HC restrains BMC’s panel from permitting tree cutting in Mumbai

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October 24, 2018

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday restrained the BMC’s tree authority from granting permission for cutting of trees, and observed that appointment of independent experts on a civic body’s tree authority panel is mandated as per law and is not an “option”.

A division bench of Justices A S Oka and M S Sonak said the tree authority of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) shall not take decisions on applications seeking permission to cut trees.

The court, however, allowed BMC commissioner to grant permission to cut trees in emergency situations where they posed a threat to property or public.

The high court passed the order while hearing an application filed by activist Zoru Bathena, seeking that the tree authority be restrained from granting permissions for cutting trees anywhere in the city since it had not been constituted in accordance with the law.

According to the application, the authority did not have any independent experts, and corporators who were members of the panel did not have the expertise to allow or disallow felling of trees.

The civic body, in its affidavit in response to the plea, had said earlier that the tree authority was constituted in accordance with statutory laws and therefore it was not committing any illegality in granting permission for felling of trees for some developmental projects or other purposes.

The court in its order Wednesday held that section 3(3) of the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Preservation of Trees Act pertaining to appointment of independent experts, who have special and practical knowledge in the field of planting and preservation of trees, was “mandated and not just an option”.

“Failure to appoint such members as mandated under section 3(3) of the Act completely defeats the object of enacting the Act,” the order said.

The court said the order does not prevent the BMC from appointing such independent members to the panel and then seek modification of the order.

Malegaon blast case: Purohit moves HC against prosecution nod under UAPA

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Afternoon Voice

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October 24, 2018

Lt Col Prasad Shirkant Purohit, accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast, has moved the Bombay High Court challenging a special court’s order rejecting his plea against the sanction for his prosecution under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

A special NIA court had last week rejected the pleas filed by Purohit and other accused – Pragya Singh Thakur, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi – challenging the validity of the anti-terror law in the case.

The court had said that on October 26, it would frame charges against the accused under the UAPA and relevant sections of the IPC. Purohit on Tuesday moved the high court against the lower court’s order and said it was “wrong” and “bad in law”.

His petition is likely to be taken up for hearing on Thursday by a division bench of the high court.

According to Purohit, the sanction to apply the UAPA provisions in the case was not granted in accordance with Section 45 of the Act, which says the sanctioning authority has to take into consideration the report and recommendation of an appropriate authority appointed by the government.

However, no such authority was appointed in January 2009 when the Maharashtra home department’s additional chief secretary had accorded sanction to apply the UAPA in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

“The sanction is, therefore, vitiated and thus, there is no question of framing charges under provisions of the UAPA and there can be no trial for violation of these provisions,” Purohit’s lawyer Shrikant Shivade had argued in the lower court.

Six people were killed and nearly 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque at Malegaon, a town in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, on September 29, 2008.

On December 27, 2017, the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court had dismissed the pleas filed by Purohit, his co-accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and six others seeking discharge from the case.

The court, however, gave them partial relief by dropping all charges against them under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act .

Cong seeks views of activists for manifesto preparation

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Afternoon Voice

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October 24, 2018

Congress leaders met Mumbai-based activists and sought their views on various issues being faced by the city for incorporating them in the party’s manifesto for the next year’s Lok Sabha polls.

Former Union minister Kumari Selja, who heads the AICC manifesto sub-committee, interacted with a cross section of people on Tuesday as part of the party’s national outreach programme — ‘Jan Awaaz (people’s voice)’.

After the interaction, Selja said, “Our party president Rahul Gandhi has instructed us to reach out to people and prepare a manifesto which will aim at solving most of their issues.”

“The Congress has given the country many credible institutions. But unfortunately, they are being destroyed one after the other,” the Rajya Sabha MP said without elaborating.

Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam said issues and challenges pertaining to urbanisation in the megacity were discussed with activists from various fields.

Besides, the problems of sanitation, housing, water supply, solid waste management and environment in the city were also discussed, he added.

City-based lawyer Afroz Shah, who led the suburban Versova beach cleanliness drive, transport activist Ashok Datar, NGO Praja Foundation’s founder and managing trustee Nitai Mehta, journalist-turned-activist Sucheta Dalal, RTI activist Anil Galgali and others put forth their views during the interaction.

HC junks MCA plea against shifting of Ind-WI ODI to Brabourne

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Afternoon Voice

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October 24, 2018

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) against the BCCI’s decision to shift the October 29 India-West Indies ODI from Wankhede Stadium to Brabourne Stadium in the city.

A division bench headed by Justice B R Gavai said it does not want to interfere in this issue as several cases pertaining to the administration of the MCA are before the Supreme Court.

The MCA can approach the apex court challenging the BCCI’s decision, it said.

The bench had last week refused to grant stay to the sale of tickets for the One Day International (ODI) match.

The MCA and its two members — Sanjay Naik and Ravi Savant — said in the petition that the BCCI’s decision to shift the match venue was illegal and arbitrary. While Wankhede Stadium is managed by the MCA, Brabourne stadium belongs to the Cricket Club of India.

