Off-campus centre of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade to come up at GIFT City

New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) The Centre is yet to file its counter affidavit to a clutch of petitions pertaining to the Places of Worship Act, 1991, though the Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday the pleas challenging the validity of the contentious law, which prohibits the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.

As per the causelist published on the website of the apex court, a bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna, Sanjay Kumar and K.V. Viswanathan will resume hearing the matter on February 17.

In an application filed before the apex court on January 21, the Committee of Management of Mathura’s Shahi Masjid Eidgah pleaded that the right of the Centre to file its reply in the matter should be closed. The application said that in an order passed on December 12, 2024, the apex court noticed that the Union government had not filed its reply to the petitions challenging the 1991 Act for over three years and directed that a common counter affidavit be filed by the Centre within four weeks.

The mosque committee said that the Union of India is “deliberately” not filing its counter affidavit with the intention to delay the hearing, and thereby, obstructing those who are opposing the challenge to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 in filing their respective written submissions, as the stand of the Centre would have a bearing on the same.

The Shahi Masjid Eidgah’s application contended that since the Supreme Court has fixed the date of hearing of the batch of petitions as February 17, “it would be in the interest of justice if the right of the Union of India to file its counter affidavit/ reply/pleadings/submissions is closed”.

In March 2021, a Bench headed by then Chief Justice of India (CJI) S.A. Bobde sought the Centre’s response to the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay challenging the validity of certain provisions of the law, prohibiting the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.

The plea said, “The 1991 Act was enacted in the garb of ‘public order’, which is a State subject (Schedule-7, List-II, Entry-1) and ‘places of pilgrimages within India’ is also State subject (Schedule-7, List-II, Entry-7). So, the Centre can’t enact the Law. Moreover, Article 13(2) prohibits the State from making a law to take away fundamental rights but the 1991 Act takes away the rights of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs, to restore their ‘places of worship and pilgrimages’, destroyed by barbaric invaders.”

It further added, “The Act excludes the birthplace of Lord Rama but includes the birthplace of Lord Krishna, though both are incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the creator and equally worshipped throughout the world, hence it is arbitrary.”

In an interim order passed on December 12, 2024, CJI Sanjiv Khanna-led Special Bench had ordered that no fresh suits would be registered under the Places of Worship Act in the country, and in the pending cases, no final or effective orders would be passed till further orders.

The CJI-Khanna bench had asked the Union government to file within four weeks its reply to the batch of petitions challenging the validity of the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions), 1991.

–IANS

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Jaipur, March 21 (IANS) Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma announced an ambitious target of planting 10 crore saplings under Mission Hariyalo Rajasthan. Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” campaign, the government aims to plant 50 crore saplings.

In the financial year 2024-25, 7 crore saplings were planted, and this year, in line with the 2025-26 budget, 10 crore more will be planted, he said while addressing the state level function at Rajasthan International Center, Jaipur on the occasion of International Day of Forests, on Friday.

He said that nature is the basis of our life. “Trees, nature and mountains are worshipped in our culture and Rajasthan has had a long association with environmental conservation,” he said.

He appealed that everyone should take a pledge to save forests and preserve biodiversity as well as make a green and healthy Rajasthan for the coming generations.

CM Sharma emphasised Rajasthan’s deep-rooted connection with nature and environmental conservation, urging citizens to take an oath to protect forests and biodiversity for future generations.

The Chief Minister highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to balancing forests, the environment, and climate action. He praised Rajasthan’s conservation efforts for the Great Indian Bustard, a critically endangered species, and noted that the National Wildlife Board had recently announced a National Great Indian Bustard Conservation Action Plan.

Reaffirming the state’s dedication to environmental conservation, Sharma stressed the government’s focus on the 3Rs – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

He also announced the Rajasthan Circular Economy Incentive Scheme 2025, introduced in the 2025-26 budget, to promote waste management, water conservation, and resource efficiency. In a significant move, the government is also set to introduce an agroforestry policy for the first time in Rajasthan.

Other key initiatives include: One District, One Species – Promoting conservation of native flora, establishment of Mother Forests across districts, recruitment of forest guards and creation of a Gharial Rearing Center in Sawai Madhopur’s Palighat for grassland and gharial conservation.

On the occasion, Chief Minister Sharma launched the ‘Digi-One-Forest Stack’ app, a first-of-its-kind initiative in India, aimed at enhancing transparency in forest management through IT technology.

He also inaugurated eco-tourism facilities in Sitamata Wildlife Sanctuary and introduced golf cart services at Keoladeo National Park (Bharatpur) and Nahargarh Biological Park. Additionally, he unveiled the Forest Soil Health Card and the Climate Change Response and Ecosystem Service Enhancement (CRESEP) logo.

The event also witnessed the foundation laying of the Forest Training and Management Institute.

The Chief Minister distributed kits to Vanmitras and honoured women personnel from the Forest Department for their outstanding contributions.

Sanjay Sharma, Minister of State for Forest, Environment, and Climate Change, acknowledged Prime Minister Modi’s vision in transforming tree plantation into a mass movement.

He highlighted Rajasthan’s innovative monitoring system to ensure sapling survival and the ongoing registration of Forest Protection and Management Committees.

–IANS

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Chennai, April 10 (IANS) The Madras High Court has ruled that borrowers cannot invoke arbitration proceedings to address disputes related to the non-updating of their credit history by companies like TransUnion CIBIL Limited without first utilising the alternative remedies prescribed under the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005.

A division bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and C. Kumarappan delivered the verdict while allowing an original side appeal filed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The RBI, represented by its counsel Chevanan Mohan, had challenged a single judge’s ruling that permitted arbitration proceedings without requiring the borrower to exhaust statutory remedies.

Disagreeing with the earlier ruling, the division bench emphasised that Section 18 of the Act provides for dispute resolution through arbitration and conciliation only if no other remedy is available under the law.

Since the Act outlines a specific mechanism for correcting and updating credit information, arbitration cannot be the first recourse.

The bench elaborated that Section 21 of the Act offers a detailed process for borrowers to request changes to their credit information. Borrowers can demand modifications, corrections, additions, or deletions to their credit reports, and the institutions involved are legally bound to process such requests within 30 days of receiving them. If corrections are not made, the borrower must be informed of the reasons.

Justice Sumanth, who authored the verdict, stated that any individual applying for a loan or credit facility is entitled to request a copy of the credit report obtained by the lending institution from a credit information company. These institutions are required to provide such reports upon payment of charges specified by the RBI.

If a borrower finds discrepancies in the credit report, they can request that the relevant credit institution and the credit information company update their records. The law mandates that these corrections be verified and completed within the stipulated time frame. The statutory framework thus provides a robust and effective dispute resolution mechanism.

The court also noted the RBI’s submission that TransUnion CIBIL facilitates online dispute resolution through a straightforward application process on its website. However, the borrower in the case under consideration had not availed of this remedy and had instead directly invoked arbitration under Section 18.

The RBI counsel argued that the single judge had erred in entertaining the arbitration application and issuing an injunction against TransUnion CIBIL without the borrower first attempting to resolve the matter through the statutory process.

Agreeing with this stance, the Division Bench set aside the single judge’s order and granted the borrower the liberty to initiate an online application to rectify his credit report. The court clarified that, since TransUnion CIBIL had categorised the borrower as “high risk” based on information from multiple banks indicating defaults on credit card and gold loan repayments, he could still seek rectification if he possessed valid documentation to challenge that classification.

In conclusion, the Bench reiterated that while arbitration is an available remedy under the Act, it can only be invoked after all other statutory dispute resolution avenues have been fully pursued.

–IANS

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