Page 99 - Law Crime
HC quashes death penalty in rape and murder case of 8-year-old, cites lack of evidence
The Bombay High Court Monday quashed and set aside the order of a sessions court sentencing a man to death for rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl while directing the Maharashtra government to pay Rs 10 lakh for "negligent investigation" to the parents of the deceased. A division bench of Justices B P Dharmadhikari and P D Naik was hearing an appeal filed by one Nazir Khan challenging a March 2016 order of the sessions court which sentenced him to death under rape and murder charges. The bench quashed and set aside Khan's conviction and death sentence, but held him guilty under section 201 of the Indian Penal Code for destruction of evidence, and sentenced him to seven years in jail. Observing that police failed to carry out proper investigation in the case, the bench noted that the material on record did not conclusively prove that the girl was killed or raped. According to prosecution, the girl had gone missing from near her home in suburban Vile Parle in January 2012. Her ...
SC stays demolition of five floors of Chennai hospital
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a Madras High Court order that had permitted the demolition of five floors of a private hospital in Chennai.
Trial in Kathua gangrape and murder case concludes; verdict likely on Jun 10
The trial in the brutal gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old nomadic girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir that shook the nation ended Monday and the judgement in the case in which there are eight accused including a village head is likely to be delivered on June 10. District and sessions judge Tejwinder Singh announced in the court in Pathankot after the conclusion of the in-camera trial that he is likely to deliver the verdict on June 10, special public prosecutor J K Chopra told PTI. Defence lawyers completed their final arguments followed by a brief concluding statement from the prosecution team led by Chopra, officials said. According to the 15-page charge sheet, the eight-year-old girl, who was kidnapped on January 10 last year, was allegedly raped in captivity in a small village temple in Kathua district after having been kept sedated for four days before she was bludgeoned to death. The day-to-day trial commenced in the first week of June last year at the district and ...
Minor girl leaves home after being scolded by mother, reunited with family
A six-year-old girl, who left home after being scolded by her mother, has been reunited with her family in northeast Delhi, police said Monday. According to a senior police officer, the girl, a resident of Ajit Nagar, went missing on Saturday morning. She was traced to the house of her mother's friend in the Seelampur area on Sunday. The mother of the child, who works at a cloth factory, lodged a missing complaint at Gandhi Nagar police station on Saturday. The woman, in her complaint, stated that she scolded her daughter before leaving for the factory in the morning. When she came back at around 3.30 pm, she could not find her daughter, the police said. During investigation, the police scanned CCTV footage as the family could not provide any photograph of the kid. Through CCTV footage, the photos of the girl was taken and circulated in the area, the police said. However, police got information that the girl was seen at around 1 pm on Sunday in Seelampur. Police took her mother along .
Charges to be framed against Goa MLA in rape case
A trial court on Monday ordered framing of charges against Atanasio Monserrate, newly elected Congress MLA from Panaji, in connection with a 2016 rape case involving a minor.
Atiq Ahmed transferred to Ahmedabad jail, says Uttar Pradesh DGP
Former MP and gangster Atiq Ahmed, an accused in alleged kidnapping and torturing of a businessman, was on Monday transferred to a jail in Ahmedabad from Prayagraj."As per the Supreme Court ruling, we have transferred Atiq Ahmed to Ahmedabad. We had constituted a team to monitor to facilitate his shifting to Ahmedabad in coordination with officials there," Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh told reporters here.Ahmed was taken to Varanasi from Naini central jail under the tight police security and thereafter was taken to Ahmedabad by plane.Earlier, a special court had rejected Ahmed's plea seeking payroll for contesting elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi.On April 23, the Supreme Court (SC) had directed the CBI to investigate the alleged kidnapping and torturing of a businessman by Atiq and his aides.The SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, had also ordered the transfer of Ahmed to a jail in Gujarat from Naini jail in Prayagraj.
Guv's decision on release of Rajiv case convicts expected in 2 weeks: TN govt to HC
The Tamil Nadu government informed the Madras High Court on Monday that it was expecting Governor Banwarilal Purohit will pass an order on the cabinet recommendation for the release of all the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case within two weeks. The submission was made by the government counsel before a bench of justices M M Sundresh and M Nirmal Kumar during the hearing of a petition filed by Robert Payas, one of the seven convicts serving life term in the case, seeking his release. Recording the submission, the bench adjourned the petition by four weeks. In a related development, a petition filed by another convict in the case, Nalini, seeking a direction to the governor's office for steps to release all the seven convicts, was adjourned by four weeks by a bench of justices R Subbiah and C Saravanan. It passed the order after the public prosecutor submitted that the court would be informed about the status from the governor's office on the plea within four ...
