Page 1681 - Law Crime
Nalini Chidambaram dubs ED summons to her as politically motivated; HC reserves order
Former union minister P Chidambaram's wife Nalini contended in the Madras High Court today that the summons issued to her by the ED in its money laundering probe in the Saradha chit fund scam case was "purely politically motivated to damage her reputation". Nalini, a senior lawyer, made the charge while appearing as party-in person before Justice S M Subramaniam and opposing a petition by the Enforcement Directorate seeking to vacate a stay earlier granted by the court on the summons. After hearing arguments by her and the counsel for the ED, the judge reserved orders on the petition without mentioning any date. The ED had on November 7, 2016 issued summons to Nalini to appear in its Kolkata office as a witness in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam. She was allegedly paid a legal fee of Rs 1 crore by the Saradha group for her appearances in court and the Company Law Board over a television channel purchase deal. The high court had on September 21, 2016 stayed the summons on a
Loya case: SC raps petitioner lawyers for casting unfounded aspersions
Senior advocates Dushyant Dave, Indira Jaising and lawyer Prashant Bhushan, today came in the line of fire of the Supreme Court which questioned their conduct for casting aspersions on judicial officers and judges including of the apex court who were seized of matters relating to the death of Special CBI judge B H Loya. The apex court also lashed out at a junior of senior lawyer V Giri and petitioners including NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) for casting "unfounded aspersions" on the judges of the Bombay High Court and said it was a "serious attempt to scandalise the court and obstruct the course of justice". A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the attempt of the petitioners was to create prejudice and to malign the dignity of the judges, particularly of Justice B R Gavai of the Bombay High Court. The bench, which also comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, rapped Dave, Jaising and Bhushan for making serious attacks against the judiciary .
Judge Loya death:'SC ruling defeated Cong plan to end Amit
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani today said the Supreme Court's ruling on deceased special CBI court judge B H Loya has "defeated" the Congress' conspiracy to "finish" the political career of BJP chief Amit Shah. He said the Congress had earlier attempted to target Shah in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh alleged fake encounter case. "This was the second attempt of the Congress to end Shah's political career. When the Congress and Rahul Gandhi failed to win hearts of the people, they decided to rake up an unfortunate death (of judge Loya). They filed a PIL in Supreme Court, their MPs met President and Rahul made allegations to defame the BJP chief in a press conference (regarding Loya's death)," Rupani told reporters in Gandhinagar. The apex court today ruled that judge Loya died of natural causes in Maharashtra's Nagpur in 2014 and dismissed pleas seeking an independent probe into his death. "This is the second time they tried to finish the political career of our national ...
Loya case: SC anguished over attempts made to scandalise judiciary
The Supreme Court today took strong exception over attempts made in judge B H Loya death case to "scandalises the process of the court" which prima facie constituted criminal contempt as lawyers did not even spare the apex court judges hearing the matter from the "vituperative assault on the judiciary". The top court said serious attacks were made on the credibility of two judges of the Bombay High Court and aspersions were also cast on the high court's administrative committee against whom lawyers had called for issuance of contempt notices. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said the conduct of the petitioners and the intervenors scandalised the process of the court and prima facie constituted criminal contempt. However, on a dispassionate view of the matter, "we have chosen not to initiate proceedings by way of criminal contempt if only not to give an impression that the litigants and the lawyers appearing for them have been ...
SC raps senior lawyer for casting aspersion on HC judges
The reference to Bombay High Court judges, who had closed a criminal case involving Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, by senior advocate Dushayant Dave in the B H Loya case did not go down well with the Supreme Court which rapped him for casting aspersions on the judiciary. The top court took strong note of Dave's plea to bring on record the order of the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court to allege that one of the two judges, who had given a statement in the special CBI Judge B H Loya death case, had ordered settlement of a criminal case against the chief minister in 2014. Dave, representing the Bombay Lawyers Association (BLA), had said a bench of justices B R Gawai and V M Deshpande had closed the prosecution against Fadnavis and others in criminal cases lodged way back in 1991. Alleging political affiliations, Dave had said the judge concerned was one of those who had said he was with Judge Loya on the fateful day when he had died of a heart attack. The apex court ...
German court upholds conviction of teenage IS-sympathiser
A German appeals court today upheld a ruling against a teenage girl who badly wounded a police officer with a kitchen knife, affirming that she did act on behalf of the Islamic State group. German-Moroccan Safia S., who in February 2016 stabbed a police officer in the neck at Hanover's main railway station, had "agreed on the concrete act" with the jihadists, said the court, throwing out her appeal. The now 17-year-old had sought to overturn her conviction for attempted murder and the support of a terrorist group by a court in Celle in January 2017. She was sentenced to six years of juvenile detention for the attack which the Celle court said was committed "to support the Islamic State group". In her appeal, her defence argued that she did not act on behalf of IS, which never claimed responsibility for the attack. Authorities believe Safia S was radicalised as a young girl. They found a message on her phone after the deadly Paris jihadist attacks in November 2015, exulting about the ..
