Page 1325 - Law Crime
Sunanda Pushkar death: SC terms Subramanian Swamy's plea infructuous
The Supreme Court today disposed of a plea by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy seeking an SIT probe into the death of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar saying it has become infructuous as Delhi police has filed a charge sheet in the case. A bench of justices Arun Mishra and S Abdul Nazeer told Swamy that nothing more survives in the petition as now police has filed the charge sheet in the case. "We are leaving all question open. The petition has become infructuous as police have now filed the charge sheet in the case," the bench said. Swamy said that liberty should be granted to him to approach the court if he is aggrieved in the case. "You may come at a later stage but this petition is over," the bench said and disposed of the matter. The apex court had on February 23 sought the response of the Delhi Police on the plea of Swamy while leaving open the question of maintainability of the petition. Swamy has file an appeal against the Delhi High Court's October 26 verdict ...
Illegal liquor seized from train in Assam
Illegal liquor valued at over Rs 1 lakh was seized from down Trivandrum Express at Rangia in lower Assam's Kamrup district today, RPF officials said. A Railway Protection Force (RPF) recovered eight bags with 650 bottles of illegal liquor made in Arunachal Pradesh from the Trivandrum bound train during routine checking. None was arrested in this connection, the officials said.
Man hacked to death by son over property dispute
A 51-year-old tribal man was hacked to death allegedly by his younger son over property dispute in Hazaribag district today, police said. Chotu Besra, a resident of Faklakhi Tola of the village Gadar village, hacked his father Babulal Besra to death when the deceased was going to plough the land of his elder son, Ramesh Besra this morning, police said. Inspector of Bishnugarh police station, Birju Ganju said a police team rushed to the spot, which was about 80 km from Hazaribagh town, on being informed of the incident and recovered the body from the field, about 500 metres away from the victims house. Chotu quarrelled with his father in an drunken state and hit his father with an axe, killing Babulal on the spot, police said, adding that Chotu fled soon after committing the crime.
SC takes note of poor facilities in jails, asks AG to assist
The Supreme Court today took note of lack of facilities in jails, leading to delayed trials and prolonged incarceration of under-trial prisoners, in the country and sought assistance of the Attorney General in issuing directions to deal with the situation. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, on its own, initiated the judicial proceedings after taking note of reports on deficiencies at the Faridabad jail in Haryana and expanded the scope of the case to the entire country. Placing reliance on a report of the District and Sessions judge of Faridabad, the bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said there were several infrastructural and operational deficiencies like lack of video conferencing and transportation facilities in prison. "A report has been submitted by the District and Sessions judge of Faridabad and the judge has mentioned various causes for delayed trials and long incarceration of under trial prisoners in jail," it said. "Having perused .
Bhopal woman held hostage by jilted lover rescued
The woman, who was held hostage at gun-point at her residence in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal city for over 12 hours, has been rescued.According to the police, the accused namely, Rohit Singh from Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh claimed that he loved the 30-year-old model and wanted to marry her.Reportedly, the accused had met the woman in Mumbai during one of the modelling assignments.At the moment, the condition of the girl is stable and she and the man, who held her hostage, were sent to the hospital for treatment."We have rescued the girl, her condition is stable. She has been sent for medical treatment. The man (who held her hostage) has also been sent for medical treatment," said the police.The police, during the rescue operation, comforted the girl by giving her food and clothing through her balcony, where they reached using a crane.Singh conversed with the police through video calls, where he threatened to kill himself if he was not allowed to marry the girl.The police said they saw the ...
SC allows ex-judge to intervene in plea against ST status to Banjaras in Telangana
The Supreme Court today allowed a former high court judge to intervene as a party in a case challenging recognition of Banjaras as Scheduled Tribes in Telangana. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud Court asked the petitioner to file impleadment in a similar matter and posted the case after two weeks. The apex court was hearing a plea filed by Justice B Chandra Kumar (since retired) seeking directions that the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976 recognizing the Banjaras as Scheduled Tribes in Telangana be declared as unconstitutional and illegal as no proper inquiry regarding the backwardness of the community was conducted. He also questioned how the community, which was recognized as Backward Class before the amendment, was put in the category of Scheduled Tribes. Lambadas, also called Sugalis or Banjaras, were included in the list of Scheduled Tribes by the government of undivided Andhra Pradesh ..
Gold worth Rs 20 lakh seized at airport, one held
Gold, weighing 697 gm and worth nearly Rs 20 lakh, has been seized from a passenger at Mangaluru International Airport, Customs sources said today. Mohsin Abubakar, who was arrested, arrived here from Dubai by an Air-India flight this morning, they said, adding, he hails from Kasaragod in Kerala. He was detained for a check on suspicion, the sources said. The check yielded the gold which was concealed in a salad-making machine and a portable CD player, they added.
