Chawla: SC tells Centre to place A-G’s opinion before it

The Supreme Court today directed the Centre to place before it the Attorney- General’s opinion on the representation made by 205 MPs seeking removal of controversial Election Commissioner Naveen Chawla.

The Supreme Court today directed the Centre to place before it the Attorney- General’s opinion on the representation made by 205 MPs seeking removal of controversial Election Commissioner Naveen Chawla.

A vacation Bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice R V Raveendran also sought the response of Election Commission and the Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon on the issue. The court sought the A-G’s opinion in a sealed cover.

A notice was also issued to Chawla on a petition moved by senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh seeking his removal on the ground that he would not be able to discharge his duties impartially in view of several allegations of impropriety levelled against him.

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Chawla has been at the centre of a controversy over alleged receipts of funds from the MPLAD scheme — for an NGO run by his wife — from several Congress MPs.

Speaking for the petitioners, former attorney-general (during the NDA rule) Soli Sorabjee, said under Article 324(5) of the Constitution the Centre was under ‘‘constitutional obligation’’ to refer the memorandum of MPs seeking Chawla’s removal to the CEC. On the opinion and recommendation of the CEC, an EC is removed by the Government. Sorabjee told the court that ‘‘by refusing to place the memorandum before the CEC and instead referring it to the Attorney-General, the Union Government had blocked the constitutional process of removal of an election commissioner as envisaged under the Article’’.

SC notice to AP on Monsanto’s plea

The Supreme Court today issued notices to Andhra Pradesh government and others on a petition filed by US biotech major Monsanto, seeking a stay on an order directing the company to fix a reasonable price for the sale of Bt cotton seeds to farmers, which was held to be exorbitantly high. The notices were issued by a vacation bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice R V Raveendran. The petition has been filed by Mahyco-Monsanto, the Indian arm of the company challenging the order of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practice Commission (MRTPC).

No reprieve for Maxim editor

The Supreme Court on Monday denied anticipatory to editor of Maxim magazine Sunil Mehra, who has been booked for publishing indecent morphed photographs of Tollywood actor Khushboo. ‘‘This (publication of the indecent photograph) is a blatant attempt to increase the circulation of your magazine,’’ a vacation Bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice R V Raveendran said while refusing to interfere in the matter. On April 17, the Madras High Court too had turned down Mehra’s anticipatory bail application.