Mulayam assets case: Plea says law officers misleading CBI http://www.zeenews.com/states/2008-12-16/491475news.html
New Delhi, Dec 16: An application was on Tuesday moved in the Supreme Court alleging that senior law officers of the Centre were giving misleading legal advice to the CBI in the disproportionate assets case against former UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to please the government. "It is unfortunate for this country that wrong and misleading advice are being given by the senior law officers of the Centre with a view to please the government in place," Vishwanath Chaturvedi, who had filed a petition seeking CBI probe against Yadav and his kin, said in his fresh application mentioned before a Bench headed by Justice Altamas Kabir. He opposed the CBI stand to withdraw its application through which it had sought permission to file the status report on the inquiry into the matter directly before the apex court, without making a reference to the Centre. Chaturvedi, who was accused by Yadav in an open court of filing the PIL against him at the behest of the Congress, alleged that the UPA government was paying the price for the political support it received from the Samajwadi Party during the confidence motion on July 22 in the Lok Sabha. The agency which was asked by the order of March 1, 2007 to conduct preliminary inquiry and submit its report to the government for further steps had filed an application in October 2007 seeking apex court's permission to place the status report directly before it. However, on December 6, the CBI sought withdrawal of the application saying that the change in stand was based "on the legal advice and directions of the Centre". Opposing the fresh CBI stand, Chaturvedi sought a direction for the agency to stick to its commitment to file the status report before the apex court alleging that the progress in the case might be guided by political compulsions since the UPA government had proved its majority in parliament with the support of Yadav's party. "If the CBI will submit its report to the Centre, it (Centre) may proceed in the matter according to its own political compulsion and not depend upon the outcome of the inquiry report," he said. The CBI in October last year had informed the apex court that a preliminary inquiry undertaken by it disclosed commission of offences by Yadav and his family members. The petitioner sought modification of the March 1, 2007 order to the extent that the CBI will proceed further in the matter without any reference to Centre or state government and submit its inquiry report with the court. Chaturvedi on November 26 had sought a direction to the CBI to register a regular case and proceed with proper investigation under the supervision of the apex court. The apex court had ordered a CBI enquiry on the alleged accumulation of disproportionate assets by Yadav, his sons -- Akhilesh, Prateek -- and daughter-in-law Dimple. It asked the CBI to examine, whether the allegations made by the petitioner with regard to the disproportionate assets of the Yadavs were true or not and submit a report to the Centre which may take further steps. The apex court had rejected the plea of Yadav and his family that the PIL was motivated and filed by Chaturvedi, who was a Congress activist. "The ultimate test in our view, therefore, is whether the allegations have any substance. An enquiry should not be shut out at the threshold because a political opponent of a person with political differences raises an allegation of commission of offence," the apex court had observed while ordering the CBI inquiry. Subsequently, the Yadavs filed a review petition but the same could not be adjudicated after Justice A R Lakshmanan (since retired) recused himself from hearing, following an anonymous letter which, according to the judge, virtually questioned his integrity. Bureau Report
Too Deep For The State
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main41.asp?filename=Ws201208too_deep.asp
The flourishing illegal mining business in Meghalaya could soon turn to uranium deposits and explosives, reports TERESA REHMAN
Seven kilometres from Cherrapunjee, in Meghalaya’s Muriarktang Laitryngew village, 20-year-old Ban Kerlang Swer prepares to enter a 300m “rat-hole” coal mine. A piece of cloth goes over his head and a rubber tyre tube is secured to his back to shield him in the pit. Another piece of tubing attaches a torch to his forehead. “This is my guiding light,” he smiles.Swer has on a pair of gumboots, common in a high-rainfall area like Cherrapunjee, but that’s about all he wears for protective gear. Equipped with the most rudimentary of tools — a pickaxe, a bamboo trolley, a basket and a lit candle — this Class VIII drop-out is oblivious to the high methane content of the pit he is about to enter. Instead, he will rely on his candle to tell him how much oxygen he has left — when the flame goes out, he’ll have to run.Meghalaya is stippled with thousands of mines of the kind Swer works in, and not one of them is legal. In no other state is illicit mining as unabashed or as entrenched as it is here, with unregistered coalmines virtually a cottage industry. A Sixth Schedule state, Meghalaya has three autonomous district councils with which the government — by law, the sole authority to lease and license mines — is to share revenue collected from licensed mine owners. Traditional institutions, however, openly flout mining norms, and customary heads like the Syiem of the Khasis, the Dolloi of the Jyantias and the Nokma of the Garos let out land at will to private operators. This is a gross misinterpretation of the Sixth Schedule, says LH Changte, Assistant Controller of Mines and Officer-in-Charge, Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM). “Just because the land belongs to the tribals does not mean that the minerals underground also belong to them. All minerals belong to the State.”Starting a mine here is literally a matter of ‘finders takers’. Sampain Buhsan, owner of a mine at Cherrapunjee, narrates how in the Khasi hills most mining is done on public land owned by the Syiem. “We usually start digging wherever we see blackish slate because we know from experience that it’s a potential coalmine,” he says. “We register for Rs 100 with the village headman, who conducts a survey to verify whether we’ve found a new mine and ensures there’s a 20-feet gap between two mines. It is a gamble for us when we invest as it’s quite possible we may not find any coal.”A source of great hazard in the conflict-torn Northeast is these mines’ use of explosives. Most mine owners procure gelatine sticks and detonators on the black market from licensed contractors. Officially, only a district commissioner has the authority to issue an explosives licence, on which the mine owner has to submit a day-to-day account of the explosives used. But when the mines are illegal, such bureaucratic vigil becomes irrelevant.Accidents in the rat-hole mines go unreported and no one is willing to dwell on even a minor mishap. When he was a mason, Belawan Star Majaw, 26, used to earn Rs 1,200 a week; as a miner, he now earns Rs 2,800. Majaw first entered the mines when he was seven. “I went in with experienced people and had nothing to fear,” he says. “It’s difficult work but I’m willing to continue with it so long as I earn my money.”The environmental toll of the illegal mines also has civil society groups worried. Recently, the Chitmang Hills Anti-Mining Forum, a conglomeration of eight NGOs led by the influential Garo Students Union, initiated a protest against illegal mining in the vicinity of the Garo Hills’ Balpakram National Park. Points out Forum spokesperson Arpan Sarma, “Any legal mining activity needs environmental clearance at three levels.” The mine owners of Meghalaya, obviously, have none. The proposed Balpakram mining has the approval of the Garo Nokma but has taken no other environmental or pollution control clearance and has provided no clarity about the status of the land proposed to be mined within the national park.Brian Kharpran Daly is the general secretary of the Meghalaya Adventurers Association, which has filed a Supreme Court PIL over the degradation to the state’s unparalleled caves that illegal mining poses. “We have identified over 1,150 caves, and explored and mapped over 700,” he told TEHELKA. “Some are as long as 31 kms, and we are discovering new ones every year. Coal and limestone mining are destroying these vast underground systems.” While indiscriminate limestone mining removes the roofs of the caves, unscientific coal mining leads to deforestation. With the area’s heavy rainfall, massive soil erosion is a logical consequence. This soil finds its way into the caves and chokes out all that lives inside them. “Some of these life forms have not even been documented,” says Daly. “Today with global climate changes, these caves offer a vast array both in terms of biodiversity and for the study of fossils, which are the evidences of thousands of years.”Apart from hazards to miners and the environment, what makes such unregulated mining activity of grave issue is the fact that Meghalaya is rich in uranium. Instances abound of people caught trying to smuggle “yellow cake” or uranium ore. In a time of globally heightened security concerns, no monitoring of what is actually mined can spell disaster.
Tackling Meghalaya’s illegal mining is no easy task, as Changte rues. “If a mine is not legal, neither the IBM nor other Central agencies like the Directorate of Mines Safety or the Controller of Explosives have any control over it and they cannot inspect or monitor it,” he says. “Even the police cannot do anything because such a mine’s offences do not come under the CrPC. Our hands are tied.”Interestingly, the Meghalaya government collects royalties from illicit mine operators and even issues them receipts, thus not only encouraging them but making itself a collaborator. Although the state government is now drafting guidelines to regulate unscientific mining, its politicians are believed to be sponsored by the mine owners and so, perhaps, a firm policy on mining is not to be expected.As a possible solution, Changte suggests setting up a legal-mining NGO. “The government needs to convince both mine operators and landowners that systematic and scientific mining will be more profitable and will yield higher recovery rates,” he says. Moreover, if the coal is sold outside Meghalaya, any sensible customer will ask for a mining lease. And the possession of a legal mining lease will also help in the mechanisation process as banks and financial institutions will then be willing to invest. A legal mine operator can even apply for an explosives license.As of now, however, operating an illegal mine is far easier in Meghalaya than running a legal enterprise because of the deep-rooted corruption of the industry in the state and the many stakeholders involved in it. Lack of mining reforms and failing institutions have put in place a system of mayhem that is can only be detrimental to our national resources.
Govt reluctant to enforce TRS
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Govt_reluctant_to_enforce_TRS/articleshow/3842700.cms
16 Dec 2008, 0421 hrs IST, Swati Deshpande, TNN
MUMBAI: Despite the growing number of private vehicles in the city, the government is reluctant to enforce a Traffic Restraint Scheme (TRS) that
envisages 15-20% vehicles off the city roads on any given day by rotation. London, Athens and Mexico have implemented TRS successfully, but according to a committee headed by former DGP, P S Pasricha, it was not practical in a city like Mumbai. The government had informed the Bombay High Court that unless the infrastructure and public transport system were strengthened, there was no incentive to avoid the use of private vehicles. But the PIL has been pending on the issue, with little progress. Debi Goenka of the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG), who has been pushing for the TRS scheme since 2001, said that reducing the number of vehicles through TRS doesn't require any investment.
"The BEAG, which took over Dr Sandeep Rane's PIL against vehicular pollution, has been advocating an upgrade in public transportation and its use to curb pollution,'' he said. The PIL is now expected to be heard on January 21, 2009.
I-T fuel to assets case fire
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081216/jsp/frontpage/story_10258465.jsp
CHANDRAJIT MUKHERJEE
Ranchi, Dec. 15: The income tax (I-T) department today told Jharkhand High Court that it was “aware of the assets acquired by ministers of the state that were disproportionate to their incomes”.
I-T officer Ranjit Kumar Lal, in an affidavit, said his department had the information of the properties acquired by ministers Bhanu Pratap Sahi, Kamlesh Singh, Bandhu Tirkey, Dulal Bhuiyan and former minister Chandra Prakash Choudhary — and maintained that an investigation to find out the sources was on.
Lal further stated that more documents had to be scrutinised before a consensus could be obtained.
Earlier, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra and Justice Ajit Kumar Sinha had directed the I-T department to file a status report in the matter and inform the court of the developments. A similar order was directed to the vigilance department to probe into the income and assets of Hari Narayan Rai and Anosh Ekka. The vigilance report would be discussed on January 22, 2009.
The case of disproportionate assets of ministers began with a PIL filed by one Durga Oraon. Oraon, in a supplementary affidavit, had revealed properties acquired by water resources minister Kamlesh Singh in the name of his wife Madhu Singh and children Surya Sonal Singh and Ankita Singh in Edalhatu on the outskirts of Ranchi.
Singh allegedly also owns property in prime locations across the state capital — including a duplex in Aastha Regency Apartment at Piska More and three acres at Katahal More in Ratu Block. Most of the properties are registered in the names of his family members.
Oraon has also named former minister Chandra Prakash Choudhary of acquiring assets worth crores in Ramgarh. The affidavit alleges that Choudhary has floated a construction company with an Ahmedabad link and is allegedly funding real estate projects.
Health minister Bhanu Pratap Sahi has also been accused of amassing assets in Uttar Pradesh and Gurgaon. Oraon has alleged that Sahi has purchased land at Rapasganj in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh. Sahi is also said to be constructing a shopping mall in Gurgaon and is pegged to have property over Rs 100 crore.
Oraon’s PIL also mentions former chief minister Madhu Koda and his friend Binod Sinha as owners of properties beyond their disclosed income. Both Koda and Sinha have properties in India and abroad that have been purchased through illegal means — the PIL alleges.
Jurists call for quick implementation of police reforms http://www.zeenews.com/nation/2008-12-15/491287news.html
New Delhi, Dec 15: Eminent jurists and former police officers on Monday asked the Centre and state governments to quickly implement the police reforms laid out by the Supreme Court and lamented "too much politicisation" of police force.
