NEW DELHI, July 9:
Video footage of Rahul Gandhi apparently dozing off today in the Lok Sabha during a debate on price rise went viral on the social media.
The Congress vice president was seen in a television shot with closed eyes and head tilting on the right.
The shot, picked up from Lok Sabha TV, went viral on the social media accompanied by carping comments.
While Congress promptly denied that Rahul was sleeping, BJP taunted it by saying this is what the party was doing on price rise for the last 10 years.
“It is not true. I totally and categorically deny all aspersions,” Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said lamenting that the matter has been sensationalised and wondered whether it behoves to raise such issues.
He said that for the last seven weeks the Government has played “petty and vindictive” politics.
BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said,”On the issue of price rise, the Congress has been sleeping for the last ten years. And today when there was a discussion on price rise in Parliament, Congress’s Yuvraj fell asleep.
“Congress is not ready to discuss on price rise and inflation. They use the word just for slogans. Congress is never serious on the issue of price rise and that is why Rahul Gandhi became so bored with this discussion that he slept off,” he said.
Countering this, Congress leader Rajiv Shukla said that a “trivial and frivolous issue” is being unnecessarily highlighted.
“First of all this is not a controversy. This is very trivial and frivolous issue which is being unnecessarily highlighted. In the last 14 years during my Parliament career, I have seen lot many people taking a nap or sleeping or dozing off in Parliament of BJP, Shahnawaz Hussain’s own party.
“Sometimes people shut their eyes and listen to the speech very patiently. This must be the case with Rahul Gandhi as well. Atal Bihari Vajpayee always used to shut his eyes to listen to debates. What does it mean?
“Lot many BJP ministers are still sleeping or taking a nap which they call a ‘catnap’. Rahul Gandhi must be giving a patient hearing. Unnecessarily you are trying to blow this issue out of proportion,” Shukla said.
Meanwhile, NCP too came to the defence of the Congress vice president and said closing one’s eyes does not mean sleeping.
“ Many people in Parliament close their eyes. It does not mean they are sleeping,” senior NCP leader Praful Patel said. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, July 9:
The Supreme Court today restrained all states from exercising power of remission for releasing convicts from jail who are serving life sentence and sought their response whether the Centre’s nod was needed for the purpose in cases prosecuted by central agencies like CBI.
A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha issued notices to all State Government asking them to file their response by July 18 so that the matter can be taken up for hearing on July 22.
“Meanwhile, state Governments are restrained from exercising power of remission for releasing life convicts till the next date of hearing,” the bench, also comprising justices J S Khehar, J Chelameswar, A K Sikri and Rohinton Nariman said in an interim order.
The bench made it clear that there was need for a categorical response “whether in CBI cases, states have any role on the question of remission to life convicts”.
The issue of remission was referred to the Constitution Bench after the Centre had challenged the Tamil Nadu Government’s decision to remit the sentences of all seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
The court had on February 20 stayed the state Government’s decision to release three convicts—Murugan, Santhan and Arivu— whose death sentence was commuted to life term by it on February 18 in the case.
It had later on also stayed release of four other convicts Nalini, Robert Pious, Jayakumar and Ravichandran in the case, saying there were procedural lapses on the part of the state Government.
When the matter came for hearing along with other similarly situated convicts including the Red Fort attack case, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar submitted that Tamil Nadu Government has no power to exercise jurisdiction in the cases investigated and prosecuted by the central probe agencies like CBI.
“Today Tamil Nadu has exercised power (of remission). Tomorrow other states would also,” he submitted while reading out the April 25 order of the apex court when the matter was referred to the Constitution Bench by framing the issues that need to be deliberated.
The Solicitor General said in the cases filed by the CBI or other central agencies, the Central Government is the appropriate authority to take such calls.
He said while considering the issue of remission, there was also a need to look into the rights of the victims.
The bench also made it clear that it would not go beyond the questions which were framed in the Reference.
However, during the brief hearing, the bench also posed a question to the Centre that in the case in hand how the writ petition was maintainable.
“How is the writ petition maintainable. You have to file a written submission on the question of maintainability? the bench said.
The Jayalalithaa Government had on February 19 decided to set free all the seven convicts who have been in jail for 23 years for their role in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination on May 21, 1991 in Sriperumbudur.
The apex court had referred the case to the Constitution Bench saying this issue has been raised for the first time before the court and an authoritative pronouncement is required on the matter which could have wide ramifications.
“Accordingly, we refer this matter to the Constitution Bench to decide the issue pertaining to whether once power of remission under Article 72(by the President) or 161 (by Governor)or by this Court exercising Constitutional power under Article 32 is exercised, is there any scope for further consideration for remission by the executive,” it said.
It had said that the Constitution bench will also decide whether the sentence of a prisoner, whose death penalty has been commuted to life, can be remitted by Government.
The Constitution bench will also decide whether life imprisonment meant jail term for rest of the life or a convict has a right to claim remission.
It will also decide whether a special category of sentence may be made for cases where death penalty might be substituted by the punishment of imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term in excess of fourteen years and to put that category beyond application of remission.
It will also decide whether the Union or the State has primacy over the subject matter enlisted in concurrent list of Seventh Schedule of the Constitution for exercise of power of remission. (PTI)

PANAJI, July 9:
A US-based NRI has been booked for allegedly posting a morphed picture of Goa’s PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar in a bikini on social networking site Facebook.
Dhavalikar had recently stoked a controversy by saying that “wearing bikinis should be banned on Goa’s beaches.” Later, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had ruled out banning wearing of the swimwear on the state’s beaches.
An FIR was filed on Monday under sections 66(B) and 67 of the Information Technology Act, following a complaint by a local man, Pradeep Bakhle against Goa born Savio Almeida, Ponda Deputy Superintendent of Police Dinraj Govekar said today.
According to police, Almeida recently posted a morphed picture of Dhavalikar showing him in the bikini on Facebook.
“The FIR has been filed under Information Technology Act after we received the complaint. The case has been forwarded to seniors who will take call on it. They might hand it over to cyber crime cell,” Govekar said. (PTI)