The Bombay High Court has acquitted a South African woman of the charges of possessing narcotic substance after observing that the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) failed to follow procedure of searching an accused in the presence of a gazetted officer or a magistrate.
The High Court, while acquitting 24-year-old South African national Thulile Goodness Dhalmini, observed that the AIU had failed to follow the procedure while checking her baggage as prescribed in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act.
Thulile was intercepted by AIU on December 30, 2009 at the city’s international airport and after search, was found carrying 1,683 grams of heroin in a false bottom of her bag.
During questioning, Thulile said she had arrived at Hyderabad from Johannesburg on December 16, 2009 on a multiple entry Indian visa. The same day she flew to Delhi where she befriended one Deepak. She shopped for clothes in Delhi and Deepak allegedly offered to buy her a suitcase. It was this suitcase which contained the heroin.
Thulile’s lawyer Ayaz Khan argued that the accused was not aware that there was a false bottom in the bag which contained the drugs.
The special NDPS court had in October 2012 convicted Thulile and sentenced her to 15 years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs one lakh.
Khan argued before the High Court that the accused person has a right under section 50 of the NDPS Act to be searched only before a gazetted officer or a magistrate. The officers have to inform the accused of this right and then carry out the search. This was not done in Thulile’s case.
Accepting this, the High Court noted that informing an accused of his or her right is “not an empty formality”.
“Such a requirement of law prescribed under section 50 cannot be dealt with lightly by the courts dealing with the trial of such offences. It is well settled that the offence committed under NDPS Act is a grave one, hence, procedural safeguards provided therein have to be strictly complied with,” the court noted.
While setting aside Thulile’s conviction and sentence, the court recently held that the conviction was vitiated on account of non-compliance of section 50 of the NDPS Act.
The Television Journalists’ Association (TVJA) demanded, that Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte act against illegal hawkers, after condemning an attack by hawkers on a Hindi TV news channel journalist, a couple of days ago.
“The problem of illegal hawkers is being faced across the city and it has led to a serious law and order problem. If a journalist can become their target then what will happen to a common man,” TVJA president Vilas Athawale said after meeting Kunte.
A delegation led by Athawale also handed over a representation to the civic body chief on the issue.
“Arrogance of illegal hawkers is on the rise. It has become more of a social issue,” TVJA general secretary Prasad Kathe said.
Assuring journalists that the issue of illegal hawking would be discussed with the committee of hawkers, Kunte said, “The civic body has been implementing the Supreme Court’s guidelines on hawkers. The issue of illegal hawkers will be discussed with the street vendors committee”.
“We will see to it that such incidents are not repeated in future,” he said.
On April 26, a Hindi TV news channel journalist Sanjay Prasad and his wife were attacked by six men after he objected to lewd remarks passed at his wife at suburban Malad’s Sainath Market.
Two people have been arrested in the case and a hunt is on for three more people, sources said.
Recently, the Supreme Court has kept aside the interim bail plea of Tehelka founder Tarun Tejpal in the rape and sexual assault case against him but sought the Goa government’s response to his petition seeking regular bail. Appearing for Tejpal, senior advocate Harish Salve told a bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam, Justices Ranjan Gogoi and NV Ramana that the trial would take a long time as the prosecution has cited 152 witnesses and has not completed formalities of providing the accused with the vital CCTV footage of the hotel in Goa where the alleged sexual assault took place in November last year. However, the bench rejected his application and said that they will hear the interim bail application after hearing the prosecution. SC issued notice to the Goa government seeking its response within three weeks to Tejpal’s bail plea and posted the petition for hearing in May. No one is there to help Tejpal to skip the jail. Even Kapil Sibal has not come to his rescue. Sibal is busy saving his own seat, where he is expected to lose pretty badly. Poor chap will have to pay for his misdeeds.