Highlighting the need for resolving the issue of political interference in the police forces' functioning, the eminent citizens said it was imperative for the Monitoring Committee to more aggressively pursue its mandate to hold the administration accountable for its inaction. Former Solicitor General Soli Sorabjee, speaking at a discussion on Citizens for Police Reforms here, favoured approaching the Supreme Court over the failure of state and Central governments to implement the police reforms which favours greater accountability and transparency for police force. "The two most important Supreme Court directives involve giving the DG of police two-year tenure and setting up a Police Establishment Board. If the Supreme Court is not respected in this regard, contempt proceedings should be initiated. If any state refuses to obey it, they should be taken to task," Sorabjee said. He said "there has been too much of politicisation of the police force and many good police officers are not able to do their rightful duty because they are concerned about their tenure". The speakers, who included former Chief Justice of India J S Verma and former NSG Director-General Ved Marwah, said it is imperative for the Monitoring Committee, set up by the Supreme Court to report on states' compliance with its directives, to more aggressively pursue its mandate to hold states and the Central government accountable for their inaction. They also called for "requisite" political will to enact the necessary changes in the law-enforcement agency. Sorabjee also favoured an independent merit-based procedure to select the DGP and a minimum fixed term of two years should be ensured so that he can do his job without any fear of transfer. "The Monitoring Committee should have completed its work in six months and it is not fair on its part to have taken so much time to complete its work," Verma said, adding that the Mumbai attacks should be "used" to build up pressure on the Governments to act urgently on implementing the police re0forms. "The time for discussing reforms had long passed. Rather, the focus should be on practically implementing the necessary changes that will ensure better delivery of policing services," Verma said. Sorabjee, who headed the latest Police Reforms Commission, said a Police Welfare Board should be established to take care of the basic necessities of the police personnel. Marwah said he was disappointed that notwithstanding the repeated recommendations from various committees, it appears that the requisite political will is absent to enact the necessary changes. The police should be given necessary training and should be provided with better resources and weapons, the former Solicitor general, who has filed a PIL in the Supreme Court on the issue, said. Verma said security for people who take it as a status symbol should be removed. These three eminent personalities are among the 40 citizens who signed an open letter last week addressed to all Indian politicians that was endorsed by former Prime Minister I K Gujral among others. Bureau Report
Maharashtra to probe top cops' lapses during Mumbai attack
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Maharashtra_to_probe_top_cops_lapses_during_Mumbai_attack/articleshow/3852753.cms
17 Dec 2008, 1852 hrs IST, PTI
NAGPUR: Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced a high-level probe against director general of police A N Roy and commissioner of police Mumbai Hasan Gafoor over their alleged lapses during the Mumbai terror attack, a day after opposition Shiv Sena-BJP demanded their removal. The announcement about the probe against the two senior police officials was made by chief minister Ashok Chavan in the assembly here on Wednesday after home minister Jayant Patil replied to a debate on the Mumbai terror attack in the House. The Sena-BJP had in the state legislature on Tuesday criticised the Maharashtra government for the Mumbai terror attacks and demanded removal of Roy and Gafoor, along with home secretary Chitkala Zutshi, accusing them of being responsible for the alleged lapses. Leader of the opposition Ramdas Kadam said the three top police officers, including ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who lost their lives were wearing sub-standard bullet proof jackets and Inspector Vijay Salaskar, an encounter specialist, was not having a AK-47 rifle. Earlier today, Patil said Maharashtra government will set up a special court in consultation with Chief Justice of Bombay High Court to try cases related to the terror attack. The chargesheet against perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack will be filed within seven days, he said. Advocate Ujwal Nikam has been appointed as special public prosecutor in the case, he informed the House. The government would also set up a state security council under the chairmanship of the chief minister, Patil said.
Congress learnt from experience in fighting terror: Sibal
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Congress_learnt_from_experience_in_fighting_terror_Sibal/articleshow/3852515.cms
17 Dec 2008, 1808 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: Union science and technology minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said Congress had learnt lessons from its past experience in fighting terrorism but emphasised that the proposed anti-terror laws were not "a replica of POTA". "In life, as in politics, nothing is static.... ideologies change. We all learn from experience," Sibal said during the debate in Lok Sabha on the proposed amendments to the Unlawful Activities Act and the Bill for formation of a National Investigation Agency. Leader of Opposition L K Advani had in his speech during the debate accused the Congress of "waking up" after "7-8 years" to the need for an anti-terror law and being "soft" on terror. Sibal was replying to Advani. He emphasised that this legislation was not a move by the government to bring back POTA in another garb. "This law is not a replica of POTA," he said adding, it would have no provision of admissibility of any confession made to a police officer. Refuting BJP's oft-repeated charge that Congress was soft on terror, the eminent lawyer said, "You (BJP) should remember that we brought TADA. If anybody has faced terrorism, it is the Congress party." He added that when the Congress realised that TADA was being misused, it let the Act lapse. Sibal said India was not soft on terror and had more stringent anti-terror laws than the US and the UK. "The Patriot Act in the US is applicable to non-citizens...In the UK, a person can be kept under detention only for 28 days. Under our law, the detention will be for 180 days," he said. The debate saw BJP and Congress sparring with each other to score points over who had fought terror better in the past.
Admit mistake of not bringing tough law earlier, Advani tells UPA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Admit_mistake_of_not_bringing_tough_law_earlier_Advani_tells_UPA/articleshow/3852502.cms
17 Dec 2008, 1806 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: Seeking to appropriate the credit for the new anti-terror laws, BJP on Wednesday said the Congress-led coalition should accept its "mistake" of not bringing such legislations earlier and alleged that the delay has "harmed" the country a lot. "You have woken from the slumber of 'Kumbhakarna' of the last 7-8 years. I want you to accept that you were wrong and it was a mistake," leader of opposition L K Advani said in the Lok Sabha making a scathing attack on the Government's policy so far on tackling terror. Advani told the Congress that it has done a U-turn on the issue in the wake of the outrage caused by the Mumbai terror strikes and reminded the treasury benches that the BJP-led NDA has been a votary of strong anti-terror laws. "I find nothing wrong in the new legislations and we support it in principle, but there are certain lacunae which need to be addressed," he said. Noting that he was satisfied with the measures, but was "not happy" as the steps have come after much delay, he told the Government that media was dubbing the development as "old wine in new bottle and UPA returns to POTA". He alleged that the main flaw in the government's handling of terror so far was that it treated terrorism as a law and order problem. Taking a dig at the Congress which had dubbed the POTA as "anti-minority", Advani said maybe as the new laws were brought about by the UPA, the party felt it would not be considered to be against the minorities. The situation the country was finding itself in today was not different from that of war, Advani said and asserted that it should be faced with unity and above all, a will to win. "If the two laws indeed mean that you have turned a new leaf and you have taken a new turn, I will be very happy," he said regretting that anti-terror law was earlier being treated as an "anti-minority" law. The former home minister also wanted the bills to have provisions that memberships of banned organisations like SIMI should be construed as a terrorist act. "And we have a strange situation that members of the cabinet keep on defending SIMI". Turning to the issue of delay in the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, Advani said such delay sends a wrong message the world that India is a soft country. Describing Pakistan as the epicentre of terrorism, he took exception to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remark sometime back that Pakistan was itself a "victim of terrorism". He also disapproved of the joint mechanism between India and Pakistan to fight terror. The leader of opposition said that in the last Lok Sabha elections, Congress and its allies had made POTA an issue and promised to scrap it if elected. Pointing out that TADA was brought when P Chidambaram was minister of state for home, Advani said the BJP never made any demand of scrapping TADA but just warned against its misuse.
Antulay raises doubts over Karkare's killing
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Antulay_raises_doubts_over_Karkares_killing/articleshow/3852273.cms
17 Dec 2008, 1916 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: Union minority affairs minister A R Antulay set off a major controversy on Wednesday when he raised doubts over the killing of Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare by Pakistani terrorists, suggesting a link with the Malegaon blasts that were investigated by him. ( Watch ) Opposition parties were quick to attack the minister for his "misdemeanour" and demanded immediate clarification from the prime minister but the Congress party distanced itself saying they were his "personal remarks". BJP and Shiv Sena members raked up the issue in Lok Sabha and demanded home minister P Chidambaram, who had moved two anti-terror bills, to clarify the situation. Maintaining that "there is more than what meets the eyes", Antulay said Karkare was investigating some cases in which "there are non-Muslims also", an apparent reference to the Malegaon blasts case in which sadhvi Pragya Thakur and a Lt-Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit were among the 11 persons to be arrested. "Unfortunately his end came. It may be a separate inquiry how his (Karkare's) end came," he told reporters outside Parliament. Antulay said "Karkare found that there are non-Muslims involved in the acts of terrorism during his investigations in some cases. Any person going to the roots of terror has always been the target, he said. "Superficially speaking they (terrorists) had no reason to kill Karkare. Whether he (Karkare) was victim of terrorism or terrorism plus something. I do not know," he added. When he came under attack in Lok Sabha on the issue, Antulay sought to wriggle out saying he had not talked about who killed Karkare but about "who sent him in the direction" of Cama hospital, outside which he was killed. "Who had sent them to Cama hospital (a lane opposite which he and two other officers were killed by Pakistani terrorists on Nov 26). What were they told that made them leave for the same spot in the same vehicle. "I repeat what I had said. I had not said who had killed them but only questioned who had sent them there (Cama Hospital) in that direction," he said in Lok Sabha where BJP and Shiv Sena members attacked him for his remarks. Anant Geete of Shiv Sena accused him of "misleading" the house and sought Chidambaram's clarification. Earlier in the day, describing Hemant Karkare as a very bold officer having great acumen and vision, Antulay asked "How come instead of going to Hotel Taj or Oberai or even the Nariman House, he went to such a place where there was nothing compared to what happened in the three places?" "Why all the three (Hemant Karakre, Vijay Salaskar and Ashok Kamte) went together. It is beyond my comprehension," the minister said. The minister's remarks came under immediate attack from BJP which asked the prime minister to clarify whether his remarks are an "individual misdemeanour or the collective wisdom of the Cabinet". "The remarks are obnoxious and deserves a clarification from the prime minister," BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters. Reacting to Antulay's remarks, Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi they should be treated his "personal views" and Congress party does not agree with them and does not support such a formulation. To a question, he said there was no question of embarrassment to the party. Samajwadi Party MP Amar Singh, who himself was in the centre of a controversy when he had raised doubts over the killing of a Delhi police official in an encounter recently, said a senior leader like Antulay should before issuing any statement uphold the cherished tradition of collective wisdom of the cabinet. Not completely disapproving the remarks, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said Antulay must be having "more information" since he hails from Maharashtra. The issue came up when the house was discussing two bills brought in by the government to tackle terror against the backdrop of Mumbai terror attacks. Geete said the prime minister and several senior union ministers have gone on record to say that Karkare was killed by terrorists. Not satisfied with Antulay's reply, Geete charged the union minister with "misleading" the house, which he "did not "expect".
Parliament debates tough anti-terror bills
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Parliament_debates_tough_anti-terror_bills/articleshow/3851109.cms
17 Dec 2008, 1508 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: Parliament on Wednesday opened the debate on tougher anti-terrorism laws and a plan to set up an FBI-style agency designed to plug gaping security holes exposed by last month's Mumbai attacks. ( Watch ) Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said in the Lok Sabha that government has sought to make a "fair balance" of respect for fundamental rights and the demand of the people for tough provisions while bringing forward two legislations to fight terror effectively. Moving the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Bill and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendments Bills for consideration in the House, he appealed to the members to pass the bills unanimously and promised to rectify defects in the legislation, if any, in the next session in February. "We will do our best to satisfy your aspirations. Let us pass these two bills," he said in a brief speech commending for consideration the two bills, which were introduced in the House yesterday. Dealing with some of the provisions of the bill, he said notwithstanding the constitution of the NIA it would still respect the state government's right to investigate cases and would even associate them in such investigation. "We have struck a balance between right of the Central government and the state governments to decide on investigation," the minister said. In the UAPA bill, he said even while making tough provisions the Courts have been given the powers to decide on the prosecution's case in the matter of bail and presumption of guilt on the accused in some specific cases. Home Minister P Chidambaram had introduced the two draft legislations in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The legislation includes provisions allowing police to hold suspects for up to 180 days, rather than the current 90 days, and allows for a financial clampdown on suspects. Last week, making a statement in the Lok Sabha on the Mumbai attacks, Chidambaram had members to pass the bills to tone up the security and prosecution apparatus in this session itself. The current session will conclude on December 23.
