Police can take suo moto action against builders: HC

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October 19, 2015

The Bombay High Court said the Navi Mumbai Police should take suo moto cognizance and file FIRs against builders responsible for illegal constructions there instead of waiting for some aggrieved person to come forward and lodge a case.

A division bench of justices A S Oka and V L Achiliya was hearing two PILs by residents Rajiv Mishra and Mayura Maru raising concerns over illegal constructions in Navi Mumbai.

The bench had last week taken a stern view of the issue and said the police has to initiate criminal action against the builders.

The court was informed by advocate Molina Thakure, who appeared for the police, that two complaints have been lodged against eight persons, of which six are builders and two are agents.

In a note to the court, the police said they have requested Cidco to lodge a formal complaint in the case.

“Why do you (police) want some aggrieved individual to come and register FIR. Is the police helpless? Why cannot you (police) initiate action on your own. Is there nothing like taking suo moto action? Once the police is aware that an offence has taken place then suo moto cognizance can be taken,” the court said.

The court noted that documents attached with the petitions can be used by the police to register FIRs.

“If you (police) register FIRs and under the proper sections then money of flat purchasers can be recovered,” the court said.

The HC has posted the petitions for hearing on October 21.

The state government last week informed the court that it was planning to regularise all illegal constructions in Navi Mumbai, and said it will be framing a policy on this soon.

The court had, however, said that even if such a policy is formed it shall not be implemented until the court gives permission.

Salman wasn’t drunk and was not driving car: lawyer

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Afternoon Voice

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October 19, 2015

There was no evidence to prove that Bollywood superstar Salman Khan had taken drinks and was driving the car on the day in 2002 when it rammed into a bakery in suburban Bandra, killing one and injuring four, his lawyer argued in the Bombay High Court.

Justice A R Joshi is hearing an appeal filed by the actor against his conviction and the five-year sentence awarded by the sessions court here in the case on May 6.

The prosecution’s case is that just before the mishap on September 28, 2002, Salman drove from his Bandra house to Rain Bar and later to J W Marriot hotel. At Rain Bar, he had drinks.

His lawyer, Amit Desai, said the prosecution did not produce `parking tag’ of J W Marriot hotel to prove who was driving the car. The evidence also did not throw light on who drove the car from Rain Bar to J W Marriot and who parked it at the hotel, he said.

The prosecution produced “pirated” version of facts in the trial court that Salman was driving, he said.

Nobody had seen Salman driving the car that day and only the injured victims at the mishap site had said that Salman got down from the driver’s seat, creating the suspicion that he was driving, Desai said.

During the trial, Salman’s lawyer had argued that the car door on the left side got jammed after the accident; hence he got down from the driver’s seat though he wasn’t driving it.

Ravindra Patil, the then police bodyguard of Salman who passed away in 2007, also did not say that the actor was driving in the FIR lodged on the night of accident.

But two days later, Patil said in a statement before a magistrate that Salman was driving the car. “This was an afterthought and an improvement made by him in evidence,” Desai alleged, arguing that this statement was “inadmissible as evidence and could not be relied upon.

Cops caught on camera talking bribes; being on payroll

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Afternoon Voice

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October 19, 2015

A group of policemen have been caught on camera talking about bribes and being allegedly on ‘payroll’ of a city club prompting Mumbai Police to initiate an inquiry into the video.

Police Commissioner Ahmed Javed told that police is looking into the video issue. The one-minute video uploaded on Youtube on October 15, says that it was taken at an Andheri club where cops can be heard speaking about bribes and referring to ‘payments’ being made to them (by the club) on previous occasions.

Mumbai Police has identified two of the policemen– inspector Shashikant Jagdale and constable Alhad Gaikwad– who are visible in the video. They are also scanning the video grab to find out the presence of other cops, if any, at the spot.

Jagdale is presently posted at Juhu unit of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Mumbai, while constable Gaikwad is the driver of Crime Branch ACP (North) Sunil Deshmukh.

According to police sources, who are privy to the ongoing inquiry, the video suggests that the cops have raided the club, after which talks of a ‘financial settlement’ in a few lakhs is on.

Also, during the conversation (audio), the concerned person of the club is heard referring about the amount that has already been given to police and about the remaining money to be paid.

Before serving in the ATS, Jagdale had a successful stint at Anti-Extortion Cell of Mumbai’s crime branch.

Gaikwad has been with the city’s crime branch and state ATS, where he has a record of being shunted out on several occasions for misconduct and allegations of corruption against him, police said.

Take out cash before the ATMs dry up, banks to remain closed for 5 days

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Afternoon Voice

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October 19, 2015

The banking sector will have a long vacation, thanks to the co-inciding dates of the list of holidays this week.

Banks will remain closed for five days in a row. The dates being –October 21 for Durga Puja, October 22 for Dusshera, October 23 for Moharram, October 24 for fourth Saturday (second and fourth Saturdays of a month are holidays for government-owned banks) and October 25 being Sunday.

Owing to this long closure, banking services will affect business transactions. While the banking activities will come to a halt, ATM holders will have to suffer the most since ATMs are expected to run out of cash.

