BeyondHeadlines

Tag: High Court

  • SIT Submits Report on Ishrat Jahan Case to Gujarat HC

    SIT Submits Report on Ishrat Jahan Case to Gujarat HC

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: The Special Investigation Team probing the alleged police encounter killing of Mumbai teenager Ishrat Jahan and three others in 2004 on Wednesday submitted its progress report to the Gujarat High Court, premier news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported citing officials.

    The report was submitted following directions from a division bench of justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari which during the last hearing on September 10 had asked the three-member panel, headed by IPS officer RR Verma, to submit its final report by Wednesday.

    The next hearing in the matter is slated for Friday. “We have submitted our progress report in the case to the High Court,” an official associated with the SIT said in Ahmedabad.

    During the September 10 hearing, the high court had given about a month’s time to SIT to complete investigations and submit the final report determining whether the encounter was fake or genuine.

    IPS officers Mohan Jha and Satish Verma are the two other member of the team.

    Ishrat, 19, Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were allegedly killed in a police encounter in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.

    Ahmedabad Crime Branch had then claimed the deceased were members of LeT who had come to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

    The probe in the case is being supervised directly by the high court, which constituted the SIT last year to investigate genuineness of the encounter after petitions were filed by Ishrat’s mother Shamima Kausar and Gopinath Pillai, father of Pranesh, in this regard.

  • PM: Need to Upgrade And Strengthen Intelligence & Investigative Agencies

    PM: Need to Upgrade And Strengthen Intelligence & Investigative Agencies

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that this week’s explosion outside the Delhi High Court served to remind everyone that the country urgently needed to boost its intelligence gathering abilities. He was addressing the 15th meeting of the National Integration Council (NIC) in the city.

    Courtesy: AFP

    “We must continuously upgrade and strengthen our investigating agencies and our intelligence gathering apparatus to deal more effectively with the newer methods and technologies” adopted by terrorists, the prime minister said.

    Singh’s government has come under fire over India’s apparent inability to prevent bombings of high-profile targets in its cities, despite an overhaul of domestic security following the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

    The prime minister said his government had done much to bolster intelligence-sharing between state and central agencies and had strengthened coastal security, but admitted that “major challenges still remain.”

    The remarks of the prime minister come three days after the blast, in which 13 people were killed. So far, there is no breakthrough in the probe – four emails claiming the responsibility for the blast have been received, but there are no clear leads.

    As part of the investigation into Wednesday’s attack, police in Indian Kashmir detained a man suspected of sending an email claiming responsibility for the court bombing.

    The unverified email, which said the Pakistan-based militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) was behind the blast, had been traced to a cybercafe in Kishtwar, near the Kashmiri city of Jammu.

    Federal investigators have yet to confirm whether the email was indeed from HuJI. Another claim of responsibility, apparently from a home-grown militant outfit called Indian Mujahedeen, was sent to media on Thursday.

    Wednesday’s bombing was the first major attack on Indian soil since triple blasts in Mumbai on July 13 killed 26 people. It has still not been established who carried out those bombings.

    According to an official spokesman, the agenda for today’s NIC meeting includes “measures to curb communalism and communal violence and approach to the Communal Violence Bill”.

    Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is chairing the meeting.

    It will also discuss measures to promote communal harmony, eliminate discrimination especially against minorities and scheduled tribes, ways in which the state and police should handle civil disturbances and “how to curb radicalization of youth in the name of religion and caste”.

    The last meeting of the NIC was held here Oct 13, 2008.

    The NIC is headed by the Prime Minister and includes union ministers, leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and in the Rajya Sabha, Chief Ministers of all the states and union territories which have legislatures, leaders of national political parties and regional political parties, chairpersons of national commissions, eminent public figures and representatives from media.

    (with Inputs from IANS)

  • On Post-Attack Confusion and Blame Game

    On Post-Attack Confusion and Blame Game

    Kamala Kanta Dash, BeyondHeadlines

    A bomb exploded at the entrance of Delhi High Court yesterday morning at 10.14am. The blast killed 12 people so far leaving more than 90 injured. On the basis of eye-witness accounts sketches of two possible suspects have been released. The cyber café from where an email was sent to a media house to claim the HuJI hand has been raided. Sheila Dikshit, the Delhi Chief Minister while talking to the Headlines Today has expressed her frustration that in matters of security also the government has not been able to take immediate steps. This is clear that the Ministry of Home Affairs, government of Delhi and the entire law enforcement and intelligence agencies have learnt nothing from their past experience of facing terror attacks.