Tarun Tejpal, accused of raping a younger colleague in Goa earlier this month was seen troubled for the first time. He has done this heinous crime, earlier he was known as ‘King of Sting Operation’ and shocked many with his reports and stings. He has always acted as a ‘Media Guard’ for Congress. He behaved like a sharp-shooter for Congress and attacked those who went against it. Now, his time has come, he is running from pillar to post to save his own skin. Tehelka was never fair or free. It is the easiest thing to be on the side of entrenched powers and against those who seek to challenge them. I think, opposition party got readymade target to settle their scores against this Congress stooge. Tejpal got shocked when he was summoned by Goa police for interrogations. He told the Goa Police that he will not comply with the given deadline for his interrogation. He has written to the police, claiming that its notice asking him to present himself in Goa today was received late last night, which didn’t give him enough time to reach there today. His request for anticipatory bail was denied by Delhi High Court.
Tejpal’s lawyers told the court that he is innocent, and that the encounter that’s being described as rape was “light hearted bantering.” Person who has backing of Congress party and with the backing of party president, you can think how safe he is. Goa police won’t decide but Tejpal will decide when to appear before Goa police. Journalist who had accused him of sexual assault had ardently challenged his version of events, and accused Tehelka and her boss, Shoma Chaudhury, of trying to engineer a cover-up. She quit Tehelka after his arrest. Chaudhury also resigned from Tehelka after days of being pelted with criticism for her handling of the reporter’s complaint, sent to her via an email that was leaked. The power emanates from the fact that the superior can remove the subordinate from work at will. It dampens the employee’s spirit and affects her sense of judgment. It is not easy to fight such a case. It entails going public with something that one may want to forget. Tarun Tejpal is like many corporate honchos and others in high places who flaunt their position and power to explore and exploit. Till that time, women go into hiding to protect their identity and hesitate to openly challenge their perverted colleagues. Men will continue to assume that women are indeed weak and, for them, the shame of being exposed is greater than the shame of being molested. The Tehelka employee deserves praise for showing the way. When a woman who is sexually harassed complains boldly, belying the perpetrator’s belief that she will never do so, he tries the next trick of making society believe that the ‘encounter’ was ‘consensual.’
Surprisingly, there are rumours doing rounds about Sibal and Tejpal’s family relations. Sibal is also one of the financers of Tehelka magazine. However, Sibal have jumped to his own defense, seemingly needlessly. Either, he has persecution complex, or the accusations are true. If the former is true, he is unfit to be a cabinet minister. The post requires a fair bit of equanimity, and persecution complex is a fairly serious personality disorder. If the latter is true then he is been responsible for funding a criminal enterprise. Even assuming that he was not privy to the lurid details, he should resign on moral grounds. Out of office, he may even be able to defend Tehelka and Tejpal and perhaps salvage some of the value of any investment he might have allegedly made. After all, no one disputes that he is a brilliant lawyer. Harassment in the workplace is not just about a man taking advantage of a woman out of sexual desire. It is about power being drilled by a superior over his woman subordinate.
If it’s true that TarunTejpal, NeenaTejpal and ShomaChoudhury made 17 crores out of just the 2013 edition of Thinkfest (not to mention their other lucrative ventures), then this resignation has no meaning. Her comments about the victim were not commendable. It was said that the content of the meeting should not be discussed outside. It almost seems that Tehelka was more like an intellectual fashion accessory for Tarun Tejpal, Neena Tejpal and Shoma Choudhury. She was under fire from various quarters, including the media fraternity, for the way she handled a junior colleague’s sexual harassment charge against Tejpal. According to Chaudhury, since the “devastating allegation’’ was first brought to her notice on November 18, she had taken serious actions in response to this complaint. Tejpal seems to be trapped in the same web which he used to weave for others. Ironically, unknowingly Shoma has pushed him in this trap. The victim forced Chaudhury to extract an unconditional apology from Tejpal, which in court of law is admission of guilt. Without this letter and in absence of CCTV footage, the victim’s and Tejpal’s word are equally admissible in court. Now, the prosecution has a watertight case against him. It’s not the “allegations in media” Shoma, it’s in the letter written by the victim to you and also obvious to most people who noticed your cover-up attempts. There is no ‘malicious’ campaign – it’s what the victim felt and wrote to you, understandably so. Unless, women shrug off their affiliations and begin to think as only women, crimes like sexual harassment will continue to take place.
