India News
J&K: 5-judge Constitution bench to hear plea against Modi govt’s move on Art 370

The Supreme Court today (Wednesday, Aug 28) referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench the petitions challenging the Narendra Modi government’s revocation of special status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories.
The bench of CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justice SA Bobde and Abdul Nazeer issued notice in the matter while fixing the first week of October to hear it. The court also sought a response from the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir administration.
“We will refer the matter to a five-judge Constitution bench”, the bench said while not accepting the arguments that the issuance of notice will have a “cross-border repercussion”.
The government, represented by Attorney General KK Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, were urging the court to exercise restraint as far as orders and oral observations on Jammu and Kashmir were concerned.
“Notice is issued for the purpose of intimating parties to be present for the hearing. We are already here”, said Mehta, adding that “it had repercussions in other countries”. Ramachandran wondered how the court issuing notice in the normal course “can embarrass anyone”.
Mehta replied that it “doesn’t embarrass anyone, but other countries are taking advantage”. Attorney General KK Venugopal also urged the court not to issue a notice saying “this is a very serious issue”.
As the counsel appearing for both sides were involved in arguments and counter-arguments, the bench said, “We know what to do, we have passed the order, we are not going to change”.
“Let all the petitions on Article 370 issue go to a five-judge Bench for hearing,” Chief Justice of India (CJI)Ranjan Gogoi, heading the three-judge Bench, said.
The CJI indicated the Constitution Bench may start hearing the matter from October beginning.
On communication blackout in Kashmir
The bench also issued notice on the petition by Kashmir Times Executive Editor Anuradha Bhasin challenging what she claimed was the “communication blackout” in J&K.
Her petition sought a relaxation of restrictions and to allow journalists “to practise their profession and exercise their right to report freely on the situation prevailing in J&K after clampdown on the entire State on August 4, 2019”.
Bhasin, represented by senior lawyer Vrinda Grover, described the ground situation as that of “absolute and complete Internet and telecommunication shutdown, severe restrictions on mobility and sweeping curtailment on information sharing in the Valley, at a time when significant political and constitutional changes are being undertaken in Delhi to the status of J&K”.
She said the information blackout was “fuelling anxiety, panic, alarm, insecurity and fear among the residents of the Kashmir”.
Also Read: J&K: Modi govt sets up 5-member Group of Ministers to draw up development plan
Yechury allowed
The three-judge Bench also allowed Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), to visit Jammu and Kashmir to meet his party colleague MY Tarigami.
Yechury, represented by senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, said he wanted to meet Tarigami as there was no news of him. He wanted to know about the welfare and whereabouts of his colleague.
Mehta saidTarigami’s health was monitored every day and “he is hale and hearty”. “What can happen to him [Tarigami]? He is provided Z-category security.”
“Whether he has Z or Z Plus category, if a citizen wants to go and meet him, you have to let him,” Chief Justice Gogoi told Mehta.
Mehta said the government would make arrangements to escort Yechury.
The Chief Justice retorted, “You don’t escort, he [Yechury] will go on his own.”
Chief Justice Gogoi also agreed to Ramachandran’s assurance that Yechury would give an undertaking to limit his trip to J&K only to meet Tarigami and not travel around.
“If he does that, you report back to us,” the Chief Justice told Mehta.
Others petitions on Article 370 and J&K
National Conference leaders, and a Kashmiri lawyer are among the petitioners that have challenged the Centre’s August 5 decision to scrap Article 370.
The various petitions include one by the National Conference party challenging the Centre’s “unilateral” move to impose curfew and unravel the unique federal structure of India by dividing Jammu and Kashmir “without taking consent from the people,” IAS officer-turned-politician Shah Faesal, activist Shehla Rashid, Advocate ML Sharma and a plea by young lawyer Mohammed Aleem Sayed, worried about his aged parents in the Valley.
The petition filed by detained politician Shah Faesal and Shehla Rashid Shora contended that the August 5 Presidential Order and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019 were arbitrary. They also challenged the proclamation of President’s Rule in the State in December 2018.
The three-judge Bench allowed the young lawyer Sayed to meet his parents. It asked the State to provide him adequate protection. The court took up his case first.
The main petitionschallenge the Centre’s sudden move to “unilaterally unravel the unique federal scheme, under cover of President’s Rule, while undermining crucial elements of due process and the rule of law”.
They said what happened to Jammu and Kashmir “goes to the heart of Indian federalism”.
The NC petition said, “National integration is best served by a pluralistic federal model. Under this model, one size need not always fit all.”
The petitions said the Presidential Order substituted the concurrence of the Governor for that of the State government to change the very character of a federal unit.
The Presidential Order took cover of a temporary situation, meant to hold the field until the return of the elected government, to accomplish a fundamental, permanent and irreversible alteration of the status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir without the concurrence, consultation or recommendation of the people of that State, acting through their elected representatives, they said.
They argued that the order used Article 370 to demolish Article 370. It amounted to the overnight abrogation of the democratic rights and freedoms guaranteed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir upon its accession.
The basic purpose of Article 370 was to facilitate the extension of constitutional provisions to the State in an incremental and orderly manner, based upon the needs and requirements, without dismantling the State Constitution.
The August 5 order, by replacing the recommendation of the ‘Constituent Assembly’ with that of the ‘Legislative Assembly’ in order to alter the terms of Article 370, assumed that the Legislative Assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir had a power that its own Constitution, under Article 147, denied to it. Thus, the August 5 order was ineffective, the petitions said.
India News
Female cheetah Shasha, who was brought to Kuno National Park from Namibia, dies
Shasha was recovered from a farm near Gobabis, a town in east-central Namibia.

