Page 1606 - Law Crime
SC reserves order on review plea of Dec. 16 gangrape convicts
Supreme Court (SC) on Friday reserved its order on the review petition filed by the December 16 gangrape and murder case death row convicts, Pawan (22), Vinay Sharma (23) and Mukesh (29).However, the apex court today granted three weeks time to the fourth convict, Akshay Kumar Singh (31), for filing a review petition in connection with the case.Lawyer A.P. Singh, appearing for convicts -Pawan and Vinay, submitted before the three-judge bench that the investigation in the case had been a flawed one and sought lesser punishment.Last year, the SC upheld the capital punishment to the four convicts.The matter is being heard by the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Misra, Justices R. Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan.The convicts had challenged the Delhi High Court order which had sentenced them to the gallows, after terming the December 16 incident as a "rarest of the rare" case.Earlier, the trial court had also sentenced all the four convicts to the death ...
SC rejects J. Reddy's plea to campaign in Bellary for brother
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gali Janardhan Reddy, for allowing him to go to Bellary to campaign for his brother, G. Somashekar Reddy, contesting for the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka.
Maharashtra ex-Deputy CM Bhujbal gets bail
Former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Friday.
Guj bitcoin case: Cops arrest complainant's business partner
The Gujarat CID today arrested Kirit Padalia, allegedly the mastermind in the crime of looting 176 bitcoins worth over Rs 9 crore from his partner and builder Sailesh Bhatt, officials said. The case has so far seen the arrest of Amreli Superintendent of Police Jagdish Patel, Amreli local Crime Branch inspector Anant Patel, two constables and others. Seven policemen, allegedly involved in the case, are on the run. "We have arrested Kirit Padalia today in the bitcoin case. He is the partner of the complainant and the mastermind of the entire conspiracy," CID DIG Dipankar Trivedi told reporters in Gandhinagar. According to the police, the complainant, Bhatt, a builder based in Surat, used to deal in crypto currencies, and he made Padalia a partner as the latter was well versed with technology. According to Bhatt's complaint, a CBI officer, Sunil Nair, had, in February, called and threatened him with a case as dealing in crytpo currencies had been banned by the ...
Justice A K Mittal appointed acting chief justice of Punjab and Haryana HC
Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal has been appointed as the acting chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after incumbent chief justice Shivax Jal Vazifdar demitted office at midnight upon his retirement. The Law Ministry issued a notification late last night appointing Justice Mittal as the acting chief justice with effect from May 4. A recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium proposing the name of Justice Krishna Murari, senior-most judge of the Allahabad high court after the chief justice, to head the Punjab and Haryana High Court is pending before the Centre. Registrar (Judicial) of the Punjab and Haryana high court wrote to Justice Vazifdar last evening that there has been no communication from the Law Ministry about officiating chief justice to take charge with effect from May 4 even at 7.30 PM and it could create problems in allocating cases. Justice Vazifdar purportedly said he would not be able to decide on the roster after his retirement and the senior-most judge ...
Shahkot bypoll: Cong nominee among others booked for illegal sand mining
Hardev Singh Laddi Sherowalia, the Congress candidate for the upcoming Shahkot Assembly bypoll, is among three persons today booked for their alleged involvement in illegal sand mining in Jalandhar, police said. A case has been registered under the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation Act) 1957 against Laddi, Surjeet Singh and Ashwinder Singh at the Mehatpur police station in Jalandhar district, a police official said. According to complainant Mohan Singh of the CPI (M), Laddi and others were involved in illegal sand mining in panchayat lands of different villages in the district, including Kaimbwali, Baloki and Chakwan in the district. Police is investigating the matter for further details, Sub Inspector Gurbinder Singh said. Laddi was yesterday announced by the Congress as its candidate for the Shahkot by-election on May 28. The Shahkot Vidhan Sabha seat fell vacant following the death of the incumbent MLA and senior SAD leader Ajit Singh Kohar. Meanwhile, opposition AAP ...
Kasauli Murder Case: Accused hotelier sent to police custody
The main accused in the murder of an Assistant Town and Country Planning officer in Dharampur area of Solan district, Vijay Singh, was on Friday, sent to Police Custody for five days.The officer in question, Shail Bala Sharma (51), along with four teams of the Town and Country Planning Department, was, on Tuesday, razing unauthorised construction in the in Dharampur area of Solan district, on the orders of the Supreme Court, when the incident happened.When Sharma and her team reached Narayani Guest House, its owner Singh asked them to keep off his property. When the team went ahead with the demolition drive and tried to get the place evacuated, Singh opened fire on them.Earlier, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had said that illegal constructions in Kasauli and other hilly areas were carried out during the Congress-led government in the state.