Though almost all the banks have privatised cash loading in ATMs and so they have to plan stocking of cash carefully, owing to the long holidays, there could be problems of cash starvation.

The focus of banks to replenish ATMs with cash will be a lot more in states like Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, because the continuous list of holidays will be observed in these states.

Coalscam: Examining if documents are relevant to case, says CBI

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Afternoon Voice

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October 19, 2015

CBI on Monday informed a special court that they were examining whether some of the documents, which were sought to be inspected by the accused in a coal scam case, were relevant to the matter or not. Special public prosecutor RS Cheema told the court that they need some time to file a reply on the plea filed in this regard by the accused.

“It has been submitted by special public prosecutor RS Cheema that the documents whose inspection has been sought for are being examined as to whether they are of any relevance to the present case or not and thus he seeks some time to file reply in this regard,” Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar said.

The agency told the court that copies of some deficient documents sought by the accused earlier would be supplied to them on Monday itself.

After hearing the submission, the court fixed the matter for October 29 for filing of reply by CBI as well as arguments on the pleas moved by the two accused. The case pertains to alleged irregularities in allocation of Rampia and dip side of Rampia coal block in Odisha to M/s Navbharat Power Pvt Ltd (NPPL), now known as Brahmani Thermal Power Pvt Ltd (BTPPL), in January 2008.

Besides former Coal Secretary H C Gupta, two senior public servants, K S Kropha and K C Samria, BTPPL’s chairman, P Trivikrama Prasad and its vice chairman Y Harish Chandra Prasad are accused in the case along with the firm. These accused are now out on bail.

The court had summoned the accused for alleged offences under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servants) and 420 (cheating) of IPC and under Prevention of Corruption Act. Kropha was the then Joint Secretary of Ministry of Coal (MoC), while Samria was then the Director (Coal Allocation-I section) there.

CBI had earlier filed a charge sheet against NPPL, P Trivikrama Prasad and Y Harish Chandra Prasad for alleged criminal conspiracy and cheating under IPC and had subsequently said in its final report that no offence was found to have been committed by the public servants.

Quota agitation leader Hardik Patel arrested by Surat Police on charges of sedition

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Afternoon Voice

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October 19, 2015

Quota agitation leader Hardik Patel was arrested by Surat Police on Monday on charges of sedition from Rajkot.

He had been booked by the police under stringent sedition charges for his alleged controversial remarks instigating a community youth to kill policemen instead of committing suicide.

Earlier Patel was arrested in a case of insulting the tricolour.

Hardik, who was detained yesterday by Rajkot rural police ahead of the India-South Africa One-Day International as he had threatened to disrupt the match, was arrested by the rural police for allegedly insulting the national flag.

“We have checked all the video footage, which clearly suggested that Hardik did commit an offence of insulting the national flag. Thus, police have lodged an FIR against Hardik at Paddhari Police Station today after which, we have arrested Hardik,” Rajkot-Rural Superintendent of Police Gagandeep Gambhir said.

The sedition case has been filed under section 124(A) of IPC at Amroli Police Station in Surat under which any accused, if convicted, can be sentenced to maximum of life imprisonment, while the minimum sentence is of three years.

The section reads, “whoever, by words, either spoken or written..Brings hatred or contempt, or excites disaffection towards the Government shall be punishable with imprisonment for life. Or with minimum imprisonment up to three years.”

Other IPC sections included in the FIR against Hardik are section 115 (Abetment of offence), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups, 505-2 (incite one community against another) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

PM Modi’s budget cuts have hurt fight against malnutrition: Maneka Gandhi

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Afternoon Voice

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October 19, 2015

India’s main programme to fight child malnutrition has been hit by budget cuts that make it difficult to pay wages of millions of health workers, Cabinet minister Maneka Gandhi said on Monday in a rare public criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies.

Modi’s government in February slashed social sector budgets to boost infrastructure spending in a bid to fasten the pace of economic recovery. States were asked to fill the gap from the larger share of federal taxes they receive from New Delhi.

But the cuts drew criticism for blunting India’s efforts to tackle one of the world’s highest rates of child malnutrition. Four of 10 stunted children in the world are Indian and about 1.5 million children die annually before turning five.

Gandhi, the women and child welfare minister who oversees a scheme to feed more than 100 million poor people, said the current budget was only enough to pay salaries of her 2.7 million health workers until January.

“We still have problems because our cut has still not been restored. Literally, it’s a month-to-month suspense on whether we can meet wages,” Gandhi told Reuters in an interview. “It really calls for huge attention,” she said.

She said the February budget cut, which saw her ministry’s budget slashed by half to $1.6 billion, had hit her plans to strengthen the fight against malnutrition.

Gandhi said that even before the cuts the food programme was in urgent need of modernization, with lax supervision of health workers using training programmes not updated in the last four decades and the food on offer she described as “rubbish.”

She said about half the food was lost due to mismanagement.

Reuters reported in May that Gandhi had privately sought additional funds from the finance minister after the budget cut. She also warned him the reduced funding could backfire politically if focus on her programmes is reduced.

The government in July approved an additional $618 million for her ministry. Gandhi indicated that was not enough.

