Page 2200 - Law Crime
Aarushi murder case: Hemraj's wife moves SC challenging
The acquittal of dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the 2008 twin murder case of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj has been challenged in the Supreme Court. The plea, filed by Hemraj's wife, is the first petition in the top court against the Allahabad High Court verdict of October 12 this year acquitting the couple. The high court had freed them of the charges on the ground that they could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record. A CBI court at Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh had sentenced the Talwars to life imprisonment on November 26, 2013 in connection with the case. Before the high court's order came, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were serving their life sentence in Ghaziabad's Dasna jail. Fourteen-year-old Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45- year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the
Ryan school murder case: Bail plea of teenage accused rejected
The Juvenile Justice Board today rejected the bail plea of a teenager accused of killing seven-year-old Pradhuman Thakur on the premises of Ryan International School here. The board, however, reserved its decision till December 20 on whether the accused should be tried as an adult or as a juvenile. The board had earlier set up a committee comprising a psychologist from PGI Rohtak seeking an expert opinion in the matter. The panel submitted its report in two envelops which were opened inside the court room today. Lawyer of Pradhuman's father, Sushil Tekriwal, said the report was based on behavioural, sociological and psychological aspects of the juvenile. "We have seen the report and given our submission," he said. According to Tekriwal, the report said the accused should be treated as an adult and it suggested that he was an abnormal child with a hyper-aggressive streak to his personality. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) contended that the probe was underway ..
VVIP chopper scam: HC grants bail to woman director
The Delhi High Court today granted bail to a woman director of two Dubai-based firms, who was arrested in connection with a money laundering case arising out of the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP chopper scam. Justice A K Pathak enlarged on bail Shivani Rajiv Saxena, saying that she has been in custody for five months and a supplementary prosecution complaint (charge sheet) has already been filed against her and the trial was likely to take time. Saxena, a director of Dubai-based M/s UHY Saxena and M/s Matrix Holdings, was arrested by the Enforcement Direcotrate (ED) on July 16 and remanded in judicial custody. The court asked her to furnish a personal bond of Rs one lakh and two sureties of the like amount and directed her not to leave India without prior permission of the trial court. "Keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, the woman is admitted to bail," the court said. The court imposed several bail conditions on her including that she should forthwith deposit ..
Delhi being ravaged by its citizens, officials: SC
Invaders pillaged Delhi for hundreds of years, but for the last couple of decades it is being ravaged by its citizens and officials, the Supreme Court today said referring to unauthorised constructions and misuse of residential premises for commercial purposes. A bench comprising justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said the consequences of the failure to implement the rule of law in Delhi were having a generational impact, which cannot be anything but disastrous. "Invaders have pillaged Delhi for hundreds of years, but for the last couple of decades it is being ravaged by its own citizens and officials governing the capital city we refer to unauthorised constructions and misuse of residential premises for industrial and other commercial purposes," it said. The court rued that its directions have failed to bring "some sanity to urban living". In an important direction, the apex court ordered that the cases, transfered by it to the Delhi High Court, pertaining to ...
Student, punished with '500 sit-ups', takes ill, teacher held
Police in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra have arrested a 45-year-old school principal for allegedly asking a student to do 500 sit-ups for not completing project work. The student, a girl studying in std 8, took ill while undergoing the inhuman punishment and had to be admitted to a hospital. "We arrested Ashwini Devan, the principal, yesterday under IPC sections 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 337 (act endangering life or personal safety of another person) and 506 (criminal intimidation)," said a senior official of Chandgad tehsil police. Devan was later released on bail, he said. On November 24, Dewan allegedly asked eight students of std 8th at the privately-run Shri Bhavashwari Sandesh Vidyalay in Kanoor Budrook village of Chandgad tehsil to do 500 sit-ups for not doing project work. One of the girls, who is 13 years old, took ill while doing sit-ups and was hospitalised. On December 10, a police complaint was lodged against the principal. Following the ...