Chhagan Bhujbal gets bail in money laundering case
The Bombay High Court today granted bail to senior NCP leader and former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal in a money laundering case. Justice P N Deshmukh, however, directed Bhujbal who was arrested in March 2016, to pay a personal bond of Rs five lakh to secure his bail. Justice Deshmukh also imposed certain conditions on Bhujbal's release on bail, including that he will appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED), whenever summoned for questioning. Citing his ailing health, Bhujbal had approached the high court in January this year seeking bail on the ground that his custody was not required any more as the charge sheet has already been filed. In December 2017, a special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court had rejected his bail plea. The former state Public Works Department minister was arrested after an ED inquiry revealed that he and his associates allegedly misused their office and caused financial loss to the government. According to the ED, ..
Youth abducted, killed; 3 people arrested in Rajasthan
Three people were arrested for allegedly abducting and killing a 19-year-old youth here, a police official said today. One of the accused was the childhood friend of Vishal Mewada, a resident of Kherabad town which comes under the jurisdiction of Ramganjmandi police station, SP (city) Anshuman Bhomia said. Mewada was abducted for ransom and was later killed by the three youngsters, he said. The three accused were identified as Vikarant Singh Rajput alias Himanshu (18+), Vijendra Singh Bhati alias Lucky (20), both residents of Gokul Colony in Borekheda area of Kota city and Pradeep Kushwaha (18+) alias Binny, a native of Bhind district in Madhya Pradesh and currently staying in Kota. As per the plan, the accused took the victim to an agriculture field on Wednesday morning around 10 am for a liquor party. They then allegedly killed Mewada by slitting his throat and assaulting him with iron rods, the SP said. They later dumped the body near the banks of the Chandroi river, he said. The ..
Man accused of sexually assaulting 9-year old girl in AP hangs himself
A 55-year-old man, who allegedly sexually assaulted a nine-year-old girl in Dachepalli village in this district on Wednesday night, committed suicide today, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister (Home) N China Rajappa said. The body of the man was found hanging from a tree near a temple at Daida village and local villagers identified him, Rajappa, who visited Dachepalli this afternoon to meet the kin of the girl in Guntur, announced. Rajappa said he received information that the body of an elderly man was found hanging from a tree and police was immediately sent to the spot. He later confirmed to the media that the deceased was the accused, Annam Subbaiah, in the sexual assault case. Earlier, there were reports that a body was found in river Krishna bordering Telangana and it could be that of the accused. Police deployed drone cameras to trace the body but to no avail. Earlier in the day, Rajappa and other ministers visited the Government General Hospital in Guntur where the girl is ...
SC reserves order on review plea by 2 death row convicts in 16/12 gangrape case
The Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on the plea of two condemned convicts--Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta--seeking a review of the 2017 verdict by which they, along with two others, were awarded death penalty in the sensational December 16, 2012 gangrape cum murder case here. The apex court had on May 5, 2017, upheld the verdict of the Delhi High Court and the trial court awarding the capital punishment to four convicts--Mukesh (29), Pawan (22), Vinay Sharma (23) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) for gangraping a 23-year-old student inside a moving bus in South Delhi. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan heard the arguments on behalf of condemned convicts Vinay and Pawan. It asked senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Delhi Police, and lawyer A P Singh, counsel for the two convicts, to file their written submissions by next Tuesday. The bench had earlier reserved its verdict on the review petition filed by convict Mukesh. ...
Kasauli killing: Son behind bars, mother picks up pieces of her life from debris
Narayani Devi, whose son is accused of killing a woman officer leading a demolition drive against illegal construction, began her day early today, digging deep into the rubble of the guesthouse named after her to try and salvage what she could. A day after her son Vijay Singh Thakur was arrested on charges of killing assistant town planner Shail Bala Sharma, the owner of the Narayani Guest House, a part of which is being demolished, was stoic, her face giving away little as officials and police kept hawk-eyed vigil on the site that has become the cynosure of national attention. The court ordered demolition work of two of the four floors of the guesthouse, on the busy Dharampur-Kasauli road, is being carried out by different civil agencies of the Himachal Pradesh government under the careful watch of the Himachal Pradesh police, including commandos. The slender elderly woman, dressed in a salwar kameez and wearing slippers, rifled through the debris of plywood, brick and mortar, ...
