Page 1771 - Law Crime
Sohrabuddin case: Number of hostile witnesses rises to 45
Another witness was today declared hostile in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh alleged fake encounter case, taking the number of such witnesses to 45. The witness, Nagin Rathore, a teacher by profession, was examined by the CBI before special judge S J Sharma today. Rathore had earlier made a statement to the CBI that he was asked by the principal of his school to go to the police headquarters (in Sangli). He further told the agency that, at the police headquarters there, he was made to meet two witnesses, both of whom were Marathi-speaking. Rathore had also said, in his statement to the CBI, that he explained to the two people, in Marathi, their statements which was recorded in Gujarati. However, in the court today, he did not stand by his earlier statement and said that he never went to the police headquarters, nor did he meet anyone. So far, 66 witnesses have been examined, of whom 45 have been declared hostile by the CBI, the prosecuting agency. The court had, in October last year, framed ..
CBSE papers leak: Police questions school principal for over six hours
The principal of a school, whose two teachers were arrested for their alleged role in leaking class 12 economics paper, was grilled today for over six hours by the police, along with the arrested accused, said an official privy to the probe. The police have also started investigating whether the papers were leaked from Haryana since some clues have emerged that the papers might have been leaked from there, he said. The police have ruled out the possibility of collusion of the suspended CBSE official with the accused since they found nothing to indicate his involvement. "The official was negligent in delivering the papers early but so far, we have found nothing to indicate his connivance," the official said. "However, he had delivered the papers of all the subjects before the scheduled time which means that the accused could have circulated other papers too. We are questioning them to ascertain whether they were involved in leaking other papers too," he said. Meanwhile, the police ...
Bharat Bandh Protest: Agra schools to remain shut tomorrow
School to remain shut in Uttar Pradesh's Agra city tomorrow (April 3) in lieu of protest against the alleged dilution of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court.Except schools conducting board examinations will remain open.Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Law and Order Uttar Pradesh Praveen Kumar informed that one person was killed and 448 people were detained in the state in connection with the same.Apart from this, three others have got seriously injured and 35 other have suffered minor injuries, the DIG said.He further informed that some police personnel were also injured.Earlier in the day, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad confirmed that the government filed a comprehensive petition in the apex court which would be presented before the top court by senior lawyers.He said that the government didn't agree with the Supreme Court's ruling and that there was no intention of changing provision of reservation for .
SC notice on plea to shift Rajasthan hate killer to Tihar
The Supreme court on Monday sought response from the Central and Rajasthan governments on a plea to move Rajasthan hate killer Shambhu Lal Raigar -- accused of murdering labourer Afrazul Khan -- from Jodhpur Central Jail to Tihar jail in Delhi.
Indore hotel collapse: Owner arrested for culpable homicide
The owner of the hotel, which collapsed here last week killing 10 people, was today arrested in connection with the incident, police said. Shankar Paryani, 55, who carried a reward of Rs 10,000, was arrested and charged under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Indore Ranger Deputy Inspector General of Police HC Mishra told PTI. Mishra said that Paryani was booked because he was running the 60-year-old hotel, situated near the Sarvate bus stand, despite knowing that the three-storey structure was dilapidated and posed a risk to the lives of people. Eyewitnesses had earlier told police that the hotel collapsed after a speeding car hit one of its main load-bearing pillars on Saturday night. Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, in a statement issued from Delhi today, sought strict action against those responsible for the tragedy. Officials said that she spoke to local ...
EC seizes Rs 1 crore in poll-bound Karnataka
Cash totalling Rs 1.21 crore and other valuables have been seized by the Election Commission ahead of the May 12 Assembly elections in Karnataka, an official said on Monday.
