A Bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan will shortly hear a plea by Former CJ of Andhra Pradesh HC Justice V. Eshwaraiah against an order passed by HC directing for an investigation into his private telephone conversation regarding charges of misconduct against sitting SC judge.

#Thread on #HijabCase judgment of Karnataka HC. Relevant observations :
"The Holy Quran does not mandate wearing of #hijab or headgear for Muslim women. Whatever is stated in the above sūras, we say, is only directory , because of absence of prescription of penalty or penance.."

"...for not wearing #hijab, the linguistic structure of verses supports this view.

"This apparel at the most is a means to gain access to public places & not a religious end in itself. It was a measure of women enablement and not a figurative constraint" - Karnataka High Court

#Hijab at most a cultural practice.

"Regard being had to the kind of life conditions then obtaining in the region concerned, wearing hijab was recommended as a measure of social security for women & to facilitate their safe access to public domain"- Karnataka High Court

"At the most the practice of wearing this apparel may have something to do with culture but certainly not with religion" - Karnataka High Court in #HijabVerdict

"Thus, it can be reasonably assumed that the practice of wearing hijab had a thick nexus to the socio-cultural conditions then prevalent in the region. The veil was a safe means for the women to leave the confines of their homes" - Karnataka High Court in #HijabRow case

Supreme Court considers the suo moto case "IN RE: TO ISSUE CERTAIN GUIDELINES REGARDING INADEQUACIES AND DEFICIENCIES IN CRIMINAL TRIALS".

Sr Advs Siddharth Luthra and R Basant have submitted a draft rules on criminal practice.

The draft rules on criminal practice were submitted by the amicus curiae in March

Luthra : On March 5, 2020, a report on draft criminal rules was submitted after a colloquium with High Courts.

Luthra : After the draft rules have been circulated, we have only received responses of High Courts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Allahabad and Delhi. As many as 20 High Courts have chosen not to respond.

CJI : We are thinking we will give High Courts to appear within 2 weeks. They may give suggestions to the draft rules or may accept the rules and give a statement regarding willingness to implement the rules in HC.

A Supreme Court bench headed by CJI SA Bobde is hearing a PIL seeking the direction for the Ministry of Home Affairs, Law and Justice and Women and Child Development to make all the personal laws uniform.

Senior Adv. Pinky Anand is appearing for the Petitioners followed by Meenakshi Arora.
The plea seeks the removal of personal laws as they are discriminatory under Art. 14,15 and other provisions of International Covenants.

CJI: You want the abolishment of Personal Laws?
Pinky Anand: No
CJI: You are not saying it doesn't mean that's not the reality.

"You are asking us to encroach upon personal laws and remove the distinction that they create." CJI said.

Pinky Anand refers to the cases of Shayara Bano and Sarala Mudgal to argue that Courts on earlier occasions have struck down laws and gave directions for practices found to be unconstitutional.

[WEBINAR]
Topic- Keys to Governance: Independence of Judiciary
The Webinar is being organized by India International Centre and D.S. Borker Memorial Foundation.
-Thursday 07 at 6:00PM-

Key Speakers:
1. Rtd. Justice Madan B Lokur, Former SC Judge
2. Tarunabh Khaitan, Vice Dean Faculty of Law, Oxford University
3. Maneka Guruswamy, Senior Advocate
4. N Ram, Former Editor in Chief, The Hindu
Moderator: Suhas Borker, Managing Trustee, DS Borker Memorial Foundation

The webinar has started.
Critical questions to be addressed in the webinar:
1. Is the SC performing its functions to defend the constitution satisfactorily?
2. Has the SC become an executive court?
3. Does the collegiums system ensure independence of judiciary?

4. Are post retirement benefits for judges compromising our judicial system?
5. Is there a need to increase the retirement age of judges?
6. Should there be a bar for restricting the post retirement jobs to judges?

7. How do you keep the government of the day at bay from exercising interference on the court?

#Thread
Gujars have claimed every living species in this galaxy to be their own, be it Attila Hun or Mihirkula, Parmars, Pratihars, Chauhans, Pulkeshin Chalukya, Shivaji Bhonsle, Bhatis and what not.

It's high time that the verity of their claims needs to be checked.

When Thomas Twining traveled in 1794 in Doab he found 3 tribes of robbers- Pindaris, Mewatis, and Gujjars. "Goujer on contrary implies nothing but craftiness and unsparing barbarity and communicates nothing but terror and dismay

Hari Ram Gupta an eminent historian describes Gujars as 'a tribe of thieves'.
When Babur first came to India he saw Gujjars coming from the mountains and stealing away the cattle and buffaloes. They looted Indians and foreigners alike.