CBI announces reward of Rs 10 lakh in Kotkhai rape-murder case
The CBI has announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh to anyone who shares credible information leading to the arrest of those involved in the rape-and-murder of a teenage girl in Kotkhai in Himachal Pradesh in July. The Himachal Pradesh Police had arrested six suspects in the case, one of whom died in its custody. The rest five were not under the agency's suspicion after their lie-detector tests apparently showed that they were not lying about their non-involvement in the case, sources claimed. The sources, however, said no clean chit has been given to anyone till the agency gets conclusive evidence. The CBI registered two cases on the direction of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in July this year to probe the rape-and-murder of the 16-year-old girl and the second related to the custodial death of an accused, Suraj Singh, arrested by the Himachal Pradesh Police. The CBI spokesperson said the reward of Rs 10 lakh will be given to anyone from general public for providing credible .
Let buyer come to court, says HC after Vishal Yadav seeks
The Delhi High Court today asked Vishal Yadav, serving life term in the Nitish Katara murder case, to bring before it the proposed buyer of his property after he sought a three-month parole to carry out the transaction to arrange funds for his family. Delhi police's Additional Standing Counsel Rajesh Mahajan opposed the convict's plea on the grounds that there is a threat to the life of the victim's mother Neelam Katara and also to the lone witness in the case. Taking note of this, the court said that it would like to hear Neelam Katara and also witness Ajay Katara. Justice Najmi Waziri sought appearance of the buyer of Vishal Yadav's property after he sought parole to sell it to arrange funds for his family and for his daughter's education. The judge observed that as far as the convict's grounds of parole to arrange money for family is concerned, he can be allowed to go in custody for that purpose, but before that the buyer has to come to the court. The court has fixed ..
De-freezing accounts: SC rejects Teesta, husband's plea; says
The Supreme Court today held that activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband owe an explanation to Gujarat Police for alleged misappropriation of "huge funds" received by their NGOs for the victims of the 2002 riots. The apex court, which dismissed their pleas challenging the Gujarat High Court order rejecting defreezing of their personal bank accounts, said the investigations against them and their NGOs -- Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace -- were still in progress and there were allegation of non-cooperation by them in the probe which strengthens suspicion against them. It said police was in possession of materials pointing out circumstances which create "suspicion of the commission" of offences of cheating, breach of trust, forgery and criminal conspiracy. The freezing of nine bank accounts by Ahmedabad Police had come soon after its crime branch started probing a case in which Setalvad and others were accused of embezzling Rs 1.51 crore collected to ...
Virbhadra PMLA case: Court seeks ED's reply on LIC agent's
A special court today directed the Enforcement Directorate to file by December 19 its response to the bail application of LIC agent Anand Chauhan, chargesheeted in a money laundering case allegedly involving Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann also granted a month to the probe agency to file its supplementary charge sheet in the case after an application was moved by the ED in this regard. The order was passed by the court after the special public prosecutor, N K Matta, appearing for the ED, said that the agency needed time to make the submissions in response to the bail plea and file the probe report. The accused, currently in judicial custody, claimed in his application moved through advocate Tarannum Cheema that he was not required for the purpose of investigation and has already spent over a year in prison since his arrest in July last year under the provisions of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The accused was
Tribal woman delivers baby near drain in hospital premises
A tribal woman delivered a baby girl near a drain in the premises of a government hospital here today after she was allegedly refused admission for want of required documents. However, the authorities of Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital (SLNMCH), dismissed the allegation of denial of admission to the woman. After news about the incident spread, the hospital admitted the baby to the special neo-natal care unit (SNCU) and the 30-year-old woman taken care of in the hospital. Doctors at the hospital said the condition of both mother and baby are stable. The woman, a resident of Janiguda village under the Dasmantpur block had came to the hospital yesterday with her mother and sister to meet her husband Raghu Muduli, who is admitted at the hospital with fever since Wednesday. She developed labour pain and went to the gynaecology ward for admission but the hospital authorities refused to admit her, Gouramani Muduli, mother of the woman alleged. "The medical ...
