearing on the bail plea of Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia in liquor policy irregularities matter.

Supreme Court resumes hearing on bail plea of AAP leader Manish Sisodia

New Delhi: The grand old Congress party announced on Wednesday the first list of candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha Biennial Elections to be held in various states. According to an official release from the All India Congress Committee (AICC), "Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the candidature of Sonia Gandhi from Rajasthan and Dr. Akhilesh Prasad Singh from Bihar." Additionally, Abhishek Manu Singhvi has been fielded from Himachal Pradesh and Chandrakant Handore from Maharashtra. Sonia Gandhi, who filed her nomination on Wednesday is the Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, and has been repeatedly elected to Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh. The move to file nominations for Rajya Sabha comes ahead of Lok Sabha polls expected to be held in April-May this year. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was last elected to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan, is retiring in April this year. Akhilesh Prasad Singh was he was elected to Rajya Sabha from Bihar in 2018. He was appointed Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee President on 5th December 2022. Abhishek Manu Singhvi is a senior advocate and a current Member of the Rajya Sabha representing West Bengal. He is also a spokesperson for the Congress. Chandrakant Handore had represented Chembur in 12th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. In February 2021, Handore was appointed as a Working President of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. He is a former cabinet minister for Social Justice of the Government of Maharashtra. He was elected Mayor of Mumbai for the period 1992 to 1993. The last day of filing nomination papers in February 15. The term for Rajya Sabha MPs is six years and elections are held after every two years for 33 per cent of the seats. Currently, the Rajya Sabha has a strength of 245 members. Out of the total 245 members, out of which 233 are representatives of the States and Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir (w.e.f. 31.10. 2019) and 12 are nominated by the President. Based on population, each state is allocated a certain number of candidates in the Upper House.Members of the state legislative assemblies choose Rajya Sabha members through an indirect election system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. The Election Commission has scheduled the Rajya Sabha elections for 15 states, including Uttar Pradesh, for February 27. Voting will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on this date, with the deadline for nominations set for February 15. The results of the elections will be announced on the same day, February 27. The Election Commission has announced the biennial Rajya Sabha polls on February 27 for 56 seats, as the tenure of incumbents ends in April.
—ANI

Get the latest updates on Congress' candidates for Rajya Sabha Biennial Elections. Know about Sonia Gandhi, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, and others.

Congress releases first list of candidates for Rajya Sabha elections

Shimla: Congress leader Abhishek Manu Shinghvi on Thursday filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections from Himachal Pradesh. Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Congress state in-charge Rajeev Shukla, and party state President Pratibha Singh were present with Singhvi. All the cabinet ministers, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS), and three independent MLAs were also present. The seat will fell vacant as BJP's National President JP Nadda's term will end in April. The BJP has fielded Nadda from Gujarat this time. Singhvi was first elected to the Upper House in 2006 and was re-elected in 2012 and 2018. Earlier, the grand old party also announced its first list of candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha Biennial elections yesterday. Sonia Gandhi filed her nomination for the Biennial elections from Rajasthan on Wednesday. In its second list, Congress announced its six candidates from Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana for the Rajya Sabha elections to be held on February 27. The party has fielded All India Congress Committee (AICC) treasurer Ajay Maken from Karnataka. Along with him, Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain and GC Chandrashekhar will also contest from the southern state. The term for Rajya Sabha MPs is six years, and elections are held after every two years for 33 per cent of the seats. Currently, the Rajya Sabha has a strength of 245 members. The Election Commission has scheduled the Rajya Sabha elections for 15 states, including Uttar Pradesh, for February 27. Voting will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on this date, with the deadline for nominations set for February 15. The results of the elections will be announced on the same day, February 27. The Election Commission has announced the biennial Rajya Sabha polls for 56 seats, as the tenure of incumbents ends in April. Out of the total 245 members, out of which 233 are representatives of the States and Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir (w.e.f. 31.10. 2019) and 12 are nominated by the President.
—ANI

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi files nomination for Rajya Sabha elections from Himachal Pradesh. JP Nadda's term ending, Sonia Gandhi also files nomination. Details on upcoming elections on February 27.

Congress' Abhishek Singhvi files nomination from Himachal Pradesh for Rajya Sabha elections

New Delhi [India]: The West Bengal government on Wednesday sought an urgent hearing of its plea in Supreme Court challenging a Calcutta High Court order that directed a CBI probe into the Sandeshkhali matter pertaining to an attack on Enforcement Directorate officials in Sandeshkhali on January 5 this year. Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "Urgency is that they wanted overnight compliance in an interim order."
The Bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna asked the advocate to move before the Chief Justice of India as he will order the listing of the plea. Earlier on Tuesday, the West Bengal government moved the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order directing a CBI probe into the Sandeshkhali matter, which pertains to the attack on ED officials. Earlier this year, in January, ED officials came under attack in the North 24 Parganas district while they were on their way to raid the homes of former Bongaon Municipality chairman Shankar Adhya and Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan in connection with the ration 'scam' case. Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the plea before the Supreme Court bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna. Earlier, the Calcutta High Court transferred to the CBI the Sandehskhali case, which pertains to the attack on ED officials. After weeks of no action, on February 29 Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested by West Bengal police after which West Bengal's Basirhat Court remanded him to 10-day police custody. Following Shahjahan's arrest, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that he had been "put under the hospitality" of the state police in a bid to avoid arrest by the ED and the CBI. Tension rose in Sandeshkhali after hundreds of women on the island came out on the streets against Shahjahan Sheikh, accusing him of perpetrating sexual abuse and other excesses on them along with his henchmen.
—ANI

West Bengal government moves SC challenging Calcutta HC order for CBI probe into Sandeshkhali attack on ED officials; tension escalates.

