News Analysis India

Tag: Supreme Court

  • Modi Ki Guarantee: BJP campaigning through ‘illegal money’, this is ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’: Kapil Sibal

    Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday hit out at the BJP-led government over the electoral bonds issue, alleging the ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’ is that the BJP does campaigning with “illegal money” raised through the scheme while the probe agencies “sleep”. Sibal, a senior advocate who is leading the arguments for the petitioners in a case in the Supreme Court against electoral bonds, claimed at a press conference here that 33 loss-making firms donated electoral bonds worth about Rs 581 crore with Rs 434 crore going to the BJP.

    He said the Supreme Court’s verdict on electoral bonds has made it clear that the money the BJP and other parties had was illegal.

    “If this money in the hands of the BJP is illegal, I want to ask the BJP did you get any Income Tax notice? I want to ask the Income Tax Department – did you send any notice to BJP? I want to ask the ED – did you conduct any raid?” Sibal said. “You have frozen the account of the Congress party, but you (BJP) got about Rs 6,655 crore, were your accounts frozen?” he added.

    Escalating his attack on the BJP, Sibal said, “You did not do it. Neither the IT department sent notice nor ED raids were carried out and the CBI also did not register an FIR.”

    “So on one hand the Congress’ accounts are frozen, but since the ED, CBI and IT department are yours (BJP’s), you don’t get any notice or face raids,” he added. The Congress leader claimed that 33 loss-making firms donated electoral bonds worth Rs 582 crore with 434 crore going to the BJP. The IT department knows it so there should be raids. The ED should have reached there and the CBI should have registered an FIR but nothing happened, he said.

    Sibal also claimed that Rs 2,717 crore was donated through electoral bonds by firms whose capital was lower than its donations.

    “The BJP is also safe, companies are also safe. The ED, IT department and CBI are sleeping and the BJP is doing campaigning with that money, this is ‘Modi ki Guarantee’,” Sibal said.

    “The guarantee is that no action will be taken as the ED, CBI and ED is theirs,” he added.

    Sibal also questioned RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and asked why is he silent on the issue.

    “I also want to ask (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat ji, you say that you are not in politics at all, you think about the country but since this decision on electoral bonds has come, Mohan Bhagwat ji did not say anything, he is also silent. He should say that the decision of Modi’s government was wrong,” he said.

    On February 15, a five-judge Constitution bench scrapped the Centre’s electoral bonds scheme of anonymous political funding, calling it “unconstitutional” and ordering disclosure by the Election Commission of the donors, the amount donated by them and the recipients by March 13.

    Subsequently, the electoral bands has been made public.

    The SBI has said that a total of 22,217 electoral bonds of varying denominations were purchased by donors between April 1, 2019, and February 15 this year, out of which 22,030 were redeemed by the political parties.

  • Sanjay Singh: Delhi Excise Policy Case: AAP MP Sanjay Singh walks out of Tihar jail on bail after 6 months

    The Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was released from Tihar jail on Wednesday after the procession of his bail order was completed.

    This is a time for struggle and our jailed leaders will also come out soon, said the Rajya Sabha MP after walking out of jail.

    “This is the time to struggle. The biggest leaders of our party (AAP) – Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain – have been kept behind the bars. I am confident that one day the locks of this prison will be broken and they will come out. This is why I want to say that this is not the time to celebrate, this is the time to struggle.”The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted him bail in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy scam after the Enforcement Directorate said it had no objections.

    Counsel for Sanjay Singh stated that the appellant Sanjay Singh will not make any comment about his role in the present case.

    A three-bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna directed to release of Sanjay Singh on bail during the pendency of proceedings in a money laundering case relating to excise policy irregularities.Beside Justice Khanna, other judges on the bench were Justices Dipankar Datta and Prasanna Bhalachandra Varale.Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appearing for the respondent Directorate of Enforcement stated that the probe agency has no objection in case the appellant -Sanjay Singh is released on bail during the pendency of the proceedings.The ED response came after the court sought to know from the investigating agency whether it needed further custody of AAP leader Sanjay Singh in the excise policy case.

