Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Friday granted 30 days’ time to MLAs Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo, who had quit the Congress and joined the BJP earlier this year, to file their replies on the disqualification petition moved against them by the grand old party.
The disqualification petition came up for hearing before the speaker on Friday, after which both the respondents – Kamat and Lobo – sought 30 days to reply to it. Their request was approved.
In September this year, former chief minister Kamat, the then Leader of Opposition Lobo and six other Congress MLAs had joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), giving a body blow to the opposition party. Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Amit Patkar had filed the petition against his former party colleagues Kamat and Lobo seeking their disqualification.
Talking to reporters, Tawadkar said, ”During the hearing of the petition on Friday, both the respondents – Kamat and Lobo – sought a time of 30 days to reply, which was granted.”
Opposition MLAs created ruckus in the Bihar Assembly on Friday as Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav was speaking in the House on Friday.
While Tejashwi was reading out his reply to a question in the assembly, several opposition MLAs could be heard raising slogans. One of the Legislators could be seen carrying a chair.
Later on, Bihar BJP leaders including Leader of opposition Vijay Sinha held a protest march to the Governor’s House over the Chhapra Hooch tragedy as the toll soared to 50. Masrakh Station House Officer (SHO) Ritesh Mishra and Constable Vikesh Tiwari were suspended immediately after the Tuesday night tragedy on the recommendation of Marhaura Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Yogendra Kumar.
Most deaths have occurred over Wednesday and Thursday creating an uproar both at the state and national level as sale and consumption of alcohol have been banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government since April 2016.
Nitish Kumar’s former ally, BJP, have come down heavily on him with MPs of the Bharatiya Janata Party from the state raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, when questioned regarding the Chhapra Hooch tragedy, on Thursday told media that “if someone consumes liquor, they will die”, that has not gone down well with victim families among others.
“The liquor ban has benefitted several people. A large number of people have given up alcohol. This is good. Several people have happily accepted this. But there are some troublemakers. I have told officers to identify the actual troublemakers and nab them,” Kumar told the media in Patna.
The Chhapra Hooch tragedy was one of the issues raised in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, leading to the adjournment of the House thrice within a short span of 40 minutes as both the Treasury benches and the opposition raised their issues together with the commencement of the Zero Hour.
The Bombay High Court on Friday granted temporary bail of four days to former Delhi University professor Hany Babu, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to undergo cataract surgery and a medical check-up at a city-based hospital.
Babu, who has been lodged in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai since almost the last two years, had moved the high court earlier this month seeking temporary bail on health grounds.
The activist, in his petition, had said that he needed bail for three months for undergoing cataract surgery and getting treatment for upper abdominal pain and osteoarthritis at the private Breach Candy Hospital here.
A division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and P D Naik, after hearing the arguments of both sides, allowed Babu to undergo treatment at the hospital in Mumbai for four days.
The court directed that Babu be taken to a hospital for the surgery and health check-up on December 20 and be brought back to the prison on December 24, his lawyer Yug Chaudhry said.
The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon Bhima war memorial.
Pune Police, (who probed the case before it was transferred to the National Investigation Agency) claimed that the conclave had been backed by Maoists.
Petition in SC seeking equality of marriage under Special Marriage Act 5
A lawyer on Friday mentioned a plea seeking equality of marriage under the Special Marriage Act before the Supreme Court. Advocate Shadan Farasat mentioned his plea before a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
Chief Justice Chandrachud said that the court would take up the matter along with the other petitions after the court reopens after winter vacation. Earlier, two same-sex couples moved the top court seeking legal recognition of the marriage under the Special Marriage Act. Another plea was also sought a transfer of petition on the aspect from the Delhi High Court to the apex court and has been pending for consideration. The Supreme Court had agreed to examine two separate petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act. On November 25, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre on these two separate petitions and also noted that various pleas relating to same-sex marriage issues are being heard in various high courts including Kerala and Delhi. The top court had also noted the Centre made a statement before the high court that the ministry was taking steps to transfer all pleas to the Supreme Court. Two same-sex couples approached the Supreme Court to recognise same-sex marriage. One of the petitions earlier raised the issue of the absence of a legal framework which allowed members of the LGBTQ+ community to marry any person of their choice. According to the previous petition, the couple sought to enforce the fundamental rights of LGBTQ+ individuals to marry any person of their choice and said, “the exercise of which ought to be insulated from the disdain of legislative and popular majorities”. The petitioners, further, asserted their fundamental right to marry each other and prayed for appropriate directions from this Court allowing and enabling them to do so. The Delhi High Court is also hearing various petitions relating to the legal recognition of same-sex marriage under the Foreign Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act
The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM will take out a march during the upcoming winter session of the Maharashtra legislature in Nagpur to demand five percent reservation for Muslims in the state, a party leader said.
All India Majalis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP from Aurangabad and its state unit president Imtiaz Jaleel gave this information by tweeting a poster of the planned march.
“The AIMIM will take out a march on 21 December from Indora Ground in Nagpur to Vidhan Bhawan during the session of the Maharashtra legislature,” it said.
Apart from seeking a five percent reservation to Muslims, the AIMIM will also highlight the demand of removal of encroachments from the Waqf land, the tweet said.
Provision of Rs 1,000 crore subsidy to Maulana Azad Minorities Financial Development Corporation Limited; awarding ownership of slum land to residents; financial assistance to hand-loom and power-loom workers are some other demands which the party will raise during the march, it added.
The winter session of the legislature will be held in Nagpur, the second capital of Maharashtra, from December 19.
A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Friday seeking an independent SIT probe in the Bihar hooch tragedy that has claimed 50 lives so far.
The plea was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud today for an early hearing. However, the bench refused to hear the matter as it was not listed.
