"Waqf Bill a cover-up for their failures": Akhilesh Yadav targets Centre

Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 8 (ANI): Launching a scathing attack on the Centre, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday that the Waqf Amendment Act is a cover-up for BJP's failures which has been brought to hide the failures of their schemes.
Speaking to the media in Jaunpur, Yadav said, "The Waqf Bill is a cover-up for their failures. They have brought such laws to hide the failures of their schemes. The Samajwadi Party did not even accept this in the Lok Sabha."
"In the coming times, the BJP will be defeated. The BJP cannot face the unity of the PDA," Akhilesh said.
Further, the Samajwadi Party chief said that the government does not want to answer on key public issues and is making every decision to benefit a few people.
"They do not want to answer on inflation, and the unemployment rate has increased significantly. They do not want to respond. The prices of petrol and diesel have gone up. The government is making every decision to benefit a few people," Akhilesh Yadav said.
"Our Chief Minister doesn't know anything. He is saying that in three years, he will eradicate poverty, meaning zero poverty. They talk about zero tolerance, but the Supreme Court itself says that there is no law and order in Uttar Pradesh," the SP Chief said.
The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on Uttar Pradesh Police for its "absurd" practice of converting civil disputes into criminal cases.
A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan termed such a practice wrong, absurd and contrary to the guidelines issued by the top court in an earlier judgement.
It clarified that the act of taking and not returning money is not a criminal offence.
"This is something strange which is happening day in and day out in UP. A case of merely giving money and not returning of that money is not a criminal offence. This is absolutely no case, there's no criminal case at all," said CJI Khanna.
Calling into question the state authorities' irregularity in this regard, the CJI said, "I will ask the investigating officer to stand in the witness box and record his pre-summoning evidence. I will haul up and begin proceedings against the IO."
After having issued its warning, the top court stayed the criminal trial proceedings filed against the accused.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by one Surendra Singh Bhandari who challenged criminal proceedings filed against him in connection with a dispute related to money. UP Police had charged him with cheating, which is a criminal offence. (ANI)