Jaitley accuses Kejriwal of seeking roving probe in DDCA case
Union Minister Arun Jaitley today alleged before a court here that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leader Raghav Chadha were seeking a "roving and fishing enquiry" in his criminal defamation complaint against them in the DDCA row. The counsel for Jaitley told Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat that Kejriwal and Chadha were trying to delay the defamation trial and opposed the applications moved by the AAP leaders seeking several documents related to the case. Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for Jaitley, termed the applications by AAP politicians as "frivolous and urged the court to dismiss them with cost. The applications had sought various documents filed along with the complaint, saying the copies they received were not clear. Both the accused had also sought various documents from the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) and certain letters reportedly written by former cricketers to Jaitley highlighting corruption in the ...
Body of 8-yr-old found half buried in fields
An eight-year-old boy was found dead in a sugarcane field near his village today, police said. According to CO, Dhanoura, Monika Yadav, class second student Abhishek was missing since December 8. Some villagers informed the police that a body was buried in sugarcane fields, she said. Some body parts were, however, visible, she added. SO, Gajraula, Arvind Mohan Sharma said that the body was identified as that of the missing Abhishek from a cut mark on his neck. Prima facie it was a case of enimity," he said. An FIR was lodged by the deceased's father and villagers also agitated seeking justice, officials said. Investigations into the incident are underway, they said.
Money laundering: ED attaches Rs 33L assets of TN bootlegger
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 33 lakh of a Tamil Nadu-based bootlegger in connection with a money laundering case against him, the agency today said. The central probe agency said it has issued a provisional attachment order, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), attaching cash and jewellery worth Rs 33 lakh of Suresh alias Kulithalai Suresh Kumar. It said in a statement the bootlegger created these assets out of the "proceeds of crime of the sale of smuggled illicit arrack (a type of alcohol)." The ED booked a PMLA case against him based on an FIR of the Mammallapuram police that also arrested him in 2015. During the investigation, it said, it was found the man "smuggled illicit spirit affixing duplicate labels on liquor bottles and utilising vehicles with forged RC (registration certificate) books". "The cash and gold jewellery were gained through smuggling of illicit arrack," the statement said.
SC deprecates lawyer for saying her client will be raped
The Supreme Court today deprecated a lawyer for saying that her client, a fugitive businesswoman residing in London, is getting threats from lenders that she will be molested and raped on arrival in India. The top court asked the woman's counsel to "behave responsibly" or it will refer her to Bar Council of India for appropriate action. A bench of justices Arun Mishra and M M Shantanagoudar said that such arguments cannot be allowed in the Supreme Court and lawyers need to make their arguments responsibly. The court was hearing a case of businesswoman Ritika Awasty, a promoter of Bush Foods Overseas Pvt Ltd, who is facing criminal trial in Uttar Pradesh on charges of cheating, forgery and criminal breach of trust but is evading arrest after she was allowed to go to London by the top court last year to see her husband and daughter. "Be responsible madam. What is happening here. This is Supreme Court which means Supreme Court. These type of arguments cannot be allowed ...
Man accused of poisoning wife gets bail
A man accused of poisoning his was granted bail by a district sessions court, a senior prosecution officer said today. A woman had lodged an FIR at Surajpur Police Station that on October 19 her husband came drunk and assaulted her. She alleged he brought a phenyl bottle from the bathroom and forcibly poured it in her mouth and tried to kill her. The woman claimed she fell unconscious and neighbours admitted her to a hospital. After getting discharged from the hospital, she came to lodge an FIR. The accused claimed he was innocent and was not at home at the time of incident. He claimed he had some differences with his wife which was the reason she had lodged a false report. He claimed that he had even paid her hospital bills. "The district sessions judge has granted bail to accused. He has to furnish a bond of Rs 50,000 and also an undertaking that he will not physically or mentally torture his wife, parents and children," Lalit Mudgal, Senior Prosecution Officer said ..
