Page 1094 - Law Crime
Punjab law officer nabbed by vigilance for bribery
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Vigilance Bureau (VB) Ludhiana on Wednesday arrested an Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a Ludhiana city resident.
Rights activists under house arrest belong to terror outfit, Maharashtra police tells SC
The Maharashtra Police on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that five rights activists, who have been kept under house arrest, belong to banned terrorist outfit Communist Party of India (Maoist) and are engaged in planning and execution of large-scale violence, having the potential of destabilizing the society.
Ambulance catches fire, patient dies in hospital
: An ambulance caught fire and exploded soon after a 65-year-old patient was pulled out of it at Chambakulam in Alapuzha district Wednesday night, police said. Mohanan Nair suffered burn injuries and was rushed in an autorickshaw to a hospital, where he later died, police said. The patient was being taken from a community health centre to the Alappuzha medical college hospital after he complained of breathlessness. As he was being administered oxygen, there was a fire and a nurse immediately managed to take him out of the ambulance, soon after which there was an explosion, police said. He was rushed to a hospital, where he later died, police said, adding the exact cause of his death was not clear. The nurse was also reportedly injured. Police said that under the impact of the explosion, a car and few motorbikes parked nearby were damaged.
HC issues notices to social media networks
The Madras High Court has issued notices to social media networks like Twitter and Facebook, taking serious note of the claim that they were not responding to questions of law enforcement agencies on cybercrime complaints. A bench of justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad passed the interim order based on the submission made by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) police that social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and WhatsApp seldom reply to their queries or provide information. The court issued notices to their headquarters in San Francisco and California. A PIL was filed by Antony Clement Rubin seeking a direction to the Centre to declare linking of Aadhaar mandatory for social media accounts to effectively check cybercrime. When the plea came up last week, the court asked why these companies were not cooperating with the law enforcement agencies as mandated by the Information Technology Act. It directed the networks to explain as to why they should not be impleaded ..
Guj: Woman alleges rape by gynaecologist
A 28-year-old woman has alleged that she was raped by a gynaecologist inside his cabin at a private hospital here, the police said Wednesday. Following the FIR lodged by the woman late Tuesday, police booked the doctor under section 376 (Punishment for rape) of the IPC. As per the FIR, the accused called the woman inside his cabin while asking her husband, who was accompanying her, to sit outside, and raped her, said Athwa Lines police inspector S B Bharwad. The victim was taken to Surat civil hospital for check-up. Further investigation is underway. The doctor is not yet arrested, the official said.
Premises of retired executive engineer raided by EOW
The Economic Offences Wing of Madhya Pradesh police raided the premises of a retired executive engineer of the state Water Resources Department Wednesday and allegedly unearthed assets worth crores of rupees, an official said. "We raided one place in Jabalpur and three premises owned by Kodu Prasad Tiwari, a retired executive engineer, in Satna district," EOW deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Rajvardhan Maheshwari said. "We unearthed assets worth crores of rupees amassed by him, which are disproportionate to his known sources of income," the DSP added. Documents seized during the raids showed that Tiwari allegedly owns 120 acres of agricultural land among other properties, he claimed. A case has been registered and further investigation is on, the EOW officer said.
NCLAT extends hearing of Tata Mistry matter to October 31
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Wednesday extended the hearing of the Tata Mistry matter to October 31, as Tata Group sought some more time to file their replies. Earlier on August 24, while passing an interim order the appellate tribunal had asked Tatas to file their reply within 10 days and directed to list the matter on September 24 for next hearing. The time to file reply was ending on Thursday, following which Tata side approached NCLAT for extension to file their replies. NCLAT has now given four-weeks time to Tata to file reply and two weeks-time to Mistry for filing rejoinder, if any. Now, both petitions filed by ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry and the investments firm Cyrus Investments will come for hearing on October 31. Last week, Cyrus P Mistry had moved NCLAT in his personal capacity, requesting the appellate tribunal to set aside the impugned order passed by the National Company Law Tribunal on July 9. On August 29, NCLAT had admitted Mistry's petition ..
Lawyers demand arrest of policemen involved in assault
As their strike entered the eighth day Wednesday, lawyers of Cuttack city asserted that their agitation will continue till the police personnel allegedly involved in assault on an advocate is arrested. The lawyers' indefinite strike has affected functioning of city courts, tribunals and the high court. "Nothing is enough for us as of now. We will be satisfied only when the erring policemen, who are booked for assaulting a lawyer, are arrested and produced in a court," Orissa High Court Bar Association president Srikant Kumar Naik said after the general body meeting of the bar Wednesday. Naik further said that in order to widen the ongoing lawyers agitation across the State, the members of the High Court bar have decided to convene a meeting of the presidents and secretaries of all bars in the State on Saturday to chalk out further course of action. "Till that period, the ongoing agitation will continue," he said. While adjudicating a PIL seeking judicial probe into the ..