Historian HR Gupta while talking about Gujars says:
"they oppressed poor grass cutters and extorted money from them, those who did not pay it were beaten by them".

Basically Gujars who now claim every dynasty to be their own, were always a nomadic pastoral tribe and even now in JK. However, they took to stealing as their main profession. Proverb was 'dog, rangar, cat and gujjar, without these 4 everybody could sleep with doors open'.

I know the #COVID-19 numbers in India are not looking good, but here are my (not so) random thoughts on it

We have 2 options – one, rant & rail against the ‘system’ and lament how it has let us down; second, do whatever we can to avoid getting infected & if infected, minimize adverse consequences to ourselves & others. If you belong to the first, you can stop reading now

How can we avoid getting infected? There’s no magic bullet, I’m afraid. This is primarily a “stick to the basics” approach. More difficult than it sounds.

First, maintain all precautions that we know help. These include masks (whenever you are not at home and not alone), physical distancing to the extent possible, and washing hands frequently. The 3 Ws – Wear a mask, Watch your distance, Wash your hands.

Masks work, and are probably the most important precaution given our current understanding that aerosols are the predominant mechanism of spread. The best is a well-fitting N95 mask, which is now widely available & not too expensive – you could re-use them too.

#Thread on "Kashi (Varanasi), From Birth to Death and Death to Moksha."

Located on the left bank of the Ganga, Varanasi is one of the 7 holy cities of the Hindus. According to the Vamana Purana, two rivers named Varuna and Assi originated since the beginning of the timei

The name Varanasi originates from the two tributaries of the Ganges, the Varuna &the Assi, which flows at its northern & southern boundaries. The land lying between them was named 'Varanasi'. Its original name was derived from the word 'Kashi', 'Kaasha', which means brightness.

By the way, kashi is mentioned in many Vedic literatures. Kaushitaki Upanishad mentioned about the places like Kashyas and Videhas. Ajatashatru has been declared as the ruler of Kashi or Videha in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Apart from this, Kashi &Videha are also mentioned in

Shankhayan & Boudhayan Srotasutra.

It also mentions about Kashi joining the Kosala after the independent state got destroyed. It is often referred as adjectives such as 'city of temples', 'religious capital of India', 'city of Shiva', 'city of lamps', 'city of knowledge' etc.

Famous American writer Mark Twain writes: " banaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together.”

In the Middle Ages it was a part of the Kannauj kingdom and later it was ruled by Pala kings of Bengal.

THREAD

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Saturn in Shravana – Unfolding the hidden mysteries
 
Saturn is currently transiting the Vishnu’s own nakshatra i.e., Shravana.This transit of karma karaka carries a divine message of transformation which a common man might not understands. By the way of this article,

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I want to take you to the transcendal journey where hidden clues about karma and destiny can be decoded.

I don’t want to complicate the things so let’s start from some general knowledge about the nakshatra of Shravana. The star of Shravana is ruled by moon according to

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Vimshottari Dasha scheme and it is opposite moon’s own house of cancer. So, the first important thing to understand is that any planet which will be placed in the nakshatra of Shravana will aspect moon’s own house too. Here is the catch. As the planet is affecting the

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cancer sign too which is natural 4th house of Kalpurusha Kundli, it will definitely impact our mind and emotions. #Saturn is a restrictive planet currently in own sign of #Capricorn. The Saturn transit through this sign is believed to bring gloom and depressive tendencies

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all over the globe. Additionally, when it transits through #Shraavana, there is possibility of upheavals and major up and downs all over the globe. According to Brihat Samhita, Saturn in the Shravan star creates issues for the king’s officer or King’s chief Brahmin.

A car with a 12 month waiting period in the 80s ruled the Indian roads for over 3 decades

A thread on Ambassador cars 🧵

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1956, UK - Morris Motors manufactured and sold 3 variants of Morris Oxford car

It sold the rights and tooling for these cars to Hindustan Motors, a subsidiary of CK Birla group to manufacture and sell these cars in India

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1956 - Morris Oxford Series 1 model was branded as Hindustan 10, Series 2 as Landmaster and Series 3 model as the Ambassador

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Out of the 3 cars, Ambassador was the best both in terms of looks, space and ruggedness required for Indian roads. It cost around 14000 Rs in 1958 when the production started

It was positioned as the family car given the kind of space available for bigger Indian families

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At that time, there were not many indian automobile brands. Standard 10 and Mahindra's Jeep were the only major car brands available.

The government controlled production and was encouraging domestic production. This helped all these 3 players

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