New Delhi Dec 17 PTI The Supreme Court on Friday requested the Delhi High Court to dispose of expeditiously preferably within three months a plea seeking registration of FIR against some politicians for their alleged hate speeches which purportedly led to the riots in north-east Delhi last yearThe plea seeking direction to register FIRs against those who had made hate speeches that allegedly incited the public to engage in violence last year came up for hearing before a bench of justices L N Rao and B R GavaiSenior advocate Colin Gonsalves appearing for three petitioners who are victims of the violence told the bench that despite the apex courts order of March last year asking the high court to dispose of the petition as expeditiously as possible no progress has been made in the matterWe are not inclined to entertain this writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India The writ petition is dismissed the bench saidColin Gonsalves senior counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that no progress has been made in the writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India before the high court though this court directed the high court to decide the writ petition expeditiously two years back the bench said in its orderIt requested the high court to dispose of the petition filed by the petitioners expeditiously preferably within three months from todayOn March 4 last year the apex court had asked the high court to hear on March 6 2020 a plea seeking lodging of FIRs against some BJP leaders for alleged hate speeches which purportedly led to the riots in DelhiIt had said the high court may explore the possibility of peaceful resolution of the disputeThe top court had passed the order last year while hearing a plea filed by 10 riot victims seeking registration of FIRs against BJP leaders Anurag Thakur Kapil Mishra Parvesh Verma and Abhay Verma and others for their alleged hate speechesOn Friday the apex court was hearing a plea filed through advocate Satya Mitra seeking action against political leaders whose hate speeches allegedly resulted in the riots in DelhiDuring the hearing Gonsalves told the bench that despite the apex court order to dispose of the plea expeditiously the matter related to the alleged hate speech has not progressed before the high courtWe are losing faith How can anyone have faith in this system he saidThe plea filed in the apex court also sought an independent investigation into the role of the Delhi Police in the violenceThe plea said the petitioners had earlier approached the apex court which had had on March 4 last year transferred the matter to the Delhi High Court and asked it to hear and dispose of the matter within a reasonable timeIt also sought a direction for inquiry by a retired judge into the communal attacks that took place and to identify the police personnel allegedly involved in the rioting and criminal conduct and thereafter direct that those officers be dismissed from service in accordance with the law PTI ABA ABA ANB ANB

New Delhi Nov 26 PTI The Supreme Court on Friday said it cannot just cast doubt on the COVID-19 vaccination programme in the country at this crucial stage and cannot afford the price of laxity of not vaccinating peopleThe top court said lakhs and crores of people have taken their vaccines and even the World Health Organization WHO has approved it and the whole world is getting vaccinatedA bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna asked the petitioners Ajay Kumar Gupta and others to serve the copy of the petition to the solicitor general and sought his responseDuring the hearing the bench said We do have a system guidelines in place for monitoring any adverse event following immunization There will always be dissenters but policy cannot be fashioned as per them We have to see the good of the nation as a whole The world has witnessed an unprecedented pandemic like of which we have not seen in our lifetime We cannot just cast doubt on the vaccination programme at this crucial stage It is of the highest national importance that people get vaccinated We cannot afford the price of laxity of not vaccinating the people the bench saidThe plea filed by Gupta and others alleged that thousands of deaths have taken place due to Adverse Events Following Immunization AEFI and sought direction to Centre to make administration of vaccine purely voluntary prior informed consent of person going for immunization and direction to Centre for seeking a report from European countries where Covishield was discontinued or use restrictedThe bench said that there will always be studies 5-10 years down the line about the vaccination programme but all that it wants is that people remain safe and fatalities are reducedSenior advocate Colin Gonsalves appearing for petitioners said that there have been thousands of cases of deaths and serious adverse events following vaccination which have been reported in various newspapers of the countryThe bench said Deaths cannot be attributed to vaccination alone there may be other reasonsGonsalves said it is possible that vaccination may not have been the cause but these deaths need to be investigated as to whether there was a clot in the brain or the heart due to the vaccination which led to a heart attack or brain strokeHe contended that under the guidelines of 2015 on Adverse Events Following Immunisation AEFI health workers such as Asha and Anganwadi workers had to go and visit the vaccinated person for a specific period and if there is death then a post-mortem was to be conducted under a specific protocolHe said that these guidelines have now been revised in 2020 and only passive surveillance is allowed based on a complaint of a person concerned or the family about any AEFI and that is the reason there has been an unbelievable number of official deaths in the countryJustice Chandrachud