Page 857 - Law Crime

CJI opens courtrooms, judges' library for common people on Saturdays

The Supreme Court as a "public institution" needed to be opened for common people on Saturdays barring holidays, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said Thursday. The CJI also inaugurated the Centre for Research and Planning, an "in-house think tank" and launched a portal through which citizens can book their visit to the court, which will be open from 10 AM to 1 PM every Saturday, except on declared holidays. The common public can now have a guided tour of courtrooms, judges' library on Saturdays. The think tank would carry out "cutting-edge research" into fundamental jurisprudence and the principles and doctrines of law as well as on judicial reforms for improvement in justice delivery system. "As my colleagues are concerned I really seek a post-facto approval. The decision was entirely mine. I did not consult any of you. I apologise for it but I hope you will approve of it," the CJI said candidly when discussing the aspects to be covered by the 'think tank'. In a function ...

HC flags cases of minor girls eloping with married men, suggests counselling

Flagging several cases of minor girls eloping with men who were much older than them, the Madras High Court Thursday advocated counselling for teenagers, their parents and directed the government to furnish data on those arrested under the POCSO Act for such offences. A division bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and S Baskaran, hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by the mother of a 17-year-old girl who eloped with a 45-year-old married man, observed girls of such age could be lured by "sweet promises and kind words". Although the man was arrested by the police, he was released on bail with conditions. But as the girl eloped with him again, the parents filed the petition. A habeas corpus plea is a petition which is filed to ensure a person under arrest is brought before a court which determines whether the detention is legal or not. Observing that the maturity of teenage girls was not the same as adults, the court said girls of such an age group could be easily lured by persons projecting

Nearly Rs 91,000 withdrawn from man's mobile wallet by 'service centre staff'

Next time you give your cellphone at a service centre be sure to delete mobile wallet applications from it. Not doing so proved costly for 28-year-old Yusuf Karim, a resident of southeast Delhi's Kalkaji, as more than Rs 91,000 was withdrawn from his Paytm account allegedly by the staff of a service centre where he had given his mobile phone for repairing. In his complaint filed at the Okhla police station, Karim said that when he got back his phone from the service centre, he received an email from Paytm that somebody else had logged into his account, police said. Later, he received another message that his registered email address on Paytm was changed and Rs 19,999 were transferred to an unknown account from a different number which was fraudulently registered in his name, police said. After that seven transactions were made from the victim's account and Rs 80,498 was withdrawn, they said. The victim alleged the engineers of the mobile service company who were repairing his phone ..

Bill or ordinance on Ayodhya issue will be unconstitutional: Chidambaram

Amid a clamour within the BJP for bringing a legislation for early construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday said any ordinance by the government or a bill passed in Parliament will be unconstitutional when the matter is sub-judice. Bringing an ordinance or law pending an appeal in the Supreme Court will be an "adventurist action", he said. "In my view, to bring an ordinance would be unconstitutional. So let us see whether the government recognises the constitutional position or it will indulge in an adventurist action. An ordinance when the appeal is pending will be an adventurist action. It will be unconstitutional," he told reporters at the AICC briefing. He said the demand for an ordinance was a trial balloon and the government is letting its followers "test the water". "They are floating all these balloons to see what the public reaction is, but the matter is pending before the Supreme Court as a regular appeal against the Allahabad ..

Even sex-workers have right to refuse: SC

Even sex-workers have a right to refuse their services and seek redressal when forced, the Supreme Court has ruled, overturning a 2009 Delhi High Court judgement and restoring the 10 years jail awarded to four persons by a lower court.

Man held for killing four members of a family three years ago

A 26-year-old man was arrested for allegedly killing four members of a family over a monetary dispute three years ago at Northeast Delhi's Wazirabad area, police said Thursday. The accused was identified as Abhishek Pal alias Mintu, a resident of Wazirabad village, Delhi, they added. In July 2016, the body of Naina, a school teacher in Wazirabad, was recovered from a canal in Hapur by Uttar Pradesh Police. Her car was also found abandoned near the canal, A K Singla, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) said. During investigations by UP Police, the family members of the deceased her father, mother and her brother -- were also found missing and they could not be traced. It was then suspected to be a case of honour killing, the officer said. Later, the Delhi Police Crime Branch received information that the main accused in Naina's case would come at Outer Ring Road, near Sanjay Akhada to meet his associates. Later, a trap was laid and the accused was successfully apprehended, the ..