“If it’s so important, you should have listed. However important the matter is, discipline in my court. Sorry,” CJI Chandrachud said.
The plea filed by Aryavarta Mahasabha Foundation through advocate Pawan Prakash Pathak sought the formulation of a nation action plan to curb the manufacturing, trading and sale of illicit liquor.
The PIL further sought direction to the State government to adequately compensate the victims’ families because of the inaction rights of the people that have been breached and jeopardised.
“Pass direction that the independent Special Investigation Team may be formed by the respondent and an independent probe be conducted in this hooch tragedy for effective steps as per the law of the land,” the plea stated.
The PIL further said that ever since the government of Bihar prohibited liquor sales in the state in 2016, it has been criticised for a substantial failure to implement the ban and for the several adverse consequences that the move has thrust on the people of Bihar.
The state shares its borders with Nepal, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh and none of these states practises prohibition, and there is evidence that liquor is flowing into Bihar from the neighbouring states, given West Bengal and Jharkhand’s phenomenal rise in excise revenue, it added.
As multiple hooch tragedies have resulted in scores of deaths, the state’s prohibition policy has come under increasing attack, the plea contended.
Recently in Lok Sabha, the question on the same issue was raised and addressed but no effective steps are being taken to curb the menace of the liquor mafia’s and cartels running the show, the plea stated.
The PIL said that this is not the first time that India has reported an incident of people dying after consuming spurious liquor.
Similar cases were reported from Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka in recent years which caused loss of life, it added.
India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world and is all set to achieve USD 5 trillion GDP by 2024-25, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.
Addressing an event organized by industry body FICCI, Gadkari said the central government is aiming to boost growth and employment to achieve sustainable development.
The road transport and highways minister said India will play a key role in achieving global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.
Gadkari noted that India needs to increase its exports and reduce imports.
”We are also working on developing alternative, clean and green fuel like bioethanol, bio-CNG, bio-LNG and green hydrogen,” he said, adding green hydrogen is the fuel for the future.
The minister said currently India’s automobile industry is worth Rs 7.5 lakh crore and he wants to take it to Rs 15 lakh crore.”This will create lots of new jobs.” He also said his focus is on reducing cost of construction. ”We are trying to minimize use of steel and cement.”
The toll of dead in Bihar’s Chhapra Hooch tragedy has soared to 50, with 11 more people succumbing after consuming spurious liquor in Saran district.
Masrakh Station House Officer (SHO) Ritesh Mishra and Constable Vikesh Tiwari were suspended immediately after the Tuesday night tragedy on the recommendation of Marhaura Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Yogendra Kumar.
Most deaths have occurred over Wednesday and Thursday creating an uproar both at the state and national level as sale and consumption of alcohol have been banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government since April 2016.
Nitish Kumar’s former ally, BJP, has come down heavily on him with MPs of the Bharatiya Janata Party from the state raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, when questioned regarding the Chhapra Hooch tragedy, on Thursday told media that “if someone consumes liquor, they will die”, that has not gone down well with victim families among others.
“The liquor ban has benefitted several people. A large number of people have given up alcohol…This is good. Several people have happily accepted this. But there are some troublemakers. I have told officers to identify the actual troublemakers and nab them,” Kumar told the media in Patna.
Bihar Excise Minister Sunil Kumar have also promised stringent action against the culprits responsible for the deaths. “Process of filling an FIR is underway. I have spoken over the phone with SP,” Sunil Kumar had said on Wednesday.
Hours after the first few deaths were reported from Chhapra, the opposition had on Wednesday attacked the Bihar Chief Minister in the state assembly leading Kumar to lose his cool and scream back at the BJP leaders.
The Chhapra Hooch tragedy was one of the issues raised in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, leading to the adjournment of the House thrice within a short span of 40 minutes as both the Treasury benches and the opposition raised their issues together with the commencement of the Zero Hour.
A 34-year-old history-sheeter was arrested from Nalasopara in Palghar district of Maharashtra, and MD drugs worth Rs 10 lakh and two country-made weapons were recovered from him, police said on Friday.
The accused planned to use the weapons to eliminate a group of persons who had fired at him in February 2021, an official of the Crime Unit-II (Vasai) of the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police commissioner said.
”During the night patrolling on December 11, a police team spotted a man moving in a suspicious manner in Nalasopara. Sensing trouble, the man started running away, but the police team caught him,” senior inspector Shahuraj Ranavare of the crime unit said. ”The police seized 100 grams of MD valued at Rs 10,00,000 from him. They also recovered two country-made weapons, including a revolver, worth Rs 71,000 from the accused,” he said.
An offence under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Arms Act was registered against him at Tulinj police station.
”During the interrogation, the accused told the police that on February 14, 2021 a group of men fired three rounds at him from point blank range when he was sitting in a bar at Moregaon in Nalasopara,” Ranavare said.
The accused survived the attack, but suffered injuries on his head and hands in the firing, he said. ”He also told the police that he had procured the firearms from Uttar Pradesh to avenge the attack on him,” the official said, adding that there were eight offences registered against him at Tulinj police station.
Dr. Anahita Pandole had not properly worn the seat belt of the car, which she was driving at the time of the accident that claimed the life of industrialist Cyrus Mistry earlier this year, police said on Friday.
Former Tata Sons chairman Mistry (54) and his friend Jehangir Pandole were killed after the Mercedes-Benz car hit the railing of the Surya river bridge in the Palghar district of Maharashtra on September 4.
Dr. Anahita, who was at the wheel, and her husband Darius suffered serious injuries in the accident. All of them were returning to Mumbai from Ahmedabad.
“Dr. Anahita, who was driving her Mercedes-Benz car, had not worn the seat belt properly as the pelvic belt was not fastened,” Palghar Superintendent of Police Balasaheb Patil said.
