The Bombay High Court on Thursday termed as “shocking” the police crackdown on hotels in suburban Malwani area even as the Maharashtra government sought time from it to justify its action taken against the couples during the raids.
A division bench of justices V M Kanade and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi was hearing a petition filed by Khar resident Sumeer Sabharwal terming the raids as “illegal, intrusive and unconstitutional” and seeking action against the police officials concerned.
The petition sought investigation by an independent agency into the incident and for it to be monitored by the high court.
Public prosecutor Sandeep Shinde sought time to take instructions and justify the police action.
The bench while adjourning the petition to September 3 remarked, “What is happening in Maharashtra? Shocking…”
The court issued notice to all the respondents, including Maharashtra Home Minister, a portfolio currently held by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
On August 6, the police had cracked down on hotels and bars in suburban Malwani area and had imposed fine on several couples on charges of indecency.
“The police’s raid has infringed upon a citizen’s fundamental right to privacy. The raid is illegal, unconstitutional and intrusive,” the petition states.
Apart from inquiry and action against the police team that conducted the raid, the petition has sought for proceedings initiated against the couples to be quashed and cancellation of the fine amount.
The petition has also sought compensation for the couples.
Activists of Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ANS) on Thursday took out a march to mark the second death anniversary of anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar who was gunned down on this day two years ago on a city bridge here while taking a morning walk.
The marchers were led by Dabholkar’s son Hamid and daughter Mukta who have taken up the cause for which their father fought his whole life, as they walked up to the bridge way and tied black ribbons as a token of their grief and also protest for the authorities’ failure to track down the killers so far.
Dabholkar, one of the torch bearers of the rationalist movement in Maharashtra, was shot dead from a close range in broad daylight by unknown gunmen who are believed to have followed him when he was taking his customary morning walk.
Hamid said, “We are pained that law enforcement machinery has not been able to nab the murderers of Dabholkar. We will continue to demand justice and fight for the ideals he stood for.
“All citizens should make a common cause with the ANS to eradicate superstitions from the social mindset.”
After an unsuccessful investigation by Pune police under the then commissioner Gulabrao Pol — who himself was later accused of employing superstitious methods to find the killers — the Bombay high court transferred the case to the CBI in May 2014 in an order passed in a PIL.
However, no breakthrough has been made so far in the investigation.
Maharashtra was rocked by the murder of another rationalist Govind Pansare a few months back in Kolhapur in a similar fashion by unknown gunmen when he was out for a morning walk.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday sent documentary evidence to enable the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issue a Red Corner notice against Lalit Modi.
The former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman has been accused of financial irregularities, including money laundering relating in the operations of various editions of the franchise-based T20 cricket tournament.
A Red Corner notice will help Interpol assist India in bringing Modi to face investigation for corruption in his native country. The 49-year-old former cricket administrator is currently living in London, after leaving India in 2010. Once the alert is sounded, the Interpol seeks to arrest the person concerned in any part of the world and notifies that country to take his or her custody for further action at their end.
It’s worth noting that last week, Parliament’s Monsoon Session witnessed a complete wash-out with the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party and main opposition Congress locked in the issues over Modi controversy.
Earlier, Enforcement Directorate (ED) on August 11 officially moved for the Red Corner notice against Modi on the basis of a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued by a special Mumbai court. ED claimed that Modi manipulated the process of assigning broadcast rights of the IPL in 2009, reportedly in exchange for a kickback in tune of over 125 crores.
Justice M L Tahilyani, who had sentenced Pakistan terrorist Mohamed Ajmal Kasab to death for his role in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, retires tomorrow as the Bombay High Court Judge after 28 years of distinguished judicial service.
Justice Tahilyani is slated to take up a new assignment as the Lokayukta of Maharashtra on August 24.
Justice Tahilyani was given a fond farewell by lawyers affiliated to the Advocates Association of Western India (AAWI) in the Bombay High Court.
During his tenure as a sessions judge in Mumbai, Judge Tahilyani had tried many sensational cases, including the murder cases of music baron Gulshan Kumar and trade union leader-MP Datta Samant and also the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case in which Kasab was executed.
