Maharashtra government has filed an appeal in the Bombay High Court against an order of special TADA court which reversed the Director General of Prisons Meera Borwankar’s order to shift the gangster Abu Salem from Taloja prison to Thane prison.

The appeal came up before a division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Anuja Prabhudessai which said it would hear it on February 23.

Salem, who was deported from Portugal in 2005, has also been asked to file an affidavit stating his stand.

Borwankar had recently transferred Salem from Taloja to Thane. She relied on a letter by Portuguese government and also a report of special investigation team of the police, both of which said there was a threat to his life.

Salem, however, applied to the TADA court, opposing the transfer from Taloja prison, saying that the threat to his life was greater in other prisons.

His lawyer pointed out that the transfer order was passed without the court’s permission. As Salem was in judicial custody in the builder Pradeep Jain murder case, the TADA court passed an order reversing the transfer order.

Salem faced threat from a fellow 1993 Mumbai blasts accused Mustafa Dossa and fugitive gangster Chotta Shakeel, his lawyer had said.

An inmate of Taloja jail had shot Salem a few months ago but he escaped with a minor injury to hand. He was convicted by the TADA court in the Jain murder case two days ago.

All India B****** (AIB)’s controversy mired AIB knockout of Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh aired January 28th, 2015. An FIR had been filed against the actors and the AIB comedians, who were forced to take down the show after public outcry.

In a petition filed in the Bombay High Court against the comedy group, they said the “roast” format of comedy was new in India but it had been in existence since 1949, with the first ever roast taking place in New York.

A roast is an event in which a guest, mostly a celebrity, is subjected to jokes, insults and mockery. The event created for television in the US, comes from the word ‘toast’, originating as a comedic art from New York in 1949. It’s not exactly insults all the way, but is also littered with sporadic praise of the celebrities being roasted. During the hearing AIB was quoted saying, “AIB did not intend to insult the modesty of any woman. Further, none of the women on whom the jokes were made raised any grievance about the same. In light of the aforesaid, the ingredients of Section 509 (insult to modesty of women) of the Indian Penal Code are also not attracted.”

The group went on to elaborate on the style of comedy and nuances of the performance. The high court on Tuesday restrained the police from arresting the members on the basis of the FIR filed in Mumbai.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has delegated powers to take action in disciplinary cases against officials — other than senior bureaucrats — of the departments held by him to the concerned ministers of state.

Earlier, the Chief Minister dealt with disciplinary action cases against IAS officers, divisional and regional heads, managing directors of government corporations and those with pay scale of more than Rs 10,650, a government statement here said.

Now, as per amendment to the existing rule, cases against officials with minimum pay of Rs 8,700 and above in General Administration, Urban Development, Home, Law and Judiciary, Ports, Tourism, Information and Publicity, Former Servicemen Welfare and Skill Development will be handled by the Chief Minister.

Terming it as a “serious” incident, National Human Rights Commission on Wednesday issued a notice to the Maharashtra Government seeking a report over attack on social activist Govind Pansare and his wife.

According to an official statement released today, the Commission issued notices to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, Maharashtra, calling for reports within four weeks.

“The Commission considers the incident as very serious and has observed that it is the duty of the state to recognise and acknowledge the valuable contributions made by Human Rights Defenders and create an environment in which they can act safely and feely,” the statement said.

The notice was issued after NHRC took suomotu cognisance of media reports that social activist, Govind Pansare and his wife were shot at by some unidentified persons in Kolhapur, Maharashtra on February 16.

According to media reports, both of them had to undergo several surgeries and were battling for life. 78-year-old Pansare was of late leading an anti-toll movement in Kolhapur.

The Indian Coast Guard intercepted a Russian vessel around 110 nautical miles from the Mumbai coast. “We have intercepted MV Sevastopol which was trying to cross the Indian waters in the wee hours on Wednesday,” said a Coast Guard official.

An order to arrest the ship had been issued by the Madras High Court following a commercial dispute. The ship moved from a location yesterday and had switched off all the communication channels and lights. “We tried to locate it. Later, we launched a Dornier aircraft which found it off Mumbai,” said the officer.

“We approached the vessel and tried to establish communication. Only after we threatened to use force, the crew responded and switched on the lights. The Coast Guard is likely to ask the company with which the ship owner had a dispute to file a contempt application before the Madras High Court,” said the officer.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) has spent Rs. 4.29 crore on air travel from April, 2001 to March, 2014, with most expenses incurred for study tours, an RTI query revealed.

MMRDA is executing developmental projects worth thousands of crores in the MMR region comprising Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Palghar and Raigad districts.

In the name of project execution, MMRDA has spent nearly Rs. 4.29 crore on air travels with a major chunk of it comprising travel for ‘study tours’ by ministers and senior officials like chief secretary, urban development secretary, and even PA’s of Ministers.

The information came to light following an RTI filed by activist Anil Galgali on June 23, 2014 with MMRDA, seeking information on expenses incurred by it on domestic and international air travel, which was responded on February 11, 2015.

Desk Officer V G Shinde provided the information prepared by the accounts department, which detailed that since April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2014, MMRDA has spent Rs. 1,42,38,431 on domestic air travel for 626 occasions like meetings, study tours or other reasons.

MMRDA has also spent Rs. 2,86,35,303 on 39 international trips for the same reasons.

These foreign jaunts comprised MMRDA officials, chief minister, state ministers, chief secretary, Urban development Secretary, Commissioner BMC GM BEST, and PA of Ministers.

The highest spending on air tickets for a single trip was Rs. 49,18,547, which was done during a study tour to Comprehensive Transport Study Programme (CTS) from November 13, 2005 to November 26, 2005 for 14 days to Malaysia, China, Canada, USA, Japan, Shanghai, Tokyo and Toronto.