    “Given the statement made, we allow the present appeal and direct that the appellant – Sanjay Singh will be released on bail during the pendency of the aforesaid proceedings, on terms and conditions to be fixed by the trial Court,” the top court said.

    “We clarify that the concession given in the Court today would not be treated as a precedent. We also clarify that we have not made any comments on the merits of the case,” the top court added.

    The court observed that Sanjay Singh had spent six months in jail.

    The top court was hearing AAP leader Sanjay Singh’s plea against the Delhi High Court order refusing to grant him bail in the excise policy irregularities case.

    Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh has approached the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court order refusing to grant him bail in connection with an excise policy irregularities case.

    In his bail plea, Sanjay Singh has challenged the Delhi High Court order dated February 7, 2024. Sanjay Singh moved to the High Court when, on December 22, 2023, the trial court dismissed his bail.

    Sanjay Singh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on October 4, 2023, in the case.

    According to ED, Sanjay Singh was alleged to be involved in creating a special purpose vehicle to launder the proceeds of crime that would have been generated from the business arising out of the policy changes as conspired by him and his co-conspirators.

    ED also stated that Sanjay Singh has had certain confidential documents about the investigation of this case that are not in the public domain.

    Sanjay Singh in the Delhi High Court denied charges

  • Arvind Kejriwal Arrest LIVE Updates: Delhi CM Withdraws SC Plea, To Contest ED Custody First |

    Arvind Kejriwal Arrest LIVE Updates: The Supreme Court, with a panel of three judges, is set to consider Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s appeal against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate over a money laundering case tied to the Delhi excise policy. Kejriwal’s counsel, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, urgently requested a hearing before a bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud. The CJI directed Singhvi to present his plea to a bench presided over by Justice Sanjiv Khanna. Singhvi promptly approached Justice Khanna’s court and presented the case. Justice Khanna announced that a three-judge bench would soon convene to hear Kejriwal’s plea. Following his arrest by the ED, Kejriwal appealed to the Supreme Court late on Thursday which has been withdrawn today. His attorney informed the Supreme Court that they will challenge the remand proceedings in the trial court before presenting another plea to the apex court.

    Following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged liquor policy scandal, tensions have escalated, with his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announcing nationwide protests outside BJP offices on Friday. The Delhi CM will be produced before the PMLA court today around 2.30 pm. As part of security arrangements, the police have closed all roads leading to the AAP headquarters, currently allowing no cars and only pedestrians on the road. The AAP has summoned all its office-bearers, ministers and councillors to the office headquarters. 

    Follow Live Updates On Delhi Chief Minister’s Arrest:

    12.33 pm: On ED arresting Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Social activist Anna Hazare told ANI, “I am very upset that Arvind Kejriwal, who used to work with me, raise his voice against liquor, is now making liquor policies. His arrest is because of his own deeds…”

    12.31 pm: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal pulls back his plea against arrest by the Enforcement Directorate from the Supreme Court. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Arvind Kejriwal, informs the Supreme Court that Kejriwal is withdrawing the petition due to its clash with the remand.

    12.06 pm: DMK leaders and supporters rally in Chennai to oppose the Enforcement Directorate’s detention of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Dayanidhi Maran, a DMK leader, denounces Kejriwal’s arrest during the party’s demonstration backing him. 

    12.03 pm: According to Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, Kejriwal was aware of the corruption involved in formulating and executing the excise policy, as evidenced by the imprisonment of his former Deputy Manish Sisodia and party MP Sanjay Singh. Sachdeva added, “He himself skipped nine Enforcement Directorate summonses. He will now have to answer the ED because he was involved in corruption that is why he has been arrested.” 

    Sachdeva likened AAP’s protest against Kejriwal’s arrest to the proverb “Chor Machaye Shor” (the culprit makes a lot of noise to cover up the crime), labeling it as “shameless.” 

    11.40 am: “We will state before the Supreme Court that Arvind Kejriwal should be allowed to meet his lawyer and family and also allowed to carry out his official work. Kejriwal’s family has been put under house arrest,” AAP Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj says after his detention.