Sandeshkhali case: West Bengal seeks urgent listing of plea in SC against transfer of probe to CBI

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the party in its petition to the Election Commission of India has urged to take 'appropriate action' against Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'irrespective of the status of the person' over the PM's recent speech in Rajasthan's Banswara. Singhvi said that the Prime Minister's statement was 'seriously, ridiculously objectionable'.
"I have had the privilege of leading the Congress delegation involving about 17 complaints to the ECI. Most important is the first one which deals with the extremely objectionable comments of no less than the Chief Executive of this government. We respect the office he holds. He is as much as our Prime Minister as he is yours and he is BJP's. Unfortunately, the statement we have quoted is seriously, ridiculously objectionable. We pray to him (PM Modi) with folded hands to withdraw this statement and to clarify. We have asked the Election Commission to state that this is the position in law, we will do in his respect, whatever we do with others," Singhvi said while talking to reporters after the delegation of Congress met with the Election Commission of India on Monday.  "I am not going to quote what he has said. He has named a community, he has talked of religion blatantly, he has talked of communal and community blatantly. He has linked it with deprivation of resources of the majority and garnering and monopolisation of that resources by that minority. He has brought in Hindu imagery of no less than the Mangalsutra, therefore clearly violated Section 123, the basic principle of not allowing excitement and information of communal passions," the senior Congress leader said. He called the speech a "very serious, uncalled-for invasion" of the Constitution's basic structure and appealed to the ECI for action.
"Several circulars of the ECI on the MCC, the latest being on March 1, 2024. The constitutional ethos and spirit that make secularism a basic structure in our Consitution, makes a level playing field and democracy itself a part of the basic structure. A basic structure means that a constitutional amendment cannot violate the basic structure. This is a very serious, uncalled-for invasion and we hope and trust because the ECI is itself on trial that irrespective of the status of the person who has done this appropriate action as in any other case will and must follow shortly," Singhvi said.
Also Read: <a href="https://www.thehawk.in/posts/congress-ki-nazar-aapki-sampatti-mangal-sutra-par-hai:-pm-modi-lambasts-party's-%22maoist-thinking%22" target="_self">https://www.thehawk.in/posts/congress-ki-nazar-aapki-sampatti-mangal-sutra-par-hai:-pm-modi-lambasts-party's-%22maoist-thinking%22</a>&nbsp;
Singhvi-led Congress delegation met with the ECI earlier in the day. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said,"Today an @INCIndia delegation comprising Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gurdeep Sappal, and Supriya Shrinate met with the Election Commission of India at 4 PM and put forward 16 complaints against the BJP and other actors for violations of The Representation of the People Act, 1951, various judgments of the Supreme Court, and the ECI's Model Code of Conduct. We hope that immediate action will be taken on these very legitimate complaints." Launching a scathing attack on the Congress party, PM Modi earlier on April 21 alleged that the Congress wants to take away the gold and property of people and distribute it among "those having more children."
In his speech in Rajasthan's Banswara, the Prime Minister said that if the Congress came to power, it would redistribute the wealth of people to Muslims and cited former PM Manmohan Singh's remark that the minority community had the first claim on the country's resources. Modi further alleged that the Congress plans to give people's hard-earned money and valuables to "infiltrators" and "those who have more children". "Congress manifesto says that it will calculate the gold owned by our mothers and sisters, collect information and then distribute to those...whom former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that Muslims have the first right on country's wealth." "They will check how much gold our sisters own, how much silver tribal families have, and how much money government employees have there. They (Congress) have said that gold owned by our sisters would be equally distributed. Does the government have the right to take your hard-earned property?" PM Modi said. "The gold is not just for showing, it is a woman's self-esteem. The value of 'Mangalsutra' is not just limited to the price of gold, but it is connected with their dreams. You (Congress) are talking about taking it away?" he added.
Attacking the Congress party further, the Prime Minister claimed that the "Urban Naxal" thinking wouldn't even spare the 'Mangalsutra'. "When they (Congress) were in government, they said that Muslims have the first right over India's resources. So, they will distribute this wealth (property and gold) among those having more children, among illegal immigrants...this Urban Naxal thinking won't even spare your Mangalsutra," he added.
—ANI

Abhishek Manu Singhvi leads a Congress delegation challenging PM Modi's speech to the Election Commission, citing violations of electoral laws.

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Surat court dismissing Rahul Gandhi's plea 'erroneous, unsustainable'; will challenge: Cong

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Surat court dismissing Rahul Gandhi's plea 'erroneous, unsustainable'; will challenge: Cong

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