     

    P Chidambaram in his message in the Parliament clearly mentioned that the Ministry of Home Affairs had shared intelligence with the Delhi Police in July 2011. However, the Lt Governor of Delhi, Tejinder Khanna last night told to NDTV that he was not aware of any such specific intelligence sharing (of actionable nature on any specific module). The governor has reiterated the need for a comprehensive security review of the situation in the national capital. But it seems that no one is buying his argument.

    Delhi Police reports to the Governor on a regular basis and what has come out clearly is that the Union Home Minister also holds a daily meeting with Delhi Police (for an hour, 10-11am daily). Had there been real time intelligence sharing the blast at the High Court could have been avoided. The Home Minster’s claim that he shared information with the police does not absolve him of the responsibility. He has not followed up the intelligence lead and now squarely blames the police. The attempt to end the turf war between the Intelligence agencies has not been successful. It is now eminently important to understand the real channel of communication and the flow of intelligence as there is so much confusion and last minute blame games.

  • Kerala High Court Sets Aside Air India Compensation Judgement For Kins of Passengers Killed in Crash

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: The Kerala High Court today set aside a single bench order directing the Air India (AI) to pay a minimum compensation of Rs 7.5 million each to the relatives of passengers killed in an air cash at the Bangalore airport last year.

    A division bench of the high court, comprising Justices C N Ramachandran Nair and P S Gopinathan, set aside the single judge order that Air India was liable to pay only actual damages proved by the claimants in case of death and those injured.

    However, the court while allowing an appeal filed by the Air India, observed that the relatives of those killed in the accident was eligible to get reasonable compensation and the Air India should consider their claims positively.

    The court also dismissed an appeal by the parents of a victim, seeking higher compensation. An Air India flight from Dubai crashed while landing at the Mangalore Airport after it caught fire when one of its wings hit a hillock, killing 158 passengers and its crew members in May 2010.

    Following a petition by the relatives of those killed, the single bench of the High Court had ordered the Air India to pay a minimum compensation of Rs 75 lakh each to them.

     

     

  • Gujarat HC Serves Notice to State Govt Over PIL Seeking Appointment of Lokayukta

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    Ahmedabad (Gujarat): The state government has been served a notice by the Gujarat High Court today over a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking appointment of the Lokayukta.

    A division bench of Justice Aquil Quraishi and Justice Sonia Gokani while issuing the notice asked the government to file its reply by August 29 when the next hearing is scheduled.

    The high court asked the government to file an affidavit detailing the present status of the appointment of the ombudsman as per the Gujarat Lokayukta Act, 1986.

    The government has not appointed anyone to the post in the last seven years.

    The PIL was filed by Bhikhabhai Jethava, father of Right To Information (RTI) activist Amit Jethava who was shot dead in front of the Gujarat High Court in July last year.

    Jethava demanded that non-appointment of the Lokayukta be held illegal and unconstitutional and sought the court’s directions to the state government for the appointment to take place within a stipulated period of time.

    The petitioner also contended that the state has failed to appoint the Lokayukta even one year after it made a statement on the same.

    In June last year, the Additional Advocate General had said in the High Court on a similar petition that the consultation process for the appointment of Lokayukta was already over.

     

  • Minor Blast Outside Delhi High Court

    BeyondHeadlines  Staff Reporter

    New Delhi: A minor blast took place today at gate number 7 outside Delhi High Court. A Ford Figo parked there caught fire resulting in a minor explosion and triggered a security scare.

    Fire brigade and police official present there told BeyondHeadlines that the car caught fire resulting in an explosion at around 1:30 pm. The police said that they were yet to ascertain the reasons for the blast. “We are checking. We don’t know the reasons for the blast,” said a senior police official.

