Page 460 - Law Crime
Death penalty in Shakti Mills gang-rape case 'savage sentence': Convicts tell Bombay HC
The three men convicted in the Shakti Mills gangrape case told the Bombay High Court Thursday that the death penalty awarded to them by the sessions court in 2014 was a "savage sentence" and violated their right to life. The trio, through their lawyer, told the high court the death sentence violated their fundamental right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. The convicts, Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali and Salim Ansari, represented by senior counsel Yug Chaudhry, argued that the death sentence awarded to them was wrong in law since there existed an "enormous difference between the harm caused" by them and "the punishment" mated out to them. Chaudhry made the arguments before a bench of Justices B P Dharamadhikari and Revati Mohite-Dere that began the final hearing Thursday on the writ petitions filed by the convicts challenging the death sentence awarded to them under section 376 (E) of the IPC. In April 2014, a sessions court here held five persons guilty in the ...
Impose Rs 5L fine on schools, colleges with non-functional rain water harvesting units: NGT panel
A Committee headed by a former high court judge has suggested to the National Green Tribunal that Rs 5 lakh fine be imposed on schools and colleges where rain water harvesting systems (RWHS) are not functional. The committee headed by Justice (retd) S P Garg told a bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel that there are 6,761 systems in the Municipal Corporations of south, north, east and the New Delhi, DCB, Education Department, Kendriye Vidhayalas, IIT-Delhi and Delhi Higher Education Institutions as per the status report filed on November 20, 2018. "However, there were many areas where there are no such harvesting systems or such systems are not functioning. A list of schools and collages where either RWHS were inadequate or non-functioning has been compiled. DJB was required to verify whether the industries getting rebate in the name of RWHS had actually installed such RWHS. "The Committee also visited certain educational institutions and suggested the steps to be taken .
Gwyneth Paltrow files countersuit in skiing case
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has filed a countersuit against a man who has accused her of crashing into him and causing him serious injuries while skiing on a Utah mountain in 2016.
CBI registers preliminary enquiry against UPPSC officials for alleged nepotism during Mayawati rule
The CBI has registered a preliminary enquiry against unidentified officials of Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission for allegedly granting favours to close relatives of public servants in an examination to select additional private secretaries during Mayawati's rule in 2010, officials said Thursday. The preliminary enquiry is based on a complaint from the BJP-ruled government in the state which was routed to it through the central government in January. It is alleged in the complaint that certain unidentified people including officials of the UPPSC committed irregularities and misconduct in the examination for about 250 posts of additional private secretaries in 2010, they said. It is alleged that they extended undue favours to undeserving candidates, they said. Some of the candidates favoured in the examination did not fulfill even the basic minimum eligibility, the officials citing the complaint claimed. The complaint has alleged that some selected candidates are "close ...
Russia indicts US investor for fraud: Lawyer
Russian investigators formally charged US investor Michael Calvey with fraud on Thursday following his controversial arrest, his lawyer said. Investigators presented him with the indictment on the charge of large-scale fraud as part of an organised group, which can carry up to ten years in prison. "He has refused to admit his guilt or give any testimony" before consulting with his defense, lawyer Dmitry Kletochkin told Russian news agencies. Calvey is the founder of the multi-billion-dollar Baring Vostok investment fund. He is one of six people arrested in a probe into the alleged embezzlement of 2.5 billion rubles (USD 37.7 million) from the Russian Vostochniy Bank. Calvey has said in court that the charges against him are being used as an instrument in a shareholder dispute, insisting that he has done nothing wrong. Several high-profile figures have spoken on behalf of Calvey, with Russia's business ombudsman Boris Titov saying the case was a typical corporate dispute and calling ...
Man shot dead by assailants in Muzaffarnagar
A 30-year-old man was allegedly shot dead while asleep by some unidentified miscreants at his home in a district's village, police said Thursday. The incident occurred at Roni Harjipur village under the Charthawal police station in the district Wednesday night. The body was sent for post-mortem and a case registered against the unidentified miscreants, police said.
