New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to examine the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar law passed by Parliament as a Money Bill.
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices R. Banumathi and Uday Lalit told senior counsel P. Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal appearing for Congress MP, Jairam Ramesh, who had challenged the law and sought a declaration that it is unconstitutional and not valid.
At the outset Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi for the Centre submitted that the writ petition is not maintainable as the decision of the Speaker to certify a particular Bill as a ‘Money Bill’ is not subject to judicial review.
He said there are a number of judgments which hold that the Speaker’s decision in this regard is final. Mr Chidambaram, however, said the Aadhaar law ought not to have been passed as a Money bill.
The attempt to pass it as a money bill is a colourable exercise of power. When the CJI wanted to know as it what manner the fundamental rights of the petitioner has been affected, Mr Chidambaram said when Parliament violates rule of law and there is gross transgression, the court can interfere.
Counsel submitted that both LS and RS are equal. The Bench asked Mr Chidambaram and the AG to give a brief note of their submissions.
SC allows diesel cars in NCR
In a huge relief the Supreme Court on Tuesday relaxed the ban and allowed about 64,000 diesel taxis running on all India tourist permits (AITP) to ply in the national capital region (NCR) on point to point basis within Delhi and NCR till the expiry of their permits, ranging from one to five years.
A three-judge bench comprising chief justice T.S. Thakur and Justices A.K. Sikri and R. Banumathi thereby modified its order passed on April 30 barring diesel taxis in Delhi till they are converted to CNG fitted vehicles. It said no new diesel taxis will be registered and the ban on registration of diesel cars of 2000 cc and above will continue.
The Bench after hearing senior counsel and amicus curiae Harish Salve, solicitor General Ranjit Kumar and counsel for various others in a brief order said the existing AITPs will be converted to AITP-O permits, which will be allowed in NCR for point-to-point services, like those used by business process outsourcing firms.
It said that such taxis will be allowed to run only if they comply with government requirements of safety, security and fare structure to prevent surging of fares. It made it clear that new city taxis will only be registered if they run on petrol, compressed natural gas.
