L-G bound by ministers' advice, says Delhi HC

May 26, 2015

New Delhi, May 26: The AAP government got a shot in the arm as the Delhi High Court on Monday termed “suspect” the Centre’s notification barring the Delhi government’s anti-corruption branch (ACB) from acting against its officers in criminal offences.Najeeb-Jung-Arvind-Kejriwal

Holding that the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) cannot act in his discretion, the High Court noted that the L-G is bound to act upon the aid and advice of the council of ministers who are directly elected by the citizens of Delhi and the Centre’s “executive fiat” siding with him is “suspect”. It observed that the mandate of the people “must” be respected by the L-G if there was no other “constitutional or legal fetter”.

The findings were part of a judgment in which the high court held that the ACB has the jurisdiction to arrest policemen.

The AAP government and the L-G have been involved in a public spat over the latter’s powers vis-a-vis an elected government.

The Centre, on May 21, issued a notification siding with the Lt Governor.

The High Court dismissed the bail application of a head constable arrested by the ACB in a corruption case.

“After the judgment was reserved in the present application, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notification... on May 21, thereby further amending the notification dated November 8, 1993 and, inter alia, providing that ‘ACB police station shall not take any cognisance of the offences against officers, employees and functionaries of the Central government’.

“In my view, since the Union lacks the executive authority to act in respect of matters dealt with in Entries 1 & 2 of List III of the Seventh Schedule, the further executive fiat issued by the Union government on May 21 is also suspect,” Justice Vipin Sanghi said.

“The mandate of the people, with whom the sovereign power resides, must be respected by the Lieutenant Governor in respect of matters which fall within the domain of the legislative Assembly, provided there is no other constitutional or legal fetter.

“Therefore, in respect of matters dealt with by Entries 1 and 2 of the Concurrent List, the Lieutenant Governor cannot act in his discretion, and he is bound to act upon the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers,” the judge said.

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: With 3,604 more COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's tally of coronavirus cases reached 70,756, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday. 87 deaths were reported during the period.

As per the tally, 46,008 patients are active coronavirus cases while 22,454 patients have been cured/discharged and one patient has migrated.

With 87 deaths due to COVID-19 reported in the last 24 hours, the number of deaths has risen to 2,293.

As per the ministry, Maharashtra has the most number of coronavirus cases with 23,401 cases with 4,786 patients being cured/discharged while 868 deaths have been reported in the state.

Gujarat is second on the list with 8,541 cases that include 2,780 patients recovering from the disease and 513 fatalities.

Tamil Nadu's tally reached 8,002 cases, including 2,051 recoveries and 53 deaths.

While Delhi's tally stands at 7,233 cases with 2,129 patients recovered and 73 deaths.

Meanwhile; Mizoram (one case reported--now recovered), Goa (seven cases reported and all seven recovered), Manipur (Two cases reported and both patients recovered) and Arunachal Pradesh (one case reported--now recovered) have reported no new cases in the last 24 hours.

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Agencies
May 5,2020

Jammu and Kashmir, May 5: Awarding the prestigious Pulitzer Prize to three Indian photographers, the Pulitzer Board at Columbia University claimed that it was for their work in Kashmir as "India revoked its independence".

The award to Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin in the feature photography category for their pictures for the Associated Press was announced on Monday.

The prizes, considered the most prestigious for US journalism, are associated with the university's Graduate School of Journalism where the judging is done and is announced, although this year it was done remotely.

Besides a certificate, the prizes carry a cash award of $15,000, except the public service category for which a gold medal is awarded.

The public service prize went to The Anchorage Daily News for a series that dealt with policing in Alaska state.

In making the award to the three, the Board said on its website that it was "for striking images of life in the contested territory of Kashmir as India revoked its independence, executed through a communications blackout".

Besides making the false claim about "independence" of Kashmir being "revoked", the board that includes several leading journalists did not explain how their photographs could have reached the AP within hours of the incidents recorded "through a communication blackout".

India's Central government only revoked Article 370 of the Constitution that gave Jammu and Kashmir a special status and it was not independent.

Indian journalists were allowed to operate in Kashmir, while only non-Indian journalists were barred.

The wording of the award announcement calls into question the credibility of the Pulitzer Board that gives out what are considered prestigious journalism awards.

The portfolio of pictures by the three on the Pulitzer web site included one of a masked person attacking a police vehicle and another of masked people with variants of the Kashmir flag, besides photos of mourners and protesters.

One of the finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism was a reporter of Indian descent at The Los Angeles Times, Swetha Kannan, who was nominated for her work with two colleagues on the seas rising due to climate change.

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News Network
July 9,2020

New Delhi, Jul 9: India reported the highest single-day spike of 24,879 new positive cases and 487 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 7,67,296, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Out of the total number of cases, 2,69,789 are active, 4,76,378 have been cured/discharged/migrated and 21,129 have died.

Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state due to COVID-19 with as many as 2,23,724 cases, including 91,084 active, 1,23,192 cured/discharged and 9,448 deaths.

It is followed by Tamil Nadu (1,22,350) and Delhi (1,04,864).

Meanwhile, a total of 1,07,40,832 samples have been tested for COVID-19 till July 8. Of these, 2,67,061 samples were tested yesterday, stated Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

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