MCA counsel M M Vashi had contended that the BCCI decided to shift the match only because the MCA could not submit a ‘hosting agreement’.

The city cricket body had agreed to comply with all other conditions, including those pertaining to ticket sale and broadcasting rights, the lawyer said.

“However, we could not submit the (hosting) agreement as it had to be signed by an administrator. At present, the MCA has no administrator,” he said, adding that only for this reason the BCCI decided to shift the match. “Brabourne stadium is not equipped to host an international match. The last match played there was in 2009,” Vashi had argued.

Ronaldo expresses gratitude to supporters at Old Trafford

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Afternoon Voice

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October 24, 2018

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has expressed his gratitude to the Manchester United supporters for giving him a warm welcome upon his return to the Old Trafford stadium.

After the end of the Champions League match between Juventus and Manchester United, which the latter side lost 0-1, the former United player had received a standing ovation from the crowd.

In an Instagram post, Ronaldo thanked all the fans for the support in an “emotional match.”

“An important victory in a very emotional match for me. It was great playing at Old Trafford again. Thanks to all the fans for the reception and support,” Ronaldo wrote.

The victory saw the Italian side to take their victory count to three and sit at the top of Group H with five points ahead of the United. Juventus will now face Manchester United on November 8.

Kohli surpasses Tendulkar, becomes fastest to reach 10K-run mark in ODI

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Afternoon Voice

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October 24, 2018

Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday became the fastest cricketer to touch the 10,000-run mark in the one-day international format.

The 29-year-old achieved the feat during the second ODI of the ongoing five-match series against West Indies in Vishakhapatnam.

With the feat, he shattered the record of legendary former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar. While it took Tendulkar 259 innings to reach the figure, Kohli achieved the same in 205 innings. The right-handed batsman became the fifth Indian to touch the 10,000 ODI-run mark after Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and MS Dhoni.

With 14 tons as the Indian skipper, Virat is second only to Ricky Ponting with most centuries as a skipper in ODI cricket.

Virat, who needed just 81 runs to make it to the 10,000-run mark, tipped Ashley Nurse’s half-volley delivery over to long-on and completed a single. He raised his arms to the sky, looked at former skipper Dhoni and grinned. Kohli also became the third Indian batsman to complete 4,000 runs on Indian soil.

He surpassed Tendulkar yet again by becoming the batsman to take the least number of innings to complete the milestone. It took Kohli just 78 innings at home, while Tendulkar had taken 92 innings to complete the 4,000-run mark.

Apart from Kohli and Tendulkar, Dhoni is the only other Indian to have scored more than 4,000 runs on home soil. He had done it in 99 innings.

Before this match, Kohli had an impressive average of 58.69 maintaining a bradmanesque strike rate of 92.51.

Govt forms GoM to deal with sexual harassment at workplace

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Afternoon Voice

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October 24, 2018

A Group of Ministers, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, has been constituted by the government to strengthen the legal and institutional frameworks to deal with and prevent sexual harassment at workplace.

The GoM has been set up in the wake of #MeToo movement where several women have publicly named people who had allegedly harassed them at their workplace.

Former editor M J Akbar had to resign as Minister of State for External Affairs following allegations of sexual harassment against him by former colleagues.

In a statement, the home ministry said the members of the GoM are Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi.

The GoM will examine the existing legal and institutional frameworks for dealing with matters of sexual harassment of women at workplace.

It will recommend action required for effective implementation of the existing provisions, as well as for strengthening the existing legal and institutional frameworks for addressing issues related to sexual harassment at workplace, the statement said.

The GoM will, within three months of its constitution, examine the existing provisions for the safety of women, including those mentioned above, and recommend further measures required to strengthen and make them more effective.

The GoM has been constituted in view of the felt need for broader consultation on this issue, from the point of view of developing appropriate recommendations and laying down a comprehensive plan of action and for ensuring its time bound implementation, the statement said.

The government is committed to ensure the safety and dignity of women in the workforce, it said.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act is the key legislation for preventing and protecting women against sexual harassment in the workplace and to ensure effective redressal of complaints of sexual harassment.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has also launched an electronic complaints box that enables women, irrespective of their work status, to raise their voice against sexual harassment at workplace.

Once a complaint is submitted to the ‘SHe-Box’, it is directly sent to the authority concerned having jurisdiction to take action into the matter. A mechanism will be put in place to regularly monitor the action taken on the complaints, it said.

JD (U) takes swipe at Tejashwi’s save constitution yatra

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Afternoon Voice

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October 24, 2018

Ruling Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday took a swipe at RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s ongoing yatra to save constitution accusing him of meeting dreaded criminals in course of the state-wide tour with whose help an attempt may be made to facilitate Lalu Prasad’s escape from jail.

JD(U) spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar made a scathing attack on leader of opposition in state assembly Tejashwi Yadav of hobnobbing with dreaded criminals during his yatra that started from Sunday last.

