Former Supreme Court judge Justice R F Nariman has criticised the top court's 2019 judgement in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, describing it as a "great travesty of justice" that did not do justice to the principle of secularism. Speaking at the First Justice A M Ahmadi Memorial Lecture on 'Secularism and the Indian Constitution', Justice Nariman, however, said the judgment had a "silver lining" as it upheld the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991. He said the Places of Worship Act should be strictly implemented to put an end to disputes over religious places which are popping up every day across the country like "hydra heads". "In my opinion, a great travesty of justice was that secularism was not given its due by these judgements," Justice Nariman said. Justice Nariman also disagreed with the reasoning given by the court to grant the disputed land despite holding that the demolition of the mosque was illegal. "Today we find hydra heads popping all over the ...
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the pleas challenging the 1976 amendment to the Constitution adding terms "socialist", "secular" and "integrity" to the Preamble. A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar had on November 22 reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas filed by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain and others, challenging the inclusion of the words "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble to the Constitution. The petitions do not require a detailed hearing, the CJI said. "The two expressions 'socialist' and 'secular' were made in 1976 through amendments and the fact that the Constitution was adopted in 1949 does not make any difference... the retrospectivity arguments if accepted will apply to all amendments," noted the CJI.
The 42nd Amendment of the Indian constitution has been subjected to judicial review. The Supreme Court noted that Parliament's actions during the Emergency could not be dismissed entirely as invalid
Asaduzzaman suggested the removal of key provisions such as socialism, Bengali nationalism, secularism, and the designation of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as "Father of the Nation"
The Supreme Court on Monday said secularism had always been held to be part and parcel of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution. A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar passed the remark while hearing a batch of petitions filed by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain and others, who have challenged the inclusion of words "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble of the Constitution. "This court has in a number of judgments held that secularism was always part of the basic structure of the Constitution. If one looks right to equality and the word 'fraternity' used in the Constitution, there is a clear indication that secularism has been held as the core feature of the Constitution," the bench said. The words "socialist' and "secular" were inserted into the Preamble of the Constitution under the 42nd Constitutional amendment moved by the Indira Gandhi government in 1976. The amendment changed the description of India in the
Secularism is a European concept evolved after a conflict between the church and the king whereas Bharat is a dharma-centric nation and therefore, it was not part of the Constitution, but added during the Emergency by "one insecure prime minister", Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi has said. A lot of frauds have been committed on the people of the country, and one of them was a wrong interpretation of secularism, he said addressing an event in Kanyakumari district on Sunday. "What does secularism mean? Secularism is a European concept, secularism is not a Bharatiya concept," he said. Decades later, during emergency (1975-77), "one insecure Prime Minister," introduced secularism in the Constitution in order to appease some sections of people, the Governor alleged. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister during the emergency. He further said in Europe, secularism emerged as there was a fight between the church and the king and in order to end this conflict, which went on for a long time, thi
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for a "secular civil code", Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Friday alleged that the BJP has neither been secular nor civil in the last 10 years. In a post on X, Sibal asserted that a "secular and civil country is the need of the hour". In his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Modi had said a "secular civil code" is the need of the hour for the country. He also described the existing set of laws as a "communal civil code" and termed them discriminatory. Referring to Modi's remarks, Sibal posted on X, "PM: 'Need of the hour...a Secular Civil Code in this country... spent 75 years under the Communal Civil Code'." "My take: Need of the hour: A secular and civil country. In the last 10 years, the BJP has neither been 'secular' nor 'civil'," the former Union minister said. Modi, in his Independence Day address on Thursday, said, "A large section of the country believes, which is true also, that the civil
The Supreme Court on Monday said it will list for final hearing the pleas challenging the Allahabad High Court order that had scrapped the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004, calling it "unconstitutional" and violative of the constitutional principle of secularism. The top court had on April 5 stayed the high court judgement, saying the issues raised in seven petitions against the verdict merited closer reflection. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said it will list the pleas for final disposal on August 13. It also appointed lawyer Ruchira Goel as nodal counsel for ensuring filing of common compilation of documents in electronic form. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for one of the petitioners, said a contempt petition against the state government has also been filed. "Should we list these for final disposal next Tuesday?... Once we have granted the order of stay then we can list these for final .
An expert panel has recommended construction of a memorial in Goa for temples destroyed during the Portuguese rule and a museum to showcase the ancient heritage temples in the state, as per a report tabled in the legislative assembly. The committee has claimed that more than 1,000 temples were destroyed by the Portuguese rulers in Goa. Goa Archaeology Minister Subhash Phal Desai said in the House on Monday that his department is in the process of identifying a suitable site for the construction of the memorial. He tabled in the House a report of the committee of experts for the reconstruction of temples destroyed during the Portuguese regime, as a part of reply to an unstarred question. " As per the recommendation of the expert committee, the department is in communication with the Department of Goa Gazetteer and Historical Records for translation of related books in English to facilitate further research," he said. The report of the committee, which was formed in the 2023, has ..
