Page 1788 - Law Crime
Dance bars: SC seeks Maharashtra's response on plea of bar girls
The Supreme Court today directed Maharashtra to apprise it about the status of applications for licences to open dance bars in the state and sought its reply on plea by bar girls challenging some of the provisions of a new law regulating the functioning of these niteries. The top court said it will hear the matter in detail and listed it for final hearing. A bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said that the state government should file an affidavit on the plea of bar girls and the status of applications for opening of new dance bars. "The matter will be listed after six weeks on non-miscellaneous day for final disposal. The state shall file the counter affidavit to the application," the bench said. At the outset, senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan appearing for bar girls said that this is a case where the girls want to perform in bars but the state of Maharashtra does not want them to do so. The bench said there are several orders passed by the court in which the issues has been .
Cabinet okays MoU with Britain for information sharing on crime
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved signing of agreement between India and Britain andd Northern Ireland regarding exchange of information in combating international criminality and tackling organised crime.
PNB scam: ED arrests close associate of Nirav Modi
The ED today said it has arrested a "close" associate and the vice president of a firm of diamantaire Nirav Modi for allegedly aiding in the laundering of over Rs 5,900 crore in connection with the PNB bank scam case. Shyam Sunder Wadhwa, the vice president of the Firestar group, was arrested last night under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Mumbai, the Enforcement Directorate said in a statement. It said Wadhwa, a chartered accountant, was sent to seven days of ED custody by a special anti-money laundering court in Mumbai today. He was described by the central probe agency as a "close confidant" of Modi. "He is in close touch with Modi and also involved in money laundering at the behest of and in aid of Modi," an official said. This is the ED's first arrest in the case. The ED claimed Wadhwa was instrumental in setting up two companies in Hong Kong (Ms Aura Gem and Ms Sino Traders) along with "dummy" directors and these firms "were used" for laundering proceed of ...
Woman allegedly raped at friend's birthday party
One woman was allegedly raped at a friend's birthday party in the city and the accused has been arrested, police said today. The alleged incident took place at Jadavpur in the south Kolkata on Sunday and the woman, who is in her 20s and a resident of Beliaghata in the eastern part of the city, had stayed back at her friend's place in the night, a police officer investigating the incident, said. As per the woman's complaints lodged at Beliaghata and Jadavpur police stations, she was raped by the accused towards the end of the night when everybody were either sleeping or were intoxicated. According to the complaint, the accused had arrived at the party late and had forced himself on the woman despite her resistance, the officer said adding the police have collected evidence from the spot and were talking to those present at the party. "We have arrested the accused and waiting for the medical report," the police officer added.
Woman arrested for five-year-old girl's murder
With the arrest of a 22-year-old woman, police today claimed to have solved the murder of a minor girl from Nallasopara here who was kidnapped and whose body was later found in Gujarat. The accused, Anita Waghle, also a resident of Nallasopara, Palghar district, was arrested last night, police said. The five-year-old girl was kidnapped from outside her home on March 24 and she was found dead in the ladies' toilet of Navsari railway station in Gujarat, over 250km from Mumbai, on Sunday, Additional SP Raj Tilak Roshan told reporters. The Navsari police initially registered a case of accidental death and sent the body for a post-mortem which revealed the death was due to strangulation. Later, a murder case was filed, police said. A probe revealed Waghle had taken the girl to Navsari in a train and strangled her to death in the toilet, police said. A team of cops led by senior inspector Kishore Khairnar zeroed in on the woman on Tuesday night and placed her under arrest, ...
Cyber Police Station inaugurated in Sambalpur
Odisha Director General of Police RP Sharma today inaugurated the first Cyber Police Station of northern police range at Bareipali area in Sambalpur town. The police station will deal with cyber crimes of nine districts - Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Bolangir, Sonepur, Dhenkanal, Angul, Deogarh and Boudh. An inspector, a sub-inspector and five trained technical constables have been appointed at the cyber police station here. Inspector-in-charge of the Cyber Police Station Bulu Munda said, the cyber police station will work under the Crime Branch and the personnel have undergone training under the Crime Branch. "The police station will deal with ATM fraud and crime in social media. Earlier, such cases were being registered in general police station," he said. The DGP also inaugurated new buildings for the office and the residence of the Sub-divisional police officer of Rairkhol, new building for the Rengali police station, new building for the Sambalpur Town police ...