    #WATCH | AAP Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj detained by police at ITO in Delhi, during the party protest against arrest of CM Arvind Kejriwal

    “…We will state before the Supreme Court that Arvind Kejriwal should be allowed to meet his lawyer and family and also allowed to… pic.twitter.com/spScHX44Qi
    — ANI (@ANI) March 22, 2024

    11.20 am: Several AAP workers, including minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi Marlena 
    detained during their protest at ITO against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest.

  • Supreme Court To Hear Muslim League’s Plea Demanding Stay On CAA Rules Today |

    The Supreme Court is set to review several pleas on Tuesday requesting the government to suspend the enforcement of the 2024 Citizenship Amendment Rules. The stay is demanded until the court has resolved the challenges to the constitutionality of the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The bench announced its intention to schedule all applications requesting a suspension of the Rules for a hearing on Tuesday. Additionally, the highest court mentioned that the entire set of 237 petitions will be included in the list alongside the most recent applications.

    The early hearing was warranted after Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) argued that once migrant Hindus are granted Indian citizenship, it cannot be revoked, thus suggesting the need for an expedited hearing. A panel consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra have acknowledged the arguments by Sibal.

    Apart from IUML, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), Debabrata Saika, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly, Abdul Khaleque, a Congress MP from Assam, and various others have also submitted applications requesting a suspension of the Rules.

    ‘Muslim Community Deprived Of CAA Benefits’ 

    One day after the government released the regulations under the CAA, the Kerala-based political party IUML filed a petition in the Supreme Court, requesting a stay to the enforcement of these regulations. The IUML urged for a suspension of the contested law and regulations, arguing that no punitive measures should be taken against members of the Muslim community who have been excluded from the benefits of this legislation, reported ANI. 

    PK Kunhalikutty, a leader of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), expressed solidarity with the Kerala government’s stance of abstaining from enforcing CAA. “Why should they implement a law that has not been welcomed by anyone in India? What is the need? Why are they taking a partisan stand in the matter of citizenship? ” Kunhalikutty told agency. 

    Kerala Government’s Plea Against CAA 

    On March 11, following the Union Home Ministry’s notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asserted that Kerala would not enforce the Act. Vijayan stated, “The LDF government approached the Supreme Court to confirm that Kerala would not implement the Citizenship Amendment Act. Kerala is the first state to move a plea against CAA in the Supreme Court. The state will initiate further legal action soon.”

    Mandate Under CAA 2019  

    The regulations of the CAA, brought by the Central government and ratified by Parliament in 2019, is designed to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted migrants belonging to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians community who fled from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and entered India prior to December 31, 2014.

  • Electoral Bonds Case LIVE Updates: Supreme Court Pulls Up SBI for Withholding Complete Data

    Hearing on the disclosure of electoral bonds data by the State Bank of India is underway at the the Supreme Court of India. A five-bench of the SC led by CJI DY Chandrachud is hearing the case.

  • From KS Hegde To Abhijit Gangopadhyay, Meet Judges Who Quit Judiciary To Join Politics |

    Calcutta High Court Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who recently announced retirement and said that he will join the BJP, has again brought back to light former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that pre-retirement judgements get influenced by the post-retirement jobs. Justice Gangopadhyay is not the first judge to join politics as the list has several big names. 

    KS Hegde

    Kawdoor Sadananda Hegde was born on 11 June 1909 in the village Kawdoor of Karkala Taluk in South Kanara district of the erstwhile State of Mysore. He began his legal profession in 1933 and worked as a Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor during the period 1947-51. Hegde was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a Congress Party nominee in 1952. Hegde served in the Upper House till 1957. In 1957, Hegde resigned from the Rajya Sabha when he was appointed a Judge of the Mysore High Court. He was later elevated to the Supreme Court. On 30 April 1973, Hegde tendered his resignation when one of his junior colleagues was appointed as the Chief Justice of India. In 1977, he was elected to the Sixth Lok Sabha from the Bangalore South constituency on a Janata Party ticket and was made the Speaker of the Sixth Lok Sabha. 

