New Delhi: The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea seeking framing of a national yoga policy and making the practice compulsory for students of classes 1-8 across the country.

A bench headed by Justice M B Lokur dismissed the plea and said it is for the government to take a decision on such issue.

“We are nobody to say what is to be taught in schools. It is none of our business. How can we direct that,” the bench said.

The apex court said it was not possible for it to grant the relief as sought by petitioners – Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a lawyer and Delhi BJP spokesperson and J C Seth.

“What is to be taught in schools is not a fundamental right,” it said. Upadhyay had sought a direction to the Ministry of Human Resources Development, NCERT, NCTE and CBSE to “provide standard textbooks of ‘yoga and health education’ for students of Class 1-8 keeping in spirit various fundamental rights such as right to life, education and equality.”

The apex court had on November 29 last year asked the Centre to treat the petition as a representation and take a decision.

The plea had said, “State has an obligation to provide health facilities to all the citizens, especially to children and adolescents. In a welfare state, it is obligation of the State to ensure the creation and sustenance of conditions congenial to good health.”

It had said that right to health cannot be secured without providing ‘yoga and health education’ to all children or framing a ‘national yoga policy’ to promote and propagate it.

(PTI)

The Shia Central Waqf Board of UP says mosque can be located in a Muslim- dominated area at a reasonable distance from the Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya

New Delhi: In a fresh turn of events, the Shia Central Waqf Board of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that a mosque could be built in a Muslim–dominated area at a reasonable distance from the disputed site in Ayodhya.

The Board also told the apex court in an affidavit that the Babri Masjid site was its property and only it was entitled to hold negotiations for an amicable settlement of the dispute.

The 30-page affidavit assumes significance as it has been filed within few days of the apex court agreeing to fast track the hearing on a batch of appeals challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict on the land dispute in the case.

The Waqf Board has sought time from the top court for setting up of a committee for exploring an amicable resolution of the vexatious issue.

Assailing the stand of the Sunni Central Waqf Board, it said, “…since Babri Masjid was a Shia Waqf Board property, Shia Central Waqf Board UP alone is entitled to negotiate and arrive at a peaceful settlement with other remaining stakeholders.”

“Answering respondent (Shia Board) is also of the view that, to bring quiet us, masjid can be located in a Muslim- dominated area at a reasonable distance from the most revered place of birth of Maryada Purshottam Sri Ram,” the affidavit said.

The Shia Board is one of the parties in the pending appeals in the apex court.

Recently, a three-judge bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra, Ashok Bhushan and S. A. Nazeer has been constituted by Chief Justice J. S. Khehar to hear a batch of petitions challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute case from 11 August.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had in 2010 ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77 acres area at the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri masjid site in Ayodhya.

The three-judge bench of the high court, by a 2:1 majority, had said the land be partitioned equally among three parties—the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

On 21 July, a bench headed by Chief Justice J. S. Khehar had said that it would soon take a decision to list the matter for early hearing.

The court’s remark had come on a plea of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy who sought urgent listing and hearing of the matter.

Swamy had said the main appeals against the Allahabad High Court order are pending for the last seven years in the apex court and these required urgent hearing.

He had also said that a separate petition had earlier been filed by him seeking enforcement of his right to worship without much hassle at the site.

The BJP leader had told the court that he has been allowed by the apex court to intervene in the matter and is seeking expeditious disposal of the cases.

(PTI)

Ahmedabad: Congress MLAs from Gujarat, who were camping in Bengaluru ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls, returned to the state this morning and were taken to a resort in Anand district, party leaders said.

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel is in fray for the Rajya Sabha polls which will be held tomorrow. Patel is also the political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

“All our MLAs have returned and they have been taken to a resort in Anand,” Congress party chief whip and senior leader Sailesh Parmar told reporters in Anand.

The MLAs were whisked away from the airport here and have been kept together at one Nijanand resort on the outskirts of Anand town. “All our MLAs have decided not to go to their home even on this day of ‘Rakshabandhan’ and be loyal soldiers of the Congress party. They will stay together and they will go to vote for the Rajya Sabha polls tomorrow (to Gandhinagar) from Anand,” Parmar said.

“Ahmed Patel and state Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki will come to Anand to meet them,” he said adding they have not taken police security at the resort.

Election to three Rajya Sabha seats will be held tomorrow, in which Patel is pitched against BJP candidates including party chief Amit Shah, union minister Smriti Irani and former Congress party chief whip Balwantsinh Rajput who recently joined BJP.

A pitched battle is on between the two parties to win Rajya Sabha elections after senior Gujarat Congress leader Shankarsinh Vaghela quit the party. In a jolt to the Congress, six of its MLAs quit the party on July 27 and July 28. In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the strength of the Congress has gone down to 51 from 57.

Subsequently, the rattled Congress tucked away 44 of its MLAs to a Bengaluru resort to insulate them from alleged “poaching” attempts by the BJP.

(PTI)

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday questioned the timing of the Income Tax (IT) raids, which continued the third day on the state Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar, his relatives and aides in the city, state and Delhi.

“I am not against raids per se but look at their timing and the use of central (para-military) forces for it, which undermines our federal structure,” Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

Dubbing again the raids ‘politically motivated’ by the central government, the Chief Minister alleged that the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had no moral right to say the searches were a fight against corruption when so many of its leaders were facing serious graft charges.

Asked if Shivakumar would be able to come clean on the charges of tax evasion and amassing benami properties worth crores of rupees, Siddaramaiah said he was not aware what was happening at the places where raids were underway to react.

“We do not know anything about the raids, what they (tax sleuths) found during the searches and his interrogation,” reiterated the official.

Though the IT Department remained mum on the raids at several locations, informed sources said the searches led to recovery of many incriminating documents, property records, cash, gold and jewellery valued at Rs 15 crore.

“As raids are being carried simultaneously by about 100-150 officers in the city, across state and elsewhere (Delhi), we cannot divulge or share any information now. Our higher authorities will decide when to do,” an IT official told IANS on the condition of anonymity.

Defending the deployment of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for the raids, the official said under section 132 of the Income Tax Act, the IT department was empowered to use them (CRPF) for the protection of the search teams.

“This is not the first time their (CRPF) services are used for such raids at multiple locations as they involve risk from those being searched or their people,” reiterated the official but declined to be identified, as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

“He is a Minister. Taking reserve police to his house and other places is not fair,” he quipped.

(IANS)