said You cannot just say unbelievable We have to look at the benefits of vaccination also We cannot just send a message across the board that there is some problem with the vaccination The World Health Organization WHO has approved it and lakhs and lakhs of people are taking it Vaccination is happening across the globe Even in developed countries like the USA vaccination programmes are going on We cannot just cast doubt on itThe bench after perusing the guidelines said that the revised guidelines also provide for tracking serious and minor AEFI and monthly progress reports are sought through peripheral health staff which includes Asha workersGonsalves said that in developed countries what is happening is active surveillance of AEFI and data collection is done through designated staff who do follow up for one year of the vaccinated personHere what we are doing is passive surveillance under which we are waiting for the family members to come forward and complain Some doctors have raised serious concern about the deaths happening in the country and questioned this methodology he saidThe bench said that there will always be different points of view but the question is when there are appropriate guidelines then why should the court interfere at this crucial stage of vaccinationThe bench said that it has something in mind and therefore the petition should be served to the Solicitor General and listed the matter after two weeksThe plea filed through advocate Satya Mitra said that in the backdrop of the growing number of deaths and serious adverse events being reported following COVID-19 vaccine administration it is seeking direction to actively follow up to record and investigate instances of deathsserious adverse events within 30 days following immunizationIt has also sought direction to advertise extensively in newspapers television radio and on social media that any person dying or suffering serious adverse events within 30 days of vaccination may complain directly to officials and to further direct the authorities to mandatorily record all the cases being reported for the payment of substantial compensation It has also sought publication of information related to Phase 12 and 3 trials of the vaccine PTI MNL MNL RKS RKS

New Delhi Nov 22 PTI The Supreme Court Monday directed the Ministry of Railways to explain the conflicting position taken by it before different forums including the apex court regarding rehabilitation policy for slum dwellers who are on land owned by the RailwaysThe top court which was hearing two separate pleas including the one which relates to the demolition of around 5000 jhuggis in Gujarat for a railway line project asked the secretary of the Ministry of Railways to explain this on affidavit within a weekIn the matter about Gujarat the top court is hearing a petition which has said that an irreparable injury would be caused to the slum dwellers residing on the Railways land there if they are not provided with alternate arrangements and rehabilitation The petitioner had said that the Gujarat High Court had vacated its July 23 2014 interim order of status quo and permitted the Western Railways to go ahead with the Surat-Udhna up to Jalgaon third railway line projectThe top court had earlier granted status quo on the demolition of these jhuggis in GujaratA bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and C T Ravikumar on Monday noted that it has been brought to its notice that in separate proceedings before the Delhi High Court earlier the Railways had given assurance that rehabilitation policy propounded by the Delhi government would be adopted by themThe bench said the Railways had given assurance before the apex court which was hearing another matter in September last year that necessary plans would be framed concerning rehabilitationThe top court said the Railways however took a completely contrary stand before the high courts of Gujarat and Punjab and Haryana and said they do not have any policy of rehabilitationWe call upon the secretary Ministry of Railways to explain this conflicting position taken on behalf of Ministry of Railways before different forums including the Supreme Court of India the bench said in its orderDuring the hearing the bench asked Additional Solicitor General ASG K M Nataraj who was representing the Railways as to why they have been taking such different stand before different courtsIt said the affidavit be filed within a week and posted the matter for further hearing on November 29In addition the affidavit must disclose the timeline within which the rehabilitation programme will be taken forward especially in respect of the section which needs to be urgently connected with the remaining project already completed being 265 km only which may affect seven Bastis Jhuggi clusters as informed by the counsel for the petitioners the bench saidThe ASG told the bench that the Railways will work on the rehabilitation policy as asked by the top courtSenior advocate Colin Gonsalves appearing for the petitioners in both the petitions said that the Railways state of Gujarat and Surat Municipal Corporation have filed their respective affidavits in the matterHe told the bench about the stand taken earlier by the Railways before the apex court and the Delhi High Court on rehabilitation policyThe bench told the ASG that Railways cannot take different stands before different courts on the issueThe apex court had earlier observed that a public project is getting delayed due to this as the railway line project was sanctioned in 2018 and three years have gone by but nothing has happened because of the encroachmentThe other plea which was listed for hearing along with this matter relates to the demolition of jhuggis near the railway tracks at Faridabad in HaryanaIn the Faridabad matter the apex court had earlier granted status quo on the demolition of structures of