Calcutta HC to hear old criminal appeals on Saturday
The Calcutta High Court would sit tomorrow, a Saturday, to hear old criminal appeals as desired by the Chief Justice of India to clear pending cases. A division bench comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Rajarshi Bharadwaj would take up 17 such appeals in old criminal cases filed in 2010 or before. While one of these appeals was filed in 2005, another was filed in 2007 and five others in 2008, according to a list released by the high court administration. Two of the appeals to be heard tomorrow by the high court, which functions from Monday to Friday, were filed in 2009 and the rest were filed in 2010. Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Mishra had in September written to the chief justices of all high courts expressing desire that the high courts constitute special benches to hear old criminal appeals, in which legal aid has been provided, on Saturdays to reduce the huge pendency. There were 2,23,261 cases pending before the Calcutta High Court as on October 31 this .
Panama: ED seizes over Rs 48 cr assets of Ahmedabad firm
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today said it has seized assets worth Rs 48.87 crore, under the FEMA law, of an Ahmedabad-based company in connection with its probe in the Panama Papers case. The central probe agency identified the firm as Ms Sintex Industries Limited and said it is linked to Amit Patel and Rahul Patel, whose names "had figured in the Panama Papers case with respect to their stakes/interests" in an overseas company called Ms Amarange Inc located in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). The ED said its probe found that the accounts of the Ahmedabad firm, through its subsidiary in the BVI, was used to purchase an immovable property in Singapore in alleged contravention of forex laws and hence action was taken against them. The firm, it alleged, also violated other provisions of the FEMA. "Sintex Industries Limited, Ahmedabad contravened the provisions of section 4 of FEMA, 1999 and a total amount of USD 3 million and SGD (Singapore Dollar) 62,50,000 ...
Salesman killed in accidental pistol fire; colleague held
A liquor salesman died after he was critically injured when a was hit by a bullet that was accidentally fired, police said. DSP Greater Noida Amit Kishore Srivastava said that last night salesman Anant suffered a bullet injury and was admitted at the Kailash hospital. He died during the treatment and his brother Anil lodged a murder case. "Investigations showed that the deceased and two other salesmen Deepak and Palmal were preparing to have dinner in the shop last night. They downed the shutter. They had a country-made pistol and were playing with it. Accidentally, the pistol, when in the hands of one of the salesmen, got fired and a bullet hit Anant's chest," the police official said. Then two salesmen got him admitted him to the Kailash hospital. "When police interrogated Deepak, he confessed that the bullet was accidentally fired and killed Anant. He has been arrested," Srivastava said.
Expedite proceedings to declare businesswoman proclaimed
The Supreme Court today asked the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government to expeditiously complete proceedings to declare a businesswoman proclaimed offender and attach her properties in India. Ritika Awasty, a promoter of Bush Foods Overseas Pvt Ltd, is facing criminal trial in Uttar Pradesh on charges of cheating, forgery and criminal breach of trust but is evading arrest after she was allowed to go to London. A bench of justices Arun Mishra and M M Shantanagoudar said that since her bail has been cancelled by the court after she failed to return to India from United Kingdom, the proceedings to declare her proclaimed offender should be completed expeditiously. The bench said that the proceedings shall also be initiated for attaching the properties in her name or in her husband's name. The court also deprecated the counsel for the woman for saying that Awasty is getting threats from lenders that she will be molested or raped when she lands at Delhi airport. "Don't make ...
Court awards 10 yrs RI to woman under liquor law in Bihar
A court here today awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment to a 45-year-old woman in connection with seizure of ingredients for making country liquor from her house in Munger district. Additional District and Sessions Judge Tribhuwan Nath held Mala Devi, a widow, guilty under provisions of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act 2016 and awarded her 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on her. She would have to spend another six months in jail if she failed to pay the amount. According to the FIR filed in the case, the police had seized 10 litres of fresh Mahua juice (a fruit used to make country liquor) and 15 litres of rotten Mahua juice from Mala Devi's residence at Chhoti Mushahri village under Haveli Kharagpur police station of the district last year. The Nitish Kumar government last year enacted a stringent anti-liquor law banning manufacture, bottling, distribution, transportation, accumulation, possession, purchase, sale or