SC applies brakes on 'bulldozer justice', lays down guidelines on demolition of properties | Top News of Nov 13, 2024

[00:00:09] Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host Vishnu and these are the major news stories of Wednesday, Nov 13, 2024.

[00:00:19] The Supreme Court applied brakes on bulldozer justice and laid down pan-India guidelines on the demolition of properties.

[00:00:27] 31 assembly seats in 10 states went to the polls on Wednesday. Most of these seats became vacant after the sitting MLA contested and won in the looks of our elections,

[00:00:35] while others became vacant following the demise of the representatives.

[00:00:40] U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced that Tesla owner Elon Musk and Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy would lead the Department of Government Deficiency,

[00:00:49] aimed at improving governance and curbing wasteful expenditures.

[00:00:54] A medical oncologist at a Chennai hospital was stabbed seven times by the son of a patient over grievances regarding the treatment of his mother.

[00:01:03] A fresh controversy erupted in Kerala on Wednesday after purported excerpts from the yet-to-be-published autobiography of veteran CPM leader E.P. Jairajan was leaked.

[00:01:12] Let's get into the details.

[00:01:15] Equating bulldozer justice with a lawless state of affairs where might is right,

[00:01:19] the Supreme Court on Wednesday laid down pan-India guidelines and said no property should be demolished without a prior show-cost notice

[00:01:26] and the affected must be given 15 days to respond.

[00:01:29] The executive cannot assume judicial powers to punish citizens by demolishing their properties without following due process,

[00:01:35] the Epex Court said, while terming such excesses high-handed and arbitrary and ruling that they need to be dealt with the heavy hand of the law.

[00:01:42] A bench of Justices B.R. Gawai and K.V. Vishwanathan described as chilling the sight of a bulldozer demolishing a building,

[00:01:49] rendering women, children and aged persons homeless overnight.

[00:01:52] If the executive acts as a judge and inflicts penalty of demolition on a citizen on the ground that he is an accused,

[00:01:58] it violates the principle of separation of powers, the bench said in its 95-page judgment.

[00:02:03] Passing a slew of directions, the bench made clear that they will not be applicable if there is an unauthorized structure in a public place,

[00:02:10] such as road, street, footpath, abutting railway line or any river or water bodies

[00:02:15] and also in cases where there is an order for demolition made by a court of law.

[00:02:20] Polling was held for by-elections across 31 assembly seats in 10 states, including Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya on Wednesday.

[00:02:33] Most of these seats became weakened after the sitting MLA's contested and won in the Loksa by-elections,

[00:02:37] while others became weakened following the demise of their representatives.

[00:02:41] Polling took place in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two in Madhya Pradesh

[00:02:49] and one seat each in Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya.

[00:02:52] Both will be counted on No. 23rd.

[00:02:56] U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has announced that Tesla owner Elon Musk

[00:03:00] and Indian American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency

[00:03:05] aimed at improving governance and curbing wasteful expenditures.

[00:03:08] Trump has also given them a deadline of July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

[00:03:16] Ramaswamy is the first Indian American to have been tapped by Trump into his administration beginning January 20th next year.

[00:03:23] His parents migrated to the U.S. from Kerala and worked at a general electrical plant in Ohio.

[00:03:28] The U.S. President-elect said the Department of Government Efficiency would potentially become the Manhattan Project of the current time.

[00:03:34] Asserting that the Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of the Department of Government Efficiency for a very long time,

[00:03:41] Trump said that it would provide advice and guidance from outside of government

[00:03:44] and will partner with the White House and Office of Management and Budget to drive large-scale structural reform

[00:03:50] and create an entrepreneurial approach to the government never seen before.

[00:03:55] A medical oncologist at the Kalaitner Centennedy Super Specialty Hospital in Chennai was stabbed seven times on men's stay by the son of a patient

[00:04:02] allegedly over grievances regarding the treatment of his mother at the same facility.

[00:04:06] The man assaulted the doctor inside the outpatient room during a conversation regarding his mother's treatment.

[00:04:11] He was immediately apprehended by the hospital staff and handed over to the police.

[00:04:15] The doctor is being treated and he is stable.

[00:04:18] Government doctors strongly condemned the attack and announced the strike.

[00:04:20] State Health Minister Masu Brahmanian is said to hold talks with them.

[00:04:24] The assailant was identified as Vignesh and his mother Kanjana was the patient.

[00:04:28] The victim, Balaji, is a renowned oncologist and is serving as an associate professor in the medical oncology department in the hospital.

[00:04:33] An official said the assailant claimed his mother was provided chemotherapy six times in the hospital.

[00:04:39] After shifting to a private hospital, they were told that her lungs were affected.

[00:04:43] The official said exactly what transpired between the victim and the assailant is not clear.

[00:04:48] A fresh controversy erupted in Kerala on Menestay after the perpetrated excerpts from the yet-to-be-published autobiography of veteran CPM leader E.P Jairajan was leaked.

[00:04:57] Though a few news channels broadcast some portions of a text that bear critical remarks on the LDF government and the masses' party

[00:05:02] claiming them to be the excerpts of the book, Jairajan rejected the claim saying he did not write anything like that and he was yet to finish writing the book.

[00:05:10] While the BJP and the Congress quickly reacted saying that it exposed a growing infighting and discontent among the masses' party leaders,

[00:05:17] the CPM leadership reacted cautiously but chose not to openly criticize Jairajan.

[00:05:22] The book, titled Katen Jai Im Paripur Deem – The Life of a Communist,

[00:05:25] is reportedly being published by a well-known publisher who released its cover page on its social media handle on Tuesday.

[00:05:31] The publisher also announced earlier that the book would be published on Wednesday.

[00:05:36] However, they clarified that the release was postponed due to some technical issues.

[00:05:40] Rejecting the contents of the yet-to-be-published book, Jairajan said two publishers, including the one who announced its release,

[00:05:46] had approached him for publishing rights but he has not granted them to anyone.

[00:05:49] When their reaction was sought, CPM coordinator of the Politburo, Prakash Karat and state secretary MB Govind had made clear that the party believes what Jairajan has said on the matter and the present controversy was a creation of the media.

[00:06:02] That brings us to the end of this episode.

[00:06:04] Thanks for listening to Daily News Tours.

[00:06:06] Hosted and produced by me Vishnu Muruladharan.

[00:06:09] Follow www.onmanorama.com for detailed updates on the latest news and be sure to come back tomorrow.