Ex-VC, registrar, teacher of Visva Bharati sentenced to jail in forgery case
A court here Thursday sentenced former vice-chancellor of Visva Bharati univeristy Dilip Kumar Sinha, ex-registrar Dilip Mukhopadhaya and former teacher Mukti Dev to five years imprisonment in a forgery and conspiracy case. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bolpur, Aurobindo Mishra also ordered the three convicted persons to pay a fine of Rs 1000 each. The court on Wednesday had convicted the three in the case of forgery and conspiracy. Sinha, Mukhopadhaya and Dev appealed for interim bail Thursday after the judgement was passed but the court turned down their request, said assistant public prosecutor, Phiroj Pal. Dev had worked as a lecturer in the Mathematics department in the university, teaching post-graduate students for around six years, without having the required qualification. The crime had come to light in 2004, months after the theft of Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel medal. Sinha had retired by then and the investigation was handed over to the CID. During investigation, it
NH-74 scam: Main accused gets bail
The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday granted bail to DP Singh, the main accused in the Rs 300 crore NH-74 compensation scam. Justice Manoj Tiwari granted bail to Singh, who has been languishing in jail since November 23, 2017. The bail application of co-accused builder Sudhir Chawla will be heard on March 1. The charges against Singh and others in the scam are to be framed by the trial court on March 8. Singh was the special land acquisition officer when the scam took place in the acquisition of land for the widening of NH-74 in Udham Singh Nagar district between 2011 and 2016. Unearthed soon after the BJP government took over in the state in March 2017, the NH-74 scam is related to conversion of agricultural land as non-agricultural by officials to pay compensations many times more than deserved to chosen favourites.
Give reasons for cancellation of Daati Maharaj's bail, HC tells CBI
The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to give reasons for seeking cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to self-styled godman Daati Maharaj in a rape case.
Rajasthan HC rejects interim bail plea of Asaram
The Rajasthan High Court Thursday rejected the interim bail plea of self-styled godman Asaram. In his bail application, Asaram had stated that his wife Laxmi Devi was seriously ill and was admitted in the hospital. Since he has been in the jail for the past five years continuously, he be granted bail to attend his wife. Justice Sandeep Mehta, while rejecting his bail plea said, "The court has no sympathy with such criminals." He was hearing the plea after justice Sangeet Lodha had refused to hear the plea Monday. Objecting to his plea, government counsel argued that Asaram's wife was fine and not serious as was mentioned by him. The court was also provided with the medical report of his wife and considering the report and the arguments, rejected the bail plea of Asaram. Before this, his three parole pleas have been turned down, twice by the District Parole Committee and once by the high court. A Jodhpur court in Rajasthan had convicted Asaram and two of his associates in a 2013 rape ..
Case against ten neighbours after woman commits suicide
The police in Palghar district of Maharashtra have registered a case against ten persons, all residents of the same building in Nalasopara, for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 53-year-old woman. Madhuri Omprakash Sharma, the deceased, lived in the same building -- Jivdani Niwas -- as the accused. The accused, which includes three married couples, had allegedly beaten up Madhuri Sharma some days ago. The woman allegedly hanged herself at her house on February 17. Her husband alleged that she committed suicide as she felt extremely humiliated after the neighbours thrashed her, said police spokesperson Hemant Kumar Katkar. The accused used to pick up quarrels with her over petty things such as drawing of water, he said. A case of abetment of suicide was registered under IPC section 306 against the ten accused Wednesday, he said, adding that nobody has been arrested yet.
RCom seeks lenders' nod for release of Rs 260 cr in bank account to Ericsson
A day after it faced SC heat over non-payment of dues to Ericsson, Reliance Communications Thursday sought urgent approval from its lenders for release of about Rs 260 crore lying in its bank account, directly to the Swedish telecom gear maker. Reliance Communications in a statement said that it is confident of raising the remaining about Rs 200 crore for payment to Ericsson, in order to ensure that the entire amount gets paid well within the four weeks timeline set by the apex court. The latest move assumes significance as the Supreme Court (SC) Wednesday held Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani and two others guilty of contempt of court for violating its order by not paying dues of Rs 550 crore to Ericsson. The court said they would face a three-month jail term if Rs 453 crore was not paid to the telecom equipment maker in four weeks. "Reliance Communications group has requested urgent approval from its lenders to release approximately Rs 260 crore received from Income Tax .
Ex-Visva Bharati VC, registrar & teacher get 5-year jail for forgery
Former Vice-Chancellor of Visva Bharati University Dilip Kumar Sinha and ex-Registrar Dilip Kumar Mukherjee were sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment in a case of conspiracy and forgery by a lower court in the Birbhum district on Thursday.
IAS officer Chandrakala's fake social media account closed after police complaint
A fake social media account of IAS officer B Chandrakala has been closed, days after she reported the matter with police here alleging identity theft, according to officials. The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, who is special secretary for secondary education with the state government, had made a complaint on February 8 about her fake LinkedIn account and a case was registered under the Information Technology (IT) Act, they said. "The fake account has been closed. Search is on to trace the culprit who was running the fake account," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Vaibhav Krishna told PTI. According to the officials, the case was lodged at the Sector 49 police station and then transferred to the Noida Cyber Cell. The case was registered under Section 66C (punishment for identity theft) and 66D (punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the IT Act, 2000, they said. The 2008-batch IAS officer had become famous after her videos emerged on ...