Bitcoin extortion case: accused police officer arrested
A police inspector, accused of extorting Bitcoins and cash from a builder, was nabbed by the city Crime Branch today. Inspector Anant Patel, the accused, was attached to the Local Crime Branch (LCB) of Amreli district when the alleged crime took place. A team of Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested him from a pan shop in Adalaj area, said Assistant Commissioner of Police C N Rajput. "Based on a tip-off, we nabbed Anant Patel today. He had tonsured his head and taken to wearing a cap to conceal the identity. "We handed him over to the CID-Crime which is handling the case," Rajput said. Patel is one of the nine policemen from Amreli who have been named as accused in the case by the CID-Crime, which has formed a Special Investigation Team for probe. Recently, two police constables of Amreli LCB along with a middleman were arrested by the CID-Crime in the case. The SIT was looking for Patel for the last two weeks. On April 8, the CID-Crime registered a case against Patel and ...
Judge Loya death case: NCP demands narco test of Nagpur doctor
On a day the Supreme Court ruled that special CBI judge B H Loya died of natural causes and dismissed pleas seeking an independent probe into his death, the NCP demanded a narco test be conducted on a doctor in Nagpur, who the party said had "supervised" the judge's autopsy in 2014. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said Dr Makrand Vyawhare is a close relative of BJP leader and Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar. "The postmortem report of judge Loya was prepared under the supervision of Dr Vyawhare at the Nagpur Medical College," Malik told reporters here. He said some medical students had complained in 2015 that Dr Vyawhare had tried to pressure them to change the postmortem (PM) report of judge Loya. "These students had said that Dr Vyawhare tried to pressure them into changing the PM report in 2015. Dr Vyawhare might have tried to do the same (trying to change Loya's autopsy report) in 2014. Hence, we demand that a narco test be conducted on him to ascertain the truth," ..
14-year-old molested by tenant in southeast Delhi
A 14-year old girl was allegedly molested by her tenant who entered her house on the pretext of asking for water in south Delhi's Sangam Vihar, police said today. The incident happened yesterday. The girl told police that when her mother had gone to see a doctor along with their tenant's wife, the tenant came to her house and asked for a glass of water. The girl said that when she went to the kitchen to get water, the accused came inside and started touching her inappropriately, the police said. The girl raised an alarm and managed to free herself from the accused. However, he tried to hug her, they said. The girl then ran out of her house and went to her friend's place in the neighbourhood. In the meantime, her mother and father returned home. She narrated her ordeal to them. Police said the girl's mother also thrashed the accused with a stick before handing him over to police. The accused was arrested.
Another minor girl raped in Odisha, 5th such case in 6 days
In the fifth incident of rape of a minor girl in six days in Odisha, a 14-year-old girl has been sexually assaulted in the state's Mayurbhanj district. While the Mayurbhanj incident occurred last night, four similar cases were reported in the state - one in Kalahandi and three in Balasore district - between April 13 and 17. The police today said an auto-rickshaw driver allegedly kidnapped a tribal girl while she was returning from a function with her younger brother, forced her to drink alcohol and raped her near Karanjia. Sub-Divisional Police Officer K C Pattnaik said the local people rescued the girl, who was lying unconscious, and got her admitted to a hospital at Karanjia. On the basis of the FIR lodged by the family members of the tribal girl, a case was registered and the accused auto driver was arrested, he said. Following the incident, the angry locals staged a blockade on Karanjia-Anandpur road by burning tyres and demanding action against the culprit. While two incidents ..
Truth catches up with people like Shah: Rahul Gandhi
Congress president Rahul Gandhi today hit out at BJP chief Amit Shah after the Supreme Court verdict on Judge B H Loya's death, saying truth has a way of catching up with people like him The ruling party had accused Gandhi of being the "invisible hand" behind the petitions in the apex court seeking an independent probe into the judge's death. "Indians are deeply intelligent. Most Indians, including those in the BJP, instinctively understand the truth about Mr Amit Shah. The truth has its own way of catching up with people like him," he said on Twitter. The Supreme Court today dismissed a bunch of petitions seeking an independent probe into the death of judge Loya, who was handling the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, in which Shah was once an accused and was later discharged. Loya died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.
48 MPs, MLAs face charges of crime against women: ADR report
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed that out of 1580 MPs, MLAs with declared criminal cases, 48 are facing charges related to crimes against women, including rape charges.As per the ADR report, of 48, 45 MLAs and three MPs have cases of crimes against women.Among various recognised parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the highest number of MPs, MLAs (12) with cases of crime against women followed by Shiv Sena (7) and All India Trinamool Congress (6).In the last five years, among the major parties, the BJP has given tickets to 47 candidates who are facing cases of crime against women while 35 and 24 such candidates were given ticket by BSP and Congress respectively. These candidates had contested for Lok, Rajya Sabha and State Assemblies Elections in last five years.Among the states, Maharashtra has the highest number of MPs, MLAs that is 12, followed by West Bengal with 11 and Odisha and Andhra Pradesh each with five each.In the last five years, ...