Three SC judges take oath
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Three_SC_judges_take_oath/articleshow/3850498.cms
17 Dec 2008, 1226 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: With the Supreme Court Collegium finally having its way overlooking Centre's reservations, Asok Kumar Ganguly, R M Lodha and H L Dattu were on Wednesday sworn in as judges of the apex court. Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan administered the oath to them at a simple ceremony in his court. With this, the number of judges in the apex court has risen to 24 against the sanctioned strength of 26. The elevation of Ganguly, Lodha and Dattu -- Chief Justices of Kerala, Madras and Patna High Courts as judges of the Supreme Court, was mired in controversy as the Centre had asked the Collegium headed by the CJI to reconsider the decision, taking into account the seniority of three other Chief Justices of High Courts. The Centre had pointed out that the collegium overlooked the case of their seniors, Delhi HC Chief Justice A P Shah, Madhya Pradesh HC Chief Justice A K Patnaik and Uttarakhand HC Chief Justice V K Gupta, for appointment to the apex court. However, the Collegium, comprising five senior most judges of the apex court, refused to reconsider the decision and persisted with the names already recommended by them. With no option left, the names were forwarded by the Centre to President Pratibha Patil who approved their appointments. The CJI had contended that seniority was only one among several criteria for promoting judges to the top court and stressed the importance of merit.
Govt disapproves of 'non-state' law enforcers like Salwa Judum
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Govt_disapproves_of_non-state_law_enforcers_like_Salwa_Judum/articleshow/3850452.cms
17 Dec 2008, 1221 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: In a virtual disapproval of anti-Naxalite group 'Salwa Judum' in Chhattisgarh, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the Centre was not in favour of "non-state" actors taking the job of law enforcement in their hands. "We are not in favour of non-state actors taking law enforcement in their hands," he said replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha. Chidambaram was asked by D Raja of CPI if the Centre would consider asking the Chhattisgarh government to disband Salwa Judum, a counter-Naxalite vigilante group launched in Dantewada district in 2005. "Law and order and law enforcement is the responsibility of the state government... we do not approve of non-state actors taking over the responsibility," he said. He, however, refused to go into legality of the group saying the matter was before the Supreme Court. Chidambaram said Salwa Judum was an organisation which apparently had the support of the state government and Centre had nothing to do with it. On the continued detention of human rights activist and doctor Binayak Sen in Chhattisgarh since May 2007, he said the matter was under his consideration.
Govt moves bill on NIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Govt_moves_bill_on_NIA/articleshow/3847845.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0056 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: With BJP extending support to a central agency to investigate terror crimes, the Manmohan Singh government moved swiftly on Tuesday to introduce a bill to set up a National Investigation Agency backed by tough anti-terror laws within 15 hours of obtaining approval of the Union Cabinet. Seeking to ride on the support for NIA in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, home minister P Chidambaram introduced the NIA Bill, 2008, which has sought to provide a very wide-ranging ambit for the proposed agency to "investigate and prosecute" offences affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of the country. Even as speculation mounted through the day about when the bill would be introduced, Chidambaram entered the Lok Sabha just past 3 pm as a discussion on a bill on unorganised labour was in progress. With a handful of MPs in the House and a sparsely populated press gallery, he sought leave to introduce the bill. By 3.10 pm, he had done so and also introduced a bill to amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The NIA Bill is expected to be taken up for discussion on Wednesday and may well be passed into law by the end of the week. After the Lok Sabha clears it, the Rajya Sabha will take it up immediately after. The schedule listing the Acts under which offences can be probed by NIA include the Atomic Energy act, UAPA, Anti-Hijacking Act and the Weapons of Mass Destruction Act. The quick-footedness, brushing aside the sensitivity about treading on the powers that have been cherished by states and pushing reluctant elements in UPA while sealing BJP support highlighted the shift in discourse on terrorism after 26/11. With Congress keen to signal that is serious about terrorism, the NIA will be another step in consonance with the process that began with the sacking of Shivraj Patil, and was followed by the appointment of Chidambaram as home minister, decapitation of the Maharashtra government and some tough diplomacy on Pakistan. Confounded that its terror plank did not cut ice with Delhi voters, and failed in Rajasthan too, BJP quickly extended support. The Opposition party argued that the Centre's "reluctant and incomplete" step towards an effective anti-terror regime was a vindication of its campaign for strong laws. The NIA is not short of ammunition to trigger a debate on the touchy subject of Centre-state relations. The NIA bill empowers the Centre to take suo motu decision if an offence was a federal offence, relegating the opinion of state to a secondary consideration in case of a difference of opinion. This issue has been a point of discord since the agency was mooted. The Left announced it would seek amendments to demand that states should be, as a rule, associated with NIA probes. As of now the bill says states "may" be associated. The Cabinet, which cleared the NIA and amendments to UAPA late on Monday night, saw the provisions for admissibility of evidence being rejected alongwith putting the onus of proof on the accused. Chidambaram was keen to include the admissibility of confessions, but this ran into political opposition from ministers like Lalu Prasad and Ramvilas Paswan. The option for a special law was also ruled out. Some of these apprehensions were articulated by minority affairs minister A R Antulay after the bill was brought in Parliament, as he "did not rule out the possibility of the law being misused". He demanded that the same law be made applicable for communal riots. Congress's push on terror front is clearly a bid to usurp the plank from BJP in the wake of breather given by its victories in Delhi and Rajasthan. Since then, the party had maintained a tough stance on Pakistan as well. The BJP bid to claim the original authorship on the government's first tangible anti-terror move is clearly aimed to claim some credit and also argue that it had been more clear-eyed in assessing the dangers posed by terrorism. While Mumbai has hammered home the reality of terrorism as a national threat, reining in UPA allies prone to make a religious issue of it, the turnaround in Congress's fortunes has also helped in stalling the armtwisting. NIA, which would be be headed by a Director General at par with the DGPs of states, would deal with offences of terrorism, counterfeit currency, violation of SAARC conventions like human trafficking, narcotics and organised crime, plane hijacking and violations of atomic energy act and weapons of mass destruction act among others.
UAPA retains most of POTA's stringent provisions
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/UAPA_retains_most_of_POTAs_stringent_provisions/articleshow/3847843.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0056 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: POTA is almost back. Though the anti-terror law the government has sought to legislate does not have a few key provisions of POTA like admissibility of confessions, many other aspects like use of wiretaps as evidence and stringent bail conditions are now set to be part of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The Mumbai attacks have done what 20 other jihadi strikes on the Indian mainland outside Jammu and Kashmir in four years could not do. The political opposition and Congress's own lack of apetite for hard anti-terror laws melted before the staggering scale of the Lashkar-e-Taiba strikes on Mumbai. Detention without bail for upto 180 days instead of 90 days, police custody of accused upto 30 days instead of 15 and life imprisonment for those involved in terror acts are some of the provisions in the UAPA which were part of POTA. The bill has, however, not revisited one of the most stringent provisions of POTA -- treating confession before police as evidence. As far as banning an organisation or freezing its assets are concerned, the bill, unlike POTA, has taken into consideration the existing resolutions of the UN Security Council. Accordingly, it provides for extending ban on any outfit which has already been proscribed by the world body. Considering this, if Jamaat-ud-Dawa is a banned outfit in the UNSC list, it will automatically come under the category of proscribed organisation in India. Referring to bail provisions and extension of detention to 180 days, the bill has taken into account the difficulties faced by investigating agencies in completing the probe within the stipulated 90-day period -- particularly in terror-related cases which generally have inter-state ramifications. The extension is, however, only limited to Indians involved in terror acts. The amendment is not so kind to foreigners who will be denied bail until proven innocent. Even an Indian national accused in a terror-related case cannot be released on bail or on his own bond unless the public prosecutor has been given an opportunity of being heard on the application for such release. The bill says that the court shall presume, unless the contrary is shown, that the accused has committed an offence for which he has been arrested, including possession of arms or explosives with a belief that these or such substances were used in the commission of a terror act. The amendment also provides for freezing, seizing and attaching funds and other financial assets or economic resources held by individuals or entities engaged in or suspected to be engaged in terrorism. In case of monetary instruments, the proposed law has also for the first time included "seizure of credit or debit cards (or cards that serve a similar purpose)" as ones to be considered as evidence. Currently, only coins, currency, postal orders, traveller's cheques and banker's drafts come under the category of being freezed and seized, besides bank accounts. A new section has been inserted in the bill which says that those using explosives, firearms, lethal weapons, poisonous chemicals, biological or radiological weapons with the intention of aiding, abetting or committing terror act "shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years". The bill says that every offence punishable under this Act shall be deemed to be congnisable offence. The bill says that anyone in India or in a foreign country who directly or indirectly raises or collects funds or provides funds for a terrorist act shall be punishable with at least five years imprisonment, which may extend to life. A similar punishment has been provided in the bill for those organising camps for training in terrorism, and also for those recruiting persons for commission of a terrorist act. Such provisions will specifically help cops to prosecute all those who were arrested in south India this year for not only running training camps in Karnataka, Kerala and Gujarat but also recruting cadres from far-flung areas. Since all these provisions are currently missing in the existing Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, it is believed that the new provisions will further widen the net for the cops to investigate different facets of terrorism. Even the home minister admitted this while introducing the bill while stating the statement of objects and reasons for the proposed amendments. Referring to various suggestions for making the existing anti-terror law more tough, the statement clearly mentioned that the government was of the view that further provisions were required to be made in the law to cover various facets of terrorism and terrorist activities including financial terrorism which are not fully covered under the current law.
'Rescue efforts had hit language barrier'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Rescue_efforts_had_hit_language_barrier/articleshow/3847803.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0033 hrs IST, Sukhbir Siwach, TNN
CHANDIGARH: As a member of the National Security Guards team that cracked down on terrorists in Mumbai, Sunil Kumar Yadav, the 29-year-old Armyman from Pataudi is out of danger, but he is still fighting the demons of post-26/11. Yadav, who is recuperating from injuries he suffered during the operation at the Taj hotel, says while fighting the terrorists, hitting a language barrier was something the ace NSG commandos least expected. "More than killing the terrorists, it was rescuing a foreigner that proved to be difficult,'' Yadav told TOI on Tuesday. Home again, the Haryana commando, who spent six of his eight years of service in Army in Jammu & Kashmir, recalled the hours inside the Taj. "This (foreigner) lady was causing quite a tumult inside the room but wouldn't open the door. So, we had to break it open. We found her huddled under the bed. But she refused to come out, taking us for terrorists. I had to summon a guide from the hotel to explain things to her,'' he says. Rated as one of the best NSG commandos within a year of his duty with the organisation, Yadav and his team rescued more than 150 hostages from the Taj. "Inside (the hotel), it was worse than encounters we have in the Kashmir valley. We had no idea which rooms the terrorists were in and saving the civilians was a priority." Part of the team led by Maj Sandeep Unnikrishanan, Yadav was the first commando to get injured in the operation. "On the (November) 27th evening, a woman was injured in the terrorist attack on the third floor. I was hit while trying to pull her to saftey. Two bullets hit my ribs and another crossed through my jacket.'' He has only one regret, he couldn't fight for his country till the end. "We are proud of him," says his mother Rajesh Yadav, adding, "My heart started beating fast when I came to know that he had been shot. I wanted to fly out to be with him.'' For now, the braveheart is happy to be with his family and a two-year-old son. But he secretly hopes he recovers soon and goes back to doing what he does the best.
French turban ban challenged in UN
17 Dec 2008, 0050 hrs IST, I P Singh, TNN
JALANDHAR: A Sikh advocacy group has challenged the French government's ban on turbans before the United Nations Human Rights Committee. United
Sikhs, which filed the challenge on December 15, told TOI that since France passed a law in 2004 banning the wearing of religious symbols, including the Sikh turban, to public schools, three cases had been moved before the UN. ''We're asking the UN to deliver Sikhs in France their rights under Articles 2, 17, 12, 18 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which are derived from the inherent dignity of the human person,'' said legal director of United Sikhs Mejindarpal Kaur in a statement. ''Under the ICCPR, France may restrict these fundamental rights on only the most compelling grounds, and may do so only so far as absolutely necessary. We submit that France has not made out a compelling case for denying a Sikh the right to wear a turban,'' she added. United Sikhs' staff attorney Jaspreet Singh said one of the applicants, Bikramjit Singh, was 18 years old when he was expelled from school in 2004 after France passed the law. The other two applicants are Shingara Mann Singh (52) and Ranjit Singh (70) who were denied renewals of ID documents because they refused to remove their turbans to get identity photographs clicked. While Shingara Mann Singh, who held a French passport for 15 years, was refused replacement passport by French authorities in 2005 as he refused to remove the turban for his pensioner photo ID, Ranjit Singh has been deprived of health care since 2002 for want of renewal of his residence card with a similar condition. Their cases were dismissed by French courts and then by European Court of Human Rights. ''In essence, France is insisting that the applicants expose themselves not only at the time the photograph is taken, but also each and every time they have to produce their ID. France's insistence that the applicants choose between repeated violations of their religious beliefs, with the attendant shame and humiliation, and being unable to travel (and transact) freely inside and outside France is unjustifiable,'' lawyers commented on the ID cases.