In this entire rape saga, one question is still remains unanswered, why Tejpal blamed BJP for conspiring against him and why Congress is still silence over the entire saga? Congress means to say that the rape is ok if the rapist is TarunTejpal or TarunTejpal wants to say that the girl who is been raped is stalled by BJP in his office who is also his daughter’s sister? Why so much goof up?
A 14 year old boy died and his father sustained injuries after they were hit by a speeding tanker at SV road, Goregaon. The deceased has been identified as Omar (14) and Mayuresh (40) respectively. Three pedestrians too sustained injuries.
Omar accompanied by his father Mayuresh was returning home from school. Suddenly a water tanker whose break failed hit them and three pedestrians too were present on the spot.
After the accident, both Omar and Mayuresh were rushed to Siddharth hospital but the former was declared dead before admission. The accused driver has been identified as Vanram Jaiswal.
The deceased Omar was studying in ninth standard at Vivek Vidyalay in Goregoan. He is survived by his parents.
The Investigation officer Sarita Latavdoker associated with Goregoan police station said, “We have arrested the driver of the water tanker. As per preliminary investigation it was revealed that the vehicle’s break had failed which resulted into accident. We have booked the the accused under sections 279, 337, 338, 304 of the Indian penal code.”
“The deceased’s body has been sent to Cooper hospital for autopsy and we are interrogating the case” the investigation officer further added.
The Shiv Sena which had lost election in five constituencies of the state due to the division of Marathi votes in 2009 general election is confident of performing better in the current Lok Sabha election. Last time, the MNS had played spoilsport by fielding candidates against Shiv Sena in 12 Lok Sabha seats which resulted into the division of Marathi votes. According to sources, Marathi voters have voted for Shiv Sena to avoid the split of votes.
Voters have realised that Congress will benefit if they vote for MNS. Marathi voters had huge expectations from the MNS but the party has let them down. The MNS has been unable gain foothold in other areas of the state and has managed to become only a Mumbai centric party. People are also unhappy with the leadership of Raj Thackeray who manages to draw huge crowds but fails to work at the grassroots level. Thus the MNS strategy to cut votes of Shiv Sena has backfired this time.
Arvind Sawant, Shiv Sena candidate from South Mumbai said, “This time more and more Marathi voters voted for us as they are unhappy with the double standards of MNS. Love for Balasaheb Thackeray forced Marathi people to vote for Shiv Sena. MNS fielded candidate against us to split Marathi votes but voters are aware about the reality now.”
Gajanan Kirtikar, Shiv Sena candidate from Mumbai North West said, “In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections Marathi people voted for MNS which made Congress task easy. But this time Marathi voters voted for Shiv Sena in large numbers to avoid split of votes.”
MNS has fielded three candidates in Mumbai — Bala Nandgaonkar (Mumbai South), director-actor Mahesh Manjrekar (Mumbai North West) and Aditya Shirodkar (Mumbai South Central). Others are Raju Patil (Kalyan-Dombivili), Pradeep Pawar (Nashik), Deepak Paigude (Pune), Suresh Mhatre (Bhiwandi) and Abhijit Panse (Thane).
According to senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde, “Unlike 2009, response to MNS from voters in Mumbai was lukewarm. Although MNS has a following, it was not strong enough to make a dent against candidates fielded by BJP-led alliance. I do not see MNS defeating any of our alliance candidates in Mumbai or elsewhere.”
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah hit back at NarendraModi on Monday, saying that Kashmiri Pandits did not leave the state during his father Farooq Abdullah’s regime, but because of BJP rule. “Kashmiri Pandits did not leave Kashmir during Farooq Abdullah’s government. They left Kashmir because of BJP and its partners,” he said.
Modi had earlier in the day said that members of the community fled from the state due to Farooq Abdullah’s misrule.
Due to communal politics of Abdullah family, Kashmiri Pandits were removed from their homes only due to their religion. Is this secularism? Just for the sake of politics, Dr. Abdullah’s family communalised J&K, which is a land of Sufism and harmony,” Modi said.
“Modiji doesn’t have the courage to come to Kashmir. He wants to be the PM of the country but doesn’t have the courage to come to Kashmir,” Omar taunted. “I don’t think the people of Kashmir can have a place for Modi in their hearts,” he added.