The attack followed reports of Yadav meeting family members of don-turned politician Mohammad Shahbuddin in Siwan and seen in selfie taken by history-sheeter Suresh Chaudhary in neighbouring Gopalganj with him in course of his ongoing Samvidhan Bachao Nyay Yatra.

On Monday, Tejashwi Yadav cozied up to the family of dreaded former Siwan MP Mohd Shahabuddin. On Tuesday, in Gopalganj, a notorious criminal (Suresh Chaudhary) of the district was seen clicking selfies with him. All this in the name of seeking justice and upholding the Constitution, Kumar pointed out.

Shahabuddin, currently lodged in the Tihar jail at Delhi, is one of the most dreaded history-sheeter politicians of Bihar. He has represented Siwan in the Lok Sabha on an RJD ticket a number of times. Convictions in a number of cases have led to his disqualification from contesting elections.

The JD(U) spokesman has shot off a letter to the Director General of Police of Jharkhand stating that he feared, in view of Tejashwi Yadav’s hobnobbing with history-sheeters, that an attempt may be made to “facilitate Lalu’s escape from jail with the help of criminals”.

He has urged the Jharkhand police chief to make arrangements so that in the event of such a conspiracy being hatched, the same is effectively foiled.

Lalu Prasad is lodged at a hospital in Ranchi under custody. He has been convicted in a number of cases relating to the 1,000-crore fodder scam which pertains to his tenure as the Chief Minister of undivided Bihar.

The RJD rubbished the JD(U)s allegations saying a persons criminal antecedents are not inscribed on his forehead.

RJD spokesman and MLA Bhai Virendra said a public figure like Tejashwi Yadav may be called on by many people whom he does not even know. Moreover, why is the JD(U) making a big fuss over the issue when its own leader has been caught being photographed with liquor mafia.

The RJD leaders comment was an obvious reference to a controversy that had erupted last year when Rakesh Singh an accused in a hooch tragedy that had struck Bhojpur district many years ago visited the Chief Ministers official residence and photographs of the occasion were used by the opposition party to mock at Nitish Kumars prohibition drive.

Centre responsible for problems in CBI: Mayawati

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Afternoon Voice

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October 24, 2018

BSP president Mayawati on Wednesday blamed the Centre for the state of affairs in the CBI and said other institutions are also facing similar problems because of the wrong policies being pursued by the government.

“More than the officials, it is the central government which is responsible for the problems in the CBI,” Mayawati said in a statement.

She said the Centre’s “vindictive, casteist and communal policies” have put not only the CBI, but also other agencies under similar threat.

Cases like those involving Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi and the Rafale deal are blots on the BJP-led government’s rule and they have not been probed properly, she said.

However, she added, the ruling party misuses official machinery to target anti-BJP parties and institutions.

This has been happening for the last four-and-a-half years and this is the reason why people are losing faith in government institutions, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief said.

This needs to be addressed, she added.

Much wrong has been done to the premier investigating agency by interferences of different kinds in the past too, Mayawati said.

What is happening now is a matter of grave concern for the country as it is giving rise to a lot of doubts in the minds of people and they seem to be losing faith in the CBI, she said.

Speaking about the top CBI officials being sent on leave in the midst of night and a major overhauling of the central agency, Mayawati said it is good that the matter has gone to the Supreme Court.

“Besides the internal working, the Supreme Court will also get an opportunity to seriously look into the role of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) which has become essential in the present context,” she said.

“It is important for restoring the faith of the people in the CBI that the Supreme Court takes effective cognizance of the present situation,” she said.

Country, Constitution in danger: Rahul on CBI issue

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Afternoon Voice

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October 24, 2018

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday mounted an attack on the central government saying that Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Alok Verma was forcibly sent on leave as he was collecting documents related to the Rafale deal.

Gandhi tweeted, “CBI chief Alok Verma was collecting documents relating to the Rafale deal. He has been forcibly sent on leave. Prime Minister’s message is clear: Whoever sniffs around the Rafale deal will be removed. The country and the Constitution are in danger.”

Earlier in the day, Verma moved the Supreme Court challenging the central government’s decision to send him on leave.

The apex court had accepted Verma’s petition and the matter is likely be heard on October 26.

Gopal Sankaranarayanan, the lawyer appearing for Verma, told the apex court that the Centre on Wednesday morning asked his client and CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana to go on leave, hence compromising the investigation into many sensitive cases.

M Nageshwar Rao was appointed as the interim director of the CBI with immediate effect. Rao, a 1986 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Odisha cadre, was working as the Joint Director in the investigating agency.

He will now look after the duties and functions of Director, CBI, and will take over the duties and functions with immediate effect, read an order from the central government.

The central government’s decision came a day after Asthana moved the Delhi High Court seeking the quashing of First Information Report (FIR) filed against him by the premier investigating agency of India. The court later ordered that no action would be taken against Asthana until next hearing, which is scheduled for October 29.

The CBI had filed an FIR against Asthana for allegedly accepting a bribe from a businessman, who was related to Moin Akhtar Qureshi case. Asthana was heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was probing Qureshi’s case.