French turban ban challenged in UN
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/French_turban_ban_challenged_in_UN/articleshow/3847693.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0050 hrs IST, I P Singh, TNN
JALANDHAR: A Sikh advocacy group has challenged the French government's ban on turbans before the United Nations Human Rights Committee. United Sikhs, which filed the challenge on December 15, told TOI that since France passed a law in 2004 banning the wearing of religious symbols, including the Sikh turban, to public schools, three cases had been moved before the UN. ''We're asking the UN to deliver Sikhs in France their rights under Articles 2, 17, 12, 18 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which are derived from the inherent dignity of the human person,'' said legal director of United Sikhs Mejindarpal Kaur in a statement. ''Under the ICCPR, France may restrict these fundamental rights on only the most compelling grounds, and may do so only so far as absolutely necessary. We submit that France has not made out a compelling case for denying a Sikh the right to wear a turban,'' she added. United Sikhs' staff attorney Jaspreet Singh said one of the applicants, Bikramjit Singh, was 18 years old when he was expelled from school in 2004 after France passed the law. The other two applicants are Shingara Mann Singh (52) and Ranjit Singh (70) who were denied renewals of ID documents because they refused to remove their turbans to get identity photographs clicked. While Shingara Mann Singh, who held a French passport for 15 years, was refused replacement passport by French authorities in 2005 as he refused to remove the turban for his pensioner photo ID, Ranjit Singh has been deprived of health care since 2002 for want of renewal of his residence card with a similar condition. Their cases were dismissed by French courts and then by European Court of Human Rights. ''In essence, France is insisting that the applicants expose themselves not only at the time the photograph is taken, but also each and every time they have to produce their ID. France's insistence that the applicants choose between repeated violations of their religious beliefs, with the attendant shame and humiliation, and being unable to travel (and transact) freely inside and outside France is unjustifiable,'' lawyers commented on the ID cases.
Gram Nyayalayas bill introduced in RS
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Gram_Nyayalayas_bill_introduced_in_RS/articleshow/3847680.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0046 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday introduced the Gram Nyayalayas Bill, 2008 in Rajya Sabha aimed at providing inexpensive justice to villagers at their doorstep. Introducing the bill, law minister H R Bhardwaj said gram nyayalayas would have first class judicial magistrates and "not some lay persons acting as judges
". Bhardwaj said he had sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's support to appoint at least 3,000 judges, who will be the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) to the courts and will be called `nyaya adhikaris'. "They will be strictly judicial officers and will draw the same salary and derive the same powers as first class magistrates working under the High Courts," he said. These courts will be located at the district headquarters and talukas, the minister said. The judges will travel to the villages, work there and dispose of the cases, he added. The cost of litigation will not be on the litigants but would be borne by the state.
House panel wants foreign banks to lend more to poor, farm sector
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/House_panel_wants_foreign_banks_to_lend_more_to_poor_farm_sector/articleshow/3847566.cms
16 Dec 2008, 2317 hrs IST, Pradeep Thakur, TNN
NEW DELHI: Foreign banks operating in India may soon have to compulsorily diversify into rural areas and earmark at least 10% of their net bank credit to weaker sections of society and the agriculture sector — stipulated as priority sectors. A parliamentary committee on finance on Tuesday said the excuse that these banks don't have rural presence was not tenable. It said, "These banks must expand their share of agricultural advances under priority sector and also be given specified target for lending to weaker sections without further loss of time." The tough talk from lawmakers comes after a similar reminder to the finance ministry failed to elicit the desired result. Refusing to set any deadline or target for foreign banks to lend to priority sectors, the government had earlier contended that since foreign banks did not have rural branches, sub-targets for lending for agriculture and weaker sections had not been stipulated for them. The House panel observed that foreign banks had adopted a non-serious approach towards lending to the priority sector. It stressed that credit must reach to the lower layers of society. The finance ministry also came in for severe criticism from lawmakers for not monitoring the guidelines specified for private and public sector banks to achieve the prescribed target of 10% to weaker sections. "The RBI must ensure that banks achieve the targets stipulated under the priority sector advances to weaker sections in letter and spirit," it said, rejecting the government response that the outstanding credit to weaker sections had gone up. The committee members, deliberating on the issue of credit facility extended by nationalised banks to SCs and STs, recommended stiff action against those who failed to meet the target in lending to priority sector. The mandatory contribution in the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), which is used for priority sector lending, is below target because government pays lesser amount of interest to banks on such deposits. The parliamentary panel, however, said the banks should not be allowed any interest on contribution to RIDF in case they fail to achieve the target. The government had in the past communicated to the banks that failure to achieve priority sector lending would be taken into account for granting regulatory clearances in seeking expansion and for various other purposes.
BJP to back NIA Bill, but says it's `incomplete'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/BJP_to_back_NIA_Bill_but_says_its_incomplete/articleshow/3847548.cms
16 Dec 2008, 2312 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: BJP said it would support the Bill for a National Investigation Agency brought forward by the Manmohan Singh government claiming that it was a "reluctant acceptance" of what the main Opposition party had been campaigning for since the repeal of POTA. BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said, "We have been calling for a tough investigation and punitive system to deal with terrorism. Some provisions have been toughened and it has been recognised that there is a need to treat terror crimes in a separate category." While BJP will enable the government to pass the Bill in Parliament, the party is keen to make the point that the law is "incomplete" in the face of the political compulsions of the ruling coalition. "The admissibility of confessions before a senior police officer and a magistrate is not there. This means that the damning account of arrested Mumbai terrorist Ajmal Kasab — on which India has built its case against Pakistan — will not be acceptable in court," he said. In consultations with the government over the NIA and changes in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, BJP put it across that the agency needed the backing of a strong anti-terrorism law. The party also called for the inclusion of admissibility of confessions given in writing or recorded by electronic devices like tapes and sound tracks. Such confessions should be reproduced before a magistrate and any complaints of torture should be investigated. These provisions were important, said BJP, because producing eye witnesses is not easy in anti-terror cases. "Establishing the Karachi link might be difficult in the case of Kasab if the all that a terrorist divulges is entirely inadmissible in court," Jaitley said. This would only strengthen Pakistan's argument that the evidence being quoted is not being considered by courts in India. BJP pointed out that in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, confessional statements under TADA had been excluded from evidence as the eventual conviction was under IPC. But in that case too, no less than 26 persons were sentenced for TADA offences by a special TADA court. The Supreme Court later held that it was difficult to establish that the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi had been carried out with the intention to "overawe the state" as stated under TADA. BJP also called for tough bail conditions, arguing that no person likely to face a death sentence would come back. Bail provisions under TADA and POTA required that the public prosecutor must have the powers to oppose bail which would be granted in rare cases. These provisions exist in MCOCA.
Carbide waste to go: HC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Carbide_waste_to_go_HC/articleshow/3847412.cms
16 Dec 2008, 2220 hrs IST, TNN
JABALPUR: The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday cleared the decks for disposal of several tonnes of toxic waste accumulated at the world's biggest industrial disaster site the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. The high court has set aside objections raised by the Gujarat government and Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) for disposal of the toxic wastes at Ankeleshwar in Gujarat. A Bench of Chief Justice AK Patnaik and Justice Ajit Singh threatened to initiate contempt proceedings against those who objected to the incineration of the toxic waste at Ankeleshwar, putting at rest the over two decades of uncertainty about the disposal of the toxic waste from the now defunct Union Carbide plant. The waste is causing air, soil and water pollution. The high court passed this order in response to a petition moved by one Alok Pratap Singh seeking direction for safe disposal of the toxic waste, which is causing innumerable problems to the people living around the tragedy site of Union Carbide plant in Bhopal after both Central and state governments refused to take responsibility. The world's biggest industrial disaster struck the Union Carbide plant in the early hours of December 3, 1984, when deadly methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the plant leading to the death of more than 3,000 people. Earlier, when the matter was taken up before the court after due considerations, Ankeleshwar was identified as the ideal location where the toxic waste could be incinerated without causing environmental pollution. The Gujarat government had also given its consent, said counsel for the petitioner Naman Nagrath. However, in subsequent hearings, the Gujarat government and GPCB did a volte face citing environmental pollution. The court while taking it very seriously sought a report from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) whether the claim of the GPCB was right or not. The CPCB, in its report, cleared the matter making it amply clear that Ankeleshwar was the ideal place for incineration of the toxic waste lying in the Union Carbide plant. While accepting its report, the court has given its stamp of approval for disposal of the toxic waste at Ankleshwar and threatened to initiate contempt of court proceedings against those who pose any hurdle in the way of its disposal. According to counsel, a 10-member taskforce under the Central government would monitor the entire process of disposal of over 350 tonnes of loose toxic waste in the factory site. In the first phase, toxic waste in the factory site would be disposed of and in the next phase, the remains of the defunct factory would the dismantled and in the third and last phase, the rest of the ground would be cleared enabling the people there lead a pollution-free life, Nagrath added.
Rizwan case: Industrialist Ashok Todi's bail plea rejected
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Calcutta_HC_rejects_Ashok_Todis_bail/articleshow/3850086.cms
17 Dec 2008, 1143 hrs IST, PTI
KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of industrialist Ashok Todi, main accused in the Rizwanur Rahman case. ( Watch ) Hearing his bail plea after a division bench differed on the issue, Justice B P Sengupta rejected the application. A bench comprising Justice Amit Talukdar and Justice P S Banerjee had differed on whether to grant bail to Todi, with the former being in favour and latter against. The matter had then been assigned to Justice Sengupta by Chief Justice S S Nijjar. Justice Sengupta agreed with Justice Banerjee's view that as Ashok Todi is the main accused and there is a strong prima facie case against him, bail should not granted at this stage. Ashok Todi and his two relatives, Rizwanur's family friend Pappu and three police officers have been accused of abetment to suicide, criminal intimidation and conspiracy, by the CBI in connection with the death of Rizwanur. The computer graphics designer's body was found besides a railway track a month after his marriage to Todi's daughter, Priyanka, in August 2007.
Protests in Mumbai after lawyer offers to defend Kasab
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Lawyer_draws_ire_over_Kasab_defence/articleshow/3851227.cms
17 Dec 2008, 1455 hrs IST, PTI
MUMBAI: A mob on Wednesday protested outside advocate K B N Lam's south Mumbai residence after he offered to defend Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist caught in the recent terror attack here. A mob, suspected to be Shiv Sainiks, started protesting outside Lam's house in Breach Candy, shouting slogans and holding posters against the lawyer, police officials said. Lam, who has been a barrister at London's Lincoln Inn, had a few days back offered to appear for Ajmal stating that every accused has the right to be defended. Last week, a similar protest targeted senior criminal lawyer Ashok Sarogi who had said he was approached to appear for Ajmal and that he will take a decision on it within few days. However, a few hours later, Sarogi had said he would not be appearing for the terrorist citing ethical constraints.
HC's nod to composting units at Patto
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/HCs_nod_to_composting_units_at_Patto_/articleshow/3848944.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0458 hrs IST, TNN
PANAJI: The high court of Bombay at Goa on Tuesday granted permission to the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) to use the composting
units at Patto, Panaji to process the city's garbage. In a related order, the court directed the CCP to refrain from using the anaerobic digester system (ADS) at Patto. The CCP had sought to know from the court whether the court's previous orders regarding the site would prevent the corporation from using the composting units at the site. The CCP had in the application sought permission to dispose wet waste and other garbage at the composting units. CCP's advocate, Agnelo Diniz assured the court that the corporation would not dispose more than two truckloads of garbage at the site and also undertook to do so after office hours to prevent any nuisance to people in the area. While directing strict compliance of the assurances given on behalf of CCP, the court permitted the corporation to process wet waste at the site. However, the court directed that this would be subject to the CCP obtaining clearances from the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) and the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB). A division bench comprising justice A P Deshpande and justice N A Britto were hearing a public interest litigation filed by Mother Earth Foundation, a non government organization, complaining about the failure of the ADS set up by the CCP at Patto Plaza. The petitioner had stated that students of five prominent schools in the area were affected by the resultant stink. In a related petition filed by the Goa LIC Employees Union, the court directed the GSPCB to inspect the ADS plant at Patto and file a feasibility report to the court before allowing the corporation to restart the plant. The court has also directed the CCP to refrain from using the plant unless and until it is repaired to the satisfaction of the GSPCB. The union had filed the petition seeking shifting of the ADS plant from Patto. They had also sought that the CCP be prevented from restarting the plant at its present site. The matter will be next heard on February 3.