3 arrested in Rajouri with 1.5 kg poppy
Three persons were arrested Monday for allegedly smuggling narcotics in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, officials said. A police team, headed by station house officer Thanamandi Javed Malik along with jawans from special operations group, were on routine vehicle check duty when they intercepted a Multi-Purpose Vehicle coming from Srinagar going towards Rajouri, officials said. During search of the vehicle, 1.5 kg of poppy was recovered from the possession of three persons in the car, they said. Rangeet Singh, from Punjab, Mohammad Altaf and Mohammad Farooq, from Budgam and Rajouri in the state respectively, were arrested and the vehicle seized on the spot, officials said. A case was registered at Thanamandi Police Station and investigation is on.
Conspiracy to frame CJI: Justice Patnaik calls for more info from CBI, IB and Delhi Police
Former Supreme Court judge A K Patnaik Monday said he has called for some more information from the intelligence agencies - CBI, IB - and Delhi Police to find truth behind the allegations of "larger conspiracy" to frame the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. Justice Patnaik was appointed by the Supreme Court to hold an inquiry into the sensational allegations including the fixing of benches after a lawyer claimed that a larger conspiracy was at work in the apex court. Utsav Singh Bains had made the allegations when the apex court was hearing the sexual harassment charges against the CJI in which the three-member in-house inquiry committee did not find any substance. When contacted, Justice Patnaik told PTI over phone from Cuttack, Odisha, that the inquiry will take some more time as he has to peruse more documents to find out the truth. While ruling out the possibility of submitting the report by July, the retired apex court judge said he has gone through the documents already ...
Man from Kerala held in TN for bid to smuggle 8 kg ganja
A 57-year-old man, hailing from Kerala, was arrested in Pollachi near here for trying to allegedly smuggle ganja into the state, police said. Based on a tip-off, a Kerala State-owned transport bus proceeding to Palakkad was stopped at a checkpost and a bag belonging to M Abdul Hakkim, a native of Malappuram district of Kerala, was searched, the police said. The search yielded eight kg of the narcotic, they said. The accused confessed that the contraband was sourced from a person at Usilampatti in Madurai and being taken to Kerala, they said. Hakkim was produced before a city court and remanded in judicial custody, they added.
Judgement in Kathua rape-and-murder case likely on June 10
The verdict in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old nomadic girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir is likely to be delivered on June 10, nearly a year after the trial began in a court in Pathankot, special public prosecutor J K Chopra said Monday. District and sessions judge Tejwinder Singh announced in the court that he is likely to deliver the judgement on June 10, Chopra told PTI. Defence lawyers completed their final arguments on Monday, followed by a brief concluding statement from the prosecution team led by Chopra, officials said. The day-to-day in-camera trial began in the first week of June last year at the district and sessions court in Pathankot after the Supreme Court directed that the case be shifted out of Jammu and Kashmir. The apex court move came after lawyers in Kathua prevented Crime Branch officials from filing a charge sheet in the case, which shocked the nation with the details of the brutality. The Crime Branch arrested village head Sanji Ram, his son Vishal, ..
Bombay HC upholds death clause for repeat rape offences
In a significant order, the Bombay High Court on Monday upheld the constitutional validity of the amended sections of the Indian Penal Code providing either life sentence or death penalty for repeat rape offences.
2 arrested for attacking their sister with acid in Greater Noida
Two men have been arrested in Greater Noida's Dadri for allegedly trying to kill their 22-year-old sister by throwing acid on her, officials said Monday. Police have also arrested a third man who was involved in the attack on the woman on May 9 when she was found abandoned on the roadside near Kot village with her disfigured face, they said. "Irfan and Hafeez were absconding since the attack on their sister Salma last month and had a reward of Rs 25,000 each on their arrest. They were arrested yesterday (Sunday) near the Railway Road crossing in Dadri, while the third accused, Imran, was held from Dadri bus stand," a police spokesperson said. Irfan and Hafeez had taken their sister Salma for a drive in a car on May 9 but midway splashed acid on her face and pushed her out of the vehicle, the officials said, adding that she was later found lying unconscious and badly injured by a passerby who alerted police. The woman, a native of Gulavati village in adjoining Bulandshahr district, was
IS link:NIA begins questionning of two brothers in Rajkot jail
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Monday began interrogation of Wasim Ramodiya and his brother Naeem Ramodiya, arrested in 2017 for their alleged IS links, at the Rajkot jail in Gujarat, officials said. In a chargesheet filed in August 2017, the NIA had said that both the accused "are highly radicalised and sympathisers of terrorist organisation ISIS". "A four member team of NIA has started questioning of the Ramodiya brothers in our jail," said a Rajkot jail official. Lawyer of the Ramodiya brothers, Ilyas Khan Pathan, said the NIA had earlier given an intimation that it would conduct questioning of both the accused for around a week beginning Monday. "I have been informed that the questioning would go on for one week, starting from Monday. The purpose of the questioning is to find out more about the brothers' link with Mufti Abdus Sami Quasmi," said Pathan. Quasmi was arrested by the NIA in February 2016 on the charges of radicalising some youths in Gujarat and ..
