No stay on Citizenship Act implementation, says SC
- The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, which fast- tracks citizenship by naturalisation process for “illegal” migrants from six religious communities, other than Muslims, who have fl ed persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
- Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde instead orally suggested to the government to publicise the actual intent of the Act so that there was no confusion among the public about its objectives and aims.
HC seeks State response to PIL on deaths of sewage workers
- A Division Bench of Justices Ranjit More and S.P. Tavade was hearing a criminal public interest litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Abha Singh following increasing cases of deaths of sewage workers. The alarming frequency of deaths, the PIL says, indicates that the pro- visions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, are not being implemented.
- The PIL says that on January 9, two conservancy workers and a contractor died of asphyxiation in a Panvel sewage manhole/ CIDCO; on January 16 three labourers died after inhaling toxic gas in a civic sewage treatment plant at Mira Road; on March 16, five BMC workers inhaled poisonous fumes, one of whom died, in a 15 feet manhole at Nana Chowk; on May 3, three peo- ple died while cleaning a septic tank in Nalla sopara; and later in May three men died in a septic tank at a housing society in Thane.
‘Worn canals causing Jayakwadi dam water to leak in transit’
- The poor structural condi- tion of the Jayakwadi dam water canal network in Ma- rathwada is causing 3540% of water to leak in transit, ac- cording to experts.
- “Canals taking water from the Jayakwadi dam to rural regions of Marathwada region need major repairs. The resultant water loss due to leakages has reached 40%, as the weak canals can- not carry the dam water to their fullest capacity,” water analyst Y.R. Jadhav said.
SC rejects review plea of Nirbhaya case convict
- The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition fi led by one of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case to re- view its May 5, 2017 judgment confirming his death penalty.
- The court refused Akshay Singh’s plea to grant him three weeks’ time to file a mercy petition before the President of India.