1. Law Minister seeks Governor’s nod for assent of 13 Bills, prosecution of ex-AIADMK Ministers
Minister for Law S. Regupathy has written to Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi seeking his assent for 13 Bills without further delay, and also for sanction to prosecute former AIADMK Ministers C. Vijayabaskar, B.V. Ramana and K.C. Veeramani who are facing corruption charges.
An official release issued on Wednesday, said Mr. Regupathy, in his letter, has pointed out that of the 13 Bills, two Bills have been pending for more than three years.
The State Cabinet had forwarded the request for the Governor’s nod for prosecution of the ex-Ministers on September 12, 2022 and March 15, 2023 but the Governor has so far not given his necessary sanction, the Law Minister added.
2. Minister regrets remark on Madras HC Bench
Expressing regret for his controversial remarks about the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, Tamil Nadu Public Works Department Minister E. V. Velu said it was a slip of the tongue.
Earlier last night, during a public meeting organised in Madurai to mark the birth centenary celebrations of late Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Mr. Velu had said the establishment of the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court was the ‘alms’ given by the late Chief Minister.
Reacting to the backlash, the Minister who addressed journalists after an event at Madurai today said: “I realised the mistake only when I read about it in a newspaper this morning. Instead of saying that the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court was a ‘gift’ of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, I used the wrong word.”
3. Senthilbalaji arrest case | Madras HC names third judge for hearing habeas corpus plea
Madras High Court Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala has named Justice C.V. Karthikeyan as the third Judge to hear the habeas corpus petition filed by the wife of Minister V. Senthilbalaji, challenging the legality of the Minister’s arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on June 14 in a money laundering case.
The necessity for naming a third judge to hear the case afresh had arisen pursuant to a split verdict delivered by a Division Bench yesterday.
4. AIADMK reiterates opposition to Uniform Civil Code
AIADMK‘s general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami indicated his party’s opposition to the move to introduce the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently said that India needed the UCC as the country could not run with the dual system of “separate laws for separate communities.”
After releasing the logo for the party’s conference to be held in Madurai on August 20, during the district secretaries meeting held in Chennai, he said: “Read our manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. We had stated our position clearly even then.”
The manifesto, in the section dealing with the topic of secularism, had said that the AIADMK would urge the Union government “not to bring in” any amendment to the Constitution for UCC that would adversely affect the religious rights of minorities in the country.
5. Coimbatore wall collapse | Three men booked
The Coimbatore city police have registered a case against three men in connection with the wall collapse on the premises of a private college in Coimbatore that claimed the lives of five migrant workers last evening.
G. Srinivasan, owner of Srinivasan Associates, the firm that undertook the wall construction on the premises of Sri Krishna Institutions in Sugunapuram, Coimbatore; Sadiq Ul Ameer, project manager and K. Arunachalam, site engineer, were booked by the Kuniyamuthur police.
The police said a total of 14 workers of the company were engaged in the construction of a compound wall on the premises of the college, located on the Coimbatore – Palakkad Road. An old wall collapsed on top of five workers when they were working on erecting a new wall beside it, around 5.30 p.m.
