A 30-year-old woman set herself on fire on Wednesday in West Bengal’s Malda district after a kangaroo court ordered her alleged rapist to apologise instead of punishing him. The woman died on Thursday.
She was allegedly raped by a 22-year-old neighbour at her home on Tuesday while her husband was away.
Village elders allegedly prevented her husband from complaining to the police and set up a kangaroo court instead.
The alleged rapist was let off after he reportedly apologized to the woman by touching her feet. Then his mother allegedly questioned the woman’s character in front of the entire village. Humiliated, she set herself on fire.
The mother of the alleged rapist has been arrested while her son is absconding.
A 55-year-old man has come to Vadodara all the way from Tamil Nadu to fight elections against Narendra Modi, with not an aim for winning but to set a record.
Having no political ambition or hope to win election, Tamil Nadu-based tyre trading firm owner Dr K Padmarajan filed his nomination as an independent Lok Sabha candidate from Vadodara seat on Thursday, just to set a world record of fighting maximum number of elections.
Padmarajan, who is a qualified homoeopathic doctor, has already fought and lost all the 158 elections in the past.
“This is my 159th nomination. I call myself as the Election King of India. I have fought elections since last 25 years just to set a world record of fighting maximum number of elections. I will continue fighting elections till I accomplish my aim,” he said.
A native of Mettur in Tamilnadu, Padmarajan got attracted towards Vadodara after BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi chose the seat.
“I usually prefer to fight against popular leaders. Earlier, I fought against Atal Bihari Vajpayee, APJ Abdul Kalam, Pratibha Patil, Manmohan Singh, etc. Winning or losing doesn’t matter to me,” he said, adding that he never even campaigns after filing nomination.
Not just Lok Sabha or Assembly election, Padmarajan has contested as an independent, and eventually lost, in Rajya Sabha, Presidential and Vice-Presidential polls too.
“I fought my first election in 1988. I don’t have any political agenda, so I never do any canvassing. I am doing it only for records,” he said while claiming to have spent more than Rs. 12 lakhs till date on filing nominations.
Though Padmarajan never keeps a track of how many votes he secured, his popularity in his hometown fetched him more than 6,000 votes three years back.
“I fought the Assembly election from Mettur seat in 2011 and secured 6,273 votes, the highest I have secured till date,” he said.
For Fakkad Baba, winning an election has become a spiritual necessity!
The 69-year-old priest in Galteshwar temple has contested 15 elections, both parliamentary and assembly, till now on the directions of his guru who has predicted that cow slaughter will end only if a ‘Go Bhakt’ (cow protector) is elected either to Vidhan Sabha or Lok Sabha.
This is Fakkad Baba’s eighth consecutive attempt at the Lok Sabha polls as an Independent.
“My spiritual teacher had advised me to contest Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections as slaughtering of the cow would not stop unless a ‘Go-Bhakta’ is elected,” he says.
He feels that like schools, the government should also open ‘goshalas’ to protect the cow and charge nominal money for people to keep their cattle.
Fakkad Baba, who covers his constituency on his moped ‘Vickky’, says he is committed to contest elections till the miserable condition of cows improves.
Interestingly, in every election, he is the first to file his nomination.
We celebrate the National Maritime Day on 5th April every year because on this day the first Indian ship belonging to Scindia steam Navigation Company sailed out from Mumbai to the UK. This company performed well for some years and many good officers emerged by serving it. It had to shut operations on account of mismanagement and lack of diversification, which was rather unfortunate. Subsequently, the Shipping Corporation of India was formed which is the present national carrier. I was fortunate to get selected to serve the SCI and learnt a lot while serving on board in their ships. The company has witnessed ups and downs in the matter of technical development and profitability. Let us all pray that the SCI remains a professionally managed company by sustaining good work culture by reducing wasteful expenditure.
India has a very long coast line but our water borne activity is not commensurately rich. This is partly because we did not have an able leader as the Shipping Minister and the DG Shipping and its allied offices failed to provide good governance. These offices must follow the spirit of entrepreneurship, act professionally and must shun bureaucracy and red tapism. Regular interaction must occur between the industry and DGS as no officer can claim to know everything right from MS Act to Inland Vessel’s Act and various technical matters pertaining to surveys and examinations. When I was working with the department, I often used to attend industrial surveys. I always made it a point to ask the technical officer (testing officer) in the company about procedures being adopted in various cases. I learnt a lot from them and used my education to certify the concerned equipment.
Examining and learning must go hand in hand which is sadly lacking today mostly in the matter pertaining to CIP ( Concentrated inspection program) for numerous marine colleges with no provision for enforcement of rules. It only is an act of passing the buck or shirking responsibility. You grant permission to open the colleges, increase the intake and then leave the rest to others, and that too, in improperly delegated manner. That is not the right manner in which a public office functions. Public office ideally works through properly framed and notified rules.
Regarding the Indian Maritime University ( IMU), the less said, the better. The LBS College which used to be vibrant will full strength of students with good flowers now looks dirty, dilapidated and doomed. Senior Capt; Alexander used to drive out students from the hostel to classes or library by 9 am. However, these days, you will be lucky to find the Principal at this hour present in his office.
