Congress
In the heat of election season, the Congress Party has called for Nalsar Hyderabad to institute 85% local resident reservation quotas, accusing the national law school of a “Blatant & Deliberate Violation Of Law Of Land” (sic) and “Causing Gross Injustice towards Sons of Soil, i.e., LOCAL Students of Telangana in General and Backward Class Students in particular” (sic).
Even as the two rival national political parties played April Fool of their actual political rivalries on 1 April by appealing together in the Supreme Court, a common judgment passed against them by the Delhi high court, The Wire has exposed a little-known fact, which promises to excel the incredible phenomenon of these two rival parties coming together on a common platform to fight a common enemy.
The BJP and the Congress today both found defending themselves as appellants in a case before the Supreme Court, which is likely to hear it in detail after the summer vacation.
The Congress’ Maharashtra unit Wednesday moved Bombay high court challenging the constitutional validity of the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government and seeking its dismissal.
Former minister M Naseem Khan filed a writ petition before the court questioning the constitutional validity of the nearly month-old government and terming it as “illegal”.
Justice VM Kanade has posted the matter for hearing Friday (Nov 28), he said.
After the Oct 15 elections, Maharashtra threw up a fractured verdict in which the Bharatiya Janata Party secured 123 seats (which came to 122 after a legislator’s death), the Shiv Sena got 63, the Congress 42 and the Nationalist Congress Party 41, with the remaining 18 going to independents and smaller parties.
“Fadnavis approached the Governor C V Rao to stake claim to form the government claiming it had the requisite majority in the 288-member assembly, and was asked to prove it (majority) within 15 days,” Khan, a legislator from Mumbai, told IANS
However, Khan said that the vote of confidence in the assembly Nov 12 was passed by a voice vote.
“Nobody knows how many MLAs (legislators) voted in favour of the government or against it in the voice vote. Our stand is that this remains a minority government which does not enjoy the confidence of the house and must be dismissed immediately,” he contended.
Later the Congress and Shiv Sena had led separate delegations to Governor Rao questioning the validity of the Nov 12 trust vote.
Khan also claimed that all the major decisions taken by this government are “illegal” and must be set aside.
Former additional solicitor-general of India B A Desai and former solicitor-general of India TR Andhyarujina will appear on behalf of Khan in the case.
Fadnavis was sworn-in as chief minister Oct 31 at the head of a 10-member ministry which is likely to be expanded shortly.
Despite the BCI chairman’s recent ringing personal but apparently representative endorsement of Narendra Modi, lawyers will have to make their own choice this election. LI tries to help.
With Lok Sabha elections now scheduled to start on 7 April it is fair to ask: what has the current government done for India's legal profession? And can any of the others do better?
Top Indian lawyers are stumped by Veerappa Moily's appointment as Minister of Law and Justice, which was announced late last night defying all observers' expectations.
Moily (pictured) is a seasoned Congress politician and practicing lawyer in Bangalore but unlike the candidates expected to be shoo-ins for the job, he is an unknown quantity.
One top Mumbai lawyer said: "I have no idea what this will do to things."
"It is a real surprise," added another Delhi partner. "Now it's very hard to tell what will happen. I know reforms will be on the agenda but I don't know how quickly. I think there will have to be renewed lobbying."