HC orders release of advocate
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/HC_orders_release_of_advocate_/articleshow/3848926.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0454 hrs IST, TNN
The AP High Court has directed the home and prison authorities of the state to set free Ch Jagadish Babu, who has been serving a six-year term at Rajamundry jail.
The division bench comprising Justice A Gopal Reddy and Justice R Kantha Rao passed the order after hearing the petition filed by the wife of the convict.
Petitioner's counsel alleged that the authorities bungled in the calculation of special remission periods to be granted to non-life convicts.
Hyderabad: HC notice to film director
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Hyderabad_HC_notice_to_film_director/articleshow/3848096.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0150 hrs IST, TNN
HYDERABAD: The AP High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the state government, film director K Raghavendra Rao and music director Chakravarthi's kin asking them to explain why they are not using the 2.20-acre plot allotted to them in Sheikpet mandal of Hyderabad for the specified purpose for which it was given.
The division bench comprising Justice T Meena Kumari and Justice G Bhavani Prasad, while hearing a petition filed by TRS legislator T Harish Rao questioning the inaction of the authorities in taking back the land from the director, gave three weeks time to the respondents to file their replies. As per the norms of the original allotment made in 1984, this land was supposed to be used for the development of the film industry by building facilities for recording, re-recording, editing, dubbing theatre and an outdoor unit facility. When the ace director tried to construct commercial complexes in the land in 2006, the then Khairatabad legislator P Janardhan Reddy filed a petition in the high court against the move.
Following this, the government told the high court that they were initiating action to resume the land. Despite this, Harish Rao said in his petition, the director is going ahead with the construction and the state is not doing anything.
HC directs disposal of Deen Dayal Trust case
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/HC_directs_disposal_of_Deen_Dayal_Trust_case_/articleshow/3848138.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0108 hrs IST, Abhinav Sharma, TNN
JAIPUR: A single judge bench of Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday directed the trial court to dispose off the land allotted to Pandit Deen Dayal Trust by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje. The allotment took place when Raje was its chairperson. The land measuring 7,693 square metres was allotted at a concessional rate of 5%, compared with the then prevailing market price at a prime location near Civil Lines. It was alleged in a complaint, filed by one Prakash Kukkar, that the land was sought much prior to the date when the trust came into existence. The trust members included former home minister Gulab Kataria, former State BJP president Bhanwarlal Sharma and mayor Ashok Parnami. The mayor had applied for land on behalf of the trust in March 2006. The complainant had filed the complaint before the court of additional chief judicial magistrate no. 2 who had directed the Gandhi Nagar, SHO, to investigate the matter. Later an FIR was also registered. Ashok Parnami then filed an application before the district judge to transfer the matter to any other court pursuant to which the matter was transferred to the court of chief judicial magistrate, Jaipur City. Parnami has challenged the order of transfer of the matter to the court of CJM in the high court by way of a criminal miscellaneous petition on Tuesday. R D Rastogi, counsel for Parnami, told the court that though the application was moved by the members of the trust to transfer the matter to any other court but the order was passed under the influence of the counsel for the complaint. Ajay Kumar Jain, counsel for the complainant, on the other hand told court that the big shots of the political party are trying to manage the case linger on by way of futile and frivolous transfer applications. "I had not suggested the lower court to transfer the matter to the CJM court. After hearing both the advocates, justice G S Saraf directed the matter to be transferred to ACJM no. 5, Jaipur City and further directed him, as requested by the complainant, to expeditiously decide the matter. The matter came into limelight sometime in December 2006 in the wake of a storm created over the issue by the then Opposition Congress. In the wake of the controversy, the trust decided to return the land to the government. In a PIL, the representatives of the government and JDA made the plea that the issue ceased to exist after the trust's decision to return the land. However, the court then directed to disclose all the details of the deal between the government and the trust. The court then ordered that all the documents relating to the application, allocation and the cancellation along with any other relevant paper be made available on oath.
Show no mercy
http://www.mid-day.com/opinion/2008/dec/161208-Pakistani-terrorist-Mohammad-Ajmal-Amir-Qasab-Mumbai-terror-attack-al-Qaeda.htm
By: Jhonny D,Anjum Samel
Date: 2008-12-16
Mumbai:
When Pakistani terrorist Qasab opened fired on innocent passengers at CST on November 26 did he think twice? Then why are we delaying his punishment? Hang Qasab immediately. We cannot rely on the information provided by him. Hang him and give out a message that India is serious about putting an end to terrorism. When al-Qaeda attacked the Twin Towers in America, Bush attacked Iraq and hanged Saddam Hussein immediately after his capture. Why are the Indian media and government being soft on Qasab. Citizens should demand death penalty for Qasab. The captured terrorist, Ajmal Amir Qasab's defence has stirred up a controversy as lawyers have reportedly refused to defend him. This, in CJI KG Balakrishnan's opinion is "inappropriate". There are others who feel that due legal process ought to be followed to do justice to any "accused" whom law considers innocent till proven guilty. However, in Qasab's case, the world has witnessed the mayhem he unleashed in Mumbai. There is abundance evidence to send him to the gallows.
Ajmal Kasav is lucky, he was caught alive in India
http://www.manjunathsinge.com/2008/12/ajmal-kasav-is-lucky-he-was-caught.html
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
"I think there should not be a legal process and it’s useless in our country. Such terrorists (Kasav) should be hanged publically in front of Gateway of India. That's our demand", says Shiv Sena MP and party spokesman Sanjay Raut. I wonder what would have happened if the same statement was given by MNS's "Raj Thackeray and his band of goons"*. I feel, the young blood of Bombay [read Mumbai if you are Raj Thackeray or his fan] would have wrecked "Raj and his band of goon's"* neck! Law maker Sajay Raut should have at least remembered laws of his own land before he made such pedantic statement.Ajmal Amir Kasav is extremely lucky to have been caught alive in a country where fundamental right of "life and liberty" is never denied to anyone. Many people, like Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, who feel Kasav should be deprived of legal assistance, are right in some way. Simply because he was caught red handed and the crime he committed is conspicuous. His Pakistani nationality has nothing to do with this denial; terrorist is a terrorist no matter which country he belong to. There are other section of people who say, however heinous his crime may be, he should be given legal assistance at least for the sake upholding the law of the land and morally defeating those who preach hatred and violence. The legal experts say, the dilemma of whether to provide legal assistance to Kasav can be solved by declaring Kasav as "enemy alien" under the Article 22(3), so that he can no longer have the fundamental right of life and liberty.I feel Kasav's case may have far reaching impact on domestic laws for preventive detention. Today, "exceptional" status of Kasav's case is unquestionable, "the trauma resulting from the terrorist attacks may be used as a justification for undue curtailment of individual rights and liberties. Instead of offering a considered response to the growth of terrorism, a country may resort to questionable methods such as permitting indefinite detention of terror suspects, the use of coercive interrogation techniques, and the denial of the right to fair trial....the most prominent example...is the treatment of the detainees in Guantanamo Bay who were arrested by U.S. authorities in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. It is alleged that they have detained hundreds of suspects for long periods, often without the filing of charges or access to independent judicial remedies. [CJI of India]"So, the point here is, denying legal access to Kasav may just be a pretext to the misuse of preventive detention laws in the name of terrorism. "In some circles, it is argued that the judiciary places unnecessary curbs on the power of the investigating agencies to tackle terrorism. In India, those who subscribe to this view also demand changes in our criminal and evidence law — such as provisions for longer periods of preventive detention and confessions made before police officials to be made admissible in court. While the ultimate choice in this regard lies with the legislature, we must be careful not to trample upon constitutional principles such as ‘substantive due process.’ This guarantee was read into the conception of ‘personal liberty’ under Article 21 of the Constitution of India by our Supreme Court.** The necessary implication of this is that all governmental action, even in exceptional times, must meet the standards of reasonableness, non-arbitrariness, and non-discrimination [CJI of India, K.G.Balakrishnan]."Thus, at least for the sake of completing legal procedures under our laws, Kasav should get legal access, so that the perpetrators can be brought to the book soon, so that the souls of many innocents and brave officers who lost their lives may rest in peace.* Excerpts from widely circulated SMS: Where was Raj Thackeray and his band of goons when South Mumbai was burning? He should have been at the forefront of action trying to save Mumbai from the terrorists! How on earth did he allow north Indians and Indians from some other locations who are in the NSG to dare come and save Mumbai???!!!! Go get the terrorists Raj! Go get 'em!!].** This idea of ‘substantive due process’ was incorporated through the decision in Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, AIR 1978 SC 597. In a way this was an answer to Madam Gandhi's misrule during infamous emergency. The law of preventive detention was widely misused. All the opponents of Madam (Indira) Gandhi, like Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, were put behind the bars. Madam Gandhi even ensured that her opponent Maneka Gandhi was deprived of her passport. Maneka Gandhi challenged the "reasonableness" of denial of her passport. Supreme Court intervened and upheld Menaka Gandhi's appeal. Ultimately, government had to give passport to Maneka Gandhi. The apex court simply said, why only Maneka Gadhi, out of thousands of others who had applied for passport? That's where the question of "reasonableness" of government's action lies.
HC rejects serial blasts accused's plea against police custody
http://www.ptinews.com/pti/ptisite.nsf/0/13731DD13AD06BAC652575220028FCAB?OpenDocument
New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) The Delhi High Court today dismissed a petition of suspected terrorists allegedly involved in the September 13 serial blasts here, challenging their custodial interrogation beyond 15 days.Justice Kailash Gambhir dismissed plea of Mohd Shakeel and Zeeshan Ahmed, who, along with three others have been arrested for allegedly carrying out the blasts in the capital.Both the accused had on October 22 approached the court seeking to quash a trial court's order sending them to police custody till October 27.Appearing for the family members of the accused, counsel Prashant Bhushan had contended that an accused can be detained for a maximum period of 15 days but the lower court had allegedly erred by extending their police custody beyond the period.The petitioners had challenged the trail court's order of October 16 by which five suspected terrorists Mohammed Saif, Zeeshan Ahmad, Mohammed Shakeel, Zia-ur-Rehman and Saquib Nissar were remanded to 12 days' fresh police custody.Zeeshan, 23, and Shakeel, 24, were arrested by the Delhi Police on September 19 and 20 respectively under suspicion of being involved in the serial bomb blasts and were twice remanded to police custody till October 16. Their police remand were further granted till October 27.On October 27, all five accused were handed over to Gujarat police for their alleged involvement in the serial blasts in Ahmedabad.Out of the five, Mohd Saif is at present in custody of Rajasthan police which are probing his alleged role in Jaipur serial blasts.A series of blasts in the capital had claimed 26 lives and left scores others injured. PTI
HC orders release of advocate
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/HC_orders_release_of_advocate_/articleshow/3848926.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0454 hrs IST, TNN
The AP High Court has directed the home and prison authorities of the state to set free Ch Jagadish Babu, who has been serving a six-year term at Rajamundry jail.
The division bench comprising Justice A Gopal Reddy and Justice R Kantha Rao passed the order after hearing the petition filed by the wife of the convict.
Petitioner's counsel alleged that the authorities bungled in the calculation of special remission periods to be granted to non-life convicts.