A lot of progress has definitely been achieved, no doubt, and we must acknowledge it. However, the Indian Seafarers and Maritime Administrators are certainly capable of achieving much more. We can efficiently develop the Shipping industry and Ports and the disconnect between the two which is visible at present will cease to exist in the future.
Mayank Gandhi is optimistic about giving a tough fight to his competitors from Mumbai North West constituency.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Mayank Gandhi is confident of faring well in the forthcoming Lok Sabha election. Even though people are questioning about Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation from the post of Delhi Chief Minister’s post but Mr Gandhi remains unaffected by it. He also claims that people want a change and will vote for AAP. Mayank added that he is far ahead of his competitors.
He claimed that as per an internal survey, he was in favourable position over other contestants. “From an internal survey that we have done, I am ahead of my competitors by atleast 1,00,000 votes. More than half of the people we spoke to, favoured the Aam Aadmi party over other candidates. I will be a star among the stars” he said.
Defending his party’s stand after it quit the government, Mr Gandhi said, “It was a legitimate political decision. The country at this time needs institutional reforms. We quit the national capital for larger institutional games,” Gandhi said.
He is not worried about Bollywood superstar Salman Khan extending support to senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat. Mr Gandhi said that there are many others who support his party as well.
“If Salman Khan supports Gurudas Kamat, I have no problem with it. There are many others who are supporting my party. In the last 5 years, Kamat has not done any work in his constituency,” he said.
On the Marathi votebank, Mr Gandhi said he is confident of support from Marathi population in his constituency.
“We thought that Marathi votes will mostly go to the Shiv Sena and the MNS, but we are seeing good support from Marathi speaking population also. Maybe after Balasaheb Thackeray, they are not feeling the same connect with Shiv Sena,” Mr Gandhi
said.
Mayank Gandhi took a jibe at actress Rakhi Sawant, who is contesting the polls from the same constituency and said, “I don’t know who will vote for her (Rakhi Sawant) in the first place but those people certainly won’t vote for me. None of her actions can prove that she will get any votes in this election,” he said.
He alleged that opposition parties are spending more than the stipulated amount of Rs 70 lakh limit set by Election Commission.
“Candidates fighting polls from other parties are using money power, which is dangerous for the democracy. They are spending beyond Rs. 70 lakh specified limit. This over spending is affecting other parties like ours,” Mr Gandhi said during a press conference in Mumbai yesterday.
“I have received Rs25 lakh and some others have also committed funds. My rivals are splurging crores of rupees. Each volunteer is being paid Rs700 plus biryani. Parties are being held at several hotels” he added.
On the other hand, Gandhi didn’t have any evidence to back his claim.
“We do not have any proof. A large amount of money is being given to party workers in cash and it is a common practice. We do not need to give any evidence,” he said.
Shiv Sena and MNS activists, who are bitter political rivals, on Thursday clashed outside the election office in the Mumbai collectorate.
Several thousands supporters of both parties had assembled for filing the nomination papers for Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency by Shiv Sena candidate Arvind Sawant and Maharashra Navnirman Sena (MNS) candidate Aditya Shirodkar.
The MNS activists who were already present in large numbers started cheering their candidate and jeering at Shiv Sena workers.
Irked by this heckling and booing, the Shiv Sena activists also started raising anti-MNS slogans even as some workers both parties resorted to pushing around and punching each other.
Unconfirmed reports also said that stone-throwing took place.
Sensing trouble, the police immediately intervened and after a minor caning, brought the situation under control and detained at least 50 activists.
Shiv Sena leader Arvind Bhonsale later said that the Election Commission authorities should not have given appointment to both parties’ candidates on the same day.
MNS spokesperson Nitin Sardesai claimed that the rival workers attempted to prevent the nomination filing process from being completed smoothly.
A police official said that they have videographed the incident and after investigations, they would initiate necessary action against the culprits from both parties.
The two parties — SS and MNS — headed by warring cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray respectively, have been at loggerheads for the past few weeks with both leaders criticizing each other publicly.
Shiv Sena demanded that the Election Commission should de-recognise the Raj Thackeray-led MNS following that party’s workers attack on Shiv Sena workers.
“The EC should de-recognise MNS over the attack which was pre-planned,” Sena Secretary and MP Anil Desai told reporters at the party office Shivalay.
“We met Mumbai CP Rakesh Maria and brought to his notice the events leading to the unsavoury incident,” Desai said.
Maria has assured a thorough probe, Desai said.
The situation was unprecedented and akin to a war between two countries, Desai felt.
Stones and soda water bottles were used to attack Shiv sainiks. Some women activists were injured in the caning by police later, he added.
“If the assailants were not MNS, was there somebody else who orchestrated the attack,” he asked.
Asked if Congress-NCP facilitated today’s incident, Desai said, “Maybe, as they realise that they don’t have any chance of winning the poll.”
Sena candidate from South Mumbai, Lok Sabha Arvind Sawant said the police presence was more than necessary and he was kept waiting for half an hour at the Collectorate entrance.