"Punish me as much as you want", angry Zia tells court
Expressing her dissatisfaction, Bangladesh's imprisoned ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia Wednesday asked a court to "punish" her "as much as you want" as authorities turned an infamous Dhaka jail into a courtroom to try the opposition BNP chief in a graft case. Zia, 72, was sentenced by the Special Court-5 in the capital Dhaka in connection with the embezzlement of 21 million takas (USD 252,000) in foreign donations meant for the Zia Orphanage Trust. In the same case, her son Tarique Rahman and four others have been sentenced to 10 years in jail. "Punish me as much as you want, punish me as long as you want . . . there is no justice here," she told the judge while appearing in the courtroom on a wheelchair from the nearby jail. Zia told the court she was "extremely ill" and her hand and a leg were becoming paralysed. "I can't come to the court here repeatedly as my leg will swell if I have to sit here like this," she said. Zia is also being tried in another corruption charge involving a .
Former Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt arrested in 1996 case
The CID Crime Branch of Gujarat Police on Wednesday arrested dismissed IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a 1996 case relating to falsely framing a lawyer in a narcotics peddling case.
Follow NALSA scheme to compensate child abuse victims: SC
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the special courts to award compensation to sexually abused children on the lines of a NALSA scheme for victims of sexual assaults and acid attacks, till the Centre finalises the rules.
Year after Gauri Lankesh killing, SIT says case in final stage
Activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh's murder case is in the final stage of investigation and a chargesheet will be filed in two months, a senior SIT official probing the killing said Wednesday. The Special Investigation Team, under the leadership of Additional Commissioner of Police (West) B K Singh, has arrested 12 people in connection with the killing of Lankesh, known for her strong anti-Hindutva stand, on September 5 last year. Some of the people arrested in the case are allegedly linked to Sanatan Sanstha and its allied outfit Hindu Janajagruti Samiti. "The case is in final stage of investigation. We will file a chargesheet in the case in two months," Investigating Officer M N Anucheth said. The Gauri Memorial Trust and her supporters organised a series of events here to mark the first anniversary of her death. The Gauri Balaga and Gauri Lankesh Memorial Trust submitted a joint six-point memorandum to Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala. The memorandum demanded that ...
Indian-origin broker among 5 jailed in UK's investment fraud
An Indian-origin broker has been sentenced to five and a half years' imprisonment for his role in a 2.8-million pound investment fraud targeting elderly and vulnerable people in the UK. Charanjit Sandhu was among five people jailed for a total of nearly 18 years at Southwark Crown Court in London on Tuesday after the UK Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) second-largest criminal prosecution ever, dubbed Operation Tidworth. The case, described as a "boiler room scam", involved defrauding of vulnerable individuals out of life-changing amounts of money. Boiler rooms are unauthorised brokerages that use cold-calling and other high-pressure sales tactics to sell worthless or overpriced investments to unsuspecting members of the public. In reference to Sandhu's role, the FCA found he, as a senior broker, often used bullying sales tactics and false names. During sentencing, Judge Christopher Hehir described Sandhu as having been "dazzled by the rewards of crime" and losing "his moral ...
Three get death sentence for killing 4-yr-old boy
A Himachal Pradesh court Wednesday gave the death penalty to three people for the murder of a four-year-old boy whose skeletal remains were found in a municipal water tank two years later. Shimla Sessions Judge Virender Singh had convicted Chander Sharma, Tajender Singh and Vikrant Bakshi on August 6 for the child's murder, but deferred the hearing on the quantum of sentence. Yug's father Vinod Kumar Gupta, mother Pinki Gupta and grandmother Chandralekha Gupta were present in the jam-packed court as the sentence was pronounced. My son cannot come back but I am satisfied with the verdict of death penalty for the guilty, Gupta told PTI. The boy was abducted from the busy Ram Bazar area in Shimla on June 14, 2014 and killed after seven days, even before a ransom call was made. His remains were recovered from a Shimla Municipal Corporation water tank in Kelston area on August 21, 2016, after the probe was handed over to the CID. The prosecution said Yug was tortured, starved and forcibly .
