Page 58 - Law Crime
HC finds nothing against Navlakha, extends protection from arrest
The Bombay High Court Wednesday observed that it prima facie found nothing against civil liberties activist Gautam Navlakha, who is accused of having links with Maoists. The court also extended the protection from arrest granted to Navlakha till the next date of hearing. A division bench of justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre was hearing a petition filed by Navlakha seeking to quash the case lodged against him by Pune police after the Elgar Parishad conclave on December 31, 2017 that allegedly triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima village in Pune the next day. The police accused Navlakha and four other activists of having Maoist links. The activists were booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The bench on Wednesday heard brief arguments of Navlakha's counsel Yug Chaudhary and additional public prosecutor Aruna Kamat Pai, and also perused documents submitted by the prosecution against the accused persons. These ...
Acid attack: HC upholds man's conviction, but commutes death penalty
The Bombay High Court Wednesday upheld the conviction of a 25-year-old man in the 2013 Preeti Rathi acid attack case, but commuted his death penalty to life imprisonment. A division bench of justices B P Dharmadhikari and P D Naik partly allowed the appeal filed by convict Ankur Panwar, challenging the death penalty awarded to him by a special court in 2015. This was the first instance of death penalty being awarded by a court in the country in a case of acid attack. "The conviction under IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 326 (b) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid) is upheld. The death sentence is commuted to life imprisonment," the bench said. Rathi, a 23-year-old nurse, who was to join the Navy hospital in Mumbai, died after an acid attack in May 2013 by her stalker Panwar. On May 2, 2013, as Rathi got off the train from Delhi at the Bandra Terminus here, Panwar threw acid on her face. Rathi lost her vision and received major injuries. She spent a month in hospitals, and .
Police lodges FIR into cheating in cafeteria contract at AIIMS on court's directions
The police has lodged an FIR on allegations of cheating in award of cafeteria contract at AIIMS to a private caterer who, according to employees Union, has increased the prices of food making staff and patients suffer. The FIR was lodged on the directions passed by a Delhi Court which said cognisable offences were prima facie made out and it was essential to unearth the role of AIIMS employees allegedly involved in cheating the institution. As per the documents placed before the court, the contract was awarded to private entity. The court's order came on a complaint by one of the bidders for the contract, who was the earlier caterer and canteen contractor. The complainant alleged that the firm which got the contract had submitted false and fabricated turnover certificates for the financial years 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 in the technical bid invited by AIIMS for providing entire kitchen and cafeteria services there. Metropolitan Magistrate Vijeta Singh Rawat said, "On the basis of
Anticipatory bail back in UP after 33 years
Anticipatory bail is back in Uttar Pradesh after almost 33 years. The provision of pre-arrest bail was scrapped in 1976 during the Emergency. The accused will now get advance bail in the state in cases of non-bailable offences.
London Police seek additional 12-hour detention of MQM chief Altaf Hussain
The local police on Wednesday sought additional 12-hour detention of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain, who was arrested by the Scotland Yard in a dawn raid at his residence here a day before.Hussain is being detained at the Southwark Police Station, where the superintendent submitted the request for additional detention after the expiry of the 24-hour deadline, Geo News reported.Hussain's detention was confirmed by the MQM sources.The leader has been arrested in connection with a 2016 hate speech, where he had allegedly asked his supporters to take the law into their own hands.According to the Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), the MQM leader has been arrested on the suspicion of intentionally encouraging or assisting offences contrary to Section 44 of the Serious Crime Act 2007.The lawyer for the Government of Pakistan, Toby Cadman, told Geo News that there is sufficient evidence to charge Hussain."I have seen the evidence, I
Nirav Modi's bail plea rejected fourth time
The Royal Courts of Justice here on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of the fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi for the fourth time.Earlier, his bail plea was rejected thrice in the Westminster Magistrates' Court.The fugitive diamantaire was arrested by Scotland Yard in connection with the Punjab National Court (PNB) loan default case on March 19 this year.During the court proceedings on Tuesday, Clare Montgomery, who is representing Modi in the case, had submitted before the court that if her client were granted bail, he would be willing to be tagged through an electronic device so that his movements could be tracked."He moved here to raise capital, to explore where in the world he needed to be immigration wise. If he is given bail, he is willing to be tagged through an electronic device, have a phone that can be tracked," Montgomery said."Since he has an extradition case starting, there is no way he will run away. His daughter and son will be moving here. They are starting ...
