Page 1988 - Law Crime
Gujarat: Asaram appears via video conference in rape case
Self-styled godman Asaram today appeared before a court here via video conferencing in connection with a rape case lodged against him by a Surat- based woman. Asaram is currently in Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan. Cross examination of the victim began today before additional sessions judge Rashida Vora. Her further examination will continue tomorrow, Asaram's lawyer B M Gupta said. The court had during its last hearing ordered Asaram to remain present through video conferencing facility after he declined for the same despite the Gujarat High Court allowing the sessions court to conduct his trial through this facility. The trail is being conducted in-camera and details of deposition cannot be released according to the court order. As many as 26 witnesses have so far been examined by the court which is holding the trial in-camera owing to risk on their lives. The case before the Gandhinagar court relates to a complaint filed by the Surat-based woman, who accused Asaram of raping
Toddler raped by father, relative in Kerala
A three-and-a-half year old girl has been allegedly raped by her father and a relative at Chingavanam near here, police said. Police today arrested the 26-year old man and his cousin after a medical examination report revealed that the kid had been brutally raped. The assault came to light after the teacher of the 'Anganwadi' (child care centre) where the child was being sent noticed her behavioural changes recently. The girl was counselled following which the culprits were identified, police said. Her father and the cousin had sexually assaulted the child while her mother was away from home, police said. The two have been charged under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, they added.
Woman, daughter found murdered, burnt in Amritsar
A middle-aged woman and her daughter were found murdered and burnt in a residential locality in Amritsar, around 250 km from here, following which police launched an investigation.
42 years old criminal appeals pending at Allahabad HC: SC
The Supreme Court today expressed concern over the pendency of criminal appeals as old as 42 years in the Allahabad High Court and said that "some drastic measures" needs to be taken to reduce pendency in judicial system. The apex court said that a mechanism needs to be evolved soon, for speedy disposal of cases related to petty offences, which has been clogging the judicial system. "Some drastic measures need to be taken to reduce the pendency in high courts. A mechanism needs to be evolved for speedy disposal of cases related to petty offences which are clogging the judicial system, as they consume considerable time," a bench of justices J Chelameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul said. "This is a serious matter. We have seen the report of Allahabad High Court. Criminal appeals are pending since four decades," it said. The top court directed the registry for sending a reminder to the Allahabad High Court for submitting the report of a committee which has been looking over ...
Decide on bail pleas in a humane manner: SC to judges
Incarceration of a large number of people that too for a long period due to denial of bail is not good for criminal jurisprudence or society, the Supreme Court today said, urging the judges to show a compassionate and "humane attitude" while passing custody orders. The apex court said a fundamental postulate of criminal jurisprudence is the presumption of innocence until found guilty, and occasionally there is a necessity to introspect if denial of bail to an accused is the right thing to do based on the facts and circumstances of a case. A bench of justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta also said that conditions for the grant of bail ought not to be so strict as to be incapable of compliance, thereby making the grant of bail illusory. It said one of the important facets of criminal jurisprudence is that grant of bail is the general rule and putting a person in jail is an exception. "Unfortunately, some of these basic principles appear to have been lost sight of with ...
Chronology of events in U'khand fake encounter case
Following is the chronology of events in the fake encounter killing of a 22-year-old MBA student in Dehradun in 2009. The Delhi High Court today sentenced seven Uttarakhand policemen to life imprisonment in the case. * July 3, 2009: Ranbir Singh, 22, is killed in a fake encounter. * July 5, 2009: Dehradun Police registers two FIRs in connection with the killing. Uttarakhand government transfers the case to the CB-CID, after Ranbir Singh's relatives express dissatisfaction into the investigation by the local police. * July 6, 2009: A separate FIR is lodged on the complaint of Ravinder Pal Singh, father of the deceased. * July 9, 2009: The case is transferred to the CBI after the parents continue agitation. * Dec 22, 2009: CBI files charge sheet against 18 Uttarakhand policemen. * March 31, 2010: Uttarakhand government gives sanction to prosecute the accused. * March 17, 2010: Supreme Court transfers the case from Dehradun to the special judge, CBI, Delhi. * June 6, 2014: A
CBI recovers hard discs, laptops allegedly linked to Delhi min
The CBI claimed to have recovered today four hard discs and three laptops, allegedly belonging to Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, from Delhi Medical Council president Arun Gupta. CBI sources said that during the questioning of Delhi Dental Council registrar Rishiraj, arrested recently, the agency got to know that these laptops and hard discs were lying with Gupta. Based on the information, the agency today searched the premises of Gupta from where the recoveries were made, the sources said. These electronic gadgets have been sent for forensic analysis, they said. The agency also categorically denied claims of the Delhi government that the property documents allegedly linked to Jain "were taken by the CBI in last year's raid". None of the three documents -- two original property documents and a photo copy of power of attorney which were recovered during searches at Rishiraj's residence -- were provided to it at any stage or seized by the agency during searches at Jain's ..
