Sexual harassment case: Delhi Police urges court to frame charges against ex-WFI chief 2
Delhi Police on Saturday urged a court to frame charges against BJP MP and former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a case of alleged sexual harassment of women wrestlers. The police opposed the contention of the accused that since some of the alleged incidents took place overseas, they do not fall in the jurisdiction of courts in Delhi, as it concluded arguments on framing charges against Singh.
The police submitted before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Priyanka Rajpoot that the incidents of sexual harassment, allegedly committed by Singh, overseas and inside India, including Delhi, are part of the same offence.
”Delhi Court has jurisdiction to try this case,” the police told the judge.
The court will further hear the matter on January 20.
The city police had filed a charge sheet in the case against Singh, a six-time MP, on June 15, 2023 under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
Is the ED raid on Baramati Agro Company politically motivated? 4
Since the day the NCP got divided between Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar, the pressure has mounted on those leaders who still remain with senior Pawar. Ajit launched scorching attacks on his uncle and advised him to support the BJP but senior Pawar gave him befitting replies on various occasions.
The Enforcement Directorate has now searched the premises of Baramati Agro, a company owned by MLA Rohit Pawar, grandnephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, and linked entities as part of a money laundering probe into the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam. Various locations in Baramati, Pune, Pimpri, and Aurangabad are being searched. The office of Baramati Agro in Baramati town is also being covered.
The ED launched the probe in response to a FIR filed by Mumbai Police’s Economic Offence Wing (EOW) in 2019 under various sections of the IPC and the PMLA Act. The FIR was filed on the orders of the Bombay High Court in response to claims that the cooperative sugar plants were unfairly sold at low rates to linked organisations by then-officials and directors of Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) without following necessary procedure. The EOW submitted a closure report in the case at the Mumbai Sessions Court in 2020, while the ED filed an intervention in opposition to the closure report.
The ED announced in July 2021 that it had seized assets worth more than ₹65 crore, including land, buildings, and machinery from Jarandeshwar Sahakari Sugar Mill in Maharashtra’s Satara district. The seizure was made under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002 as part of an investigation into the MSCB scam. The assets, which were registered under Guru Commodity Services Pvt Ltd. and leased to Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Pvt Ltd., were seized by the ED as part of the investigation.
During its investigation, the ED discovered that Sparkling Soil Pvt. Ltd., a company associated with Ajit Pawar, the former deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, and his wife Sunetra Pawar, held a significant majority of shares in Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills.
The Mumbai Police EOW told the court for MLAs and MPs in October 2022 that it has begun investigating the concerns highlighted by protest petitions and the ED. The probe against his firm pertains to allegations of “diversion” of funds and deposit of earnest funds by a company that bid for the purchase of a Maharashtra-based ailing cooperative sugar factory (CSF).
Rohit Pawar, 38, is the NCP MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed in Maharashtra and the owner and CEO of Baramati Agro. Rohit is the nephew of Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar, the state’s Deputy Chief Minister and a Baramati MLA. Rohit Pawar was very vocal when his uncle joined the BJP. He and Supriya Sule were hell-bent on defending Sharad Pawar’s stand.
Discussions about Sharad Pawar contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Baramati have taken place. Supriya Sule has also reacted to this. The family has been working in this constituency for ages. And generations. Rohit is the face of progressive thought, having preserved and promoted Maharashtrian culture for generations.
Since the BJP returned to power, and before that, central agencies raided only opposition leaders and morally broke them to come to the table. They succeeded in grabbing many politicians through pressure politics. Let’s see how Rohit Pawar comes out of this mess and what mandate votes have for him.
ED raids Baramati company of NCP chief Sharad Pawar's grand nephew and MLA Rohit 6
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday searched the premises of Baramati Agro, a company owned by MLA Rohit Pawar, the grand nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, and linked entities as part of a money laundering probe into the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam, official sources said.
At least six locations in Baramati, Pune, Pimpri, and Aurangabad are being searched, they said.
The office of Baramati Agro in Baramati town is also being covered.