Online FIRs in every case could lead to abuse of law, settling personal scores: Police to HC
The police has opposed in the Delhi High Court a PIL seeking that e-FIRs be lodged for all offences, instead of only those crimes where the accused is unknown, saying it could lead to "abuse of process of law" and "settling of personal scores" by unscrupulous online complainants. Delhi Police, in an affidavit placed before a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao, also said lodging of FIRs online in all cases would increase the burden on the investigative process and will take away the agency's power to conduct a preliminary enquiry before taking such a step. It further told the court that lodging of e-FIRs is "fraught with practical problems" and a layman unfamiliar with the intricacies of the law may not be able to lodge an effective FIR. "It (e-FIRs) may cause extremely high investigative burden on police apart from curtailing its power to conduct preliminary enquiry in appropriate cases. It may also give undue latitude as well as opportunity to unscrupulous ...
HC directs Bihar govt to release salary of IAS officer
The Delhi High Court has directed the Bihar government to release all the arrears of pay and allowances to an IAS officer, who has sought inter-state transfer from Bihar to Haryana alleging threat to his life for acting tough against the transport mafia there. A bench of justices Vipin Sanghi and Jyoti Singh said the Bihar government shall continue to pay the salary to 2013-batch IAS officer Jitendra Gupta till the disposal of the writ petition, in which the state government has challenged a 2018 order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). The CAT had directed the Centre to consider the case of the officer for inter-state deputation to Haryana or for Central government deputation. It had directed the Bihar government not to withhold its consent for the inter-state deputation or central deputation of the officer and communicate it to the Centre. In its plea against the CAT order, the Bihar government has claimed that the tribunal failed to understand the mala fide intention of .
Delhi court convicts AAP MLA Prakash Jarwal, two others in 2013 rioting case
A Delhi court has convicted AAP MLA Prakash Jarwal and two others for assaulting police personnel and rioting in 2013. The court said there is no doubt that the assembly in the present case was unlawful as it has caused traffic jam and indulged in violence, which seems to be its common object. Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Samar Vishal said there was no doubt that the assembly was not peaceful and had not adopted peaceful means of protest. The court held that Jarwal, Salim and Dharam Prakash were part of the unlawful assembly who assaulted two police constables and an assistant sub-inspector. "The accused Jarwal, Salim and Prakash are convicted for offence under sections 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant) and 147 (punishment for rioting) read with section 149 IPC (unlawful assembly) and under section 3 of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act also read with section 149 IPC," the
SC appoints former apex court judge D K Jain as BCCI ombudsman
The Supreme Court Thursday appointed former apex court judge Justice D K Jain as the first court-appointed ombudsman for the BCCI under the terms of newly approved constitution of the cash rich cricket board. The apex court, while dealing with the issue related to "importance and urgency" in appointing an ombudsman, expressed its happiness that all the parties before it have agreed on the name of Justice (retd) Jain. "We are happy to note that by consent, the parties have suggested and have agreed on the name of Justice D K Jain, a former judge of this court, as an ombudsman," a bench of Justices S A Bobde and A M Sapre said. "We, accordingly, appoint Justice (retd) D K Jain as the first ombudsman under article 40, chapter nine of the constitution of BCCI framed by this court under order dated August 9, 2018," the bench said. It said senior advocate P S Narasimha, assisting the court as an amicus curiae in BCCI matter, would speak to Justice Jain about his appointment as an ombudsman .
Amarinder's only aim is to put me in jail: Badal
Former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal Thursday said that his successor Amarinder Singh's only aim was to put him behind bars. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch was reacting to the chief minister's address in the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday wherein he vowed to punish those guilty of the "horrendous" 2015 sacrilege incidents in the state. "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 told media here. "After reading what Amarinder had said in the assembly, I straightaway came from my village to Chandigarh... I told the DGP that I am available for arrest... I am prepared to go to any jail in the country," Badal said, adding that his fight against the policies of the Congress would continue. Winding up the discussion on the Governor's address in the ongoing Punjab budget session here, Singh spoke on incidents of sacrilege of religious texts and said that they occurred ...
Court seeks police reply on Tharoor's plea to travel abroad
A Patiala House court on Thursday sought the reply of Delhi Police on a plea filed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor to travel abroad.Tharoor, who is an accused in the death case of his wife Sunanda Pushkar, has moved the court for permission to travel to Bahrain and Qatar.Additional Sessions Judge Arun Bhardwaj asked the police to file the reply by tomorrow.A magistrate's court had on February 4 committed the case to sessions court for trial.Pushkar was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a suite of a Delhi hotel on the night of January 17, 2014. The couple were staying in the hotel as their house was undergoing renovation.