“It’s not a question of giving a little bit back … we actually need every little bit to pay workers and retrain them,” she said.

Aussie man harassed over tattoo of goddess in Bengaluru, forced to write apology letter

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Afternoon Voice

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October 19, 2015

An Australian national and his companion had a harrowing time in Bengaluru after locals objected to a tattoo of a goddess on his shin and harassed them. He later claimed that the police forced him to write an apology.

Matt Keith and his friend Emily from Melbourne were mobbed outside a restaurant on Residency Road after the group objected to a tattoo of goddess Yellamma on his shin.

The crowd began heckling the duo, soon the Ashok Nagar police arrived and took them to the police station. The crowd also followed them there.

The police then allegedly forced him to write an apology letter. Keith shared it on his Facebook page. It read: “My name is Matthew visiting from Melbourne, Australia. I am very sorry for offending Hindu religious beliefs by my tattoo. I didn’t know of this auspicious custom in regard to tattoo placement. I will make sure to cover it up until I am in India. Thanking you for educating me on what is appropriate. I am also extremely sorry for using inappropriate language.”

The leader of the group that heckled the Australian duo was later identified as a local BJP leader named Ramesh Yadav. However, he was denied harassing the Australians.

“Australian tourists had a Hindu goddess tattoo on their leg, not their fault, told them not to wear shorts. We tried explaining don’t wear ‘chaddi’ and wear Goddess tattoo but they used abusive language, so we called the police,” Yadav said.

“We didn’t want any FIR or apology. We just said say sorry and matter closed,” he added.

J&K MLA Engineer Rashid’s face painted black, Hindu Sena claims responsibility

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Afternoon Voice

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October 19, 2015

Independent Jammu and Kashmir MLA Engineer Rashid, who had hosted a beef party in Srinagar, by members of the Hindu Sena in Delhi on Monday.

Rashid was earlier thrashed by BJP MLAs inside the J&K Assembly on October 9 over the beef party he hosted at the MLA hostel in Srinagar.

Today’s attack occurred when Rashid was holding a press conference at the Delhi Press Club.

Hindu Sena leader Vishnu Gupta later claimed responsibility for the attack. The Delhi Police later detained two people in connection with the case.

An angry Rashid later said, “What has happened to (Sudheendra) Kulkarni has happened to me. The world can see where India stands..you used to say Pakistan is being talibanized but this happens in India:.”

Rashid went on to ‘salute’ Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

“We believed in the India of Mahatma Gandhi not of Togadia and Hindu Mahasabha…I salute Jinnah that he created a separate Pakistan because he knew that they will not let Muslims live in India,” he said.

“Mr. Modi should say sorry to the nation,” he added.

Writers returning awards for garnering publicity

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Afternoon Voice

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October 19, 2015

More than 20 writers of different languages across the nation have returned their Sahitya Akademi awards so far. It has been reported that all writers were hurt with the spread of communal tension and rising intolerance in India. Writers are returning their Sahitya Akademi awards as a mark of their protest against the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to me writers are raking up the issue of Dadri incident deliberately to target Modi. Their actions seem to be provoked by those who cannot stand the popularity of the PM in the globe, among many world leaders and the good performance overall by his government and the ministers. The opposition and other opponents had perhaps, never expected that Modi and his group of ministers could the run the government at the centre quite effectively. He also has won the goodwill of several world leaders and other dignitaries of various fields. They all thought, rather had a notion that Modi as PM will prove to be a failure.

Now the main questions to those pseudo-intellectuals, intelligentsia: Why did the main opposition party (which was then ruling) and these literati and writers remain silent after Bhagalpur riots? Where was the intelligentsia when 60 people died in the Muzaffarpur Nagar? When Taslima Nasrin was attacked in 2007, where were these writers?

Did not these writers have something called conscience and concern then? Why did they not come forward to return their awards then? And did not attack the erstwhile government? The great joke is that one of the writers mentioned about Sikhs riots which occurred 31 years ago, as a reason to return her award! So she had her conscience pricked only after 31 years and only when there was a BJP government with Modi as PM! Look at these latest killing in the Congress ruled states: A writer was killed in Bangalore (Karnataka) a few months ago? Why were these intellectuals silent? Because Karnataka is ruled by Congress?

Nobody protested or returned awards when Narendra Dabholkar was killed. Why because the state was then ruled by Congress? Why none of them showed any concern when an Indian soldier was brutally beheaded and many more being killed in the ceasefire violations, by the enemy nation, from across the Indian border? So the present actions by these writers and so-called intellectuals clearly show that they could tolerate all those events till a couple of years ago?

As matured writers, is it proper for them to hype unfortunate events to assert intellectual supremacy? Why not rise above prejudices and condemn every killing irrespective of religion? And finally, I would like to ask whether these writers have returned the prize money received along with the awards? Have they all sent their cheques to Sahitya Akademi? It’s learnt that some of them had just announced their decision but are yet to formally inform the Akademi? Why? Did they do so to seek cheap publicity and garner media attention? Have you all really returned the award citation and other benefits that you must have accrued post receipt of awards?

Krishna Kumar