Charitable hospital moves HC against PMC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Charitable_hospital_moves_HC_against_PMC/articleshow/3848146.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0448 hrs IST, Swati Deshpande, TNN
MUMBAI: A super-speciality charitable hospital in Pune, run by the Lata Mangeshkar Medical Foundation, recently moved the Bombay high court against the "draconian'' seizure of all its eight sonography machines by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The civic body seized the 650-bed hospital's ultrasound equipment in August on the pretext of it being misused to carry out banned sex determination tests, thereby abetting female foeticide. When the matter came up for its first proper hearing, in the HC on Tuesday, R A Dada, counsel for the hospital, expressed shock and indignation at the PMC's "arbitrary and unreasonable action, without any evidence'' while the PMC counsel R G Ketkar tried to justify the seizure as being in "public interest''. At one point, Justice Bilal Nazki, who along with Justice J H Bhatia, was hearing the matter said, "If we had such machines 100 years earlier, we would perhaps not have had Lata Mangeshkar.'' Trouble began for the hospital when a civic advisory committee set up to implement the Preconception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, found that eight out of 600 forms were not filled completely by pregnant women undergoing a sonography. The deputy medical officer of PMC locked up all ultrasound machines in a room. Four months later, Dada said the appellate authority has yet to give the hospital a hearing for the unconstitutional action. In an equally serious tone, Justice Nazki said the machines are important for diagnostic purposes for "all types of ailments'' and the PMC "has to strike a balance'' to ensure that "other patients don't suffer.'' The public trust founded by the famous Mangeshkar family in 1989 runs the premier Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital which has 70 ICU beds and also caters to the lower income group. "There is nothing to show that the banned sex determination tests were carried out in the hospital. The prolonged seizure, without even a proper panchnama, is nothing but a punishment in advance,'' said Dada adding, "The hospital was doing nothing wrong nor does it want to, otherwise it wouldn't be struggling like this for four months. Patients have to be sent outside for sonography. The machines can't be kept unused like this.'' Besides, the hospital said that in each of the eight cases where the form was apparently incomplete, the women were in an advanced state of pregnancy and even if the sex of the foetus was determined, abortion was out of the question under the law. Moreover, each woman had submitted a letter testifying that the sonography was performed only "for foetal growth and well-being, and not for sex determination or abortion''. In some cases, the tests were carried out barely two days before delivery. Hospital authorities also said the hospital was being discriminated against. Ketkar insisted it was "physically impossible'' to keep tabs on all clinics where sex determination tests are probably being carried out. Nazki then said, "When we have lost our moral fibre...if a mother is prepared to kill a baby in her womb, no law has the power to stop her.'' The court will continue with the matter on Wednesday.
PIL againt OMR toll system, HC orders notice
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/PIL_againt_OMR_toll_system_HC_orders_notice_/articleshow/3848221.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0549 hrs IST, TNN
CHENNAI: A day after toll collection started on Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR), causing a pile-up of vehicles near the toll plaza and public anger over the new levy, the Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered notice to the government on a public interest writ petition against the toll system. The petition, filed by VOICE Consumer Care Council, said the Tamil Nadu Highways Act did not have any provision to collect toll on any of the state highways, which included the OMR or Rajiv Gandhi Salai. Admitting the petition on Tuesday, a division bench comprising Justice S J Mukhopadhaya and Justice V Dhanapalan directed the authorities to file their replies by Monday, when the matter would be taken up for final hearing. While the National Highways Act, a Central legislation, specifically provided for collection of toll by the government or a third party under the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) scheme, the State Highways Act did not have any such ingredient. Section 7 of the National Highways Act enables levy of fees, whereas Section 8(A) of the Act empowered the Centre to enter into agreements with any person for the development and maintenance of national highways for a fee. "Unlike the Central Act, the State legislation relating to highways did not enable the state government to levy fees by a legislative provision, which is an essential ingredient without which fees cannot be levied at all," K M Vijayan, senior counsel for the petitioner said. He contended that neither the Tamil Nadu government nor a third party could be permitted to collect toll on the road, as the impugned GO enabling toll collection was not supported by a legislative provision under the Tamil Nadu Highways Act. Vijayan further contended that toll should be collected only when the road was completed and all amenities were in place. Pointing out that the 20.1-km road was yet to be fully ready for use, the senior advocate also questioned the rationale behind allowing the company to collect toll for the next 28 years -- that is, upto the year 2036. "It is not known on what basis the fee is determined, without taking into account the amount spent and the revenue gained. There appears to be a clear case of unjust enrichment in favour of the Information Technology Express Highway Limited," said the petitioner and trustee of the Council, R Sureshkumar. (EOM)
Shifting of scrapyards on anvil, AG tells HC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Goa/Shifting_of_scrapyards_on_anvil_AG_tells_HC/articleshow/3847243.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0452 hrs IST, TNN
PANAJI: The advocate general, Subodh Kantak has on Monday informed the high court of Bombay at Goa that the government is examining a proposal to shift all the scrapyards in the industrial estates. The court was hearing a letter petition filed by one Jatin Ramaiya, a law student in V M Salgaocar College of law, Miramar. He had pointed out that about 42 illegal scrap yards are located in Ponda within proximity of residential areas. Considering the gravity of the matter the court was of the opinion that scrapyards in the entire state should be brought under the purview of the petition. Ponda municipal councils advocate S D Padiyar told court that out of the existing 42 scrapyards only seven scrap yards come under municipal jurisdiction. All seven have been issued notices, he added. The court has also appointed advocate John Abreu Lobo as amicus curiae in the matter. The matter will now be heard in January.
HC acquits two Syndicate Bank honchos in graft case
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/HC_acquits_two_Syndicate_Bank_honchos_in_graft_case/articleshow/3848045.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0331 hrs IST, Swati Deshpande & Kartikeya, TNN
MUMBAI: Fifteen years after being accused of misusing his official position in a bank to invest Rs 132 crore of public money for his own profit, a special security scam judge at the Bombay high court has acquitted a former executive director, R S Pai and a managing director, K R N Shenoy, of Syndicate Bank. The two were charged with siphoning off funds placed in the bank's Portfolio Management Scheme (PMS) by the Oil Industries Development Board (OIDB) in 1991. Though a complaint was initially filed in 1993 against the bank's divisional manager R Sundaresan, a chargesheet was filed in the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in July 1997 against Pai and Shenoy. The case was sent for trial to a special court. When the matter came before Justice V M Kanade, presiding over the security scam cases, he acquitted the duo after saying that the CBI had not been able to prove there was a criminal conspiracy between Pai and Shenoy to divert OIDB's funds. The high court held that the prosecution had failed to establish a link between Pai, who was stationed at Manipal in Karnataka__where Syndicate Bank has its head office__and Shenoy, who was in Mumbai. The evidence given by the witnesses also did not indicate that there was "any meeting of minds'' between the two accused. The court also said it was "surprising'' that the CBI had not investigated officials at OIDB who were "equally responsible'' for making investments with Syndicate Bank and for the risks involved in it. Moreover, the initial complaint was filed against an official called R Sundaresan but later the case against him was dropped. He was examined as a prosecution witness in the case without giving "any explanation'' for doing so, the court observed. The court also held that the CBI had "turned a blind eye towards OIDB officials'' who had raised a boogie about being unaware of rules governing the investment of surplus funds. The court also held that the entire amount involved in the case was finally repaid to OIDB and no loss had been caused to it. Besides, there was no CBI evidence to prove that 62,000 shares from the promoters' quota of the private companies was transferred to Pai or his family members as a reward, as alleged.
HC summons HUDA administrator
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chandigarh/HC_summons_HUDA_administrator/articleshow/3847947.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0227 hrs IST, TNN
CHANDIGARH: With Panchkula Sector 2 residents moving the high court here against the upcoming Dikshant Global Public School for allegedly violating building byelaws and encroaching upon green space of the sector, the high court on Tuesday summoned the HUDA administrator, Panchkula, seeking an explanation from him on various issues raised by the petitioners. Perplexed over the submissions made by the petitioners' counsel that despite getting the land on the basis of being a nursery school, the school authorities were issuing advertisements claiming it to be a high school. At this the school counsel intervened to assert that there were two schools by the same group and the petitioners were "mixing them up.'' In fact, a division bench, headed by chief justice Tirath Singh Thakur and justice Jasbir Singh, wondered as to of what use the nursery kids would make of shooting range, yoga classes, holistic development techniques etc so loudly proclaimed by the school authorities in their advertisement. The CJ also sought to know the extent of construction permissible for a nursery school and if for a sector of 2,500 residents, a school for 750 nursery children was feasible. The CJ then ordered that the HUDA administrator be summoned to explain the norms regarding grant of sanction to a nursery school and other incidental things.
Apex court refuses bail plea of Ashok Todi
http://www.twocircles.net/2008dec16/apex_court_refuses_bail_plea_ashok_todi.html
Submitted by admin2 on 17 December 2008 - 3:53am.
Indian Muslim
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Tuesday denied bail to West Bengal industrialist Ashok Todi who is accused of driving his son-in-law Rizwanur Rahman to commit suicide.
"We are not inclined to entertain the petition," said the bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice P. Sathasivam, refusing to grant bail to Todi.
The bench also refused to accede to a plea by Todi's counsel Harish Salve for a direction to the Calcutta High Court to decide his bail plea before the winter vacation.
"We can't give such a direction," said the bench, adding it can only ask the high court to dispose of Todi's bail plea expeditiously.
Todi approached the apex court for bail after the Calcutta High Court gave a split verdict on his bail plea and the case was referred to a third judge.
Salve told the apex court that his client's bail plea has been hanging fire since long owing to the differences between the judges of the division bench of the high court on granting it.
Justice Amit Talukdar of the high court's division bench was of the view that Todi should be granted bail as there was no reason to apprehend that he would influence witness and tamper with evidence.
The other judge, Justice P.S. Banerjee, was against granting bail owing to the allegations that millions of rupees had changed hands for separating Rizwanur from Todi's daughter Priyanka. Rizwanur's mother Kishwar Jahan too opposed Todi's bail plea in the high court.
Ashok Todi's brother Pradip Todi was also denied bail by the Calcutta sessions court. Anil Sarogi, Ashok Todi's brother-in-law who had surrendered in the designated Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court Dec 8 on the apex court directions, was granted bail.
The CBI, which probed the case on the high court order, has indicted Todi brothers, their brother-in law Sarogi, and another accomplice Mohammed Moiuddin for driving Rizwanur to commit suicide.
Rizwanur allegedly committed suicide a month after his marriage to Priyanka. His body was found near railway tracks Sept 21 last year.
Seven people have been indicted in the case, including three police officers - former deputy commissioner (detective department) Ajoy Kumar, former assistant commissioner anti-rowdy section Sukanti Chakraborty and Krishnendu Das.
They have been charged with abetment to suicide, criminal intimidation and conspiracy.
Ashok Todi surrendered before the CBI court Dec 1.
Censure schools violating nursery norms, PIL pleads in HC
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/censure-schools-violating-nursery-norms-pil-pleads-in-hc/399425/
Chinki Sinha Posted: Dec 17, 2008 at 0112 hrs IST
New Delhi: An NGO has moved the Delhi High Court alleging many private, unaided schools in the city are violating nursery admission norms, as set by the Directorate of Education (DoE).
In its Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed on Monday, the School Choice Campaign (SCC) has pleaded with the High Court to intervene and take action against errant schools. The case would be heard on Wednesday.
Launched in 2007, SCC is a nationwide initiative formed by the Centre of Civil Society. Last week, it started Action for School Admission Reforms (ASAR) to help parents take their complaints to the authorities. The ASAR has so far received 17 complaints, and they are part of the PIL, SSC associate director R Baladevan said.
Lack of transparency in the points system and schools interviewing children in violation of DoE guidelines are among the complaints in the PIL, Baladevan said.
A recent ASSOCHAM study had found that schools in the city had made more than Rs 5,000 crore just by selling prospectus and registration forms between 2000 and 2008. The average cost of these forms, the study found, was Rs 500 — by law, schools cannot charge more than Rs 25 per form.
According to the PIL, many private recognised and unaided schools are violating DoE guidelines, and some are going against the Supreme Court’s order by interviewing children.
A DoE circular had asked schools to issue forms from December 15 to 31 and accept completed forms until January 7. But most schools contend they were granted autonomy regarding schedule and admission guidelines last year and are, thus, not bound by DoE’s schedule. School officials say they are only required to inform the authorities of their schedule and admission criterion.
“If autonomy is the issue, then they (schools) must inform the parents,” Baladevan said. “What is the point if a school and DoE have this conversation in secret?”
A R Antulay should be dismissed
http://www.bloggernews.net/119042
Posted on December 17th, 2008
by Sumankar1 in All News
A R Antulay who is a minsiter in UPA Government caused an uproar in the Parliament by suggesting that Mr Karkare and his team were sent to confront terrorists at Cama Hospital instead of Taj purposely and killed.