Rohit Pawar, 38, is NCP MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed seat in the Maharashtra assembly and is the owner and CEO of Baramati Agro.
Rohit is the nephew of Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar, the Deputy chief minister of the state and MLA from Baramati.
The probe against his firm pertains to allegations of ”diversion” of funds and deposit of earnest funds of a company that bid for the purchase of a Maharashtra-based ailing cooperative sugar factor (CSF).
The MSCB money laundering case stems from an August, 2019 FIR of the Mumbai Police Economic Offences (EOW) wing.
The police complaint came after the Bombay High Court issued an order on August 22 that year to investigate the allegations of selling sugar factories in the Maharashtra cooperative sector through alleged fraudulent means and also that they were sold at throwaway prices.
Jailed AAP leader Sanjay Singh allowed to sign documents for Rajya Sabha renomination 8
A Delhi court has allowed AAP MP Sanjay Singh, arrested in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise scam, to sign forms and documents for his Rajya Sabha renomination.
Special Judge M K Nagpal passed the order on an application filed by the politician, who submitted that his present term as a member of the Rajya Sabha is expiring on January 27 and the Returning Officer issued a notice on January 2 for the conduct of the election and nominations for the same are to be submitted by January 9.
The application sought a direction to the Tihar Jail Superintendent to allow Singh to sign the documents.
”It is being directed that if the documents are presented by counsel for accused before jail authorities on January 6, 2024, the jail superintendent shall ensure that the signatures of the accused are permitted to be taken on said documents and he is also permitted to meet his Counsel for half-an-hour to discuss the modalities in connection with filing of the said nomination,” the judge said in an order passed on Thursday.
The anti-money laundering agency had arrested Singh on October 4. The ED has alleged that Singh played a key role in the formulation and implementation of the now-scraped excise policy, which benefited certain liquor manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers for monetary considerations.
29-year-old man in Panvel booked for marrying a 12-year-old girl, making her pregnant 10
The police in Navi Mumbai have registered a case against a 29-year-old man for allegedly marrying a 12-year-old girl, repeatedly raping her, and making her pregnant, an official said on Friday.
The child marriage, which is illegal in the country, took place about six months ago, he said. The man allegedly repeatedly raped the girl and impregnated her. Both the man and minor originally hail from the Satara district of Maharashtra, he said.
During a survey on Thursday, a local doctor from Panvel learnt that the girl was four months pregnant. He then alerted the police. The station house officer of Khandeshwar police station said that a case has been registered against the man under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
The Congress on Thursday renamed the Rahul Gandhi-led Manipur-Mumbai yatra starting on January 14 as ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ which will travel through 15 states, including Arunachal Pradesh.
This was announced by Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh after a meeting of party general secretaries, state in-charges, state unit chiefs, and Congress Legislature Party leaders chaired by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge at the Congress headquarters.
Earlier, it was named Bharat Nyay Yatra. Ramesh said the Congress invites all INDIA bloc leaders to participate in this yatra and pointed out that invitations were being sent out for it.
He said the yatra of over 6,713 km will be covered in buses and on foot. It will cover 110 districts, about 100 Lok Sabha seats and 337 assembly segments. Ramesh claimed the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra would prove to be as transformative for politics as the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir did.
On Thursday morning, the Mumbai police control room received information that a 15-year-old and a 14-year-old from Tinsukia, Assam, had left for Mumbai on Wednesday without informing their families. The teenagers had boarded Indigo Flight 6E 115 bound for Mumbai.
According to a leading daily, the Assam Class 9 students who recently failed their unit test exams, fled their homes, and boarded a flight to Mumbai to become businessmen were rescued on Thursday morning in a coordinated operation by both states’ police forces.
After failing their exams, the boys decided to start a business based on artificial intelligence (AI) after seeing the concept in several viral videos on social media, according to Mumbai police officials. The duo decided to travel to Mumbai without informing their families because their families would not have approved of the idea, according to officials.
On Thursday morning, Assam and Mumbai police officers apprehended the two teenagers at the Mumbai airport.