Tahaliyani began his career in 1987 as a metropolitan magistrate in a Bandra court. He was appointed as Additional Sessions judge in Mumbai Sessions Court in 1997.
He was promoted as Principal Judge in the city’s civil and Sessions Court in early 2000 prior to taking up the assignment in the HC as Registrar (inspection). He was appointed as a judge in the 26/11 trial in 2009. He was also posted as a special judge to handle CBI cases.
The Supreme Court, in its judgement confirming the Bombay High Court order on Kasab’s death sentence, praised Justice Tahilyani for exemplary handling of records.
The SC observed that “in the course of hearing of appeal (of Kasab), we also came to know the trial Judge M L Tahilyani. From the records of the case, he appears to be stern, no-nonsense person. But he is a true flag-bearer of the rule of law in this country. The manner in which he conducted the trial and maintained the record is exemplary.”
In 2010, Justice Tahilyani was promoted as a Judge of the Bombay HC.
Felicitating Justice Tahilyani at a function organised by AAWI, senior lawyer S R Chitnis described him as an “outspoken Judge.” Apart from listening to advocates’ arguments, he (Tahilyani) would directly ask questions to the litigants to find out the truth, Chitnis said.
In his court, many couples had opted for compromise in domestic violence cases instead of moving on with litigations.
“He always kept the court atmosphere tension-free, which benefitted junior lawyers. He disposed of a large number of appeals under Prevention of Corruption Act,” said another senior lawyer Ashok Mundargi.
The conviction rate in theft cases of railway properties has witnessed a steep fall in Mumbai Division of Central Railway (CR), according to official data.
Figures obtained from the Mumbai division of Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Central Railway reveal that in 2012, total 341 accused were arrested, out of which 179 (52 per cent) were convicted by the court.
The conviction ratio dropped in 2013, when 378 accused were arrested and only 141 (37 per cent) were brought to book, the data said.
The year 2014 saw further dip in conviction, when 314 offenders were arrested and only 89 (28 per cent) of them were convicted.
The current year has seen the steepest fall in the conviction rate, as up to April 2015, 104 accused were arrested but only 9 out of them (8 per cent) were convicted by the court, as per the data.
These accused were booked by the RPF for allegedly stealing the equipment and fittings of the local and mail trains, such as fans, handles, cushion, wires, signalling tools, steel sheets, clamps, etc. The parts are stolen from the trains while they are parked in stabling or carshed, a senior RPF officer said.
Signalling fittings are preferred by the thieves, while fittings from electrical, mechanical, pathway, workshop, stores and overhead equipment are also stolen and regularly sold as scrap in the market, he said.
On the successful detection of the cases, the official said, “Better surveillance and fixing the responsibility on the staff and proper follow-up with investigative officials have always helped us.”
Asked to comment on the falling rate of conviction, he said, “Now-a-days, thieves have become smart and they have started availing legal options. Prevailing laws, of which they take undue advantage, need to be made more stricter.”
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Ramesh Kadam, arrested in a multi-crore corruption case, has approached the Bombay High Court seeking to quash the case against him.
Kadam, accused of misappropriating over Rs. 130 crore from the funds of Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe Magasvargiya Vikas Mahamandal which he headed as chairman, was arrested by the state CID two days back.
Kadam’s lawyer Niteen Pradhan said a petition seeking to quash the case has been filed in the High Court.
The petition came up for hearing today before a division bench headed by Justice RV More which directed the CID to file its reply by August 31.
Kadam, who was on the run for over a month, was arrested from a five-star hotel near Pune.
It is alleged that Kadam had transferred over Rs. 130 crore funds to the organisations headed by him. The money was meant for the welfare of backward communities for which the corporation was set up.
Apart from Kadam, three others were also arrested. The accused have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Corruption Act.
The CID had launched a massive hunt for Kadam since July after he was booked for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore scam.
The probe against Kadam was initiated last year when the Congress-NCP alliance was in power in Maharashtra, and the current BJP government handed it over to the CID.
Wholesale onion prices Thursday hit two year high of Rs. 4,900 per quintal, after it shot up by Rs. 400 at the country’s largest bulb wholesale market in Lasalgaon, Nashik.