    Baharul Islam

    Baharul Islam, a former judge of the Supreme Court, made a significant career shift by resigning six weeks before his scheduled retirement. In 1983, he entered the political arena and contested the Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate from Barpeta in Assam. Before this, he had a political stint when he was elected to the Rajya Sabha on April 3, 1962, as a Congress candidate and secured another term in 1968. He resigned from the Rajya Sabha on January 20, 1972, accepting an appointment as a judge in the Gauhati High Court. Later, on December 4, 1980, he was elevated to the position of a Supreme Court judge. On January 13, 1983, Baharul Islam resigned from his position and got the Congress nomination from Barpeta for the Lok Sabha elections. However, due to unrest caused by the Assam agitation, the election in Barpeta had to be postponed. Despite this, the Congress accommodated Islam once again by making him the Rajya Sabha MP in 1983.

    VR Krishna

    Justice V R Krishna Iyer was born on 15th November 1915 a Palakkad, in the Malabar region of the then Madras State. In 1956, he was elected initially to the Madras Legislative Assembly and later, after the reorganisation of States, to the Kerala Assembly, where he was appointed as Minister in charge of important portfolios, like Home, Law, Social Welfare, etc. He was appointed as a Judge of the Kerala High Court in 1968. He was a Member of the Law Commission from 1971 to 1973. He was appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court of India in 1973.  He was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan in 1999.

    Mohammad Hidayatullah

    Justice Md. Hidayatullah was born on 17th December 1905 at Betul in the erstwhile Central Provinces and Berar. He was appointed Additional Judge of Central Provinces and Berar High Court (now Madras HC) on 24th June 1946. He was appointed as Permanent Judge of the High Court on 13th September 1946. On 3rd December 1954, he was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. On 1st December 1958, he was elevated to the Supreme Court and became the Chief Justice of India on 25th February 1968. He retired from that high office on 17th December 1970. Justice Hidayatullah was sworn in as the Acting President of India on 20th July 1969. After his retirement as the Chief Justice of India, he was unanimously elected as the Vice President of India between 1979 to 1984. During his tenure as Vice President, he also acted as the President in 1982.

    Rangnath Mishra

    Justice Ranganath Misra was appointed as a Permanent Judge of the Orissa High Court in 1969. He was elevated as an acting Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court on November 6th 1980. He then became the permanent Chief Justice on 16 January 1981. Justice Misra was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on March 15th 1983. He became the 21st Chief Justice of India on 25 September 1990. After his retirement, he became the first Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission. He became a Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha from the Congress Party, serving between 1998 and 2004. 

    Koka Subba Rao

    Koka Subba Rao, the former Chief Justice of India (CJI), assumed the role of CJI on June 30, 1966. In 1967, the Swatantra Party extended an invitation to him to be the United Opposition’s candidate for the presidential election in India. Subba Rao, accepting the nomination a day later, entered the presidential race. Unfortunately, he faced defeat as the Congress candidate Zakir Hussain emerged victorious in the election.

    Ranjan Gogoi

    Justice Ranjan Gogoi was born on 18th November 1954. He was appointed as Permanent Judge of Gauhati High Court on 28th February 2001 and was transferred to Punjab & Haryana High Court on 9th September 2010. He was appointed Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court on 12th February 2011. Justice Gogoi was elevated to the Supreme Court on 23rd April, 2012 and was appointed as The Chief Justice of India on 03.10.2018. He is currently a Member of the Rajya Sabha, having been nominated by then President Ram Nath Kovind on 16 March 2020.

  • BREAKING: Chandigarh Mayoral Election: Returning Officer Anil Masih Should Be Prosecuted, Says SC |

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday slammed Returning Officer Anil Masih for his role in the alleged defacement of ballot papers during the Chandigarh mayoral election and said that he should be prosecuted. The top court also proposed that results for the Chandigarh mayoral polls be declared by counting the present ballot papers, disregarding the marks made by Returning Officer Anil Masih instead of holding fresh elections.

