Page 1238 - Law Crime
Female flight attendant suicide case: Crime Branch takes over probe
The Crime Branch has taken over probe into the alleged suicide of a female flight attendant in south Delhi's Panchsheel Park last month, police said today. Anissia Batra, who worked with a German airline, had allegedly jumped from the terrace of her house on July 14. Her husband Mayank Singhvi was arrested on the charge of dowry death. The case was transferred to the Crime Branch two days ago after Anissia's family alleged inadequacies in the manner the local police carried out the investigation, a senior police officer said. A friend of the deceased flight attendant, who did not wish to be named, welcomed the move and said the Crime Branch has been proactive in their investigation. "This is a positive development. The immediate action, the Crime Branch took was they visited the crime scene and met her family members," she said. The crime scene was compromised by the local police and was not sealed. The local police were under pressure and could not do what they were supposed to do, ..
Mob lynching complete failure of law, says former CJI Thakur
Mob lynching is a complete failure of rule of law, former Chief Justice of India T S Thakur today said as he cautioned that a judiciary which measures up to some political ideology will not be able to protect the Constitution. He also said that it is the judiciary that ensures rule of law in the country and makes sure that it is not governed by any autocrat. Justice Thakur, while speaking at the release of a book "The Wheel of Justice" penned by former law minister M Veerappa Moily, said that a person who committed an offence has to be prosecuted under the rule of law. He said that even Ajmal Kasab, the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks convict, got a fair trial right up to the Supreme Court and he was not left to be lynched on the streets. "Mob lynching is a complete failure of rule of law. If a mob can take law into its hands and administer sundry justice, what kind of rule of law is that? If somebody has committed an offence, the law requires him to be prosecuted. "Even Kasab, a murderer .
SC starts hearing plea against 'discriminatory' action in adultery cases
The Supreme Court on Wednesday commenced hearing on a plea that challenged the constitutional validity of a legal provision on the prosecution of a man involved in an adulterous relationship with a married woman but lets her go scot-free.
SC's 5-judges bench to examine its 12-yr-old verdict on SC/ST quota in govt jobs
A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court will examine whether its 12-year-old verdict that had dealt with the issue of 'creamy layer' for reservations to SC and ST categories in government job promotions needs to be re-visited by a seven-judge bench. The bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Indu Malhotra will hear the issue on August 3. The apex court had on July 11 refused to pass any interim order against its 2006 verdict and said that a five-judge bench would first see whether it needs to be examined by a seven-judge bench or not. The apex court had said it cannot hear the matter only for the purpose of interim relief as a reference has already been made to the Constitution bench. The M Nagaraj verdict of 2006 had held that the 'creamy layer' concept cannot be applied to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for promotions in government jobs, like two earlier verdicts of 1992 Indra Sawhney and ...
Charred bodies found in bushes near Bhopal airport: Police
Charred bodies of a man and a woman were found today in the bushes at an isolated spot near Bhopal's Raja Bhoj airport, police said. Police suspect that the duo were first killed using heavy stones by unidentified persons before setting their bodies on fire, apparently to destroy their identity. The bodies were found lying at a spot between Asharam Square and Narsinghgarh tri-section near the airport, said Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjay Sahu. It appears that the man is around 40-year-old and the woman around 35, he said. "We are trying to identify the deceased whose bodies are burnt badly. The exact cause of their death would be known after postmortem," he said. A case has been registered at Gandhi Nagar police station, he said.
Indonesia urged to release jailed teen rape survivor
Human rights non-profits have begun a campaign for the release of a 15-year-old Indonesian girl raped by her brother, after she was given a six-month prison sentence for having an abortion, an activist said on Wednesday.
Deport illegal Bangladeshi settlers in Mumbai: BJP MLA
A Mumbai BJP MLA today demanded that the Bangladeshi nationals staying illegally in the city be identified and deported on the pattern of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise carried out in Assam. The Colaba MLA Raj Purohit has written a letter to the district collector (city) Shivaji Jondhale in this regard. He stated that Bangladeshi nationals could settle in Mumbai illegally due to "blessings" of local politicians. Purohit, the chief whip of the BJP in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, alleged the politicians have protected the Bangladeshi "infiltrators" by recommending their names for ration card, Aadhar card, voter ID and other documents. He said the Bangladeshi nationals pose threat to Mumbai's law and order. "Hence, you should, with the help of the Election Commission and police officials, chalk out a time-bound programme to identify and deport the Bangladeshi nationals to their home country from Colaba and Mumbai in line with the (draft) NRC," ...