Such a preposterous statement coming from Mr Antulay is a reflection of what the Congress Government has created in the last few years through its pseudo secularist policies.
Now the option available for Congress is to either accept Mr Antulay’s statement as a possibility and order an enquiry or dismiss him forthwith so that such obnoxious trouble makers do not represent the Government.
Given an opportunity, Mr Antulay may state that Kasab was an agent of Hindu outfits designated to kill Mr Karkare.
I think there is enough case to book Mr Antulay under the current laws itself for trying to create disharmony in the society.
I wish a PIL is filed by a public spirited lawyer to ensure that the irresponsible statements made by Mr Antulay are taken as an anti Indian statement and action sought. Otherwise his statements are likely to be used by Pakistan to support their fancy claim that Kasab is not a Pakistani. Perhaps they would also say that he is a citizen of India itself !
Mulayam assets case: plea urges Supreme Court to ‘monitor’ probe
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mulayam-assets-case-plea-urges-supreme-.../399347/
Express news service Posted: Dec 17, 2008 at 0019 hrs IST
New Delhi: In a disproportionate assets (DA) case involving SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family members, the Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine a plea seeking a modification of its earlier order dated March 1, 2007, where the preliminary probe report was directed to be placed before the Central Government.
This was agreed upon after the petitioner, Allahabad-based advocate Vishwanath Chaturvedi, made a brief mention of the matter seeking permission to file a fresh application with his plea for “modification” of the court’s order.
The petitioner, who had filed a PIL seeking an independent and impartial probe into the wealth and assets of Yadav and his kin, urged the court to continue to “monitor” the probe besides directing the CBI to register a regular case (RC) against the respondents.
His application comes barely a few days after the probe agency, CBI, moved an application seeking withdrawal of its previous application, where it had sought permission to file the status report on the inquiry directly before the apex court.
Opposing the agency’s plea, Chaturvedi said, “It is unfortunate for this country that wrong and misleading advice is being given by the senior law officers of the Centre with a view to pleasing the Government.”
The petitioner sought directions for the agency to stick to its commitment to file the status report before the apex court, alleging the progress in the case might be guided by political compulsions since the UPA Government had proved its majority in Parliament with the support of Yadav’s party.
“If the CBI will submit its report to the Centre, it (Centre) may proceed in the matter according to its own political compulsions and not depend upon the outcome of the inquiry report,” he said.
Justices Altamas Kabir and Markandeya Katju, before whom a brief mention was made, allowed the application to be filed.
AIADMK seeks JPC on spectrum deal
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=AIADMK+seeks+JPC+on+spectrum+deal&artid=ra/i8Qwg9Iw=&SectionID=vBlkz7JCFvA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=EL7znOtxBM3qzgMyXZKtxw==&SEO=
Express News Service
First Published : 17 Dec 2008 02:00:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 17 Dec 2008 12:15:25 PM IST
NEW DELHI: Terming the spectrum allocation controversy as the greatestever scandal in the country, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Tuesday demanded the dismissal of Union Telecommunication Minister A Raja and the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the issue.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha, AIADMK leader Dr V Maitreyan demanded that the 2G spectrum allotted to real estate companies be cancelled.
As AIADMK and DMK members clashed over Maitreyan’s demand, members of the CPM and the BJP supported the AIADMK.
Amidst objections from DMK members, Maitreyan criticised the Union Minister of allotting 2G spectrum for mobile services on first-come first-served basis instead of going in for global auction, which resulted in a loss of nearly Rs 1,00,000 crore to the exchequer.
“To put it in perspective, the six crore population of Tamil Nadu can be provided rice, now priced at one rupee a kg, free of cost, through ration shops for the next 140 years with this money,” Maitreyan said.
He pointed out that the Central Vigilance Commission had questioned the deal and the Delhi High Court had admitted a PIL against the spectrum allocation.
Referring to Raja’s claims that he had not deviated from the norms followed by his predecessor, the AIADMK member pointed out that his predecessor too was a DMK nominee who functioned according to the dictates of his party boss.
Echoing Maitreyan, CPM member Tapan Kumar Sen said that the allocation had been made to dubious companies that had nothing to do with telecommunication.
He too demanded a JPC probe.
BJP member Prakash Javadekar alleged that the spectrum scandal has broken all the records of corruption. Referring to reports that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had written a letter on the issue, Javadekar demanded that its contents be made public.
Janata Dal (U) member Sharad Yadav said the spectrum controversy is a big issue that needs a thorough debate in Parliament.
Stakeholder queries set to delay 3G auction
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1214628&pageid=0
Nivedita Mookerji
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 03:34 IST
NEW DELHI: A delay in holding auction for 3G (third generation telecom) and broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum looks imminent with concerns being raised by stakeholders and others.The full Telecom Commission is scheduled to meet today to deliberate on the issue of 3G and BWA auction, even as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has already issued the information memorandum on the modalities of the auction process.3G auction is scheduled for January 16.BWA bidding will happen two days after that. The telecom industry, including GSM and CDMA operators, has sought multiple clarifications from DoT on various aspects of the 3G auction. The players claim DoT had hurriedly brought out the information memorandum and suggest it devote more time to clarifying issues related to the auction process. Meanwhile, a public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation and a few internet service providers such as Sify and Tulip against auction of BWA spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band.The complainants have argued that they have existing operational links in that frequency band, which cannot be vacated as they are serving many subscribers. Another bone of contention is the recommendation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) that an annual administrative charge equivalent to 2% of the highest bid must be paid by the 3G players. DoT has not made this a part of its information memorandum on 3G and BWA auction, and is not even keen to include it in future. Also, many in the industry feel this is not the right time to hold 3G auctions as the players are faced with economic slowdown. Vodafone wrote a letter to the DoT to this effect recently, and many foreign players want to join the 3G bandwagon in India through the mobile virtual network operator route once it is allowed in the country. Even if there is an auction, the bid price would be much lower than expected, experts said. However, for the government, it is important to raise funds ahead of the general election slated for April-May 2009. Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) director general TV Ramachandran has sought equal opportunities and level-playing field principles in the allocation of 3G spectrum. He has said that 3G spectrum must be allocated simultaneously to all successful bidders for ensuring “adequate and healthy competition in the sector.” According to Ramachandran, if the slots for 3G spectrum are limited, it could significantly distort the bidding process, and consequently the market, as it could lead to unrealistic bids for 3G spectrum. In case equitable distribution of spectrum is not possible due to scarcity of the natural resource, COAI has suggested alternate formulae for the auction. Association of Unified Service Providers of India (AUSPI) secretary general S C Khanna has asked for clarifications on the timetable for auction of spectrum in 800 MHz, 1900 MHz and 450 MHz bands for a level-playing field for CDMA operators.AUSPI has also asked for clarity on the existing quantum of spectrum and the value of entry fee for getting the unified access licence for standalone 3G operators. As of now, two circles have been left out of the 3G bidding process completely, and in other circles, there are a varying number of slots available for private players.
Hospitals given last chance to set up plant
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bangalore/Hospitals_given_last_chance_to_set_up_plant/articleshow/3847905.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0029 hrs IST, TNN
Bangalore : The closure of 14 government hospitals in the city, as per a high court Lok Adalat order, has been postponed following an undertaking by the defaulters that they will set up biomedical waste treatment plants. The tribunal had ordered their closure by December 17 for failing to set up the plants. There are 17 government hospitals in the city. The adalat -- comprising Justice K L Manjunath and member A N Yellappa Reddy -- passed the order while hearing a 1998 PIL that was referred to it. The petition was regarding supply of potable water to residents of Bellandur. Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) officials will now issue fresh notices to the hospitals for initiating action for their lapses in implementing the order. At the last hearing, the hospitals were given time till December 4 to set up plants for treating biomedical waste. Only three of them responded to the direction and are in the process of installing treatment plants. The hospitals were issued notice on October 24 and the authorities were called for a personal hearing on November 24. According to senior advocate S Vasudeva, though the KSPCB informed them about setting up a plant more than a year ago, they continued to operate without it, polluting the environment and affecting the health of residents. "Today, the authorities of these hospitals have given an undertaking on installing the plant. They have to submit a report on the work by January 20,'' Vasudeva said. Hospitals facing the charges are government general hospitals in Indiranagar, K R Puram and Yelahanka, Jayanagar Government Hospital, Hajee Sir Ismail Sait Ghousia Hospital, SDS TB Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases, Bowring Hospital, Shivajinagar, Minto Hospital, Chamarajpet, Vanivilas Hospital, K R Road and Kidwai Institute.
Court decree for parking lot
http://www.e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=17..171208.dec08
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 16 2008: The Gauhati High Court, Imphal Bench has decreed that a parking lot for all types of passenger vehicles plying along the route from Thoubal to Imphal should be provided either at Thoubal Bazar or near Thoubal DC office complex.The ruling was issued by Justice BK Singh and Justice UB Saha of Gauhati High Court, Imphal Bench on December 10 after hearing a PIL filed by one Waikhom Inaojuge of Thoubal Achouba and Sougrakpam Roben of Thoubal Mayai Leikai.Advocate HS Paonam appeared in favour of the petitioners while Divisional Government Advocate RS Reisang appeared for the State.
SC refuses to entertain IMA plea against ayurvedic doctors
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1214534
PTI
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 20:09 IST
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a PIL challenging the permission given by several state governments to ayurvedic doctors allegedly practising allopathy.
The apex court also pulled up the Indian Medical Association for filing the petition in which it had made list of 25 prayers and several respondents as party.
"You should not file this sort of a petition. You have made 25 prayers and named too many respondents," a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said while disagreeing with the submission of senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta that allowing ayurvedic doctors to practice allopathic medicine was in violation of the provisions of the Indian Medical Council Act.
The advocate had cited a judgement of the apex court to buttress his submission but the bench declined to accept it.
"We are not going to look into the judgement given by this court," the Bench, also comprising Justice P Sathasivam said adding that "it is not possible for this court to supervise the whole system".
The court suggested that the IMA can approach the Medical Council of India with its plea.
"We cannot give general directions. You have sought wide directions which are not possible," the Bench said.
Realising that the Bench was dismissing the petition, the advocate sought to withdraw it with a liberty to approach an appropriate court.
Urgent - need photographs for a PIL
http://bangalore.praja.in/blog/promod-kapur/2008/12/17/urgent-need-photographs-a-pil
Submitted by Promod Kapur on 17 December 2008 - 11:13am.
Dear readers, for our ongoing Bangalore Masterplan-2015 PIL, we urgently need some help. We require photographs that show the adverse effects of converting a road of a residential area into "mutation corridor" (see below for what is this, or open attached file). If the photos can also show vehicles parked on the road and pavements due to lack of proper parking space, it will be great.
What is a mutation corridor? Here is some text from BDA website (Masterplan-2015, Landuse PDF, Article 5)). If you want to help, and have any doubts, post a comment. Once again, the need is very urgent.
Article.5 MUTATION CORRIDOR ZONE1.0 Definition of the zone:The Radial Corridors and main Corridors of the city are designated as Mutationcorridor zones, predominantly having a road based development.
2.0 Master plan strategies:• Promote Commercial office spaces and high density housing.• Facilitating necessary setbacks required for future improvements of roadsand access.
3.0 Regulations for this zone:
3.1. Eligibility for the zone:3.1.1 Plot/s shall face the Road with minimum of 30 % of average width of plot asFrontage.3.1.2 Plot upto 100.0m depth is eligible.3.1.3 For a plot over a depth of 100.0 m, a public road as prescribed by theauthority during sanction process shall be provided to connect theneighbouring areas.3.1.4. If the plot does not meet the above criteria for the mutation corridorthe plot can avail the regulations of the respective main zone, in which it issituated.
3.2. Minimum Plot size:The minimum plot size of newly sub divided plot shall not be less than 500sq.m
3.3. Permissible land uses:3.3.1 Main Land use category: C33.3.2 Ancillary land use category: R1, L2, U33.3.3 All ancillary uses are permissible upto 300 sq.m or 30 % of the total built uparea.
Police Modernization PIL
http://doshiamit.net/2008/12/16/police-modernization-pil/
December 16th, 2008 doshiamit Posted in Uncategorized
UPDATE: An email id has been provided. savemumbai@in.com Email this address with in case they need to show citizen support in court.
There are a lot of questions being asked about how the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai could take place. Most of this seems like noise rather than any sort of concrete measure to improve security. A friend of mine has been involved with a PIL that is asking for an accounting on why numerous police modernization initiatives have gone nowhere. The Society of Indian Law Firms(SILF) and the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry are both involved as well. In my mind this kind of PIL is far more productive than the abstain from voting, tax revolution, bomb Pakistan nonsense that is being forwarded on the internet and over sms’s.
