Page 455 - Law Crime
Amarinder says Badal 'indulging in theatrics' over sacrilege cases
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Friday termed Akali stalwart Parkash Singh Badal's challenge to "put him in jail" over the 2015 sacrilege cases as a "piece of drama", saying the former CM was indulging in theatrics after finding himself cornered. "Why is he (Badal) so rattled if he has nothing to hide," Amarinder asked, claiming that the former chief minister was in the habit of "indulging in theatrics", especially when faced with an "uncomfortable" situation. Reacting to the chief minister's address in the Punjab Assembly wherein he vowed to punish those guilty of the "horrendous" 2015 sacrilege incidents in the state, Badal had Thursday claimed that his successor's only aim was to put him behind bars. "I am prepared to go to jail as their (state government) only aim is to arrest me... I am not afraid of being arrested," the five-time chief minister had told media here. Pointing out that he had never mentioned Badal, or anyone else for that matter, in connection with the ...
Minor raped in Bihar village, pictures uploaded on social media
A minor girl was allegedly gang raped and the pictures of the crime were circulated on social media by the accused at a village in this district, police said Friday. The incident, that occurred more than a week ago, came to light after the photographs taken by the accomplices of the perpetrators surfaced on social media, the police said. According to the SHO of the Mansoorchak police station Arvind Kumar, the girl was sexually assaulted on February 11 by three people and two others took pictures of the heinous act on their mobile phones. The SHO said the perpetrators had threatened the girl to kill her family members if she spoke about the incident. One of the accused tried to molest her again on February 19 when she ran away and informed her father, the SHO said, adding that initially the family was reluctant to report the matter to the police but they lodged an FIR after the photographs were uploaded on the social media, apparently, out of mischief. "All the five people named in the
Madoff customer payout tops $12 billion
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The court-appointed trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff's firm said he began distributing $464 million to the imprisoned swindler's former customers on Friday, boosting their recovery to roughly $12.2 billion.
HC says no coercive steps against Pakistani woman asked to leave by MHA
The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Centre not to take any coercive action against a Pakistani woman, who was asked to leave the country by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), till February 28.
5 held for kidnapping boy in Ghaziabad
Five people were arrested on Friday for allegedly kidnapping a 13-year-old boy, and a portion of the ransom amount paid by the child's father for his release has been recovered from them, police said here. The boy was kidnapped on February 10 evening when he had gone to a local stationary shop. His parents had lodged a missing person complaint at Kavi Nagar police station, SP (city) Shlok Kumar said. The kidnappers had demanded Rs 2 crore as ransom, but following negotiations, the amount was brought down to Rs 10 lakh. The boy was release by the kidnappers on the intervening night of February 14 and 15 upon payment of the ransom, the police officer said. Acting on a tip off, the kidnappers -- Pramod Jain, Pradeep, Pawan, Pramod Yadav and Sonu Kumar -- were arrested on Friday, and Rs 8 lakh of the ransom amount paid has been recovered, he said. A car, one motorcycle, three country-made pistols and a stolen mobile phone which the accused had used to make the ransom calls have been ...
Gangster's aide held, UP cops booked for 'facilitating' talks with jailed boss
The arrest of a member of Anil Dujana gang, wanted for a car robbery here, has blown the lid off involvement of two policemen facilitating the jailed gangster's communication with outside world, officials here said Friday. Accused Ankit Chaudhary, who was handling Dujana's illegal operations and mediating deals for him, was arrested late Thursday night and sent to jail, the police said. The two police constables, who were posted in Maharajganj jail where Dujana is imprisoned, are accused of lending their mobile phones to him using which he would contact Chaudhary on WhatsApp, a senior official said. Chaudhary, 24, was wanted in February 3 robbery of a Renault Duster, which was used in a killing on February 5 by three of his associates in Greater Noida, the police said. The other three accused who had killed a "wrong man" in a case of mistaken identity have already been arrested and jailed, while Chaudhary, who was involved in the car robbery, was absconding, a senior official ...
Three held for opening fire in front of Hindu Yuva Vahini leader's house
Three men have been arrested for allegedly opening fire in front of the house of a Hindu Yuva Vahini leader here, police said Friday. The three came on a scooter and opened fire in front of the house of Hindu Yuva Vahini divisional president Ambrish Singh Bhola Thursday night at Senpura in the Chowk police station area, they said. The incident created panic among the residents of the colony. Bhola is said to be close to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Adityanath had visited Bhola's house for a wedding ceremony of a family member two months ago. Police said the three men, identified as Vishal Verma, Raj Kumar Gupta and Anil Kumar Jaiswal, all residents of Varanasi, were nabbed on the basis of the CCTV footage and local intelligence inputs. One pistol along with 25 live cartridges and the scooter was recovered from them, they said. They have been booked under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), police said.