     

    Chandigarh Mayor poll | Supreme Court remarks that Anil Masih, returning officer in Chandigarh Mayor election, has to be prosecuted as he was interfering with the election process.
    — ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2024

     

    The top court, while hearing a petition on the alleged irregularities in the Chandigarh mayoral election, also expressed concerns over alleged horse-trading after the mayoral polls. “We are deeply concerned about the horse-trading which is taking place…” the SC bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud said. 

    The apex court also directed the administration to provide security to the judicial officer and safeguard the records. It also asked the HC registrar general to depute a judicial officer to bring ballot papers, and videos for its perusal on Tuesday.

    Earlier during the hearing, the Supreme Court grilled Masih over his conduct regarding his conduct during the controversial Mayoral elections in Chandigarh. Responding to the Supreme Court, Masih admitted that he put an ‘X’ mark on 8 ballot papers. Masih said that he was separately marking ballot papers which were defaced by the voters, so that they wouldn’t get mixed up.

    On February 5, the bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra heard a petition filed by the AAP candidate and slammed Masih for his conduct and directed him to explain his conduct as presiding officer in the Chandigarh Mayor elections to the top court in person in next hearing. The CJI had called what transpired in mayoral elections a “murder of democracy”.

     “It is obvious that he defaced the ballot papers. Is this the way he conducts the elections? This is a mockery of democracy. This is a murder of democracy. This man should be prosecuted! Tell him the Supreme Court is watching him,” CJI Chandrachud said while passing orders. The court had expressed dismay over the videos that surfaced from the elections and asked why Masih was looking at the CCTV camera while counting ballot papers. 

    The AAP and Congress have accused Masih of tampering with ballots to favour BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar. It is alleged by the INDIA bloc candidate Kuldeep Kumar that Masih rejected 8 votes as invalid while counting by forgery and BJP won elections by fraud.

    On January 30, Manoj Sonkar, the Mayor candidate from BJP was declared the Mayor after winning 16 votes against the 12 votes received by the Congress-AAP candidate Kumar.

    On February 18, just one day before the next hearing in the Supreme Court, the BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar resigned from the Mayor’s office. In another key development before the hearing, three Chandigarh AAP Councillors Gurcharan Kala, Punam Devi and Neha Musawat joined the BJP. 

  • Supreme Court Strikes Down Electoral Bond Scheme, Terms It `Unconstitutional` | 10 Points

    The Supreme Court has ordered SBI to reveal the names of the donors and the amounts received by political parties through the Electoral Bond scheme.

  • Sanjay Singh: Delhi excise policy case: Court allows AAP MP Sanjay Singh to take oath in custody

    The Rouse Avenue court on Saturday allowed AAP MP Sanjay Singh to take oath as MP Rajya Sabha on February 5, 2024, in custody. He has been arrested and charge-sheeted in the Delhi Excise Policy money laundering case.Meanwhile, the court extended the judicial custody of Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and AAP MP Sanjay Singh till February 17. Both were produced physically before the court.Special Judge M. K. Nagpal allowed Sanjay Singh’s request to allow him to take oath in judicial custody.He withdrew the plea, seeking interim bail to attend the ongoing Parliament session and to take the oath. It was submitted that he has to appear before a court in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on February 7.

    Advocates Rajat Bhardwaj, Dr Farrukh Khan and Prakash Priydarshi appeared for Sanjay Singh.

    During the hearing, advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir, counsel for Amandeep Singh Dhall, submitted that he had received CCTV footage without audio supplied.It was also submitted that the footage contains a confrontation between Dinesh Arora and Amandeep Singh Dhall in March 2023 but it is without audio. Tanveer Ahmed Mir has again submitted that the CCTV footage with audio be provided.He also submitted that some allegations were levelled by Dinesh Arora on April 23, 2023, three days before the filing of the prosecution complaint against Dhall. These allegations were not made in March 2023.

    He also referred to the Supreme Court judgement in Paramveer Saini, where it was directed that all investigation agencies shall have CCTV cameras with video and audio facilities installed.

