Page 1530 - Law Crime
NGT orders probe into pond renovation at Govardhan in Mathura
The National Green Tribunal today ordered the Mathura district magistrate to conduct an inquiry into how two former village heads have awarded pond renovation works without following legal procedures in the pilgrimage town of Govardhan. A bench headed by Justice Raghuvendra S Rathore said that neither any meeting nor any resolution was passed to renovate the Sankarshan Kund in Anyor and Rudra Kund in Jatipura. "The Mathura DM as well as the SDM, present in court, are directed to look into the question as to how two ex-pradhans had issued the aforesaid documents on behalf of the panchayat and allowed the public property for the purpose of renovation, which till date is under the control of the party in whose favour the documents are executed. "The district collector shall enquire in accordance with law, after giving opportunity for hearing to the pradhan, in respect of execution of the aforesaid documents and to take appropriate steps for giving permission without following due ...
US Supreme Court to hear fishermen petition against IFC-funded Tata Power project
The US Supreme Court has agreed to look into the so-called immunity provided to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) against harm it may cause to environment through its financing, in this case against the IFC-funded Tata Power Plant in Gujarats Kutch district.
3 bovine smugglers arrested in Samba, Udhampur
Three bovine smugglers were arrested and 28 bovines rescued in Udhampur and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir today, police said. Police party intercepted a truck at the Majalta belt in Udhampur district and during search recovered 13 bovines, a police officer said. A truck was seized and two smugglers Mukhtiar Ahmed and Mohmmad Shafi were arrested and a case was registered, he said. In another incident, a police party intercepted a truck in Kathua district and recovered 15 bovines, the officer said. Driver Ashiq Ali has been arrested and a case registered against him.
Family members of ex-minister Kripashankar Singh discharged in DA case
A special court here today discharged the family members of Congress leader Kripashankar Singh in a disproportionate assets case. Singh, a former Maharashtra minister who was the main accused in the case, was discharged earlier in February after the probe agencies failed to get sanction to prosecute him. Singh's family had filed an application that there could not be a case against them since the main accused had already been discharged, their advocate K H Giri said. "The family members stated that they were not public servants, neither was there any independent charge against them. They were only co-accused and the charges were through Singh. Since Singh has been discharged, there cannot be a case against them," Giri said. Special Judge D K Gudadhe considered their application and discharged them, the lawyer said. Those discharged include Singh's wife Maltidevi, his son Narendra, daughter Sunita, and son-in-law Vijay Kumar. A social activist had filed a complaint against Singh with ..
SC to hear plea law student detained for attendance shortage
A Delhi University law student detained in Semester IV for lecture shortage owing to her pregnancy moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday to seek directions to allow her to write her exams and the apex court is set to hear her plea on Wednesday.
DU opposes in HC RTI activists plea to intervene
The Delhi University today opposed in the Delhi High Court a plea of RTI activists seeking to be heard in a matter in which the varsity has challenged a Central Information Commission (CIC) direction to allow inspection of the university's records of all students who had passed BA examination in 1978. The university claimed before Justice Rajiv Shakdher that the intervention application was filed in the matter for "gaining cheap publicity". Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, who was representing the DU, vehemently opposed the plea of the RTI activists saying it cannot be a public platform and these were cheap publicity stunts. "With all seriousness I am opposing it. Can this be a public platform? Can this be a platform for gaining cheap publicity? These are cheap publicity stunts," the law officer said. The CIC had directed the DU to allow inspection of records related to all the students who had passed BA degree in 1978, the year in which, according to the University, ..
Six held for cheating job-seekers
Six persons, who allegedly cheated job-seekers by promising them jobs in SBI, Income Tax, Railways and other government departments, have been arrested here, police said today. The gang members hailing from different districts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were led by P Venkatesh and allegedly cheatedover 50 unemployed youth on the pretext of providing jobs after collecting money from them, a police release said. The gang members were nabbed from different locations of the city. The release said Rs 12 lakh, fake appointment orders of SBI, Income Tax Department, Railways and National Rural Health Mission were seized from the possession of the accused. The "fraudsters" had set up a job consultancy firm 'MVM Technologies' and promised the job-seekers jobs in government departments, it said. They demanded Rs 10 lakh and took advance amount ranging between Rs 3 to Rs 4 lakh from each candidate, police said. After taking the money, they conducted "interviews" in the ...