As per NHRDF data, onions which were selling at a wholesale price of Rs. 4,500 per quintal at Lasalgaon, rose to Rs. 4,900 per quintal.
“Prices have today touched two-year high at Lasalgaon mainly due to decline in supplies as harvesting of onion has been delayed and now it seems that there will also be fall in production of kharif onion,” National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) Director R P Gupta said.
Gupta said that there are chances of substantial decline in kharif onion production from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh due to deficient rainfall, while there is also a threat of drought in these states.
“Besides, the harvesting of onion has got delayed in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,” he added.
Further, the stored rabi onion in the country has halved to 14 lakh tonnes from 28 lakh tonnes in July.
Total onion production is estimated to be at 189 lakh tonnes in 2014-15 crop year (July-June), slightly lower than 194 lakh tonnes, a year ago.
In order to keep prices of onions in check and ensure smooth supplies, the centre has already asked state-owned MMTC to float a global tender for import of 10,000 tonnes of onions.
A year has passed since a special MCOCA court had concluded trial in the case of July 2006 serial train blasts, in which 188 people lost their lives, but the court is yet to deliver its verdict.
On August 19 last year, special judge YD Shinde concluded the trial and declared a tentative date of passing judgment as September 19, 2014. But even after a year no judgment has been declared.
The prosecuting agency, state Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), had examined 200 witnesses in the case against 13 accused, while the defence lawyers examined a total of 40 witnesses.
Asked about the reason behind the delay in delivering verdict, special public prosecutor Raja Thakare, who appeared for the ATS in this case, said the court must be ensuring that all the evidence and arguments of both the prosecution and defence is covered in the judgment and there are no loose ends.
“During the trial, we (prosecution and defence lawyers) submit a lot of evidence and judgments in support of our arguments. All that has to be perused and considered by the judge before passing judgment. It is a huge task,” Thakare said.
The trial concluded last year after a period of over seven years during which all the 13 arrested accused stayed in prison.
The names of the 13 accused are Faisal Shaikh, Ali Bashir Khan, Mohammad Ali, Majid Shafi, Sajid Ansari, Kamal Ansari, Ethesham Siddiqui, Zameer Shaikh, Sohail Shaikh, Muzammil Shaikh, Tanvir Ansari, Naveed Hussain and Abdul Shaikh.
As per the prosecution’s case, as many as 188 people were killed and over 800 injured when serial explosions ripped apart the first class compartments of Mumbai’s suburban trains on July 11, 2006.
The blast occurred between Khar Road and Santacruz, Bandra and Khar Road, Jogeshwari and Mahim Junction, Mira Road and Bhayander, Matunga and Mahim Junction, and Borivli.
There is an agreement and disagreement, uproar and outrage over Pakistan’s announcement that it’s national security adviser Sartaj Aziz will meet Hurriyat Conference leaders in New Delhi. Hours after this declaration, all Hurriyat members were placed under house arrest, later on all these Kashmiri separatist leaders were released by authorities in Srinagar. They have still detained Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who has shown his firm willingness to meet Pakistani representative. While Geelani and Mirwaiz have accepted the invitation, JKLF chief Yasin Malik said his party is yet to take a final call. Mirwaiz Umar will lead a high level delegation for the reception followed by the meeting on August 23, while Geelani is likely to travel on August 24. During the house arrest, authorities put up stop gates and deployed police personnel outside the houses before informing the separatist leaders not to step out. The steps were taken to prevent the separatists from going to Delhi to meet Sartaj Aziz.
In a provocative act the Pakistan High Commission had called hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani for a meeting with Aziz and invited moderate separatist Kashmiri leaders including its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq for a reception on August 23. Last July, India called off talks with Pakistan because Kashmiri separatists were invited before a meeting of foreign secretaries. Unfazed by India’s strong reservations, Pakistan said it will go ahead with its engagement with Kashmiri separatist leaders when National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz goes to New Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval. Anyway, Sartaj Aziz is shrewd Pakistan patriot and he is quite capable of brainwashing the separatists.