After his press conference, Omar took to Twitter to speak further on the issue. He tweeted, “Modi forgets that Sheikh Abdullah chose a secular India rather than Muslim Pakistan & then spent 2 decades incarcerated but didn’t waver.”
“If there is one thing Kashmir & Kashmiris don’t need from Modi it’s a lecture on secularism. Kashmir gave the world Kashmiryat& tolerance,” said another tweet from the CM.
“In 1947 when Hindu Muslim violence swept the country as far north as Jammu Kashmir was a beacon of tolerance, an example to the rest. Lastly if Modi lies so much about J&K &it’s absence of reservation, RTI. educationEtc what else is he lying about when he speaks?,” Omar further tweeted.
After BharatiyaJanata Party Prime Ministerial candidate NarendraModi accused Congress leader Ahmed Patel of being involved in a hawala racket, the Congress has hit back. The Congress has accused Modi of having links with a hawala operator.
The Congress claimed that the Enforcement Directorate of Surat and Ahmedabad had unearthed aRs 700 crorehawala scam after conducting raids at hawala operator AfrozPhatta’s home, who the party claims, is a known BJP supporter. The Congress has also released photographs of Modi with Phatta.
“The ED raids were conducted at the premises of AfrozPhatta who is seen at many event of Modi and and even at Modi’s residence,” said Congress leader RandeepSurjewala.
The Congress accused Modi of having underworld links, questioning his links with underworld don BabluSrivastava.
Earlier on Saturday, addressing a meeting in Bharuch in Gujarat, Modi had alleged that an unnamed “close confidante” is involved in a multi-crorehawala racket.
Modi had said the Central Government’s Income Tax department had recently raided 60 firms involved in mutton export, which allegedly had links to the “close confidante”.
The BJP today said its government in Rajasthan would investigate deals linked to Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, after the national election.
“It is not a matter of vendetta, but it is an electoral promise of our government in Rajasthan,” the BJP’s spokesperson NirmalaSitharaman said. “Once the model code of conduct is lifted, the government will probe all the instances of malpractices during the Ashok Gehlot government. Every one of them will be investigated and action will be taken, and that includes Vadra.”
Mr Vadra, who is married to Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka, is accused of making a fortune through sweetheart land deals in Congress-ruled states like Haryana and Rajasthan. The Congress lost Rajasthan to the BJP in last year’s state elections.
The BJP and its prime ministerial candidate NarendraModi have been targeting Mr Vadra almost daily during their campaigns, but on Sunday, the party launched its strongest offensive so far, in the form of a video named “the Robert Vadra model of development”.
Along with the 8-minute video, the BJP also released a six-page booklet titled ‘Damadshree (son-in-law)’ which refers to the alleged deals of Mr Vadra in Rajasthan and Haryana.
The party says Mr Vadra’s deals were a “textbook case of corruption and crony capitalism under state patronage”.
In response, the Congress said old and baseless allegations were being regurgitated as the BJP was rattled by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s campaign in Raebareli and Amethi.
The “Vadra model of development” was the BJP’s direct answer to Sonia Gandhi’s attack on NarendraModi’s Gujarat model of development. On Saturday, at a rally in Punjab, she described NarendraModi’s model as destructive and divisive and said, “God save the country from this sort of model. It has many problems.”
Crossing the roads, travelling through the hinterlands of Rae Bareli, several eyes gaze the cameras as they wait for the Gandhi family star campaigner Priyanka to visit her mother Sonia’s constituency. The one feeling that some said and some unsaid words carried was that all this is just for the elections. As and when the elections pass, the villages in this VVIP constituency will be left with one to care for them.
“Sonia has done a lot for the Rae Bareli. We asked for a flyover to be made and it was ordered on the next day itself,” a villager said. Pointing to a historic temple in Raja Mau where Priyanka held her rally, he said, “This temple is the pride of Raja Mau. It was in ruins. We complained about it to Soniaji and soon after it was handed over to the ASI and is now being managed well.”