Five HCs get chief justices
Chief justices to five high courts were appointed today, bringing down the number of courts functioning without full-time chief justices to six. Justice Antony Dominic has been elevated in the Kerala HC and would now head it, according to a notification issued by the law ministry. Justice Dinesh Maheshwari has been appointed the chief justice of the Karnataka High Court. He is currently heads the Meghalaya HC. Justice Ajay Rastogi, who was hitherto serving in the Rajasthan HC, has been appointed the chief justice of Tripura High Court, while Justice Abhilasha Kumari has been appointed the chief justice of the Manipur HC. She is currently a judge of the Gujarat HC. Justice Tarun Aggarwala will move from the Allahabad HC to head the Meghalaya High Court. Before the new appointments were notified today evening, the nine high courts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka and Manipur were working without ...
Kasganj: One more accused nabbed in Chandan Gupta murder case
One more person allegedly involved in the Chandan Gupta murder case was arrested today and a pistol recovered from him, police said. Meanwhile, the family of Gupta, killed in communal violence last month, met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow today. "One of the accused persons in the Chandan Gupta murder case - Salman - has been arrested. We have recovered a country-made pistol and two cartridges from him. The arrested accused is a resident of Mohalla Nawab of Kasganj," Superintendent of Police Piyush Srivastava said today. Earlier, on January 31, the police claimed to have held Saleem, who they called the prime accused in the Chandan Gupta murder case. Subsequently, on February 3, one more person, Rahat, was arrested in connection with the killing. The family of the deceased met Chief Minister Adityanath in the UP secretariat building in Lucknow, officials said. Details on the discussions during the meeting were awaited. Gupta was killed in communal
Teenager abducted in Bihar
A 14-year-old boy was abducted by motorcycle-borne persons here on Tuesday, his family claimed.
HC stresses on urgent need for witness protection programme
Noting that several witnesses in the Uttarakhand fake encounter case, involving 18 policemen of the state, had turned hostile, the Delhi High Court today stressed on the "urgent need" for a "robust scheme" to protect witnesses and victims. While upholding the life term awarded to seven out of the 18 policemen accused of killing a 22-year-old MBA student in a fake encounter in Dehradun in 2009, a bench of justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said that despite transferring the trial to Delhi, a large number of witnesses turned hostile. The court has acquitted other accused. The court said that this pointed to the "nonexistent protection given to witnesses and victims". The bench noted in its judgement that the accused in the present case were all policemen of Uttarakhand and many of the witnesses were local residents of Dehradun. "Despite their statements being recorded under the criminal procedure code, the prosecution could do little to stop these witnesses from turning ...
Loan fraud case: ED opposes bail plea of ex-Andhra Bank
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has opposed the bail application of a former Andhra Bank director, arrested in an alleged Rs 5,000-crore bank fraud case involving a Gujarat-based pharma firm, saying it may hamper the probe. The agency opposed the bail application moved by Anup Prakash Garg before the court of Additional Sessions Judge Sidharth Sharma who posted the matter for further hearing on February 16. In the reply to the bail application, ED's special public prosecutor Nitesh Rana said that the allegations against Garg were serious as about Rs 300 crore loan was passed on his behest. "If granted the bail, he may hamper the ongoing investigation and flee from justice," Rana told the court. Garg was arrested by the probe agency on January 12 and is currently in judicial custody. He was one of the three persons arrested in the case. The agency had in November last year held Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan. Besides Dhawan and Garg, the ED has also arrested ...
Assange loses legal bid to overturn UK warrant
In a setback to Julian Assange, a British court today ruled that an UK arrest warrant against the Wikileaks founder was still valid, signalling that he could be arrested if he tries to leave the Ecuadorian embassy here where he has been holed up since 2012. A handful of supporters waving "Free Assange" banners had gathered outside Westminster Magistrates Court in London in anticipation of the ruling in the high-profile case involving the 46-year-old Australian national. But the judge ruled that it was "not uncommon" for a warrant for failing to surrender to remain valid when there were no underlying proceedings pending. Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot, the judge who is currently also presiding over the extradition trial of liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya the next hearing date for which is expected in mid-March, had reserved her judgement in the Assange case last month. "Once at court, a defendant will be given an opportunity to put an argument for reasonable cause. And that .