Transfer of accused in labourer murder: SC seeks CBI's reply
The Supreme Court today sought a response from the CBI and the Rajasthan government on a plea seeking transfer of Shambhulal Regar to Tihar jail, who is accused of hacking and burning alive a Muslim labourer from West Bengal on December 6 last year. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud issued a notice and sought reply from the CBI and the Rajasthan government. Gulbahar Bibi, wife of Afrazul Khan, 50, said the prime accused, who is in judicial custody, had recently uploaded videos on social networking sites. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for Bibi, said that he should be shifted from a prison in Rajasthan to Tihar jail. The bench asked Jaising to serve the copy to counsel for the CBI and the Rajasthan government and sought their response. At the outset, counsel for the CBI said that during the course of the day they would file a reply to the petition. The apex court had on February 16, had directed the CBI to seek ...
SC order: Mayawati supports protests, slams violence
Expressing her party's support to protests against the Supreme Court order "diluting" provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, BSP supreme Mayawati today alleged that some anti-social elements instigated violence leading to loss of lives and damage to properties. She also said that the judgement was a result of the lackadaisical attitude of the Narendra Modi government on the issue. Seeking action against those allegedly inciting violence, she said the state governments should ensure that innocent people opposing the SC order were not harassed. The BSP chief said there was a difference between those anguished over the judgement and those indulging in violence. Mayawati said here that if innocent people were prosecuted for the violence, the BSP would launch an agitation. At least seven persons were killed and many injured in violence today as Dalit protesters blocked trains, clashed with police and set fire to vehicles across several states during a nationwide bandh ...
Binani Cement's CoC seeks more time to consider settlement offer
Amid ongoing battle for taking over insolvent Binani Cement, its Committee of Creditors (CoC) on Monday sought more time from National Company Law Tribunal's (NCLT) bench here to consider firm's parent company Binani Industries' application for an out of the tribunal settlement.
Kejiriwal's apology spree continues, now expresses regret to Jaitley
Continuing with his string of apologies in defamation cases, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today expressed regret to Union minister Arun Jaitley after which they moved joint pleas before the Delhi High Court and the trial court to "settle" their over two-year long litigation. The unconditional apology by the chief of Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) and others has been accepted by the union finance minister, according to the lawyers of the two leaders. Kejriwal,earlier apologised to Union minister Nitin Gadkari and Congress leader Kapil Sibal's lawyer son Amit, who had filed defamation suits and complaints against him for levelling "unverified" allegations. The apology spree started last month with Kejriwal expressing regret to Akali Dal leader and former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia for accusing him of drugs trade. Several criminal defamation cases against Kejriwal are still pending. The cases include those filed by Pawan Khera, the then political secretary to ...
PNB case: Judicial custody till Apr 11 for Vipul Ambani
A special CBI court here today remanded Vipul Ambani and others, arrested in connection with the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, in judicial custody till April 11. Ambani, president (finance) of Nirav Modi's Fire Star Diamond, and others were produced in the court of Special CBI Judge S R Tamboli today which sent them to judicial custody till April 11. The CBI has alleged that the firms controlled by diamantaires Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi had obtained fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoU) and Letters of Credit (LC), worth over 13,000 crore from the PNB, in connivance with some bank officials. The CBI has alleged that Modi's firms defrauded the PNB of over Rs 6,500 crore, while the figure stood at Rs 7,080 crore for Choksi's firms. The CBI has arrested 11 persons in connection with the scam. They include Gokulnath Shetty (former deputy general manager of PNB), Manoj Kharat (single window operator of PNB) Hemant Bhat (authorised signatory of Modi's ...
Centre urges top court to recall order on SC/ST Act
The Central government on Monday moved the Supreme Court to seek recall of its judgment that there would be no automatic arrest of an accused following a complaint under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
SC seeks CBI, Maha's response on defreezing of accounts of Adarsh society
The Supreme Court today sought response from the CBI and the Maharashtra government on a plea of Mumbai-based Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society allowing it to withdraw around Rs 1 crore for maintenance and litigation. The society has challenged the Mumbai's special court's order directly in apex court by which it had refused to accept the application for deposit of security of immovable assets. A bench of Justices J Chelameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul issued notice to the CBI and the Maharashtra government and sought their replies in four weeks. The apex court had on January 5 said that bank accounts will be defreezed and the society will deposit security of immovable assets to the satisfaction of special court at Mumbai. The bank accounts, which the society claimed to have opened to meet litigation cost by the members, were frozen by CBI during the probe into the 2010 Adarsh scam. The society had contended that the amount lying in these bank accounts had nothing to do with the ...