The families of the boys filed a missing persons report at the Doomdooma police station in Assam, and the Assam police contacted their counterparts in Mumbai for assistance. When the flight landed early Thursday, officials from the Sahar police station, airport staff, Customs, and CISF arrived at the T2 terminal.
The two children were taken into safe custody, and their family members, relatives, and Doomdooma police station officials were notified.
Facing saffron fury, Jitendra Awhad cites research to clarify Lord Ram remark; offers apology if sentiments hurt 14
Amid the saffron fury and street protests over his claim that Lord Ram was non-vegetarian, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad sought to defend his remark, citing a research paper on the Valmiki Ramayana by IIT Kanpur. However, he also sought forgiveness from the people, saying he regretted his remarks if they hurt anyone’s sentiments.
An NCP old-timer and a key aide of the party patriarch Sharad Pawar, Awhad insisted that he did not put forward his own interpretation in the matter but based his opinion on an ‘authentic’ version of the Valmiki Ramayana. Speaking at a press conference in Mumbai, Awhad pointed to the extensive research conducted by IIT Kanpur on this version of the Ramayana.
“Look, I am telling you I did not bring my own interpretation or views into it. I did not incorporate any ideas of my own. I based my opinion on whatever is written in the Valmiki Ramayana,” the NCP leader said, stoutly defending his position in the face of a firestorm of protests from the BJP and the country’s seer community. However, saying he regretted his remarks if they hurt public sentiments, the NCP leader said, “I do express regret if my words offended someone’s feelings. I did not wish to hurt anyone’s sentiments.”
Stressing that he did not alter or misinterpret the Valmiki Ramayana, which was scripted eons back, Awhad outlined the six khands (chapters) of the ancient text — Balakand, Ayodhyakand, Aranyakand, Kishkindakhand, Sunderkand, and Yudhkand. “Valmiki Ramayana has six khands. What does the 120th verse of the Ayodhya khand say? My remarks were based on the verses from Valmiki Ramayana. Please read the Valmiki Ramayana and you will know for yourself,” the NCP leader said.
“I have an authentic version of the Ramayana, which was written eighteen hundred years ago. This book was printed in Kolkata in 1891. IIT Kanpur has even published a research paper on it. And what I said is already in the public domain,” the NCP leader added. He asserted that his words were a reflection of the ideas and principles that he holds dear, reiterating, however, that he did not intend to offend anyone’s sentiments.
On the complaint filed against him in Maharashtra, Awhad said, “Let a case be filed against me here, US or anywhere else. I don’t fear cases. I stick to my words and practise what I preach. I am not in the habit of saying things I don’t mean.” Earlier, on Wednesday, Awhad ruffled many fathers claiming that Lord Ram belonged to the ‘Bahujans’ (people in the majority) and was non-vegetarian, contrary to common belief.
“Lord Ram is ours. He belongs to the Bahujans. Lord Ram, who hunts and eats (flesh) is ours, we belong to the Bahujans. Some people make us out to be vegetarians. But we follow the ideals of Lord Ram and today we consume mutton. This is in keeping with the ideals of Lord Ram,” Awhad said while addressing an event in Shirdi on Wednesday. “Ram was not a vegetarian, he was non-vegetarian,” he added.
Outraged over Awhad’s controversial statement, BJP MLA Ram Kadam filed a complaint against the NCP leader in Mumbai. “It is their mindset to hurt the sentiments of the Ram bhakts. However, we won’t tolerate it if they make fun of our Sanatan Dharm for votes. The realisation of a grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya doesn’t seem to have gone down well with the ghamandiya (arrogant) alliance,” Kadam said.
Manual scavenging: HC pulls up Guj govt over non-payment of compensation to 16 dead workers’ kin 16
The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday pulled up the state government over the non-payment of compensation to the kin of 16 sanitation workers who died during manual scavenging between 1993 and 2014 and directed it to explain the reason in an affidavit.