Courts can't stay graft, criminal case trials for over 6 months: SC
The Supreme Court today ruled that the proceedings in any pending trial relating to graft or criminal cases should not be stayed from now on by an appellate court for more than six months, without a speaking order. Observing that the "cancer of corruption" has eaten into the vitals of the State and needed to be nipped in the bud, it had a word of caution for the higher appellate courts, saying the power to stay the trial proceedings has to be exercised with "restraint" especially in corruption cases. A bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel, Navin Sinha and R F Nariman laid down the time limit for the stay of proceedings, saying the legislative mandate of expeditious disposal of a trial should be respected. It ruled that a stay of proceedings by an appellate court in any pending trial related to either corruption or civil or criminal cases, shall not operate for more than six months from today itself, unless the restraint is extended by a speaking order. The ruling came on a question of .
Man arrested for bovine smuggling in Kathua
Police today foiled two cases of bovine smuggling and arrested one accused in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, an official said today. A police team deployed at a checkpoint here seized a vehicle with 12 bovines, but, the driver of the truck managed to flee from the spot, the police said. A case has been registered at Ghagwal Police Station and investigation is on, they said. In an another similar incident, a police team intercepted one carrier and recovered 2 bovines which were being transported illegally, the police said. The driver of the vehicle namely Lal Hussain was arrested and vehicle seized on the spot, he said, adding a case has been registered in Samba Police Station.
Court asks police to lodge FIR against PNB officials in fraud case
A city court has directed the police to register an FIR against officials of Delhi and Mumbai-based branches of the Punjab National Bank (PNB) in a cheating case. A woman, in her complaint, alleged that her brother fraudulently procured loan to the tune of over Rs 7 crore in her name without her knowledge in connivance with officials of the PNB, Brady House, Mumbai and PNB, Mayur Vihar in east Delhi. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harjyot Singh Bhalla allowed the plea seeking lodging of FIR under section 156 (3) of CrPC against the complainant's brother, assistant general manager of PNB, Brady House, Mumbai, an official of the bank's Mayur Vihar branch and owners of a renowned bar-lounge in Connaught Place here. "Prima facie a cognizable offence has been committed. At this stage, I cannot conclude to what extent the complainant herself is responsible as she stated that she had signed certain loan documents in good faith. "Only an investigation can reveal the ...
DTP to inspect violations by builder in Gurugram
The District Town Planner (DTP) was on Wednesday ordered to visit a builder here and inspect the allegations of environmental violations filed by locals, an official said.
Assam Police nabs six more officers involved in cash for job scam
The Assam Police on Wednesday said that they have arrested six more officers of the Assam Civil Service (ACS) and allied services for their alleged involvement in the multi-crore cash for job scam carried out by the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).
Himachal HC summons CBI chief in schoolgirl's gang rape, murder case
Raising questions pertaining to the CBI probe so far into the gang rape and murder of a schoolgirl and the subsequent custodial death of an accused, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday summoned the agency's Director.
UK launches tougher sentences for terrorism-related offences
The British government issued today new guidelines for handing down sentences in terrorism-related cases, and introduced longer jail terms for suspects caught in the early stages of plotting a terror attack. Under the 'Terrorism Offences: Definitive Guideline' published by the Sentencing Council, offenders found guilty of playing even a minor role in planning a terrorist attack would receive harsher penalties when the new guidelines come into force from April 27. The new guidelines will keep the same maximum sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years for terrorism-related cases. However, the new sentencing range for lower-level crimes will be set at three to six years' imprisonment, up from 21 months to five years. The guidelines have been introduced to deal with the changing nature of terrorist offending and to ensure that courts have the tools they need to deal with serious cases, punishing offenders and disrupting their activities, the council said. "Terrorist ...