Kingpin of interstate gang of khairwood smugglers held in Himachal
The kingpin of an interstate gang of khair wood smugglers was arrested in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district today, police said. Sirmaur Superintendent of Police Rohit Malpani told PTI that Kamil was arrested after the interrogation of gang members -- Shamshad, Lali and Akram. The three were arrested about a week ago by a team of special investigative unit (SIU) of Nahan with 226 logs of khair wood, whose market value was over Rs 4.5 crore, he added. As per their modus operandi, the gang members used to steal wood from forests areas, hire pickup-vehicles and sell them out of the state, he added. "Kamil was the kingpin of the gang. Till now only the small peddlers had been arrested. Further investigations into the case are on," Malpani said.
Ganja worth Rs 20,000 seized, man arrested
Ganja (cannabis) worth Rs 20,000 was allegedly seized from a man near Baga beach in Goa, police today said. Calangute Police arrested Mehboob Alam Shaikh (23), a native of West Bengal, last evening after seizing the drug from his possession, said Inspector Jivba Dalvi. Police had received a tip-off that Shaikh was going to deliver drugs to some customers at Baga beach, the police officer said. Shaikh was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
What was state machinery doing during 1984 riots, says HC while hearing CBI plea against Sajjan Kumar
The Delhi High Court today wondered what the state machinery was doing during the 1984 riots as one of the incidents of killing of Sikhs occurred right next to the Delhi cantonment area. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra said had the cases related to the riots, which followed the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, been dealt properly, it would not have been hearing the issue now. The observation by the bench came while hearing the CBI's appeal against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar's acquittal in the murder of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar area of Delhi Cantonment on November 1, 1984. "What was the state machinery doing? The incidents happened right next to the Delhi Cantonment," the court said. Senior advocate Amit Sibal, appearing for Kumar, told the court there was no direction by the Justice G T Nanavati Commission to re-investigate the instant case against Kumar. CBI counsel D P Singh and senior advocate H S Phoolka, representing ..
Review, change your protocols on stress and substance abuse: HC to IAF
The Delhi High Court today directed the Indian Air Force (IAF) to review and change its protocols dealing with issues of stress and substance abuse in the force, saying its systems have to be in tune with the law. The direction by a bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel was issued as it disapproved of the manner in which the IAF had kept a a 30-year-old corporal confined in a hospital's psychiatric ward as he was an alcoholic. "We want to make sure the IAF does not think that the Mental Health Act does not apply to it. There cannot be such a casual exercise that you can keep a person hospitalised for as long as you want," it said. "Review your protocols and make changes as per the law. You are not above the law. This has to stop. We want your systems to be in tune with the law as we do not know how many more people are being kept (confined) like this," the bench added. It also said that the manner in which IAF conducted itself "reflects poorly" on the force, as it kept the ...
BJP condemns bishop for giving clean chit to nun in 'child sale racket'
The BJP today condemned the media statements of the Catholic Bishop Conference of India general secretary for giving a "clean chit" to a Missionaries of Charity (MoC) nun, arrested in connection with an alleged child sale racket, when a police probe into the matter was on. Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas giving a clean chit to the arrested sister was condemnable as the whole matter was being probed by the police, a BJP release said, quoting party spokesman Pratul Shahdeo as saying. This showed that the statement of Mascarenhas was aimed at influencing the police probe, it added. Stating that Mascarenhas was a religious head, whose work was to preach while staying within the constitutional framework, Shahdeo said, "But he chose to come to Ranchi and gave such statements, which are not desirable from a religious guru." The bishop had yesterday claimed that Sister Konsalia, the MoC nun, was not involved in the racket and that she herself had said so to the MoC lawyer on Wednesday, adding ...
CBI files chargesheet against Sengar under Arms Act
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed a chargesheet against 10 people including Bharatiya Jana Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his brother in connection with an arms act case.Also, three police officials of the Makhi police station, Unnao namely, Ashok Singh Bhaduria, Kamta Pratap Singh, and Amir Khan have been named in the charge-sheet.Sengara represents Bangarmau constituency in Unnao.The CBI registered the case on April 12, under Section 3 and Section 25 of the Arms Act.On a related note, the CBI on July 11 filed a charge-sheet against Sengar in the Unnao rape case.Sengar has been charged under section 120B, 363,366,376(1), 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO) Act.
Vyapam: ED files first charge sheet under PMLA
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today filed a charge sheet in the Vyapam scam case of Madhya Pradesh and charged alleged mastermind Dr Jagdish Sagar and others under the anti-money laundering law, the agency said. It said apart from Sagar, Dr Vinod Bhandari, ex-chairman of Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS), and others have been named as accused in the prosecution complaint filed before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here. This is ED's first charge sheet in this case and a supplementary compliant could be filed in future as investigation is continuing, a senior official said. The central probe agency's zonal office here had registered a criminal FIR in March 2014 to probe alleged financial irregularities and laundering instances in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board scam, also called Vyapam in Hindi, pertaining to admission of candidates and students in professional courses and state services in alleged connivance with ...