Emma Watson backs Kathua rape victim's lawyer
"Harry Potter" star Emma Watson on Friday tweeted in support of Indian lawyer Deepika Singh Rajwat, who is fighting the case of a minor girl whose rape and murder in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir sent shockwaves globally.
SC dismisses mining baron Janardhan Reddy's plea to enter Bellary
The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea of mining baron and BJP leader G Janardhana Reddy seeking permission to enter Bellary district in Karnataka for electioneering. A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan junked his plea to enter the district to campaign for his brother, G Somashekar Reddy, who is a BJP candidate in the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka. In 2009, Janardhana Reddy was sent to jail for being involved in illegal mining of iron ore in Bellary and Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh. He was granted bail by the apex court in January 2015.
Squatters in Azadpur: NGT directs North Delhi Municipal Corporation to reply
The National Green Tribunal has directed the North Delhi Municipal Corporation to file its response within a week on a plea alleging that encroachments have led to traffic congestion and air pollution in Azadpur here. A bench headed by acting NGT Chairperson Justice Jawad Rahim, which had issued notices to the AAP government, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, granted the corporation an opportunity to file a reply after advocate Puja Kalra sought more time. "The counsel for Delhi government submits that it is not required to file any reply to show cause notice and he submits that the reply already filed may be taken into consideration. Submissions taken on record. We shall consider whether the NCT Delhi could have avoided answering to the show cause notice," the bench said while posting the matter for hearing on May 25. The green panel had earlier asked the Delhi government and others to show cause why the order passed by Public Grievance Commission has not been complied with regard .
Australian court convicts Muslim woman for failing to stand
The wife of an Islamic State group recruiter gave the militants' single-finger salute outside a Sydney court on Friday after becoming the first person convicted under a new state law criminalising the refusal to stand for a judge. Moutia Elzahed, 50, defiantly remained seated with her arms folded in the Downing Centre Local Court dressed in a black niqab, gown and gloves after magistrate Carolyn Huntsman delivered the landmark decision. She was found guilty of nine charges of disrespectful behavior during previous court hearings she was involved in. She will be sentenced on June 15. New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, introduced the law in 2016 after several Muslim defendants refused to stand for judges on religious grounds. The magistrate found Elzahed had repeatedly and intentionally flouted the established court convention in 2016 when she failed to rise for District Court Judge Audrey Balla. Elzahed said she only stood for Allah, but Huntsman found no evidence she ...
SC refuses to interfere in journalist Upendra Rai's arrest
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere in the arrest of senior journalist Upendra Rai by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for his alleged role in dubious financial transactions of over Rs 100 crores. The court deferred the case.Rai, who was arrested on Thursday, had approached the apex court against his arrest.The CBI had registered a case against Rai, a former CEO and editor-in-chief of Tehalka and Sahara Media, on allegations of giving false information to get access to sensitive areas of national importance such as airports.The probe agency also registered a case against Prasun Roy, CSO of Air One Aviation Private Limited, the company and unknown public servants for helping Rai in getting Aerodrome Entry Pass (AEP) for all airports across the country.
Fact finding team's report on Kathua will go to court: Minister
A fact-finding team that studied the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday submitted its report demanding a CBI probe to Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Minister in PMO Jitendra Singh promised to forward it to the court in Jammu and Kashmir.
Absconding rape accused held
A rape accused absconding since November 2017 was arrested from the border belt of Jammu district, police said here today. After hectic efforts, the location of accused Shakti Kumar was traced in Arnia area of Jammu district. He was working in a tile factory there in the name of Rahul Kumar, police said. According to the police, on November 20 last a complaint was lodged by parents of the victim at Police Station Thathri in Doda district that Shakti Kumar has kidnapped and raped their daughter. During the course of investigation, the girl was recovered from Charya area but the accused was absconding since then.
2 shot dead in UP for protesting drinking in public
An egg vendor and his nephew were shot dead allegedly by four people for protesting against their drinking in public at Rajnahiya in Sarnath near here, the police said today. Basanta Yadav and his nephew Rajesh (32) were selling eggs last night, when the four men started drinking liquor sitting on a bench in front of them. When the duo raised objection, the four men got into an argument but left the spot after sometime, the police said. They returned late in the night and shot Basanta. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him 'brought dead', they said. The body of Rajesh was discovered in the morning, with bullet injuries on his chest, the police said, adding a case has been registered in this regard and a manhunt has been launched to nab the accused.