The war with India cost Pakistan an economical price, when the latter lost the half a billion dollars it had coming from the Consortium for Pakistan through the United States. Ayub Khan could not suffer the aftermath and fall from the presidency after surrendering the presidential power to Army Commander General Yahya Khan in 1969. Escalating the further crises, the country was floundered, losing East-Pakistan after India again attacked Pakistan six years later, with the economy in great jeopardy without United States’ assistance. Sartaj Aziz did not join the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but was hostile towards the issue of nationalisation. Aziz criticised Bhutto for intensifying the government control of the privatised mega-corporations, citing that “Bhutto’s nationalization failed to make up for the “mismatch” between economic reality and policy formulation. In protest, Aziz departed from Pakistan in 1971, joining the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization where he continued till 1975, and later joined the staff of the International Fund for Agricultural Development in 1978.
Geelani is a separatist leader from Jammu and Kashmir. He was previously a member of Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir but later on founded his own party by the name of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat. He has served as the chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, a conglomerate of separatist parties in Jammu and Kashmir. He was an MLA from the Sopore constituency of Jammu and Kashmir three times. Masarat Alam is expected to be the successor to Geelani. Geelani, in general, has taken the position that Kashmir must have the right of self-determination, but specifically advocates the position of union with Pakistan. He has been seen as close to the Pakistani government, but has not shied away from criticising that country’s policies in the past. He was particularly critical of the Kargil episode, saying that while Pakistan had been supporting “the indigenous struggle of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, morally, diplomatically and politically, this does not mean Pakistan can take a decision on our behalf”. Geelani has been viewed as a key leader in Kashmir. In October 2013, he was re-elected to the three-year term as chairman of Hurriyat Conference (G), a faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, which split up in 2003.
On November 29, 2010 Geelani, along with writer Arundhati Roy, Maoist Varavara Rao and three others was charged under “sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between classes), 153B, 504 insult intended to provoke breach of peace and under section 505 (false statement, rumour circulated with intent to cause mutiny or offence against public peace)… to be read with Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967″. The charges, which carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, were the result of a seminar they gave in New Delhi titled “Azadi-the Only Way”, at which Geelani was heckled.
Geelani, who would settle for nothing less than right to self-determination as solution of the Kashmir issue, has taken a leaf from former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s book while calling for a solution within the ambit of humanism.
Mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Hafiz Saeed is believed to have visited LeT camps and motivated recruits to kill Hindus on Thursday.
Captured Pakistani terrorist Mohammad Naved Yakub Naved revealed to the NIA that Saeed also gave motivational speeches to fight jihad against India.
Meanwhile, Lashker-e-Taiba militant Naved Yakub was flown back to Srinagar by the National Investigation Agency for pursuing certain leads thrown up during his interrogation.
After completing his polygraph test in the national capital, which continued for 10 hours with a medical break in between, Naved, who is in his early 20s and hails from Faisalabad area of Pakistan, was brought in a special plane to J&K yesterday.
NIA has registered a case under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against Naved and his accomplice who had fired on a BSF convoy on August five killing two personnel.
Naved was subjected to lie detector test on Tuesday as he had made ‘contradictory and misleading’ statements about his Indian contacts and the route taken his group to infiltrate India.
During the test for which Naved had given written consent, he is believed to have been questioned about how many people were with him when the group infiltrated Jammu and Kashmir and people he had met and lived with during his two-month stay in the state.
The NIA has also taken DNA and voice samples of Naved who was overpowered by the locals following the attack on a BSF bus in Udhampur district of Jammu. His accomplice Mohammed Noman alias Momin was killed in retaliatory firing by the BSF.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday termed as “shocking” the police crackdown on hotels in suburban Malwani area even as the Maharashtra government sought time from it to justify its action taken against the couples during the raids.
Activists of Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ANS) on Thursday took out a march to mark the second death anniversary of anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar who was gunned down on this day two years ago on a city bridge here while taking a morning walk.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday sent documentary evidence to enable the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) issue a Red Corner notice against Lalit Modi.
Mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Hafiz Saeed is believed to have visited LeT camps and motivated recruits to kill Hindus on Thursday.