Top Maoist ideologue Kobad Ghandy, accused of trying to set up a base for the banned outfit CPI (Maoist), was today asked by Delhi High Court to respond to a plea for cancelling his bail in a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

Justice P S Teji refused to pass an interim order staying the bail saying there was no one present in court representing Ghandy and instead issued notice to him seeking his reply before the next date of hearing on February 26, 2016.

Delhi police has moved the plea for cancellation of the three-month-long bail, granted to him in September, saying the trial court did not consider the gravity of the offence while passing the order.

It also said that statement of accused during the trial was to be recorded on December 11.

65-year-old Ghandy was granted bail on health grounds by the trial court which had observed that he was suffering from various ailments and his condition has “visibly deteriorated” during the trial period.

The trial court has concluded the recording of prosecution evidence in the case in which Ghandy along with co-accused Rajender Kumar alias Arvind Joshi are facing trial.

Ghandy is facing trial for offences punishable under UAPA and various provisions of the IPC.

An alumnus of the prestigious Doon School and St Xavier’s College Mumbai, Ghandy is facing prosecution in around 20 criminal and terror cases in different parts of the country.

According to the police, he was said to be part of the top leadership of erstwhile CPI-ML (People’s War Group) since 1981.

He allegedly continued as a Central Committee member in CPI (Maoist) after the merger with People’s War Group and elected to the Maoist Politburo in 2007.

Ghandy was arrested by Special Cell of Delhi Police for allegedly trying to set up a base for CPI (Maoist) in Delhi.

A consumer court has directed a builder to pay Rs. 60,000 compensation to a complainant for allotting him a shop of a lesser area than what was agreed upon.

Complainant Harshal Keshrinath Patil approached the Thane District Consumer Redressal Forum (TDCRF) in December 2009 saying that he had purchased a shop measuring 20.90 sq m in a building at Tulij in Vasai area from Patil Builders and Developers.

He said that he paid Rs. 3,37,500 and entered into an agreement for the same in 2007. He also said that later he paid Rs. 9,12,500, taking the total payment made to the builder to Rs. 12,50,000.

After receiving the shop, Patil got the premises inspected by an architect in November 2009, and it was found that the shop area was only 138.36 sq feet (built up area), instead of the agreed 224.96 sq ft (less by 87 sq ft), following which he approached the consumer forum.

The builder contested the claim saying the complaint was time-barred, as the complainant had taken possession of the shop in 2007. Moreover, it was a civil complaint which needed to be tried by court, the firm pleaded.

However, TDCRF president Sneha S Mhatre and members Madhuri S Vishwarupe and N D Kadam dismissed the builder’s submissions and said that the complaint was filed within the stipulated time and they had the authority to entertain it.

The forum also observed that the builder had not honoured the commitment made in the agreement between him and the buyer and given area lesser by 87 sq ft.

However, it did not agree with the complainant’s submission that he had paid an additional sum of Rs. 9,12,500 to the builder as he could not produce any proof for it.

The forum ruled that by giving lesser area of shop than that agreed in the sale document, the builder had indulged in unfair business practices.

Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said drought-affected farmers were not getting the sanctioned financial assistance.

Thackeray, whose party is in power in Maharashtra along with BJP, asked his MLAs to raise the issue during the Winter Session of the state legislature beginning in Nagpur from December 7. “During my recent tour of the drought-affected regions of Marathwada, it was brought to my notice that financial assistance sanctioned for drought-hit farmers had not been distributed,” he told reporters at the Shiv Sena Bhavan.

“If not given to the needy farmers, where is the money going,” he questioned.

Replying to questions, the Sena leader slammed Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh for saying the Maharashtra government had sent proposal for financial package late. “Does the minister (Singh) expect that he should know about the drought-condition before it is actually experienced. His statement is shocking and unfortunate,” Thackeray said.

If you don’t have a toilet, you won’t be eligible to contest local body elections in Maharashtra.

The decision to make toilets mandatory for those contesting local body polls was taken at a meeting of Maharashtra Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

“The state government has made it compulsory to have toilets at candidate’s home to contest elections of local bodies,” Fadnavis said, after the Cabinet meeting.

Candidates contesting elections of Municipal Council and Corporations will have to prove that they have toilet facility at their homes, the Chief Minister said.

The Cabinet also decided to implement the “visionary and dream scheme” of PM Narendra Modi ‘Housing for All’ by 2022 in Maharashtra, Fadnavis said.

“This scheme covers rehabilitation of slum dwellers with participation of private developers using land as a resource.

“It will also cover promotion of affordable housing for weaker sections through credit linked subsidy and affordable housing in partnership with Public and Private sector and subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house for construction or enhancement,” he added.

The state government has also decided to set up a Maharashtra Nature Tourism Development Board with its headquarters at Nagpur, the Chief Minister said.

“This will help in promoting nature tourism in 48 sanctuaries, 6 National Parks and 4 reserved conservation areas of Maharashtra,” Fadnavis said.

The Maharashtra government said all convicts and under-trails lodged in different prisons in the state will not be categorised as persons living below poverty line (BPL).

Only those who came from BPL families before start of their jail term will continue to remain in the said category.

According to a Government Resolution (GR), convicts coming from BPL families and facing jail term of over one year will not be considered as BPL persons.

No RTI fee is required to be paid by any citizen who is below poverty line. The issue of whether to consider under-trials and convicts under BPL was under government’s consideration.

“The opinion of Law and Judiciary department was sought. Both Law and Judiciary as well as Home department felt it would not be proper to consider all convicts and under-trials as BPL,” the GR said.

A person with monthly per capita income of less than Rs. 591.75 in urban areas is considered under BPL while in rural areas family having yellow ration card is considered in the said category.

As per the GR, the Public Information officers can take decision on RTI queries of convicts and under-trials taking into consideration the income and proof submitted regarding BPL status.

Enforcement Directorate is probing suspected links between a leader of hardline Hurriyat leader, Firdous Ahmad Shah, and one of the financiers of 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. In a written reply, Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a prosecution complaint against two people under Prevention of Money Laundering Act after the Jammu and Kashmir police filed a chargesheet under anti-terror law UAPA. “The prosecution complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate does not disclose any links of the two accused with the financing of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. However, the Enforcement Directorate is conducting further investigations in the matter,” the minister said.

The ED, which filed its charge sheet in July 16 this year in a money laundering case in the Kashmir Valley, has alleged that Shah, Chairman of Democratic Political Movement, received over Rs three crore between 2007 to 2010. The money was received from ‘Madina Trading’ located in Brescia in Italy and sender was claimed to be Javed Iqbal, a resident of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK). However, after Italian police arrested two Pakistani nationals in 2009, it was alleged that the firm had made nearly 300 transfers in the name of Iqbal, who probably had never set his foot in Italy. The Italian police, while concluding the probe, had said the Brescia-based company had made several transfers using the identity of totally innocent, unsuspecting persons, whose identity cards or passports may have been stolen.

The name of Madina trading had cropped up during the investigation of 26/11 Mumbai attacks when it was found that the second payment of USD 229 was wired to Callphonex via Western Union Money Transfer receipt number 8364307716-0 for activating the Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) used during the terror strikes. The sender of this payment was Javed Iqbal and he had used Western Union Money Transfer agent Madina Trading to make the payment to Callphonex.

Shah, a member of Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s hardline Hurriyat Conference, had denied the allegation and said the matter was in the court and it will be decided there. The ED has already attached Shah’s house at Abi Gujar in Lal Chowk, which was, however, released by the court and the matter is under adjudication. Besides this, Rs one lakh belonging to Khan have been frozen.