CBI carries out searches at residences of former UP minister Gayatri Prajapati
The CBI is conducting a search operation at 22 locations including three residential premises of former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prajapati in connection with an illegal mining case, officials said Wednesday. His three houses in Amethi were part of this search operation which is spread over 11 locations in Hamirpur district in the state and several other places in Delhi and NCR, they said. Prajapati held the mining portfolio in the Akhilesh Yadav government and he is considered an influential Samajwadi Party leader. He is currently in jail in a rape case. A woman from Chitrakoot had alleged that the minister exploited her on the promise of allotting her a mining lease, but he denied the charge. The officials said rules and procedures were violated by politicians and officials in the allotment of mining leases of minor minerals in Hamirpur district during 2012-16. Minor minerals are sand, gravel etc. They said social media sensation IAS officer B Chandrakala is also named as ...
R'than court sentences man to death for raping, killing minor girl
A court in Rajasthan's Alwar district Wednesday awarded death penalty to a man for raping and killing a five-year-old girl in 2015 by smashing her face with a stone and mutilating her private parts, terming the crime "rarest of rare". Special judge of POCSO court, Ajay Kumar Sharma, convicted the accused, Rajkumar alias Dharmendra Yadav, a resident of Rewali in Behror town, for raping and brutally killing the minor girl, special public prosecutor Vinod Kumar Sharma told PTI. The court convicted Rajkumar under section 302 (murder) and 363 (kidnapping) and also sentenced him to imprisonment till last breath under section 376 (rape), he said. The court termed the case a "rarest of rare" crime that deserved maximum punishment, he added. In February 2015, Rajkumar had lured the girl to an abandoned building on the pretext of for giving her a candy and raped her, Sharma said. He then smashed her face with a heavy stone and cut her private parts using a sharp-edged tool. A case was ...
Hamza Shehbaz remanded into 14-day NAB custody
An accountability court Wednesday remanded Opposition leader in Pakistan's Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz to a 14-day physical custody, a day after the country's anti-graft body arrested him in cases related to money laundering and corruption. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was granted Hamza's custody till June 26. Judge Jawadul Hassan pronounced the reserved verdict after hearing the arguments from both sides in the case. A NAB team earlier brought Hamza, 44, to the court amid tight security. Hamza is the son of PML-N president and National Assembly opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif. The NAB prosecutor informed the court that the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) vice president had failed to disclose the means from which he received Rs 500 million transferred into his account. The NAB had requested for a 15-day physical remand of the PML-N leader. The court has ordered Hamza to be presented before the accountability court on June 26, Geo News reported. Hamza was arrested .
SC rejects plea of Ex IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in 30-year old custodial death case
The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a plea of sacked IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt seeking to examine 11 additional witnesses in a 30-year-old custodial death case.A vacation bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Indira Banerjee and also comprising Justice Ajay Rastogi, dismissed the petition filed by Bhatt."We are not inclined to entertain the petition. The same is devoid of merits. We dismiss it," the bench said.Maninder Singh, former Additional Solicitor General (ASG) and senior Supreme Court lawyer, appearing for the state of Gujarat told the apex court that it should not entertain Bhatt's petition.Singh further told the court that the trial in the custodial death case, against Bhatt has been completed and the judgment is likely to be pronounced, by the Jamnagar Sessions Court in Gujarat, on June 20 or July first week.Bhatt is an accused in the 1989 custodial death case when he was posted as the additional superintendent of police in Gujarat's Jamnagar.
UK High Court denies bail to Nirav Modi
The UK High Court on Wednesday denied bail to diamond merchant Nirav Modi, who is fighting his extradition from Britain to India in the nearly USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case. Judge Ingrid Simler at the Royal Courts of Justice said that there are substantial grounds to believe that Modi will fail to surrender. Moreover, the judge felt that there could be interference with the witnesses and obstruction of justice. Earlier, Modi's legal team presented arguments in an attempt to persuade the judge to overturn the Westminster Magistrates' Court ruling to deny bail during three previous attempts, for fear that the 48-year-old would fail to surrender. Modi has already been denied bail at three previous attempts at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, as the judge ruled there was "substantial risk" that he would fail to surrender and deemed the bail security offered as insufficient. He was arrested by uniformed Scotland Yard officers on an ...