The court of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha P Mayee also wanted to know from the state what steps it has taken to adopt the 2013 anti-manual scavenging law, and whether the government was in a position to do away with the practice or still taking the help of sanitation workers for it.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Ahmedabad-based NGO Manav Garima, seeking the implementation of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
When the petitioner’s lawyer informed the court that the family members of 16 deceased manual scavengers were yet to be paid the compensation as per the Supreme Court guidelines, the court pulled up the government and said the latter could not go on making payments to some and leaving out the others.
It directed the principal secretary of the urban development and urban housing department to file his personal affidavit to bring on record the reasons for non-payment of compensation to the families of the 16 workers whose names were included in the list of deceased submitted by the petitioner.
The court also took note of another recent incident of manual scavenging in Bhavnagar city where a sanitation worker of the civic body died of asphyxiation while another suffered serious injuries after entering a sewage tank on the campus of the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) on November 10, 2023.
It permitted the petitioner to implead the civic body as a respondent with a direction for it to file an affidavit to bring on record details concerning the incident. The court also directed the principal secretary to submit a report regarding the same.
“This is not hide and seek, let us be clear about this. If the list (of victims) was there ..you have to give at least this much explanation as to why you have not paid them, reason has to be there,” the Chief Justice observed.
“What steps have you taken to adopt the zero manual scavenging policy …have you got the requisite machines, are you in a position to do away with manual scavenging, or are you still taking help of these people ..we want a clear answer,” she asked.
In a civil application filed in April last year in connection with a 2016 PIL, the petitioner claimed that the government had failed to implement the provisions of the 2013 law that prohibits manual scavenging and sought its direction for its proper implementation.
The high court had in 2016 directed the government to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to the families of each of the deceased manhole workers on the PIL by the NGO. The Supreme Court had in its order in October 2023 raised the compensation amount to Rs 30 lakh in case of deaths and disabilities due to manual scavenging.
When the NGO moved the plea in April 2023, families of 26 out of 152 manhole workers who died between 1993 and 2014, and 16 workers who died after the filing of the main petition in 2016, were not paid compensation by the government, it claimed.
In the meanwhile, the government paid compensation to some but left out 16 which was brought to the notice of the court on Wednesday.
Despite section 7 of the 2013 Act prohibiting local authorities or their agencies to engage people for hazardous cleaning of sewer in underground drainage lines or septic tanks, they have continued to do so, causing several deaths, the petitioner said.
CPI(M) demands withdrawal of mandatory linkages to Aadhar-based payment system 18
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded the withdrawal of mandatory linkages to an AADHAR-based payment system from the Central Government. CPI(M) said in a statement that the latest expression of the Modi government’s active hostility towards the demand-based rural work guarantee law—the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA)—is the imposition of an AADHAR-based payment system (ABPS), the deadline of which expired on December 31, snatching away the right to crores of workers.
Under the law, every rural worker has the right to a job card and every job card holder has the right to at least 100 days of work. “The first violation of the law by the central government is to divide job card holders into eligible and non-eligible for ABPS. According to the government, of the 25.25 crore registered workers, only 14.35 crore are eligible because they have done at least one day’s work over the last three years. But suppose a job card holder decides that she does need to work on a MNREGA site, even though she has not done so earlier. Now she cannot do so since she has been declared ineligible.” Party said in a statement.
CPI (M) further said that, in other words, over 10 crore workers, who have every right to a job card under the law, have been declared ineligible to get ABPS and therefore denied their right to work on an MNREGA site. “Even out of the 14.35 crore so-called eligible job card holders, as many as 12. 7 per cent, around 1.8 crore workers, do not have ABPS and will therefore not be eligible to work in MNREGA. Earlier, the government had imposed an online registration system, which, given the poor connectivity in large parts of rural India, resulted in workers’ presence at the worksite not being accepted. They were and are being denied wages without online registration,” Politbureau said.
CPI (M) added that this is an outright assault on the law. MNREGA, regardless of its inadequacies, such as the limitation to 100 days, has proved to be a lifeline for the rural poor, particularly at this time of high rural distress caused by unemployment. The Modi government is using technology to attack a legal entitlement. The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) “strongly condemns this illegal attack on workers’ rights as guaranteed by MNREGA and demands the withdrawal of mandatory linkages to an AADHAR-based payment system.”