Six minor girls rescued from brothels
Six minor girls were Wednesday rescued from brothels in neighbouring Yadadri Bhongir district and two persons, including a woman, arrested for allegedly trafficking them, police said. Investigations established that taking advantage of poverty of certain families, the traffickers used to procure the girls from various places through professional mediators by paying Rs 60,000 to Rs 1 lakh for each girl, a police release said. The rescued children are being sent to a rescue home. Over the past few months as many as 31 accused, mostly women, were arrested for allegedly indulging in trafficking and 34 girls rescued from the clutches of human traffickers, the release added. Police have said the accused used to administer hormonal injections to the girl children to aid their growth.
Husband of imprisoned Iranian human rights lawyer arrested
The husband of the imprisoned award-winning Iranian human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh has been arrested, their lawyer told AFP on Wednesday. "Reza Khandan was arrested on Tuesday morning at his home in Tehran by agents of Iran's intelligence ministry", their lawyer Mohammad Moghimi said. He was transferred to Evin prison in northern Tehran where a judge charged him with conspiring against national security, propaganda against the system and campaigning against Iran's Islamic dress code. The last charge was based on the fact that badges were found in the family's home, saying "No to compulsory hijab", the lawyer said. Khandan's wife is one of Iran's most famed rights activists and won the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights award in 2012. Earlier this year, Sotoudeh took on the cases of several women arrested for standing in public areas without their headscarves, which have been mandatory in Iran since shortly after the Islamic revolution of 1979. She was ...
Need to balance freedom of press with right of victims: SC told
There is a need to strike a balance between the freedom of the press and the right of a victim to have fair trial in cases of crime against women, the Supreme Court was told on Wednesday. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, assisting the court as an amicus curiae, told a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta that the media was running "parallel trial" in sub-judice matters and the court should frame guidelines on how to report the cases of crime against women. Jaising also claimed that the police was leaking information to the media even before filing the charge sheet before a competent court, which amounted to interference in the administration of justice. "Touchstone of the question is whether it is interference in administration of justice. It is one thing to report court proceeding. It is another thing to run a parallel trial. Running parallel trial in sub-judice matters is interference in the administration of justice," she said. She referred to the ...
NGT forms monitoring committee to prepare action plan on groundwater recharge in Delhi
The National Green Tribunal has formed a monitoring committee headed by a former high court judge to prepare a time-bound action plan on groundwater recharge in the national capital. A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said mere finalisation of the action plan without oversight of its implementation may not achieve the desired purpose. The committee will be headed by Justice (retd) S P Garg and comprise one representative each from the Delhi Jal Board, Central Pollution Control Board, Central Ground Water Authority and Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) concerned, it said. "Apart from finalising the action plan in the light of suggestions of other stakeholders, the suggestion mooted is to have an independent monitoring committee which can constantly monitor the situation for about six months to enhance the availability of groundwater by adopting suitable measures, check contamination and take final call on the plans for proper utilisation of treated ...
Man stabbed to death by brother-in-law
A man was stabbed to death allegedly by his brother-in-law following an altercation in Palamau district, police said Wednesday. The accused Raju Dom has been arrested while his accomplice Naresh Dom was absconding following the incident, Superintendent of Police, Indrajeet Mahatha said. About the incident, the SP said Arun Dom along with Raju and Naresh were having liquor here on Tuesday night when an altercation broke out over an issue. In an inebriated state, Raju with the help of Naresh attacked Arun with a knife and fatally injured him, he said adding that Arun was rushed to Sadar Hospital, Medininagar but he succumbed to his injuries. Police has recovered the knife used in the killing and a hunt was launched to apprehend Naresh, who was reported at large, the SP added.
Life is 'priceless', cannot be quantified in monetary terms: SC
"Life is priceless" and no court can value it in monetary terms, the Supreme Court observed Wednesday while dealing with a matter related to compensation scheme for victims of sexual assault and acid attacks. The observation by a bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur came when a lawyer questioned the compensation scheme of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) as per which women victims of sexual assault or acid attacks get a minimum compensation of Rs 5 lakh and a maximum of Rs 10 lakh in case of loss of life. "No court can value life. Life is priceless," the bench, which also comprised Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, said. The counsel, who has filed a plea on the issue related to acid attacks victims, said compensation amount for such victims should be fixed for a particular category of offence and it should not vary. The lawyer argued that if a woman was raped, the amount of compensation should not be varying as given in the NALSA scheme as per which the minimum ..