HC sets aside single bench order on FIR against church head
A division bench of the Kerala High Court today set aside a single bench order which had directed the police to book Syro-Malabar Catholic Church head Cardinal George Alencherry and three others over alleged irregularities in land deals in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Antony Dominic and Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu, said the single bench order "suffers from legal infirmity and deserves to be set aside". The court said complainant Shine Varghese from Cherthala, who had sought criminal action against the Cardinal and others, had failed to avail alternative remedies including approaching a magistrate court. The division bench issued the order in response to a plea by the Cardinal against the single bench order. The court said the impugned judgement seems to have heavily relied on the diocese's enquiry report and concluded prima facie, though that a cognisable offence is made out. "But regrettably, it has missed out on the fundamental ...
HC acquits Manoj Tiwari in case of 'violation' of police orders
A court here has acquitted Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari in a case, in which he was alleged to have disobeyed police orders while leading a march here in 2014. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal granted the relief to the BJP MP, saying the police had failed to prove there was any such order, either oral or in writing. The court also noted that while the information about the alleged violation of provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act and the Model Code of Conduct for elections was given by a constable to a Station House Officer (SHO), the complaint against Tiwari was filed under section 113 of the Delhi Police Act, without any legal basis. "The accused, Manoj Tiwari, is acquitted of the charges in the present case," the court said. It noted that the information given by the constable to the SHO did not speak of any order issued by a police officer, which might have been violated by the accused. It further said that there was no mention of any such order, either oral or
Catalan former leader again faces extradition threat
Catalonia's former leader Carles Puigdemont on Tuesday faced fresh threats of extradition from Germany, where a regional prosecutor's office has requested that he be sent to Spain to face charges of rebellion.
Customs arrests 2 for smuggling forex worth over Rs 1 cr at Delhi airport
Two men have been arrested by the customs officials for allegedly trying to smuggle out of the country foreign currencies worth over Rs 1 crore at the Delhi airport. The accused were following a novel modus operandi to dodge the customs authorities. In this case, a male passenger, who was about to travel to Bangkok, was followed till the international departure area on suspicion and intercepted when another domestic flight-bound passenger, going from Delhi to Mumbai, handed over two pieces of luggage to him, a press release issued by the customs said today. Inquiries so far conducted revealed that for illegal export of foreign currency, both the passengers arrived from Mumbai as domestic passengers, it said. In Delhi, one passenger booked his ticket for Bangkok and cleared all the customs checks, immigration and other security checks and reached the international departure area where the other passenger, who was not subjected to such checks being a domestic passsenger, handed over the
Body of missing 8-year-old boy found
The body of a eight-year-old boy was found in a jungle near his house in Bankura district two days after he went missing, police said. Superintendent of Police, Sukhendu Hira said the boy was missing since Sunday. His father Dil Islam Khan had lodged a complaint at Taldanga police station yesterday against six persons alleging that they were involved in the kidnapping of his son. The SP said the Khatra sub-divisional police officer is supervising the case.
Teen arrested after slaying of Maryland police officer
A 16-year-old boy has been arrested after the slaying of a Baltimore County, Maryland, police officer, and three other suspects are still being sought, police said today on Twitter. The Baltimore County Police and Fire Department tweeted that the teen was arrested shortly after the female officer was fatally injured yesterday. The police tweet did not explain the delay in announcing the teen's apprehension. The teen's name was not immediately released. Police said he is awaiting a bail hearing. Meanwhile, police backed by aircraft and trained dogs continued scouring a greater Baltimore suburb for three other suspects. Baltimore County Police Cpl. Shawn Vinson said Monday evening that the enormous manhunt was continuing unabated in the suburban community of Perry Hall, Maryland, where witnesses reported hearing a pop before seeing a Jeep run over the officer yesterday afternoon. The officer, who wasn't immediately identified, was bleeding badly from significant injuries and was ...
Australian archbishop guilty of concealing child sex abuse
An Australian archbishop was today found guilty of covering up child sex abuse in the 1970s -- one of the highest-ranked church officials globally to be successfully prosecuted for such offences. Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson, 67, was accused of concealing abuse by notorious paedophile priest Jim Fletcher in the Hunter region of New South Wales state by failing to report the allegations. He denied the charges and his legal team made four attempts to have the case thrown out, arguing Wilson's diagnosis of Alzheimer's should preclude him from trial -- even though it did not prevent him retaining his position in the church. Magistrate Robert Stone found him guilty at Newcastle Local Court of concealing a serious indictable offence of another person, with the archbishop facing a maximum of two years in jail. Sentencing will be at a later date. "I am obviously disappointed at the decision published today," Wilson said in a brief statement. "I will now have to consider the reasons and ..