The Kerala High Court has directed that no illegal religious places should be permitted on government land, irrespective of the religion. The High Court said that God is "omnipotent" and is everywhere, including in the bodies of believers, their homes and wherever they go. "Therefore, the believers need not encroach upon government land to construct religious structures. Let it be distributed to landless people and used for mankind. God will be more happy in such a situation and will shower blessings on all believers," Justice P V Kunhikrishnan said. The direction and observations by the court came on a plea by the Plantation Corporation of Kerala Ltd seeking directions to the state government, police and Pathanamthitta district authorities to identify the properties leased to it and evict all the encroachers from there. Allowing the Corporation's plea, the court directed the authorities to identify the properties leased to it and "evict all encroachers including illegal religious
Reservation based on religion will not be allowed to be implemented till Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP are in power, party president JP Nadda said on Monday. Accusing the opposition of planning to give reservation based on religion, he said, "It is clearly written in the Constitution that there will be no religion-based reservation. As long as PM Modi and BJP are in power, there will be no reservation on the basis of religion, the BJP president said. We will not allow anyone to encroach on the reservation of our Dalit, tribal, backward and extremely backward classes. You will see what will happen to the opposition on June 4 (the counting day)," Nadda said. Nadda reached Varanasi for PM Modi's election campaign and offered prayers at the Kaal Bhairav temple "Whenever I come to Varanasi I pay obeisance to Kal Bhairav temple, Sankat Mochan and Kashi Vishwanath temple. As we all know Kashi is a religious city and the city which takes forward Sanatan Dharma, I get new energy fro
Prime Minister Narendra Modi should walk the talk and quit public life for indulging in Hindu-Muslim rhetoric everyday and "fostering hatred" in society, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has said. In an interview to PTI, Kharge alleged PM Modi's intentions are not clean as he is giving daily "hate speeches" with Hindu-Muslim rhetoric during the poll campaign. Noting that the PM talks about "taking away buffaloes" and "giving 15 percent budget to Muslims", Kharge said, "By saying such things, he is himself creating division in society". "On the other hand he claims that he has no right to be in public life if he talks Hindu-Muslim. As you talk such things everyday, you should quit public life," the Congress president said. Urging Modi to see his own record of speeches on Hindu-Muslim, the Congress president said on this too, "he is speaking a lie". "At least, he should stick to what he has said. He does not even accept his mistake and apologise. On one hand he says such things
The Biden administration is deeply committed to promoting and protecting universal respect for the right to freedom of religion and has engaged many countries, including India, on the importance of equal treatment for members of all religious communities, a senior US official has said. We have engaged many countries, including India, on the importance of equal treatment for members of all religious communities, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday. Miller was responding to a question on a New York Times story titled Strangers in Their Own Land: Being Muslim in Modi's India which alleges that the world's largest Muslim community in India is raising their families and children with fear and uncertainty. Have you engaged with the Indian officials in these issues? Miller was asked. I won't speak to private diplomatic conversations but we are deeply committed to promoting and protecting universal respect for the right to free
The share of the Hindu population decreased by 7.82 per cent between 1950 and 2015 in India, while that of Muslims increased by 43.15 per cent, suggesting that there is a conducive environment in the country to foster diversity, said a recent working paper by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). The paper titled 'Share of Religious Minorities: A Cross-Country Analysis (1950-2015)' further said the share of Jains in the population of India decreased from 0.45 per cent in 1950 to 0.36 per cent in 2015. "... The share of the majority Hindu population decreased by 7.82 per cent between 1950 and 2015 (from 84.68 per cent to 78.06 per cent). The share of Muslim population in 1950 was 9.84 per cent and increased to 14.09 per cent in 2015 -- a 43.15 per cent increase in their share," said the paper prepared by a team led by Shamika Ravi, member, EAC-PM. According to the paper, the share of Christian population rose from 2.24 per cent to 2.36 per cent -- an increase
His remarks came during an interactive session in Odisha's Cuttack while campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) amid Lok Sabha elections
While 77 per cent of Hindus expressed faith in religious pluralism, an even higher percentage of Muslims (87 per cent) and other minority groups (81 per cent) shared this view
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday attacked the BJP over its MP Anantkumar Hegde's remark about amending the Constitution, alleging that the ruling party is against social justice and secularism enshrined in the Constitution. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, the Congress president said the BJP aims to get a massive mandate only for amending the Constitution. Kharge's attack came after Hegde, at a gathering in Karwar in Karnataka on Saturday, had said the BJP needed a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament to amend the Constitution and "set right the distortions and unnecessary additions made to it by the Congress". Kharge said, "I have to say sadly that Constitution has not been fully accepted by the BJP." He claimed that on one hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi states that the Constitution will not be changed and on the other hand, he makes his people say that they need two-thirds majority to amend it. This statement has been ma
Though compact, Nalini Rajan's book packs an abundance of deeply researched information, aiming to reinforce one's understanding of secularism
Critics used to mock the BJP over its promises alleging they were driven by electoral exigencies, he said, asserting that Modi govt banned triple talaq as well and fulfilled many other commitments
Updates: From CM Dhami tabling the UCC Bill in the Uttarakhand assembly to the devastating wildfires in Chile, catch all the latest updates from around the world here