Man kills wife on her birthday, held
A hotel chef has been arrested on the charge of stabbing his wife to death on her birthday after a quarrel over a trivial issue, police said on Wednesday.
SC commences hearing to examine constitutional validity of adultery law
The Supreme Court today commenced hearing on pleas seeking quashing of the adultery provision in the IPC on the ground that it only punishes married men for having extra-martial sexual relations with a married woman. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said it will not touch the law to make it an offence for women too. "We will test whether Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the basis of Article 14 (equality before law) should remain a criminal offence at all," the bench also comprising justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, said. Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC says: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery." "He shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a .
Young man kills girl, self in Bihar
A young man allegedly shot dead a young girl and then himself dead on Wednesday in Bihar's Jahanabad district, police said.
Gujjar activist arrested for raping woman in J-K
A prominent Gujjar activist has been arrested for allegedly raping a woman in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, the police said today. Talib Hussain was arrested following a complaint lodged yesterday by a woman who is his relative, a police official said. In her complaint, the woman alleged that she was raped by Hussain a month-and-a half ago in Chadwa forest, he said. Hussain, armed with a knife, intercepted the woman when she had gone to the forest for grazing cattle and also thrashed her, the complaint said. The complainant said she remained silent for so long as Hussain had threatened to kill her and that she told her husband about the rape yesterday only, the police official said. He said the activist had also been booked under the Arms Act and an probe had been launched in the case. Hussain shot into prominence after being at the forefront of a campaign to seek justice for an eight-year-old girl who was abducted, raped and murdered in Kathua district in January this year. In .
Rajnath urged to deport Rohingyas, illegal Bangaldeshis in Delhi
Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari on Wednesday urged Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to identify the Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi infiltrators residing in the national capital illegally and deport them back to their countries.
Raj govt approves setting up of 55 POCSO courts
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje approved today a proposal to set up 55 courts under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the state. Each district would have at least one such court to deal with cases of crime against children, especially rape and to ensure that accused are convicted at the earliest, Raje said in a statement. One such court is already operational in the state capital, the statement said. Total 660 new posts would be created and filled in these courts. The POCSO courts would be set up in Bikaner, Balotara, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Churu, Dausa, Dholpur, Dungarpur, Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh, Jaipur, Jalore, Jaisalmer, Jhunjhunu, Karauli, Merta, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Swai Madhopur, Sikar, Sirohi, Jodhpur and Tonk, the statement said.
Work of SC, HCs not to rule through PIL: Law minister
The work of the Supreme Court and high courts is not to rule through PIL as that right is given by the Constitution to elected representatives, Law Minister Ravi Shakar Prasad said today. He said in Lok Sabha that the government was in support of filing of Public Interests Litigations (PILs) in favour of the poor and labourers against corruption by politicians and in several big corruption cases in which politicians are getting convicted now. He said that he himself was a lawyer for petitioners filing PILs. "I would like to state humbly that right to rule is for only those who are elected by the people and answerable to the House (Parliament). The right to enact laws is with those who are voted by the people and answerable to the House. "I would like to humbly state that the work of high courts or the Supreme Court is not to rule through PIL. This right is given by the Constitution to elected representatives," he said during Question Hour. Replying to a question about the transfer of .
Death sentence to man for raping, murdering 4-year-old girl in Manipur
A man has been awarded the death sentence by a POSCO court of Manipur's Senapati district for raping and murdering a four-year-old girl in 2015. Special judge A Noutuneshwari Devi awarded the capital punishment to 24-year-old R David, a resident of Maram Kavanam village in Senapati district, yesterday under relevant section of the IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. David had raped the girl and then strangulated her to death. Her body was then kept hidden in a cattle shed, the prosecution said. The court ruled that David would be hanged till death. "It is one of the rarest of the rare cases. The court opined that if such offence committed by the convict is taken lightly, then there is no safety for children in the society. "The court further decided that maximum punishment should be awarded as an eye opener for the society, so as to prevent such brutal and heinous crime in the society and sentenced David to death," the order said.