    Delhi Police recover wires and pieces of the radiator of the car from the spot. Bomb Disposal Squad and Delhi Police officials have rushed to the spot.

    Four fire tenders have been rushed to the spot. According to eyewitnesses, there was a package near the spot that had smoke emanating out of it.

    The police have sealed the around the parking, and other cars are being examined.

  • J&K: Aasiya Andrabi Booked Again Under PSA

    J&K: Aasiya Andrabi Booked Again Under PSA

    Srinagar, Kashmir (KMS): The authorities slapped Public Safety Act (PSA) against Dukhtaran-i-Millat Chairperson Asiya Andrabi for the second time and lodged her in Kot Bhalwal Jail, Jammu.

    Dukhtaran-i-Millat Chairperson Asiya Andrabi

    Dukhtaran-i-Millat Spokesperson Rifat Fatima said in a statement that Aasiya had been booked under draconian law PSA for the second consecutive time in the past seven months. “Soon after the High Court quashed her detention under the PSA, the puppet authority booked her again,” she said.

    Terming the continued detention of Aasiya Andrabi as political vendetta, Fatima said, “Aasiya has been booked for her political stand on Kashmir.”  Fatima added that administration was flouting the court orders by detaining Aasiya illegally on malafide grounds.

    She urged the Amnesty International to intervene and impress upon India to release Andrabi. “It is the responsibility of Amnesty International and other international bodies to press India to release Andrabi and put an end to human rights violations in the territory,” Rifat said.

     

  • Adarsh Society Scam Enquriry Commission to Start Proceedings

    Adarsh Society Scam Enquriry Commission to Start Proceedings

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: The enquiry commission constituted by the Maharashtra Government to investigate the much talked Adarsh Housing Society scam all set to start proceedings this week.

    the state government had formed the commission in December 2010 under the leadership of former High Court Justice J A Patil. Ex-Chief Secretary P Subramanian is also included in the panel as its member to probe the alleged irregularities in allotment of plot and grant of additional FSI to Adarsh Society.

    Adarsh Society building

    “The Commission was expected to submit its report within three months from January 8. However, we got all the resources including accommodation in February. We have started getting affidavits from the members of the society and various departments of the government,” an official attached to the Commission said.

    An extension of time would be sought, he added.

    The Commission’s probe would run parallel to the inquiry by CBI, which has registered a case against 13 accused, including former chief minister Ashok Chavan, for criminal conspiracy, fraud and misuse of the official powers.

    The Commission would look into issues such as whether the land was reserved for kin of Kargil war martyrs, alleged violation of Coastal Regulation Zone rules, etc.

    In 2010, serious violations of rules at various phases of construction in the Adarsh Society came to the fore. Questions were raised on the manner in which apartments in the building were allocated to bureaucrats, politicians and army personnel who had nothing to do with Kargil War and the way in which clearances were obtained for the construction of the building of the Adarsh Society. The Adarsh society high-rise was constructed in the posh Colaba locality of Mumbai, which is considered a sensitive coastal area by the Indian Defence forces and houses various Indian Defense establishments. The society is also alleged to have violated the Indian environment ministry rules. Many activists like Medha Patkar had been trying to uncover this scam since a long time. The exposure of the infamous nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and builders in this scam is said to be only the tip of the iceberg. It had led to resignation of the then Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan.

    Several inquiries have been ordered by the army and the government to probe into the irregularities. Some of the current occupants of the flats in the Adarsh co-operative society building have offered to vacate their flats at the earliest, denying allegations that they were alloted flats because they influenced or helped, in some manner, the construction of the society by violating the rules. It was also exposed that the lower house of the Indian Parliament was misled by one of the bureaucrats, Pradeep Vyas, involved.

    The environment minister Jairam Ramesh formally set the ball rolling for the demolition of the entire 31-story scam-tainted Adarsh building in Coloba’s eco-sensitive zone on Friday November 12, 2010. The environment minister is said to have sent a show cause notice to the Adarsh housing society. The environment minister is said to have stated that “all options under the law are open except regularization of the structure.” As per the Ministry of Environment and Forests’ order dated January 16, 2011, “the unauthorised structure should be removed in its entirety and the area restored to its original condition.”