those who have approached the court seeking stay of the evictionThe plea filed by 18 petitioners including those who are residing in the area in Faridabad has challenged the September 28 interim order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which had refused to grant a stay on demolitionIn the Gujarat matter the petitioner had earlier told the apex court that in compliance with the Gujarat High Courts August 19 order the authorities were going to start the demolition workThe petition in the Gujarat matter filed through advocate Satya Mitra has sought a stay on the demolition of these jhuggis claiming that no breathing time has been given to the slum dwellers and authorities have been forcing them to vacate within 24 hoursIt has also sought direction to the authorities including the Centre and Gujarat government to rehabilitate the concerned slum dwellers PTI ABA ABA RKS RKS

New Delhi Aug 24 PTI The Supreme Court Tuesday ordered status quo on the demolition of around 5000 jhuggis in Gujarat for a Railway line projectA bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant passed the order after the matter was mentioned for urgent listing before itSenior advocate Colin Gonsalves appearing for the petitioner told the bench that in compliance with the Gujarat High Courts August 19 order directing eviction of over 10000 slum dwellers the authorities were going to start the demolition work on Tuesday itselfList the matter on August 25 2021 before an appropriate bench Till August 25 2021 the concerned authorities are directed to maintain status quo the bench said in its orderGonsalves told the bench that the high court had vacated its July 23 2014 interim order of status quo and permitted the Western Railways to go ahead with the Surat-Udhna up to Jalgaon third Railway line projectThe plea filed by Surat-based Utran se Besthan Railway Jhopadpatti Vikas Mandal has said that irreparable injury would be caused to the slum dwellers who are residing on the Railway land if they are not provided with alternate arrangement and once they would be evicted and made homeless their condition would become more miserable especially during the COVID-19 pandemicThe petition filed through advocate Satya Mitra sought stay on the demolition of these jhuggis claiming that no breathing time has been given to the slum dwellers and authorities have been forcing them to vacate within 24 hoursIt has sought direction to authorities including the Centre and Gujarat government to rehabilitate the concerned slum dwellers It has also sought a direction to the Gujarat government to rehabilitate all those families which the Western Railways proposes to evict under the existing state rehabilitation scheme within stipulated time frameIt said the Western Railways be directed to formulate a rehabilitation policy for slum dwellers of the proposed site within stipulated time frameIt has also sought to declare the Gujarat slum rehabilitation policy as discriminatory arbitrary and unconstitutional as it does not include slum dwellers residing on the Railway landThe impugned order dated August 19 2021 violates the various judgments laid down by the Supreme Court of India in which the court has held Right to Housing as an important ingredient of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and has emphasized on the rehabilitation of the slum dwellers said the plea while challenging the high court orderIt alleged that the order of demolition without providing rehabilitation scheme for over 10000 slum dwellers is illegal inhuman and violates Article 21 protection of life and personal liberty of the ConstitutionIt said the petition has been filed for and on behalf of around 10000 slum dwellers who are living near the Railway lines in the city of SuratThey have been residing on Railway land for more than 60 years now Most of them have proof of residence with them Most of the residents have their Voter ID cards and Ration cards as proof of identity with them The slum settlements that would be demolished between Utran to Besthan are 21 in number it saidThe plea said there are cases of many re-settlements that have happened on case-to-case basis due to evictions or developmental projectsIt is true that the project of great public importance has to be completed as early as possible but the only grievance of the petitioners is that it should not be done without providing adequate rehabilitation to the slum dwellers The respondents have not come up with any rehabilitation policy for those slum dwellers who would be unjustly displaced and dislocated from the Railway land it saidIt said the state government had floated a scheme -- Gujarat Slum Rehabilitation Policy 2013 -- as per which slum dwellers are to be provided with dwelling unitsresidents by the government authoritiesThe plea said the high court in an order passed in March 2016 in the case had said that unless a suitable and effective rehabilitation scheme of slum dwellers is framed by the Railway administration it is not possible to permit the demolition to take place The High Court has been asking the Western Railway to come up with the rehabilitation policy for the said site since 2016 Even after five years have passed the Railway authorities did not come up with any rehabilitation plan for the same it allegedIt said slum dwellers whose jhuggis are on the municipal corporation land are eligible for rehabilitation and are protected from eviction without rehabilitation but unfortunately those who are on the Railway land are not covered under the Gujarat Slum Rehabilitation Policy 2013It said a notice dated August 21 was put up by the Western Railway authority stating that within 24 hours the demolition drive would start and later the slum dwellers residing at the Railway line were asked to vacate their houses stating that demolition would take place on August 24 PTI ABA SJK SA