Hospital asked to pay Rs 30L to child, parents for negligence
The Delhi state consumer commission had directed the Max Hospital in Pitampura here to pay Rs 30 lakh to a 10-year-old boy and his parents for negligence at the time of delivery leading to permanent abnormality in the child's left arm. The Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission bench imposed the hefty amount on the private hospital saying this may serve the purpose of bringing about a "qualitative change" in the attitude of hospitals of providing "service to the human beings as human beings". The commission awarded a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to Sonepat-based Ritesh Kumar Garg, Aarti Garg and their son Kush Garg for the suffering, mental pain and agony caused to them. Besides this, it also directed the hospital to pay Rs five lakh to the mother as incidental expenses incurred from the time she was admitted for delivery till the child's check up at a hospital in Mumbai and another Rs five lakh to them as litigation cost. "This may serve the purpose of ...
Woman confined to room for 20 years rescued in Goa
A 40-year-old woman illegally confined to a room by her mother and brother for about 20 years in Sanquelim village in North Goa was rescued on Tuesday by police and the District Legal Service Authority volunteers, official sources said.
Self-styled 'godman' held from UP ashram, six girls rescued
A self-styled godman was arrested and six minor girls were rescued from his "ashram" built allegedly on an encroached land of the gram sabha in Bhadohi district of Uttar Pradesh, police said today. Police pulled down the ashram yesterday and got the land encroached by "godman" Rajendra Prasad for nearly four months in Natwa village freed, District Magistrate Vishakh G said. Five people, including Prasad, have been arrested from the ashram from where six minor girls have been freed and sent to Bal Kalyan Samiti for counselling, the magistrate said. The DM said that like Ram Vriksha of Jawaharbagh Mathura, Prasad had also prepared a team of lathi-wielding youths, scripted his own "constitution" and had collected nearly Rs 20 lakh in donation. He was also running his writ among illegal land grabbers and admitted it before newspersons. A case has been registered against nine named and 50 unnamed people, the officer added. SP Shachindra Patel said Prasad is a resident of ...
MP: SIT to probe abduction & rape charges against Cong MLA
A special investigation team (SIT) has been formed to probe the allegations of abduction and rape against Congress MLA Hemant Katare levelled by a journalism student, a police official said today. Last week, the police had booked Katare on the charges of abduction and rape following a complaint lodged by the 21-year-old student, who was arrested for allegedly extorting money from the legislator. "We have constituted a nine-member SIT to investigate all the cases related to Katare (Congress MLA from Ater in Bhind district). Three different cases were registered in this regard by the crime branch, women police station and Bajaria police station," Bhopal DIG Dharmendra Choudhary said. Police are thoroughly probing the charges against Katare. The leader of the opposition in Madhya Pradesh Assembly Ajay Singh and others had met Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently and demanded a fair probe into the case. "The SIT would be headed by Superintendent of Police (SP), ...
J&K DG-Prisons orders inquiry into escape of LeT terrorist
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Prisons S K Mishra today ordered an inquiry into the escape of dreaded Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Mohammed Naveed Jhatt. Mishra told PTI from Jammu that the inquiry will be limited to the central jail only to ascertain whether any prior information about Jhatt's movement to the hospital was leaked. "The inquiry will be headed by a Deputy Inspector General-rank officer," he said. The 22-year-old Jhatt staged a daring escape from busy SMHS Hospital here this morning with the help of two other terrorists. Mishra said the inquiry will also include questioning of other inmates as well as some prison officials. "We will give our detailed report to the home department very soon," he said.
Child kidnapped from school bus rescued; 1 kidnapper shot dead
A five-year-old boy, who was brazenly kidnapped from a school bus on Republic Day eve, was rescued today after an encounter between police and the kidnappers, an official said. One of the alleged kidnappers, identified as Ravi (25), was killed, while his accomplice Pankaj (21) was injured and the third, Nitin (28), was arrested, Joint Commissioner (Crime Branch) of Police Alok Kumar said. The alleged kidnappers had kept the boy, Rehan, in an apartment at Shalimar City, Sahibabad (Ghaziabad), from where he was rescued around 1 AM after the encounter, he said. Rehan, the son of a wholesale businessman, was kidnapped allegedly by Ravi and Pankaj from his school bus on January 25, Kumar said. The alleged kidnappers, who were on a bike, forcefully opened the doors of the bus near IBHAAS on Mandoli Road and shot at bus driver Naresh Thapa, the official said. On January 28, the father of the boy received a ransom call. Later, on the same day, a video of the boy was sent to the .
Terror charges filed against Yasin Bhatkal, others
A Delhi court on Tuesday framed conspiracy and other terror charges against Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist Yasin Bhatkal and eight others in a case of setting up an illegal arms factory in the national capital.Additional Sessions Judge Sidharth Sharma framed the charges of conspiracy (Section 18) and being a member of terrorist gang or organisation (Section 20) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).Besides Bhatkal, the court also framed charges against other alleged IM members Zia-Ur- Rehman, Tehsin Akhtar, Mohammad Waqar Azhar, Mohammad Maroof, Mohammad Saquib Ansari, Imteyaz Alam and Aijaz Shaikh.The hearing in the case will begin from March 7.