Leader of Opposition in Council, Vinod Tawde said police should have made adequate arrangements to avert any such incident.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to grant interim relief to Jaidev, estranged son of Shiv Sena supremo late Balasaheb Thackeray, seeking to restrain the beneficiaries of his father’s will from selling or disposing of the family properties.
Uddhav Thackeray, executive President of Sena and son of the Sena patriarch, who passed away in November 2012, is one of the beneficiaries of the will purportedly left behind by the senior Thackeray.
Justice RD Dhanuka, while rejecting Jaidev’s application, observed that under the Indian Succession Act, this court does not have the powers to grant interim protection in respect of properties.
“The deceased is a Hindu and hence falls under the category of persons mentioned in section 269 (2) of the Act which has a specific bar on granting interim reliefs,” Justice Dhanuka said.
The court said that while hearing a testamentary suit, no interim relief can be granted in relation to properties mentioned or not mentioned in the will.
“This court cannot decide on title issues while hearing a testamentary suit. Such remedies are available under the Code of Civil Procedure which the applicant (Jaidev) can avail of by filing an independent civil suit,” Justice Dhanuka said.
Uddhav, who was anointed party’s Executive President by his father, had earlier moved the High Court to probate the will of Thackeray, who died on November 17, 2012.
Jaidev had then filed an application challenging the will and seeking interim order, directing Uddhav and others from dealing with the family properties in any manner either by selling or disposing of or creating third party rights on such assets.
The probate petition of Uddhav, filed in January 2013 was converted into a testamentary suit as it was opposed by his brother Jaidev, who has not got any share in the property, said a lawyer involved in the case.
“I am not inclined to accept the applicant’s arguments. When there is a specific bar on granting interim relief in such matters then this court cannot extend its powers,” the court observed while dismissing Jaidev’s application.
A probate petition is filed to get the will of a deceased person certified by a court.
A sessions court on Thursday found three of the four persons, convicted for gang-raping a photojournalist at the Shakti Mill Compound last year, guilty as repeat sexual offenders and can now be sentenced to death.
The court proclaimed them guilty as repeat sexual offenders after hearing the final arguments on the addition of Section 376 E in the photojournalist gang-rape case since the three men were also found guilty of gang-raping an 18-year-old telephone operator at the Shakti Mill Compound earlier.
Maximum punishment under Section 376 E is death.
The prosecution in the photojournalist case had filed an application to add Section 376 (E) against the three, claiming that they were repeat sexual offenders. These three men are common convicts in the telephone operator and photojournalist gang-rape case.
The court had last week convicted four men for gang-rape, criminal conspiracy, common intention, unnatural sex, criminal intimidation, wrongful restraint, assault, destruction of evidence under IPC and other relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
All of them were sentenced to life in both cases, however, the prosecution in the photojournalist case pressed for addition of Section 376 E on the convicts.
A total of seven persons including two minors, were arrested in connection with the two gang-rapes involving a telephone operator and a photojournalist in July-August 2013.
Principal sessions court judge Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi convicted Vijay Jadhav, 19, Mohammad Qasim Hafiz Shaikh alias Kasim Bengali, 21 and Mohammad Ansari, 28, in both the cases. while Siraj Khan was found guilty in the photojournalist gang-rape case (on August 22) and Mohammad Ashfaque Shaikh, in the telephone operator gang-rape case at the same compound on July 31 last year.
Two minors, one in each case, are being tried by the Juvenile Justice Board separately.
Mumbai Police has launched an exercise to collect licenced arms in the city ahead of Lok Sabha polls, a drive which has led to 205 weapons being surrendered so far.
As per the directives of the Election Commission, government authorities are required to collect arms, prior to election as a precautionary measure in order to ensure fair and peaceful elections.
Soon after the elections are announced, District Magistrate and Police Commissioner make a detailed and individual review and assessment under prevalent laws of all the weapon licence holders.
However, the High Court had earlier noted that this order required district magistrates/police officers to first check every weapon holder’s antecedents. The notice to surrender arms till the elections get over was to be issued only if found necessary in an individual case.
The weapon licence holders, who had been released on bail, having a history of criminal offences, and previously involved in rioting at any time, but especially during elections, are mandated to deposit the firearms with the police.
“So far 205 persons submitted their firearms. Going by the previous records, the Mumbai Police, on an average, got deposit of about 350 firearms ahead of elections in the city,” said an officer.
Licence holder, if fails to deposit arms within specified period, shall be liable for prosecution under section 188 of the IPC. All fire arms so deposited shall be returned to the licence holders immediately after one week after the declaration of results.
Mayank Gandhi is optimistic about giving a tough fight to his competitors from Mumbai North West constituency. 
Shiv Sena and MNS activists, who are bitter political rivals, on Thursday clashed outside the election office in the Mumbai collectorate. 
Shiv Sena demanded that the Election Commission should de-recognise the Raj Thackeray-led MNS following that party’s workers attack on Shiv Sena workers. 
The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to grant interim relief to Jaidev, estranged son of Shiv Sena supremo late Balasaheb Thackeray, seeking to restrain the beneficiaries of his father’s will from selling or disposing of the family properties.