REITERATING once again the environmental concerns of the people of Thoothukudi district, the Madras High Court refused on August 18 the request for reopening the Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper smelting plant there. It may be recalled that 13 people were killed in police firing on May 22, 2018 during a peaceful protest raising pollution concerns in connection with the plant. A bench of Justices T S Sivagnanam and V Bhavani Subbaroyan delivered the judgement which was hailed by all political parties, including the ruling AIADMK, with the sole exception of BJP.

THE All India Lawyers Union (AILU) has expressed its deep concern and anguish over the recent conviction of Prashant Bhushan for criminal contempt of court by the Supreme Court. The judgement sets a bad precedent and hampers free speech and fair criticism of the Supreme Court, the judiciary and its role in India’s democracy.

ON August 8/9/10, 2020, 45,085 people led by CITU, AIKS, AIAWU, AIDWA, DYFI, SFI and AARM at 491 centres in 99 tehsils and 23 cities/towns in 31 districts of Maharashtra came on to the streets, braving both the Covid pandemic and torrential rains. They held massive demonstrations against the anti-people, pro-corporate, authoritarian and communal policies of the Modi-led BJP-RSS central government. They also raised burning demands of the people. The major mobilisation was by CITU in urban areas and by AIKS in rural areas.

A. INTRODUCTION 

ON July 31, 2020, over 150 activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), the Shramajeevi Sanghatana (a foreign-funded NGO whose leaders are close to the BJP) and other organisations from Palghar district left their own parties and organisations and joined the red flag in an enthusiastic programme that was organised at the Palghar tehsil office of the CPI(M), which is strategically located on the Mumbai-Delhi national highway. They hail from Palghar, Dahanu, Talasari, Jawhar and Vikramgad tehsils.