Female cheetah Shasha, who was brought from Namibia to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, died due to kidney related issue on Monday. The death of the cheetah was confirmed by the forest officials.
Reports said the Madhya Pradesh forest department had sent an emergency response team to Kuno National Park in Sheopur district when Shasha was diagnosed with a severe medical condition in January. It had symptoms of dehydration and renal disease, as per reports.
Shasha was being treated by a team of veterinarians led by Dr Atul Gupta who is the lead vet at Van Vihar National Park. He was sent to Kuno who then administered fluids to Shasha which improved the big cat’s condition.
Shasha was brought to India among 7 other Namibian cheetahs and was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
In February, 12 more cheetahs were brought to Madhya Pradesh from South Africa. The relocation of 12 cheetahs from South Africa took place three years after the Centre put forth the idea of the world’s first intercontinental translocation project which aims at reintroducing cheetahs in the country.
Reports said Shasha was recovered from a farm near Gobabis, a town in east-central Namibia. She was malnourished and skinny, however, she was nursed well.
India News
Wayanad seat gone, Rahul Gandhi has a month to move out of Tughlaq Lane house
Gandhi was disqualified from membership of the Lok Sabha two days ago, a day after a Gujarat court held him guilty in a defamation case.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been issued a notice by the Lok Sabha housing panel to vacate the official accommodation allotted to him in Tughlaq Lane which he held as the MP from Wayanad. Gandhi was disqualified from membership of the Lok Sabha two days ago, a day after a Gujarat court held him guilty in a defamation case.
On March 24, 2023, a Surat court had sentenced him to two years jail term for his 2019 campaign speech in which he took Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name along with IPL founder Lalit Modi and fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi and asked if all Modis are thieves. The court had granted Rahul 30 days to move to a higher court for appeal.
The defamation case against Rahul Gandhi was filed by former Gujarat minister Purnesh Ishvarbhai Modi who alleged that the community had been defamed by the comment.
The Representation of the People Act, 1951’s Section 8 (3) a person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years since his release.
Read Also: Congress leader Pawan Khera apologizes for old tweet after Rahul Gandhi loses Lok Sabha seat
The Congress is on the warpath with protests being held on Sunday against the move, calling it a satyagraha to pitch it on the Gandhian scale. Today, Congress leaders wore black as part of their protest.
The Opposition had sided with Rahul Gandhi, who now finds himself in another spotlight albeit not of his own making. Gandhi has just wrapped up his Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanya Kumari to Srinagar, getting strong support across several Lok Sabha constituencies winning which will be key for the Congress to come up as a prime challenger to the BJP.
The Opposition support did not however come unanimously. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee took her time after the conviction but was prompt in supporting after the Gandhi scion’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha.
International media outlets have reported this series of incidents as the chickens coming home to roost following Rahul Gandhi’s speeches in Cambridge and London on the threats to the country’s democratic institutions.
Gandhi, however, had to listen to strong responses from his Maharashtra ally Uddhav Thackeray for saying he won’t apologise since he was not Savarkar.
On video, bombs hurled at BJP worker in Puducherry, hacked to death after he collapsed | WATCH
India News
Bachelors can’t use balconies for phone calls after 10 pm, no guest overnight: Bengaluru flat complex’s new diktat
The society is said to be in the Kundanhalli Gate area.

In a bizarre incident, an apartment complex in Bengaluru has issued guidelines for the Bachelors living in the society in order to provide maximum comfort to the flat owners or tenants while ensuring discipline on the premises.
As per the new guidelines, guests at the bachelors and spinsters’ house are not allowed to stay overnight in their flats after 10 pm. And if the guest needs to stay overnight then they have to take prior approval from the owner via email. The society is said to be in the Kundanhalli Gate area.
The guidelines have been shared online by a Reddit user.
Here are the rules and regulations for Bachelors living in Banglore’s apartment complex
- No guests are allowed to Bachelors and Spinster’s flats post 10 pm. Guests are not allowed to stay overnight. If required, prior approval from Owner on email, Manager or Association office to be requested by submitting the guests ID proof and furnishing the stay duration and Guest entry on Mygate.
- Bachelors and Spinsters are to follow the association rule strictly. No relaxation in case of violation. The penalty of Rs 1,000 or eviction.
- No loud music after 10 pm.
- No late-night parties are allowed.
- Not to use the corridors and balconies for phone calls post 10 pm.
According to one of the users in the comment section, this society is in Marathalli. Since being shared, the rules are being slammed online with many users expressing their displeasure.
One of the users commented, It’s worse than hostels. You’re paying money to rent out a flat. It’s your flat for the duration that you’re renting as per the rantal agreements. Who’ll come to your flat and what you’ll do in the balcony is purely dependent on you. Society rules are becoming rediculous these days it seems.
Another wrote, Nonsense, you live by your rules not owner since you actually own the place for the time you are there. Yes loud parties can be avoided, but rest is none of anyone else’s business.
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