Re-opening probe into Mahatma Gandhi's death a futile exercise: SC
Nearly 70 years after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the Supreme Court today put at rest an attempt to reopen the investigation into it, saying it would be "an exercise in futility". The apex court also declined to look into the correctness or fairness of the findings of the Kapur Commission set up to inquire into the conspiracy to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi, saying that "would be another exercise in futility and would nonetheless pan new fires of controversy". A bench of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao said "we see no merit in this SLP and hereby dismiss the same". In a five-page order, it said "this Court must at all cost be wary of such contentious issues and must not allow its jurisdiction to be invoked for such purposes". The apex court said the delay with which the petitioner has raised this issue was "gross" and rejected the contentions of Mumbai-based researcher Pankaj Phadnis, who is a trustee of the Abhinav Bharat charitable trust, on whether the four bullets ...
MHA has no information on death of Judge Loya: Minister
The Ministry of Home Affairs today said it has no information about the death of CBI Special Judge B H Loya, who passed away in Nagpur in December 2014. In a written reply to a query by K T S Tulsi on the issue, Union minister of state for home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said in the Rajya Sabha that 'police' and 'public order' are state subjects under the 7th Schedule of the Constitution. "The Ministry of Home Affairs has no information in this regard," he said Tulsi had asked whether any person accompanied the body of CBI special judge B H Loya and if that person gave any history of Loya to the doctor at a Nagpur hospital. He also sought to know the time of death of Loya and cause of death as per hospital records. Judge Loya was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. Loya died of a cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter. The apex court is hearing petitions seeking independent probe into Loya's ...
Four men get 5 years' RI for attacking Kopardi case accused
The sessions court here today sentenced four persons, who had attacked the accused in the infamous Kopardi rape and murder case, to five years' of rigorous imprisonment. Prosecutor Mangesh Diwane said that on April 9, 2017, when the three accused in the Kopardi case were being taken to prison after a hearing, they were attacked with sharp weapons on the court premises here. Notably, the police arrested Sukhdev Khune, Ganesh Khune, Baburao Valekar and Rajendra Balasaheb Jarhad immediately after the attack. Sessions judge Satynarayan Navander today sentenced them to five years' of rigorous imprisonment under section 307 of the IPC (attempt to murder). The brutal rape and murder of a 15-year-old Maratha girl at Kopardi in the district had led to protests across the state by the Maratha community. Jitendra Shinde, Nitin Bhailume and Santosh Bhaval, the accused in the Kopardi case, were sentenced to death by the sessions court here last year.
One dead, 13 injured as explosive materials in shed goes off
A seven-year-old boy was killed and 13 others were injured when some explosive substances in a shed went off after a lighted firecracker fell near it during festivities at a local temple, police said today. The incident occurred yesterday during 'pongala' festivities at the Uchi Mahaliamman shrine at Vandithavalam village in Palakkad district bordering Tamil Nadu. The boy succumbed to his injuries at the Thrissur medical college hospital today, police said. A 13-year-old girl and five-year-old boy are among those injured. Police said cases under IPC section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and Explosives Act have been registered against some temple committee officials and the person who lighted the firecracker. In contravention of rules, explosives had been stored in the shed for making fireworks and no permission had been sought by temple authorities and festival organisers, they said. According to police, a lighted cracker fell near the ..
Man charred to death as car catches fire
A 60-year-old man was today charred to death as his car parked on the roadside caught fire, police said. The incident occurred this afternoon near Pala in the district, they said. The deceased has been identified as Suresh hailing from Murikkumpuzha in Pala, police said. An investigation has been launched to find out if the car was set on fire, they added.
Hamirpur girl attempts suicide
A teenage girl in Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur district allegedly attempted suicide on Tuesday after being repeatedly harassed by a stalker.The girl, studying in the eleventh standard, attempted to commit suicide at her home by drinking a hair dye after the police allegedly did not register her complaint.The victim claimed that the stalker, who is from the same locality as hers, barged into the victim's house and threatened the girl.When her mother tried to stop him, he pointed a gun at her and tried to kill her.The victim said, "He barged into our house and threatened to marry me. So, I drank hair dye to avoid bringing dishonor to my family."The girl has now been admitted to Hamirpur's Sadar Hospital.
SIT set up to probe CBSE paper leak
Delhi Police on Wednesday set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of its Crime Branch to probe the alleged leak of CBSE's Class 10 and 12 examination papers.