Huge cache of arms and ammunition seized, 3 arrested
Three people, including two women, suspected to be close aides of the Neeraj Bawana gang were arrested and police seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition from outer north district's Bawana area, an official said Friday. The accused were identified as Virender, Nirmala and Kirti, all residents of Sultanpur Dabas village, he said. Police were keeping a strict vigil on the gangsters of the area, which is infamous for its criminal activities, the official said. Information regarding known outlaws and their kin were gathered and during the process, eight accused were arrested. During interrogation, some accused disclosed that they were working for Rahul alias Kala, who is a close associate of Neeraj Bawana and currently in judicial custody, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (outer north) Gaurav Sharma. On the instance of Rahul, they used to collect arms from his uncle Virender, he said. Based on a tip-off, a raid was conducted at Virender's house and he was arrested, the DCP ...
9-yr-old girl says 'inappropriately touched' by 'uncle' after learning about 'good touch-bad touch'
A nine-year-old girl opened up to her teacher about being "inappropriately touched" by a man when the students were being taught "good touch" and "bad touch" at a school in the Vivek Vihar area of Shahdara district, police said Friday. On Thursday, during a class, when the teacher was explaining about "good touch" and "bad touch", the minor girl went up to her and said that the man, whom she referred as uncle, who stays in their house, touched her "inappropriately" following which the teacher informed her parents and asked about the "uncle", they said. The girl narrated her ordeal to parents after she realised the difference between "good touch" and "bad touch", police said. Her parents then approached the Vivek Vihar police station and filed a complaint, they said. Confirming the incident, Meghna Yadav, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara), said a case was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal ...
J'khand: CBI court sentences ex-Bihar minister to 5 years imprisonment in bitumen scam
A CBI court here Friday sentenced former Bihar minister Illyas Hussain to five years imprisonment in a Rs 1.57 crore bitumen scam. Judge A K Mishra also slapped a fine of Rs 20 lakh on Hussain in the 22-year-old case. The court also awarded five-year jail terms to Hussain's secretary Shahbuddin Baig, former director of Bihar transport department Kedar Paswan, deputy director Muztaba Ahmed, executive engineer Ramanand Ram, section officer Shobha Sinha and transport supplier D N Singh. It also imposed fines of varying amounts on them. The arrest warrant was issued against Ahmed as he was not present when the court pronounced the quantum of sentence. In 1997, the CBI had lodged a case against all seven for illegally selling 3,266 metric tonne of bitumen worth Rs 1.57 crore, a CBI official said. A CBI court convicted Hussain in another bitumen scam on September 27, 2018 and had sentenced him to four years imprisonment. Hussain had lost his Bihar Assembly membership following the ...
Robert Vadra appears before ED for fifth time in Delhi; grilled for seven hours
Robert Vadra, Congress president Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law, was grilled on Friday for about seven hours as he appeared before the ED for the fifth time in connection with a money-laundering case related to purchase of alleged illegal assets abroad, officials said. Vadra reached the agency's office at Jamnagar House in central Delhi shortly before 11 am and left after 7 pm during which he had a lunch break too, they said. The businessman has been grilled in this case four times in the past, the last being February 20. Officials said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is confronting Vadra with documents and statements of other accused being investigated in the case and his statement is being recorded under section 50 (powers of authorities regarding summons, production of documents and to give evidence) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). During the last session, the businessman had told the investigating officer (IO) of the case that he was not well and hence, the ...
Those responsible for damaging properties during Feb 18 strike to be made co-accused: Ker govt to HC
The Kerala government Friday submitted in the High Court that those responsible for damage to property during a hartal on February 18 called by the Youth Congress would be arrayed as co-accused in the cases registered across the state. The submission was made before a bench of Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar by the the government counsel, who referred to the decision rendered by the Supreme Court in a case in 2018. The bench was hearing cases against Youth Congress president Dean Kuriakose, UDF Kasargod district leaders A Govindan Nair and M C Kamarudeen for calling a flash 'hartal' to protest the twin killings of Youth Congress workers in Kasargod district earlier this week. State Additional Advocate General Ranjith Thampan also referred to the guidelines given by the Supreme Court to make the organisers of hartal liable and responsible, for tortuous damage caused to public or private property. Earlier, the court orally observed that loss due to ...
Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal: seven accused taken to
Seven accused in the shelter home sex scandal, including some key aides and close relatives of the prime accused Brajesh Thakur, were on Friday taken to Delhi for deposition before the Special POCSO court at Saket where the trial has been transferred by a Supreme Court order. According to Sunil Kumar Maurya, Deputy Superintendent of the Khudiram Bose Central Prison here, the seven accused who were sent by train include Shaista Parveen alias Madhu who ran many businesses of Thakur her relative Mohd Sahil alias Vicky, Thakurs uncle Ramanuj, a former Child Welfare Committee president Dilip Verma and the state-funded shelter homes manager Ramashankar Singh. All the accused will be presented before the Saket court on the next date of hearing on Saturday. Nearly a score of people have been arrested in connection with the scandal which came to light after sexual abuse of inmates was flagged by Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences in a report of social audit. The ...
