Passage 1
As Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar delivered a crucial verdict on January 10 on the cross-petitions filed by the rival Shiv Sena factions seeking disqualification of each other’s MLAs, swift reactions ensued from leaders of various political parties.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar said the verdict favoring Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Sena faction was “not surprising” but urged the rival group led by Uddhav Thackeray to challenge it in the Supreme Court.
In a significant relief to Mr. Shinde, Mr. Narwekar declared his faction as the “real Shiv Sena” when rival groups emerged in June 2022. He said that Mr. Thackeray lacked the authority to remove Mr. Shinde from the post of the Legislature Party leader as the party constitution made the ‘Rashtriya Karyakarini’ (national executive) the supreme body.
Source – https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/opposition-criticises-maharashtra-speakers-verdict-bjp-congratulates-shinde/article67728179.ece
Passage 2
In a landmark judgment, Pakistan’s Supreme Court, on Wednesday, upheld the death sentence of now-deceased former military ruler Pervez Musharraf given to him by a special court in a high treason case.
In December 2019, Musharraf was sentenced to death in absentia by the special court which found him guilty of high treason, for imposing a state of emergency on November 3, 2007, by keeping the constitution in abeyance. However, the Lahore High Court in January 2020 declared the special court and its proceeding as unconditional.
The issue of his sentence and the LHC judgment were before the apex court where a four-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justices Mansoor Ali Shah, Aminuddin Khan and Athar Minallah conducted the hearing.
“The impugned passed on January 13, 2020, by the Lahore High Court (LHC) [] is not sustainable and accordingly set aside,” Chief Justice Isa said while announcing the short order.
Source- https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2024/01/10/pakistans-top-court-upholds-late-military-ruler-pervez-musharrafs-death-sentence-in-treason-case.html