US charges Malaysian financier in money laundering scheme

The US Justice Department on Thursday charged a fugitive Malaysian financier in a money laundering and bribery scheme that pilfered billions of dollars from a Malaysian investment fund created to promote economic development projects in that country. The three-count indictment charges Low Taek Jho, who is also known as Jho Low, of misappropriating money from the state-owned fund and using it to bribe foreign officials and to pay for luxury real estate, art and jewelry in the US and to fund Hollywood movies, including "The Wolf of Wall Street." Also charged was a Goldman Sachs banker, Tim Leissner, who pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and to conspiring to violating foreign bribery laws. Another bank official, Ng Chong Hwa, 51, also known as Roger Ng, was arrested earlier Thursday in Malaysia, prosecutors said. A lawyer for Leissner did not return multiple messages Thursday. The charges are the first arising from a global scandal over the epic corruption scandal at the ...

'Brake inspector' dies of heart attack during DVAC raids in

A Regional Transport Office Employee died of heart attack Thursday when sleuths of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption were conducting searches at the RTO here as part of state-wide raids on the offices, police said. Amid the raid, 51-year-old 'brake inspector' Babu suddenly complained of chest pain and was rushed to a nearby private hospital. He died on admission, police said. Staff in the RTO alleged that during the raids, the officials had "mentally tortured" the deceased, following which his blood pressure went up, leading to heart congestion. Babu from Bhavani in Erode district vomited blood, and officials delayed treatment, the staff alleged. DVAC officials were not immediately available for comment. Police said the outcome of the raids was not revealed yet, adding further investigations were on.

Three held with opium worth Rs 32 lakh

Three members of a gang have been arrested from Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam district for allegedly carrying 3 kg opium worth Rs 32 lakh, the police said Thursday. The trio were nabbed from Jaora town on a specific tip-off Wednesday, said State Narcotics Wing Additional Director General (ADG) Varun Kapoor. The consignment of 3.2 kg opium was seized from a car. A case has been registered under NDPS (Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances) Act and further investigation is underway, he said.

Cab driver arrested for raping minor schoolgirl

A 30-year-old cab driver has been arrested for allegedly raping a 16-year-old schoolgirl. A case has been registered under the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, police said on Thursday.

CCI lens on ticket-pricing algorithms used by airlines for fixing airfares

The CCI, which keeps a tab on unfair business practices across sectors, has powers to penalise entities for anti-competitive ways

Sensitive photos of sexual offence victims not to be shown on lawyers' e-court monitors: HC

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the advocates to inform the judge hearing a sexual offence case to ensure that intimate and sensitive photographs of victims, which are filed with the documents, are not shown on the e-court monitors for lawyers. In e-courts, the case documents are digitised and available on monitors of the judge and advocates for both sides. The practice direction was issued by Chief Justice Rajendra Menon on the recommendations of the high court's Information Technology Committee. "It has come to the notice of this court that parties file intimate/sensitive photographs of victims of sexual offences with their petitions, including bail applications, which along with the petitions are digitised for e-courts," the court notification said. "Counsel for the parties who file such intimate/sensitive photographs are advised to bring the same to the notice of the judge hearing such cases to obviate such photographs from being shown on the monitors provided for ...

Sealing: SC slams DDA, civic bodies for 'mess' in Delhi

The Supreme Court Thursday came down heavily on the Delhi Development Authority and other civic agencies for keeping "their eyes closed" on misuse of residential premises for commercial purpose since 2006 that has led to a "mess" in the national capital. The apex court said authorities, including the court-mandated monitoring committee, should be allowed to seal a property being misused and if its owner does not furnish documents showing permission or licence to run the business. A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur also slammed the Centre for not giving requisite information to the court about the survey conducted in south Delhi areas to ascertain misuse of residential properties. "There cannot be a compelling reason for misuse. It is a mess. According to newspapers, around 56,000 properties are being misused. From 2006 onwards, the DDA and the municipal corporations of Delhi have not done anything and that is why we are facing these problems," the bench, comprising justices M M ..