INX money laundering case: SC extends protection to Karti till April 27
The Supreme Court today extended till April 27 the interim protection against arrest to Karti Chidambaram, granted by the Delhi High Court in the INX Media money laundering case. On March 26, the apex court had extended the relief against arrest to Karti till today. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud is hearing the plea of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking an authoritative pronouncement from the top court in view of conflicting orders of different high courts on the probe agency's power of arrest under section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The bench, meanwhile, adjourned the hearing on the plea of ED to April 27 and said that the protection against arrest to Karti stood extended till that day. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the ED, had said that the probe agency has been armed with the power of arrest under the statute, keeping in mind the several international conventions ...
Centre should bring ordinance on SC/ST law
Former Union minister Sharad Yadav today termed the Centre's review plea in the Supreme Court against its ruling on a law on atrocities against Dalits an "eyewash" and demanded that the government should rather bring an ordinance. Yadav, who parted ways with Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, following the latter's alliance with the BJP last year, said misuse of a law should not be a cause to weaken it and noted that crimes against the members of scheduled castes and tribes had gone up by 40 per cent and 118 per cent respectively, according to official data. "The conviction rate under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was anyway significantly lower than the national conviction rate for other crimes. Therefore, the government should bring an ordinance as an immediate relief," he said in a statement. "The review plea is nothing but an eyewash," Yadav added. He also addressed a Dalit group at Jantar Mantar here today. Yadav rejected the argument against the ...
Marital rape not an offence: Gujarat HC
The Gujarat High Court on Monday observed that non-consensual intercourse by a husband cannot be dubbed as rape. However, it also stated that subjecting his married partner to have oral or unnatural sex was akin to cruelty.
Narcotics seized in Manipur
The Assam Rifles on Monday seized narcotics at a checkpost at Khudengthabi near the Moreh border town in Manipur.
Six held at four airports for smuggling gold: DRI
In a coordinated operation, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested six persons from four airports in the country for allegedly smuggling gold worth Rs 1.62 crore, the agency said today. The arrests were made from Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, and Bengaluru airports on the basis of the intelligence provided by the DRI zonal unit in Ahmedabad, the agency said, adding that a total of 5.2 kg gold was seized during the operation. However, the agency did not specify the exact time of the arrests. DRI sleuths arrested a passenger at the Ahmedabad airport for allegedly carrying smuggled gold weighing 1 kg "in the form of 24 carat raw gold chains and bangles," from Dubai, the DRI said in a release. On the basis of inputs provided by their Ahmedabad counterparts, the Mumbai unit of the DRI arrested three persons from the Mumbai airport for allegedly possessing 3.15 kg gold, it said. "One of the three persons was carrying 1.2 kg gold which he received from a man ..
'Jharkhand police sabotaged probe into 2 murders by cow vigilantes'
An independent probe into the murder of a 12-year-old boy and a 32-year-old cattle trader -- both Muslims -- in 2016 in Jharkhand claims that police sabotaged the investigation and denied justice to the families of the victims as all the accused are out on bail.
Pachauri case: Victim assures court not to talk to media
A woman, who has lodged a sexual harassment complaint against former TERI chief R K Pachauri, today assured a Delhi court that she will not speak to the media about the case until arguments on framing of charges are heard. The submission was made before Metropolitan Magistrate Charu Gupta in response to an application moved by Pachauri seeking to restrain the complainant from speaking to the media about him and the case. "The counsel for the complainant (woman) has assured that that he would communicate and endeavour that the victim should not speak to media in regard to the case till argument on charge are heard," the court said. It also issued a notice to the investigating officer (IO) for not complying with its earlier order, asking to provide copies of certain documents filed along with the charge sheet to Pachauri, after former TERI chief's counsel Ashish Dixit submitted that he was yet to receive the same. "Counsel for the accused submits that he has not yet been supplied with ..