Convicts find fault with IPC section on death in rape cases
The counsel for the three men convicted in the Shakti Mills gangrape case here raised questions before the Bombay High Court Friday on the legal soundness of Section 376 (E) of the Indian Penal Code under which they were awarded the death sentence in 2014. Advocate Yug Chaudhry, representing the death row convicts Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali and Salim Ansari, told the court the legislature had brought in several provisions of the Criminal Law Amendment Act that provides for, among other things, a harsher punishment for rape, in "haste". Chaudhry questioned the idea behind Section 376 (E) that provides for the death sentence for a repeat offender of rape. He said while the section for enhanced punishment was introduced in the IPC through the Act, the legislature had failed to introduce a well-laid out procedure in the CrPC for the implementation of the new IPC section. "For instance, while the section provides that a person who has previously been convicted for the offence of rape can .
SC refers plea of former woman judicial officer to new bench
The Supreme Court Friday listed before a new bench the plea of a former woman judicial officer seeking reinstatement after having resigned following an inquiry into her allegations of sexual harassment against a sitting high court judge. The top court referred the matter to a new bench after a three-judge bench of Justices A K Sikri, S A Nazeer and M R Shah, which had been dealing with the plea, recused itself Thursday from further hearing in view of their suggestion asking the Madhya Pradesh High Court to re-consider its earlier order not to take back the judicial officer back in service. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took note of the submission of senior advocate Indira Jaising, the counsel for the former judicial officer, that the case to assigned to other bench. "On mentioning, the matter is taken on Board. List the matter on March 1, 2019 before the bench presided over by Justice S A Bobde," said the bench, also comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna. A bench headed by .
AAP MP writes to PM over post-retirement jobs for judges
AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding an end to the practice of post-retirement jobs for judges as it affects judicial neutrality. He cited specific instances of judgments influenced by outgoing Supreme Court and High Courts judges.
Suresh Raina may be brand ambassador of UP poll panel
The Ghaziabad administration has been asked to find out if cricketer Suresh Raina is ready to be the brand ambassador of the Uttar Pradesh poll panel.
SC allows teenager to move HC for bail in Gurugram school murder case
The Supreme Court Friday allowed the teenager accused of killing a seven-year-old boy inside a private school to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court for bail as an adult. A bench of Justices R F Nariman and Vineet Saran said the high court's verdict of October 11 last year will not come in the way of the court deciding the bail application of the accused. At the outset, advocate Sushil Tekriwal, appearing for Barun Chandra Thakur, father of the victim opposed the plea and said that as per the high court's order the Gurugram Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) was to consider afresh whether the teenager should be tried as an adult in the case or not. Only then he can be granted bail in the case, Tekriwal said. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for the teenager, said the bail application has already been filed in the high court and is pending. The bench said that it would be appropriate if the high court decide the application for bail of the teenager treating him as an adult and .
Court frames charges against Virbhadra Singh in DA case, trial to commence on April 3
A Delhi court Friday framed charges of criminal misconduct and amassing disproportionate assets of over Rs 10 crore against former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, paving the way for commencement of much-awaited trial in the case. The veteran Congress leader, to whom the charges were read out by Special CBI judge Arun Bhardwaj, claimed innocence and said that instead of pleading guilty he will face trial in the assets case. The court fixed April 3, 4 and 5 for the CBI to start recording statements of the witnesses in the case. "Today, the case is listed for recording plea of the accused no 1, Virbhadra Singh and accused no 3 Anand Chauhan to the charge framed against them pursuant to order passed on December 10, 2018," the court said. Charges have been read and explained to the accused to which they pleaded not guilty and claimed trial, it said. During the hearing, Virbhadra and his wife Pratibha Singh, who were present in the court, moved a plea seeking permanent ...
SC paves way for CBI probe into alleged 'fake encounter' in Jharkhand
Paving the way for a CBI probe into an alleged fake encounter between Maoists and security forces in 2015 in which 12 innocent people were killed in Jharkhand, the Supreme Court Friday dismissed the state's appeal against an investigation by the central agency. The Jharkhand High Court had on October 22, 2018 ordered a CBI probe into the alleged fake encounter, observing that the shoddy police investigation in the case has been eroding the people's faith. The probe was ordered by the high court on a plea by Jawahar Yadav, father of para teacher Uday Yadav who was among those killed in the 'fake encounter' at Bakoria in Satbarwa block of Palamu district on June 8, 2015. While hearing the appeal filed by the Jharkhand government against the high court's order, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said, "We are not inclined to entertain this petition. Dismissed." The Jharkhand government had challenged the high court order, saying it was an operation of the ...