SC refuses to hear plea against Calcutta HC order asking NGO to deposit Rs 10 lakh
The Supreme Court today refused to entertain an appeal filed by an NGO against a Calcutta High Court order asking it to pay Rs 10 lakh before deciding its plea seeking directions to exhume the body of a six-month-old girl for post-mortem to probe medical negligence charges. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud disposed of the plea filed by the NGO while granting it the liberty to approach the high court. "The high court had some doubt about your bona fides so it asked you to deposit the amount of Rs 10 lakh. There is a law to deal with it. The high court can ask a petitioner to deposit money if it has any doubt about the petitioner's bona fides," the bench observed. Senior advocate Bhim Singh, appearing for the NGO, said it has never been heard that the high court asks a public interest litigant to deposit Rs 10 lakh as a pre-condition for hearing a PIL. The NGO People for Better Treatment, run by Ohio-based AIDS researcher ...
Coal blocks scam: ED attaches assets worth Rs 101 cr of Maharashtra firm
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached fresh assets worth Rs 101 crore of a Maharashtra-based firm in connection with its money laundering probe in the coal scam case, the agency said today. It issued a provisional order for attachment of an office building worth Rs 80 crore at the integrated steel plant of Jayaswal Neco Industries Limited in the Siltara area of Raipur in Chhattisgarh and land worth Rs 21 crore in Bilaspur district. The total value of the attached assets was Rs 101 crore, the agency said in a statement. It had attached assets worth Rs 206 crore of the firm last year. The ED had booked a criminal case against the firm and others to probe money laundering charges, on the basis of an FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe alleged irregularities in the coal blocks allocation. The CBI had earlier filed a chargesheet against the firm. The ED said the company had obtained the Gare Palma-sub block IV/4 coal block in Chhattisgarh "through ...
Second priest held in Kerala rape case
Kerala police today arrested the second priest accused of sexually abusing a woman in Pathnamthitta district, while two other clergymen were still absconding. Johnson P Mathew, a counsellor, was arrested from Kozhencherry in the district and is being questioned by crime branch sleuths, police sources said. His anticipatory bail petition was pending in court. The Crime Branch made the first arrest yesterday after Job Mathew, the vicar of a local church, surrendered, a day after the high court dismissed his anticipatory bail plea and that of two other priests, observing they acted as "predators" and took "undue advantage" of the woman. The two other priests are absconding. Crime branch sources said there were no orders from the court against Johnson P Mathew's arrest. The incident came to light after an audio clip of the purported conversation of the husband of the alleged victim with a church official about the alleged sexual abuse of his wife by the priests was widely circulated on ..
Detention orders issued for senior PML-N leaders
Intensifying its crackdown on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party workers, the Punjab Police has issued detention orders for senior party leaders, including former minister Saad Rafique.In a letter, Inspector General (IG) of Punjab Police Kaleem Imam wrote to the Lahore Deputy Commissioner ordering the detention of seven PML-N leaders for 30 days, The Nation reported.The leaders are- Saad's brother Khawaja Salman Rafique, Mian Marghoob, Bilal Yasin, Khwaja Imran Nazir, Malik Saiful Malook and Waheed Alam Khan.Furthermore, another leader Haji Rana Bakhtiar has been ordered to be placed under house arrest, according to the report.As per the order, the PML-N speeches and actions made by the leader may disturb law and order situation in Lahore and cause harassment amongst the general public.Earlier this week, the Punjab caretaker government arrested hundreds of PML-N party workers and supporters in a bid to prevent the party from leading a rally to receive former prime minister ...
AT&T shares skid as Justice Dept says to appeal Time Warner case
(Reuters) - Shares of AT&T Inc fell 1.8 percent in trading before the bell on Friday after the U.S. Justice Department said it would appeal a federal judge's approval of the telecommunication network's acquisition of Time Warner.
No groundwater extraction by industries in Narela, Bawana: NGT
The National Green Tribunal has imposed a ban on extraction of groundwater by industries engaged in sale of bottled water in Narela and Bawana industrial areas here. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel passed the order after Delhi Jal Board (DJB) informed it that permission for extraction of groundwater cannot be granted to industries and commercial organisations due to serious depletion of water levels in the area. "In view of above, it will be in the interest of the environment that ground water is not allowed to be extracted till there is an improvement in the situation. Accordingly, we direct that no groundwater be allowed to be extracted till further orders," the bench said. The green panel also noted the affidavit filed by DJB which said that if "commercial establishments like malls need groundwater, then the competent authority should make them part of water supply chain with the condition of installation of water meters, ground water usage charges as ...