1. Mobocracy Can’t Be New Normal, Get a Law to Punish Lynching: SC to Govt
Condemning the “sweeping” incidents of lynching as “an affront to the rule of law and to the exalted values of the Constitution”, the Supreme Court on Tuesday, 17 July, asked Parliament to come up with a special law to deter such crimes, saying “the horrendous acts of mobocracy cannot be permitted to inundate the law of the land”. The “recurrent pattern of violence”, it said, “cannot be allowed to become the new normal”.
Passing a series of “preventive, remedial and punitive” measures to deal with lynchings and mob vigilantism, a three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said “apart from the directions… we think it appropriate to recommend to… Parliament to create a separate offence for lynching and provide adequate punishment for the same”.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Two Buildings Collapse in Greater Noida, Many Feared Trapped
At least 20 people are feared trapped after two adjacent buildings collapsed in Greater Noida’s Shahberi village on Tuesday.
The incident occurred around 10 pm in Shahberi village of Bisrakh when a six-storey building collapsed on an adjacent under-construction building, officials said.
“It is feared that 20-25 people might be trapped inside the debris of the two building. We are not sure about the casualty as rescue operations are going on,” said a senior police official.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Rahul Gandhi Constitutes Congress Working Committee, First Meeting on 22 July
Seven months after he took over the reins of the Congress, the party’s President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday reconstituted the Congress Working Committee (CWC), inducting a mix of experienced politicians and youthful faces in the party’s highest decision-making body.
The 51-member panel, including the main 23-member CWC, 18 permanent invitees and 10 special invitees, replaces the steering committee formed after the previous CWC was dissolved on 16 February. Apart from Gandhi, his mother and predecessor Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the 23-member CWC includes senior leaders, often referred to as the ‘Old Guard’ in party circles, like Motilal Vora, Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad and AK Antony.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Hearing-Impaired 11-Year-Old Raped for Months in Chennai, 17 Arrested
Chennai police on Tuesday arrested 17 men including security guards, electricians and plumbers who allegedly raped an 11-year-old hearing impaired girl in an apartment block over the past seven months.
All the accused were produced in the Saidapet Mahila court where some of them were beaten up by a group of lawyers as public anger and shock at the child’s assault spiralled. In a video of the assault, which has gone viral, a group of men in white shirts and black trousers are seen dragging a man from a staircase, beating him with fists and kicking him on his stomach while police personnel struggled to protect the accused.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Marriage Doesn’t Mean Wife Submits to Husband for Sex: Delhi HC on Marital Rape
That rape by a husband has to be accompanied by force is a “myth” — it can happen through blackmail or by putting a woman under financial pressure, the Delhi High Court said on Tuesday. The court further said that “marriage does not mean that she is ready and willing to submit herself for sexual act of her husband”.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar made these observations when an NGO, run by a group of men, contended that married women have been given adequate protection under the law against sexual violence by their husbands.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Return to Ballot Papers, Opposition to Urge EC
With the Lok Sabha polls due next year and four state elections coming up in a few months, Opposition parties have decided to demand a return to ballot papers instead of electronic voting machines (EVMs), alleging that the machines are being manipulated at BJP’s behest.
This was decided on Monday after a brief discussion at a meeting of several opposition parties, hosted by Congress and attended by TMC, SP, BSP, DMK, NCP, RJD, CPM, CPI and JD(S) among others.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. CM Lands at Transport Office, Finds It ‘a Den of Corruption’
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Tuesday carried out a surprise inspection at the Regional Transport Office in Burari. Kejriwal said the transport office, where fitness certificates are provided to autorickshaws and other commercial vehicles, has become a den of corruption and warned of strict action against those who indulge in it.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. Trump Says He Accepts Intel That Russia Meddled in 2016 Elections
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he accepts the conclusion that Russia sought to influence the 2016 US election, attempting to quell a firestorm over his failure to challenge Vladimir Putin a day earlier.
“I have felt very strongly that while Russia’s actions had no impact at all on the outcome of the election, let me be totally clear in saying that – and I’ve said this many times – I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place,” Trump said at the White House.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. Husband Wanted Money After Lufthansa Air Hostess Sold Her Flat for Rs 1.2 Crore, Say Parents
The parents of the 39-year-old flight attendant, who allegedly jumped to her death in south Delhi’s Panchsheel Park, have said a flat sold by their daughter was a point of friction with her husband, an investigator has said.
Anissia Batra’s parents have accused Mayank Singhvi of harassing their daughter for dowry and alleged he abused her physically since the beginning of their marriage.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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