SC comes to lawyer's aid, asks Raj govt to pay Rs 48 L fees due to him
Bizzare but true!! A lawyer had to knock the doors of the Supreme Court to seek a direction to his client, the Rajasthan government, to clear his bills totalling Rs 48 lakh pending since 1994. A bench of Justics N V Ramana and S Abdul Nazeer came to his aid and directed the state government to pay Rs 48.01 lakh to lawyer Aruneshwar Gupta within four weeks. The top court had appointed senior advocate Shekhar Naphade as an amicus curiae to assist it and find out the actual outstanding professional fees of Gupta, who used to represent the state government at various courts of law. "I, therefore, recommend to this court that Gupta is entitled to receive a total sum of Rs 48.01 lakh only. I am further of the view that no advocate should claim interest on bill amounts, especially in the case of bills relating to the Government. Therefore, I am not inclined to recommend grant of any interest," Naphade, in its report, suggested to the court. Accepting the report, the bench ordered, "We direct
Delhi court discharges BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa
A city court has discharged Delhi BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa in a case of allegedly defacing property by putting up election hoardings in 2015. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal granted relief to the accused saying he was facing this case for about three years for the commission of act which is not even an offence. "After hearing the prosecution and the defence and perusing the records of the case, I am of the view that on merits of the case, the accused deserves to be discharged," the judge said. In its order, the court noted there was no allegation that the accused had defaced an electricity pole by any act of writing on it. "The accused is facing this case for around three years for the commission of act which is not even an offence and the trial has not even started. On the basis of the aforesaid discussion, the accused is discharged from the present case," it said. Sirsa had told the court that since the hoarding was affixed on the electricity pole and ...
Lance Naik killed in a blast in Rajasthan
Lance Naik Gunasekhar P, posted at an Army unit in Jodhpur, died in a blast, a defence official said today. In an unfortunate incident, Lance Naik Gunasekhar P posted at a unit in Jodhpur expired on May 21. He was declared brought dead at the Military Hospital-Jodhpur after he sustained injuries in a blast, defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha said. He said an inquiry has been instituted by the Army into the incident. There was some explosive in the barrack. A team from the forensic science laboratory has collected samples from the site, SHO of Ratanada police station, Ramesh Kumar Sharma said.
SC to hear pregnant law student's plea to appear in LLB exams
The Supreme Court will hear tomorrow a plea by a second-year law student of Delhi University (DU), who could not regularly attend classes due to advanced stage of pregnancy, seeking relaxation in attendance and permission to appear in the ongoing fourth semester LLB exam. The matter was mentioned today before a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Navin Sinha which fixed it for hearing tomorrow. A single judge bench of the Delhi High Court had recently refused to grant any relaxation in attendance to student Ankita Meena saying even though there may be a justification for her inability to attend classes of IVth semester of LLB course, the relief sought by her cannot be granted in the light of the provisions of Rules of Legal Education of the Bar Council of India (BCI) and earlier decisions of the high court. The student had sought a direction to DU to permit her appear in the IV semester LLB examination which commenced on May 16. Following the single judge's order refusing to grant ...
Validity of pre-arrest bail: SC refers issue to larger bench
The Supreme Court has taken note of its "conflicting" verdicts on the vexatious legal question whether the grant of anticipatory bail to an accused was for a limited period or does it remain in force till the trial concludes, and referred the matter to a larger bench. Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) provides for grant of pre-arrest or anticipatory bail by the High Court or a sessions court to a person who apprehends arrest in a serious criminal case. The apex court, in its judgements, has given conflicting views on the issue. While one set of verdicts say that anticipatory bail "should not be for a limited period" and remain in force till the conclusion of the criminal trial, the other judgements have opined that it should be for a limited period "so as to enable the person to surrender before the trial court and seek regular bail." A three judge bench of Justices Kurian Joseph, Mohan M Shantanagoudar and Navin Sinha pointed to the conflicting views of the apex ...
NHRC sends notice to Gujarat govt after Dalit beaten to death
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report claiming that a 40-year-old Dalit rag picker in Rajkot district's Shapar village has been flogged to death over collecting scraps in a village.The Commission observed that the contents of the news report, if true, raise serious issue of violation of human rights of the victims. Accordingly, it has issued a notice to the Gujarat chief secretary to submit a report in the matter within four weeks along with measures taken for relief to the affected families.In the video, which was first tweeted by Gujarat lawmaker Jignesh Mevani, the victim, identified as Mukesh Vaniya, could be seen held to a big door of an auto factory through ropes. Two men, one after the other, then flogged him to death. Vaniya's wife and his acquaintance were allegedly beaten up too, but she somehow escaped and called help, however, by that time it was too late.Following a complaint lodged by the victim's wife, the police had ...