Abducted Bhiwandi toddler rescued from UP; two held
Police Wednesday reunited a one-year-old boy, who was abducted from Bhiwandi in Thane district of Maharashtra earlier this month and taken to Uttar Pradesh for sale, with his footpath-dweller parents. The toddler, identified as Kumar Ashique, was abducted from Bhiwandi town on the intervening night of June 2 and June 3 when his parents were asleep, a senior police officer said. After his parents lodged a complaint, police fanned out teams and also activated their local network of informers, he said. The first breakthrough came when police arrested one Rohit Kotekar, a history-sheeter having cases of car thefts against him, on June 10 and later his accomplice Suraj Soni. Kotekar and Soni told police during interrogation that they had abducted the toddler to settle off their debts and have shifted him to Eksavda village in Uttar Pradesh's Maharajganj district bordering Nepal, the officer said, adding that the duo wanted to sale the toddler for quick money. The baby, who was
2 railway policemen thrash journalist covering derailment of goods train, suspended
Two railway policemen were suspended for allegedly thrashing a television journalist after an argument with him when he was covering the derailment of a goods train in Shamli, officials said Wednesday. Journalist Amit Sharma also alleged that "they forced me to take my clothes off and urinated on me." However, this charge has been denied by the Government Railway Police (GRP). Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police OP Singh ordered that Rakesh Kumar, the GRP's Shamli Station House Officer, and constable Sanjay Pawar be suspended, the state police tweeted Wednesday morning. A senior UP government official, quoting Shamli Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Pandey, said the action was taken after the two GRP personnel thrashed Sharma. In a purported video of the incident which went viral on social media late last night, the accused GRP personnel, dressed in plain clothes, can be seen repeatedly slapping and punching Sharma. Subsequently, the GRP personnel detained him. "The ...
Israeli PM's wife signs plea deal over meal fraud case
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife Sara signed a plea bargain on Wednesday over allegedly misusing state funds to order gourmet meals, the State Attorney's Office said.
Union minister Naik deposes in Goa court as witness in cheating case
Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik Wednesday appeared before a Goa court as a witness in a cheating case registered against a man who claimed to be his former staffer. Naik told the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class Artikumari Naik that the accused, Vinod Desai, never worked for him. The minister said he knew the accused for the last 10 to 15 years and sometimes used to visit his house, but he never employed Desai, though his father worked for him. He also told the court that on September 26, 2018, his office wrote to Old Goa police station stating that Desai was not his staffer. Desai was booked last year under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly demanding Rs 6 lakh from the complainant, Mervin Fernandes, on the pretext of getting him a job in the Goa government. He allegedly took an advance payment of Rs 2 lakh from Fernandes, according to the complainant's lawyer Aires Rodrigues. As Desai failed to keep his promise, Fernandes demanded a refund. ...
Malegaon blast: Bombay HC to hear discharge plea of Sadhvi Pragya, others on July 29
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday has fixed July 29 for the final hearing of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and two other accused's discharge applications in 2008 Malegaon blasts case.Besides the Bhopal MP, the other accused who have filed discharge applications are Lt Col Prasad Purohit and Sameer Kulkarni.The accused have been charged under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).The charges include sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the UAPA and sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups) of the IPC. Besides, they have been charged under relevant sections of the Explosive Substances Act.On September 29, 2018, six people were killed and a dozen others were injured when a bomb placed on a motorcycle exploded in Maharashtra's Malegaon city.
SC declines Sanjiv Bhatt's plea in custodial death case
The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to consider a plea by Sanjiv Bhatt, sacked IPS officer from Gujarat, seeking fresh examination of witnesses in a case of custodial death against him.
Indiabulls Housing moves SC for urgent hearing against misappropriation allegations
Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited has approached the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing on a petition filed against it, its Chairman and directors for alleged misappropriation of Rs 98,000 crore of public money.A bench headed by Justice Indira Banerjee said that it would decide on urgent listing of plea at 2 PM today.Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Indiabulls claimed that petition against the company alleging fraud is a blackmailing technique and hence their petition should be listed urgently for hearing.The petition which was filed by an individual named Abhay Yadav few days back had alleged that money worth thousands of crores was siphoned off by Sameer Gehlaut, the chairman of the Indiabulls, and the directors of Indiabulls for their personal use.
Pune cops search Stan Swami's house in Ranchi, seize gadgets
Pune police conducted a search at social activist Father Stan Swami's residence at Ranchi in Jharkhand on Wednesday and claimed to have seized some "electronic devices and other material". According to the police, the raid was conducted as part of the ongoing probe in the Elgar Parishad case in which nine activists were earlier arrested for their alleged links with Maoists. "Our team conducted a search at Swami's residence in Ranchi as part of the ongoing probe into the Elgar Parishad case. So far, we have seized some electronic devices and other material from his residence," a senior police official said. Swami has not been detained so far, he added. During nationwide searches in August last year, the Pune police raided Swami's house also and recovered some material then. The case pertains to the Elgar Parishad conclave in Maharashtra's Pune district on December 31, 2017, which, the police allege, was funded by Maoists. The speeches made by some activists at the conclave
Indiabulls case: SC to decide on listing the matter
Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court complaining that the company is facing loss in share value arising from press reports following a plea filed in the court by a milk vendor, who holds a total of only four shares.