Kathua rape case: Court to pronounce order on Jan 10
The Pathankot district and session court will pronounce its order in a case pertaining to rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua on June 10.The trial in the case was completed on Monday.The eight-year-old girl, belonging to a nomadic Muslim tribe, was abducted, drugged, gang-raped, tortured and killed in January last year.The trial begins in April last year against seven accused out of eight. The trial of a juvenile is yet to begin.The crime branch arrested village head Sanji Ram, his son Vishal, juvenile nephew and his friend Anand Dutta, and two special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma.Head constable Tilak Raj and sub-inspector Anand Dutta, who allegedly took Rs. 4 lakh from Sanji Ram and destroyed crucial evidence, were also arrested by the crime branch.In connection with the case, two First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed: one against eight people for allegedly being involved in the crime and another has been filed against a group of lawyers ...
Ara court sentences four to life imprisonment for raping minor girl
A local court here Monday sentenced four persons to life imprisonment for allegedly raping a Dalit minor girl in Bihar's Bhojpur district. Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ) (I) Rakesh Kumar Singh held all the four persons guilty under various sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, SC and ST Act, and awarded them life imprisonment. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of them, said Public Prosecutor Satyendra Singh Dara. Those who have been handed life term are Akhilesh Kumar, Veer Bahadur, Mantosh Singh and Ekam Rajwar, he said. As per the FIR, the convicts had taken the minor girl to a secluded place at Chhatarpur village on March 8 last year and raped her. The accused had lured her, by promising to help her get the money under Indira Awas, a central government welfare programme, the FIR mentioned. Police had arrested all the four persons soon after the incident.
Court allows Vadra to travel abroad, imposes conditions
A Delhi court on Monday allowed Robert Vadra, accused in a money-laundering case, to travel abroad for six weeks for health reasons, with a warning that he shall not temper with the evidence. Special Judge Arvind Kumar allowed Vadra, the brother-in-law of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, to travel to the US and the Netherlands and directed him to submit his travel schedule. The court also imposed various conditions on the businessman. It, however, did not allow Vadra to go to the UK. Vadra's counsel KTS Tulsi told the court that his client will not go to the UK, as per his earlier prayer, "in view of the objections raised by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding his UK visit". Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and advocate Nitesh Rana, appearing for the ED, had opposed Vadra's plea, in which he had sought permission to travel to the UK and other countries citing health reasons. The agency had expressed apprehension that the accused might destroy the evidence collected in the case, ..
Bombay HC upholds death penalty clause for repeat rape offenders introduced after Nirbhaya case
In a significant judgement, the Bombay High Court on Monday upheld the constitutional validity of a provision introduced after the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape case allowing life imprisonment or death penalty to repeat offenders in rape cases. A bench of justices B P Dharmadhikari and Revati Mohite Dere dismissed the petitions filed by three convicts in the sensational 2013 Shakti Mill gangrape case challenging the constitutional validity of 376 (e) provision of Indian Penal Code provision under which they were sentenced to death for the repeat offence by a sessions court in 2014 in what was the first such conviction under the changed law. The trio were convicted for gangraping a 22-year-old photo-journalist inside the abandoned Shakti Mills compound in central Mumbai on August 22, 2013 and for gangraping an 18-year-old telephone operator at the same place some months earlier. "We are of the opinion that section 376 (e) of the IPC is not ultra vires to the Constitution and hence need not be
Malegaon blast case: NIA court asks Pragya Thakur to appear before it once a week
A special NIA court here on Monday directed Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur and all other accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case to appear before it once a week.Special NIA Judge Vinod Padalkar while asking BJP leader Thakur to be present before the court referred to a recent Supreme Court order which said hearing in criminal cases against public representatives be expedited.Of the seven accused in the case, Samir Kulkarni, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and Ajay Rahirkar were present in the court, while the others filed exemption applications.The judge directed that all the accused including Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi and Sameer Kulkarni must appear at least once a week. All the seven are on bail.They 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) ..
Guj BJP MLA kicks, punches woman; apologises after viral video
A BJP legislator in Gujarat was caught on camera kicking and punching a local NCP woman leader, who approached him for resuming water supply to her locality in Ahmedabad district. A video of the purported incident went viral on social media, prompting the Congress and the NCP to demand action against Naroda constituency MLA Balram Thawani, who has apologised. The BJP also condemned the incident. The woman, Neetu Tejwani, told reporters the MLA slapped her so hard that she fell down, following which he started kicking and thrashing her. Tejwani said she had approached the MLA's brother, Kishore Thawani, a local corporator, with the request to not disconnect the water supply of her locality in Naroda town as the legal process to restore it was underway. She claimed the corporator, too, abused and hit her. Tejwani said when no action was taken even after four-five days, she went to the MLA's office in Meghani Nagar area of Ahmedabad, along with other women of her ...