SC refuses to hear ex-MCA Prez Sharad Pawar's plea, asks him move Bombay HC

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea of former Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) President and NCP leader Sharad Pawar alleging that there was no authorised official with the organisation who can sign cheques and give salaries to staffs. A bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and A M Sapre initially questioned the locus of Pawar and later asked him to move the Bombay High Court with the plea. Senior advocate Amrendra Sharan, appearing for Pawar, said the Bombay High Court had appointed two former judges, Justices Hemant Gokhale and VM Kanade, in the Committee of Administrators (CoA) to run MCA and their term ended on September 15. The former judges did not agree to the extension of their term and the MCA CEO C S Naik did not have the authority to sign the cheques and this had led to a situation where all the financial activities of the cricket body has come to a standstill, he said. The employees and the players have not received salaries as the MCA is lacking ...

India able to conduct 3k-odd DNA tests against need for 4 L tests per year: Experts

India needs to conduct over 4 lakh DNA tests annually to solve various crimes but manages to take up only around 3,000 of them due to lack of infrastructure, a forensic scientist said Thursday. DNA testing facilities for solving various crimes are available only in 20 of the total 31 central and state forensic laboratories and that is why only 3,000-odd tests are held in the country annually, said Dr VK Kashyap, former chief scientist at New Delhi-based Directorate of Forensic Science Services. "There is an urgent need to create sufficient infrastructure, open more laboratories and recruit more experts to conduct the requisite number of DNA tests every year for solving various types of crimes, including the heinous ones," Kashyap told PTI. Kashyap was here to attend a training workshop for the Himachal Pradesh police officials at the state police headquarter. The workshop was organised to educate the sleuths about the protocols to collect DNA samples from crime scenes and preserve ...

J-K Police takes 7 people into preventive custody in Rajouri

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday took into preventive custody seven persons from different areas of Rajouri for their involvement in unlawful activities including drugs peddling, police said. Those arrested include Imtiyaz Ahmed, Amit Kumar, Raju Sharma, Nisar Ahmed Bhat, Waqar Ahmed,Vicky Sharma and Manawar Farooq, they said. The action was taken following orders by the executive magistrate Rajouri under sections 107, 151, 110 of CrPC, they said. All the seven have been lodged in district jail Dhangri, they added.

Woman lured with job offer raped in Delhi, man arrested

A 20-year-old woman was allegedly raped by her neighbour on the pretext of providing her a job, police said Thursday. The incident took place in September in southeast Delhi's Badarpur area and the complaint was lodged in the early hours of Wednesday, they said. The victim lives in Madanpur Khadar area and few years ago, her father died forcing her to hunt for a job as the financial condition of the family was not good, police said. The 22-year-old accused got to know of this and took the victim to his uncle in Noida, assuring her of a job, police said. In September, when the accused's uncle, who had shifted to Badarpur, was out for some work, he took the woman to his place and raped her, they said. He continued to force himself on her on several occasions and threatened to harm her if she told anyone about it, police said. However, the victim finally narrated the ordeal to her mother and filed a complaint with the police, they added. A case under relevant sections of the IPC was ...

Himachal's forensic labs to have DNA technology upgrades

State-run Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Himachal Pradesh is all set to make new DNA technology upgrades to its state and two range forensic science laboratories (RFSLs) that will increase the number of cases being analysed, an official said on Thursday.

India should create Security Administration Services: Vohra

Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra on Thursday called for creation of a special National Security Administration Services, and advocated formulation of a National Security Policy.

Amit Shah's outburst a warning to SC, says CPI-M

BJP President Amit Shah's outburst over the Sabarimala temple issue "must be seen as a direct challenge to the Constitution and the Supreme Court", the CPI-M has said.