With exuberance and confidence, an old man in the area said, “This place is a Gandhi bastion and will only elect a Gandhi.” But at the same time, he did not shy away from accepting that BJP’s NarendraModi does certainly have a strong effect on people, though not in this VVIP constituency but definitely in other parts of the country.
With Priyanka and her fleet were several other media persons tracking every move that she took and capturing every word that she said. Rae Bareli loved the attention with people readily posing for pictures and giving their views on the elections.
Unfortunately, being a VVIP constituency, the one sentiment that could not be subdued in the area was the feeling of insecurity and unease. “No one does anything, which ever government comes, it will be the same for all of us,” an agitated villager in Rae Bareli said.
“Indiraji used to visit us. She used to come to our homes and talk to us, no one be it Sonia, Priyanka, Rahul or anyone else, does that now,” was the strongest sentiment that mostly the old felt.
In a move to connect to the masses, she reached out to the people and shook hands with them instead of climbing up the dais and giving her speech from there. All this, amidst cheers of “Priyanka Gandhi aagebadho, hum tumharesaathhai” by Youth Congress leaders.
While Priyanka in her rallies said that a lot of employment has been generated in Rae Bareli through the rail coach factory or the steel factories, the residents hardly echoed the word. But most certainly despite all the odds, the people in the area seem highly willing to repose their faith in the Congress President, the ‘Gandhi bahu’, yet again
Even as the Election Commission tries its best to clean up the electoral system, the reality remains that contesting elections involve a lot of money and manpower. With winnnability being the main criteria, all parties give probity a go bye and go for candidates who are not only flush with funds but can be useful when the need for some muscle power arises. Many of the candidates also face criminal charges some of which are heinous in nature.
In Bihar, too, the trend is no different and several constituencies have criminal-turned-politicians, also known as ‘bahubalis’, contesting elections. Some criminals who are unable to contest following the historic Supreme Court verdict barring convicted people from fighting elections have either put up their wives or some other close relatives in the race.
One of the more famous ‘bahubalis’ contesting elections in Bihar is Rajesh Ranjan alias PappuYadav, who is in the fray from Madhepura as a RashtriyaJanata Dal candidate, was acquitted in 2013 in the 1998 murder case of Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader AjitSarkar. He joined the RJD and was rewarded with a LokSabha ticket by party chief Lalu Prasad.
He has been a LokSabha MP four times – in 1991, 1996 and 1999 from Purnea and in 2004 from Madhepura where he faces Janata Dal United supremo and sitting MP SharadYadav, and BJP’s Vijay Kumar Singh. The seat goes to poll on April 30.
PappuYadav’s wife RanjeetRanjan is a Congress candidate from the nearby Supaul seat where voting got over on April 24.
Another dreaded name is that of former RJD MP Mohammed Shahabuddin from Siwan. Just a decade back his name was the law in the area but after his conviction and life term in a murder case, his wife HeenaShahab has been trying to keep his political legacy alive.
When he himself was politically active, neither would his opponents put up their posters and banners in his areas nor campaign aggressively. RJD has once again put up Shahab from Siwan even though she had lost the 2009 elections.
Accused of even having links with Pakistani intelligence agency, the ISI, Shahabuddin is perhaps the perfect example of what Lalu’s rivals called the “jungle raj” when RJD ruled Bihar.
Despite Nitish Kumar’s claims of “sushashan” (clean governance) the JDU, too, has its share of tainted candidates. Apart from Manoranjan Singh alias Dhumal Singh, who is contesting from Maharajganj, the party has also given the ticket to Manoj Singh from Siwan
Former MP Anand Mohan Singh, serving a life term in the murder case of Gopalganj DM G Krishnaiah, has got a Samajwadi Party ticket for his wife Lovely Anand. JDU has also sought Anand Mohan Singh’s help for SharadYadav in Madhepura as the murder convict Rajput leader still wields considerable influence in the area.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah hit back at NarendraModi on Monday, saying that Kashmiri Pandits did not leave the state during his father Farooq Abdullah’s regime, but because of BJP rule. “Kashmiri Pandits did not leave Kashmir during Farooq Abdullah’s government. They left Kashmir because of BJP and its partners,” he said.