    Advocate Rajat Bhardwaj moved an application seeking a supply of statements recorded before the court, including those of Raghav Magunta and P Sharat Reddy. Their statements were recorded and given a pardon; now their statements are under unrelied documents.

    The court noted that an application seeking CCTV footage of Dinesh Arora and Sharat Reddy was also filed, but reply not filed.

    An application seeking a direction to place a record of the emails written by accused Dhall to ED is also filed. All these applications will be heard on the next date of hearing.

    The court, on December 19, took cognizance of the supplementary prosecution complaint (charge sheet) filed against AAP MP Sanjay Singh and his Associate Sarvesh Mishra.

    The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on December 2, filed a supplementary prosecution complaint (charge sheet) against Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh and his alleged associate Sarvesh Mishra in a money laundering case related to the Excise policy case.

    On October 4, AAP MP Sanjay Singh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate.

    Earlier, a charge sheet was filed against Manish Sisodia. According to the Enforcement Directorate, it’s a fifth supplementary chargesheet in the case. This case is presently at the stage of scrutiny of documents.

    ED earlier told the court that Sanjay Singh was part of the conspiracy to collect kickbacks from liquor groups in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

    Sanjay Singh allegedly had close relations with now approver Dinesh Arora, who allegedly introduced accused Amit Arora to Sanjay Singh

    Dinesh Arora was in regular touch with Sanjay Singh. This has been proven by an analysis of Call Detail Records. Singh allegedly received proceeds of crime of Rs 2 crore, stated the ED.

    ED earlier claimed that Singh and his associates played a part in the Delhi government’s decision to give licenses to alcohol shops and merchants in 2020, causing losses to the state exchequer and violating anti-corruption laws

    ED had previously searched a number of locations, including the homes and offices of Sanjay Singh’s close associate, Ajit Tyagi and other contractors and businessmen who allegedly benefited from the policy. In its nearly 270-page supplementary charge sheet, the ED has called Sisodia a key conspirator in the case.

    The Delhi liquor scam case or the excise policy case pertains to allegations that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 allowed cartelization and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge that has been strongly refuted by the AAP.

    Last year, ED filed its first chargesheet in the case. The agency said it has so far undertaken over 200 search operations in this case after filing an FIR after taking cognizance of a CBI case that was registered on the recommendation of the Delhi lieutenant governor.

    The CBI inquiry was recommended based on the findings of the Delhi chief secretary’s report filed in July showing prima facie violations of the GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR)-1993, Delhi Excise Act-2009, and Delhi Excise Rules-2010.

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  • Strong Judicial System Part Of Viksit Bharat Says PM Modi As Supreme Court Turns 75 |

    New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the government was modernising laws keeping in view the present context and in line with the best practices. Addressing the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Supreme Court here, he said that with the enactment of three new criminal justice laws, India’s legal, policing and investigative systems have entered a new era.

    “It is important to ensure that the transition to new laws from the ones dating back to hundreds of years is smooth. In this regard, we have already started training and capacity building work for government employees,” the prime minister said. PM Modi urged the Supreme Court to come forward to work towards the capacity building of other stakeholders.

    “An empowered judicial system is a part of Viksit Bharat. The government is working continuously and taking many decisions to form a trusted judicial system. The Jan Vishwas Bill is a step in this direction. In the future, this will reduce the unnecessary burden on the judicial system,” the prime minister said.

    He said the Supreme Court has strengthened India’s vibrant democracy and given many important verdicts on individual rights, freedom of speech which have given new direction to the country’s socio-political milieu.

    “Today’s economic policies of India will form the basis of tomorrow’s bright India. The laws being made in India today will further strengthen tomorrow’s bright India,” the prime minister said.

    “Laws made today will brighten the future of India. With changes happening globally, the world’s eyes are set on India, as the world’s faith is growing stronger in India. In such times, it is important for India to take advantage of every opportunity given to us,” Modi said.

    He also noted that last week the government had approved ₹ 800 crore for expansion of the Supreme Court building.