Medicine a lucrative business: HC on plight of nurses in pvt hospitals
Education and medicine have become a lucrative business, the Delhi High Court remarked today while hearing a PIL alleging that nurses were being financially exploited in private hospitals and nursing homes in the city. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the Centre and sought its stand on the plea which claimed that situation of nurses in private medical institutions has not improved despite a direction by the Supreme Court to protect their rights. The Centre, represented by advocate Manik Dogra, told the court that the guidelines on salary and working conditions of the nurses have been framed and it was the duty of the individual states to implement them. The bench observed that the petition "discloses exploitation of the nurses". It said that "education and medicine are lucrative business now". It listed the matter for further hearing on October 8 with another similar plea. The petition was moved by the Trained Nurses Association ..
UK former far-right leader Robinson freed from prison
British former far-right leader Tommy Robinson was freed from prison today after winning a legal challenge in a case that has galvanised his supporters worldwide. Robinson, who founded a street-level Islamophobic fringe group called the English Defence League, was serving a 13-month jail sentence. He was jailed for contempt of court and breaching a previous suspended sentence, having used social media to live-stream outside a court in Leeds in northern England in breach of reporting restrictions around a trial. Since his imprisonment, supporters of US President Donald Trump, including former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, have taken up his cause. Street protests have demanded the release of Robinson, who has previous convictions for assault, drug possession and fraud. A panel of three judges at the Court of Appeal in London quashed the finding of contempt, citing technical flaws, and freed him on conditional bail pending a new hearing. "The appellant is granted bail and ...
HC relief for ex-Bhopal SP, collector accused of helping Anderson escape
The Madhya Pradesh High Court today quashed a lower court order to register a case against two former officers for allegedly helping Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson escape India after the Bhopal gas tragedy. The order by Justice S K Palo came on petitions filed by then Bhopal superintendent of police Swaraj Puri and then collector Moti Singh, their lawyer A P Singh said. Anderson, the main accused in the deadly 1984 gas leak case, had obtained bail from a court, and the bail conditions did not state that he was not to leave the country, advocate Singh contended before the judge. Puri and Singh took him to the airport safely as part of their duty and thus committed no crime, the lawyer said. The high court noted that the CJM court took cognisance of the petition seeking to make Puri and Singh accused 26 years after the incident, and quashed the lower court's order, he added. The plea before the lower court was filed in 2010. Activist Abdul Jabbar had filed a petition in the CJM ...
Kathua gangrape case: Prosecution to share names of witnesses who do not face threat
The district and sessions court here, hearing the gruesome rape and murder case of an eight-year-old girl, today asked the prosecution to share, a day in advance with defending lawyers, names of those witnesses who do not have any security threat, a lawyer said. Pathankot District and Sessions Judge Tejwinder Singh, while hearing a petition of defence counsel for disclosure of names of witnesses in advance, left it to the prosecution to share the names of only such witnesses, a day in advance with defence lawyers, who do not have any security threat, Special Public Prosecutor J K Chopra told PTI here. The court, while disposing off three applications of defence counsel, asked it would be appropriate to direct the prosecution to disclose the names of witnesses in advance a day before examination barring those who are under threat, Chopra said. Defence counsel A K Swahaney told reporters that the court agreed with their plea for disclosure of witnesses names in advance. The defence had .
Removal of construction on ridge: NGT orders attachment of salaries of erring officers
The National Green Tribunal took today strong exception to non-compliance of its order on removal of illegal constructions in Delhi Ridge by the CISF and the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPRD) and ordered attachment of salaries of erring officers. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the officers concerned of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), BPRD and CGWA to submit compliance report by September 15. The salaries of the officers will remain attached till compliance report was filed, the bench said. The tribunal noted that substantial time has elapsed since its 2017 order yet there was no compliance report submitted. While refusing to quash the environmental clearance, the green panel had last year slapped an environment compensation of Rs 10 lakh each on the CISF and BPRD for starting construction on Khasra No. 1007/1/2 of Mahipalpur without environmental clearance. The tribunal's judgement had come on a plea by NGO CHETNA ...