Truth will catch up with Amit Shah: Rahul
With the Supreme Court dismissing pleas for an SIT probe into the death of Judge B.H. Loya, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said truth will finally catch up with BJP President Amit Shah.
Owners booked in Zirakpur building collapse
Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has lodged a complaint against the owners of a three-story under-construction building which collapsed in Zirakpur last week. Sidhu asked SSP Mohali Kuldeep Chahal to register a case against the owners of Pushp Empire, according to an official statement released here today. The minister said an FIR will be registered under relevant sections of the IPC for violating the Punjab Municipal Act 2011, building bye-laws. Sidhu said a four-member committee was formed to probe the matter. The committee will comprise the director of department, chief engineer, town planner and executive officer of the Zirakpur Municipal Council. He said that a probe was being conducted into the entire matter and no one would be spared. Sidhu along with Director Local Government Karnesh Sharma, SSP Kuldeep Chahal, SDM Derabassi Paramjit Singh inspected the site. The three-storey under-construction building collapsed on April 12 at Peer Muchhalla in Zirakpur. No casualty was ...
Political slugfest erupts over SC's Loya verdict
A political slugfest erupted on Thursday over Supreme Court's verdict dismissing petitions seeking a SIT probe into the death of Judge B.H. Loya, with the BJP accusing Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as the "invisible hand" behind the pleas for "character assasination" of its chief Amit Shah while Gandhi attacked Shah, saying truth has its own way of catching up with people like him.
SC feels PILs being used for personal, political, business agenda
The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed serious concern over the manner in which Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was being "brazenly mis-utilised" by persons with a personal, political and business agenda.
SC dismisses pleas for independent probe into judge Loya's death; BJP, Cong locked in slugfest
The Supreme Court today rejected multiple pleas for an independent probe into the death of special CBI judge B H Loya, holding he died of "natural causes" in a verdict that sparked a bitter slugfest between the BJP and the Congress. The court also rebuked the petitioners saying from their PILs it becomes clear that "a real attempt and frontal attack" was made on the independence of judiciary and that the present case was a manifestation to carry forward a personal agenda. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud also observed that the petitions were instituted at the behest of rivals to "settle political scores". The petitions had raised doubts over the circumstances of judge Loya's death. The judge was trying the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case when he passed away on December 1, 2014 when he had gone to Nagpur to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter. He had died of cardiac arrest, according to official records. BJP .
Loya died of natural causes, says SC, rejects PILs
The Supreme Court today rejected the PILs seeking probe into the death of special CBI judge B H Loya, ruling that he had died of "natural causes", as it held that the petitions were moved by political rivals to settle scores which was a serious attempt to scandalise the judiciary and obstruct the course of justice through a "frontal attack" on its independence. Loya, who was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, had died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014 when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter. The apex court brought the curtains down on raging debate over his death, saying "the circumstances ... which have been dealt with by this court in the judgment delivered today stands concluded". "We have come to the conclusion that there is absolutely no merit in the writ petitions. There is no reason for the court to doubt the clear and consistent statements of the four judicial officers. "The documentary material on the record
SC verdict on Loya death case triggers slugfest between Cong, BJP
The Supreme Court rejecting pleas seeking a probe into judge B H Loya's death triggered a slugfest between the Congress and the BJP today with the ruling party alleging an "invisible hand" behind the petitions and the opposition party accusing it of making "false political capital" by "misinterpreting" the apex court order. The CPI(M) termed the court order as "unfortunate" and demanded a review by a larger bench. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said there was no reason to doubt the statements of four judges on circumstances leading to the judge's death and the scrutiny of documents established the death was due to natural cause. The Congress also dared the government to order an independent investigation and asked why it was shying away from it if judge Loya's death was natural. Congress President Rahul Gandhi hit out at BJP chief Amit Shah saying truth will catch up with him. "Indians are deeply intelligent. Most Indians, ...
HC seeks Centre, CBI response on plea for re-investigation into SSC exam leaks
The Delhi High Court today asked the Centre and CBI to file their response on a plea by several job aspirants seeking re-investigation into the cases of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) paper leaks. Justice S P Garg listed the matter for July 26 on the plea filed by 44 people. The job aspirants also sought setting up of an enquiry commission headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court in connection with the repeated offences such as cheating in the SSC exam. The petition said that multiple FIRs are lodged every year over leaks of question papers and several persons are arrested for allegedly aiding the aspirants to cheat for money, but in none of the cases, the probe agencies have been able to bust the racket and arrest the main persons involved in the organised crime. Advocate Anurag Ahluwali accepted the notice for the Central government and the SSC, while advocate Narender Mann did so on behalf of the CBI. The plea claimed that the syndicate was still operating