The filing of the PIL got some coverage in the press but not enough. Here are some articled from Mint, Indian Express and DNA. This is not the flashy emotional appeal that the majority of the press seems to lap up. This is a substantive series of steps we would like our government to take and consequently the amount of coverage is limited.
My friend has asked me to help get the word out, and try and get as many people as possible to sign up here.
So what can you do?
First and foremost I would appreciate it if you could pass this message on as far and wide as possible. The more people who sign up for this the better. At the bottom of this post there is a little share this button. You can use that to email this post, or share it with anyone you would like to. Pass it through facebook, through orkut, through twitter anyway you can think of getting this in front of as many people as possible. There is a forum on the website www.abillionhands.com Its not very active right now but maybe we can change that.
Next step would be to take this out of cyberspace and into real life. I have some ideas for things we can do, but lets see how many people we can get to work on this.
If you would like to read the full text of the PIL you can download it from here.
Below is a Background Note about the PIL.
It has happened before and it could happen again. Mumbai has been attacked by terrorists over 15 times in the last 2 decades and by virtue of it’s position as the country’s financial capital, is a prime and vulnerable target for future attacks.
26/11 has yet again exposed the many weaknesses in Mumbai’s security systems. The audacious attack on 2 of Mumbai’s leading hotels and it’s key railway station has led to a tremendous loss of civilian and police lives and great damage to property. The anger and anguish amongst Mumbaikars is palpable. This time it cannot go to waste - it has to be channelised towards effecting constructive change for the City.
Mumbai has a more than 16 million strong population and just 42,000 policemen & women. Festivals, floods, fighting crimes and terrorist attacks…Mumbai’s brave police men and women put their lives on the line everyday. They help keep the wheels of India’s financial capital turning - but what have we done to help them?
Now the Society of Indian Law Firms, that represents India’s leading law firms, supported by a large group of leading business personalities in Mumbai and the Bombay CHamber of Commerce & Industry believe it’s high time Mumbai did something for it’s Police.
PIL : WHO & WHY?
- The Petitioner is the Society of Indian Law Firms supported by a group of concerned Mumbai citizens and business leaders from the City. On Thursday, India’s oldest chamber of commerce, the Bombay Chamber of Commerce & Industry joined the PIL. The Bombay Chamber has over 2000 member companies. It is for the first time in the Bombay Chamber’s history that it is backing citizen action of this sort.
- More training, modern equipment, better coordination, enhanced resources and an elite force that can deal promptly with terrorist attacks - the solutions are all known, discussed and debated. In many cases the State has even promised to implement measures to help better equip the Police. But little has come of it.
- Now the only option is to seek Court assistance in ensuring that all measures are taken to assist the Police in being better equipped to deal with the threat of 21st century terrorism
-The judiciary is the last standing pillar of democracy. Whenever all else has failed, the courts have come to the rescue of citizens - be it pertaining to the Environment, Heritage, Law & Order or Road Safety…
PIL has been a very effective tool used by Citizens to have their voices heard
- And so the SILF, Bombay Chamber and it’s supporting citizen team are now appealing to the Court to help ensure the State assists in modernising Mumbai’s Police
PIL: DETAILS
The PIL requests the Bombay High Court to direct the Union & the State (both, either/or wherever applicable)
a) Pursuant to the guarantee of ‘right to life’ in Article 21, the Union & the State should take all appropriate measures to meet the security threat to Mumbai
b) To disclose via affidavit all concrete steps being taken, with timeline and funding particulars, regarding establishment of Special Squad (Quick Response Team has been put together but not fully empowered)
c) Alongwith the above 2 points a) & b), the Union/State should
1. Permanently station NSG unit in Mumbai and wherever else required in Maharashtra
2. Provide sufficient coastal security coverage
3. Establish coordination mechanisms across Intelligence agencies, State Police and all Security Agencies
4. Assist, train and equip Police to meet new age terrorist threat
d) Alongwith a), b) & c), the Union/State should
1. Formulate and implement Crisis Management Plan
2. Procure and provide adequate equipment/vehicles/machinery (including Marine & Chopper units) for quick mobility via land/sea/air for effective patrolling, prevention and containment of crime/terrorist attack. This should be reserved for Police duties
3. Identify, fund and provide Surveillance Gear (such as CCTV coverage)
4. Implement the McKinsey Report that studied the Mumbai Police and advised on improvement and modernisation
e) Appoint Citizen Committee comprising of eminent citizens, retired judges and police officers to assist and advise on the implementation of all these measures.
Salwa Judum: Chhattisgarh assures SC of action on NHRC report
http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/E3590750D0B59378652575210047FBED?OpenDocument
New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) Chhattisgarh government today assured the Supreme Court that further action would be taken on the recommendation of the NHRC which probed the alleged human rights violation by Salwa Judum, a people's movement to combat naxalism in the state.The apex court asked the state government to file Action Taken Report (ATR) on the recommendations made by the NHRC which had pointed to incidents of burning and killing on which FIRs were not registered and cases of high-handedness of the Special Police Officers, the civilians, armed with weapons to fight naxal menace.The report by the NHRC had stated that villagers have become victims of the fight between naxalites and Salwa Judum.Senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the Chhatisgarh government, said the state has already acted reports and recommendations of the NHRC and have lodged FIRs in the cases which were pointed out.Further, in some cases the probe has been initiated before registering the FIR.Senior advocate Ashok Desai, appearing for one of the petitioner, stressed the need for taking steps against the SPOs who are accused by the NHRC report of indulging in extra-judicial killings.A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan posted the matter for further hearing on February 3 next year.In an exhaustive report supported by documents, NHRC had inquired into alleged human rights violations by activists of Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh even as the Centre had approved the state government's stand. PTI
NHRC chief touched by visually impaired man's anguishhttp://www.e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=19..161208.dec08
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Sobhapati Samom
Imphal, December 15 2008: VISUALLY IMPARIED Sapam Jasobanta, a resident of Tera Sapam Leirak in Manipur's Imphal west district drew the attention of National Human Rights Commission Chairman Justice S Rajendra Babu over the rejection of his plea for applying in the Manipur Public Service Commission exmaination in the recent time. Jasobanta raised the issue of discrimination against disabled persons due to non-implementation of certain Disabilities Act in the region, during the technical session of the ongoing two day regional workshop on disability for north eastern region here at the banquet hall of the 1st battalion MR today.Jasobanta said, "This act is nothing but a paper tiger in the state"."I had applied for MPSC examination three years back but they rejected, later I wrote to Labour Commissioner but there's no response" he narrated.Later Jasobanta filed a case in the Gauhati High Court Imphal Bench but it was withdrawn and subsequently he filed in Supreme Courton September 3 last wherein the court kept it "under consideration". "I didn't want to blame the government as they (government) are not aware of it" the visually impaired Imphalite felt.Similarly Tami Taniang, a physically handicapped member of Arunachal Pradesh Handicapped Welfare Society who flew down here along with one of his assistance from Naharlagun near Itanagar for the workshop requested the NHRC to ask the states for effective implementation of Disability Act in his state as well in future. Sharing a similar sentiments, Government officials, NGO leaders and legal experts during the technical session of the workshop on Monday observed that the rights of the disabled persons in north east states are in a bad shape.It appears that the sensibility on this disabilities both in government and NGOs is lacking not to speak of enjoying the provisions of the legislations or the rights under Article 41 of the constitution. Even the Special Rapporteur Asha das of the NHRC after listening to statements of the government officials of the NE state during the technical session said, it appears that the initiatives which is to be taken up for the welfare of the disabilities is lacking behind here. Asha who made her observation during in presence of the NHRC chairman Justice S Rajendra Babu further said, "the government need to take up pro-actice steps" while the "NGOs can identity the jobs for the disabled persons". Article 41 of the constitution directs the state to make effective provision for securing right to work,to education, to public assistance in cases of disablement.Besides there are four legislations towards the protection, welfare, rehabilitation and development of people with disabilities. Meanwhile one Anthony, an official of Nagaland's social welfare department drew the attention of NHRC to intervene political interfence in executing works relating to the disabled persons in his home state.He said,"I presume, no other state has such kind of political interference" while taking up welfare activities of Nagaland's 30,000 disabled persons. Government officials of Assam, Meghalaya and Sikkim at the same time underlined their hardship in finding the official datas in connection with the employment of disabled persons in different government departments in their respective states. According to a lady official from Meghalaya, around 100 out of 180 disabled persons registered in the special employment exchange of the state got job opportunity in both central and state establishments. Similarly there are reports of appointing 250 individuals in Tripura.However in case of host Manipur,due to lack of awarness, the state authority is yet to get detail report on it.
NHRC Report on Safety and Security of Youth
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=45738
LOK SABHA
National Human Rights Commission has submitted a report on Missing Children and a study on Human Trafficking with special focus on women and children which inter-alia, states that there is increase in number of crimes against children in the country. As per data complied by National Crime Records Bureau, Year-wise number of cases registered for crimes against children is as under :
Year No. of cases
2004 14423
2005 14975
2006 18967
2007 20410
Law and Order is a State subject. It is for State Governments to take appropriate action in every crime. However, the report of the NHRC has been circulated to all State Governments and Union Territories for taking action on the recommendations made by NHRC in its report. However, Ministry of Women and Child Development is considering a comprehensive legislation to cover the offences against children to create a safe environment for children.
This was stated by Dr. Shakeel Ahmad, Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
RS/KKA
Interest paid to head office taxable, tribunal tells StanChart
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/interest-paid-to-head-office-taxable-tribunal-tells-stanchart/399624/
AgenciesPosted: 2008-12-17 13:25:34+05:30 ISTUpdated: Dec 17, 2008 at 1325 hrs IST
New Delhi: The spectre of Harshad Mehta has returned to haunt the Indian arm of Standard Chartered Bank, with a tribunal ruling that the interest it paid to its headquarters on an amount borrowed to make payments to NHB, in the aftermath of the infamous stock scam of 1992, is taxable.
The case concerns UK-based Standard Chartered Bank, which had paid an interest of about Rs 32 crore to its head office on the sum borrowed from its headquarters to pay to the National Housing Bank (NHB) in the assessment year 1996-97.
Standard Chartered had been asked by the Reserve Bank at the time of the notorious Harshad Mehta stock scam to pay about Rs 506.54 crore to NHB, which it borrowed from its head office and also paid an interest of Rs 32 crore on the borrowed sum.
The Delhi bench of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) giving a ruling in case of the bank said, "It (interest paid to Standard Chartered bank's head office) is not an expense in the hands of non-resident assessee and hence cannot be allowed."
The bank had shown the amount as an expense for itself.
An amount shown as an expense by an entity is eventually deducted from the income of the company, thus not being taxed.
The tribunal sided with the argument of the tax department, which said that the interest paid by an Indian branch of the foreign bank to its head office is not to a different entity but only to the head office and hence, just an inter-branch transfer.
Besides, if this payment is treated as expense, the same shall become income in the hands of the head office, which has earned from India and hence is also taxable here, the order said.
Needed: more human rights lawyers
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bangalore/Needed_more_human_rights_lawyers/articleshow/3847909.cms
17 Dec 2008, 0024 hrs IST, TNN
Bangalore : While there are human rights violations everywhere -- child labour, exploitation of women employees, encounter deaths, there are very few specialist lawyers around to handle these cases in the country. There are few takers for this subject as compared to corporate or international law. However, with national and international civic societies making their inroads here, there are more options for lucrative employment. According to chairperson of National Institute of Human Rights (NIHR) and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) consultant, Prof. B B Pande, human rights legal advocacy is inadequate but lawyers of any specialization, regardless of civil or criminal law, can argue cases pertaining to human rights. "In cases like rape, sexual harassment at workplace, argument can be strengthened with knowledge of a specialized lawyer in human rights," says, Anuradha Saibaba, faculty, NIHR. She added, "During my graduation, I studied for 30 papers excluding human rights as it was an optional subject. When I wanted to do my Master's in human rights law in 2000, not many universities offered the course and I had to go abroad. Now, the Bar Council of India has made human rights mandatory for graduation." It was only last year that Karnataka established a State Human Rights Commission (SHRC). Though the Protection of Human Rights Act recommended the setting up of human rights courts for speedy trials of offences, these are yet to be initiated. "By having such courts, we'll also have specialized lawyers in human rights," says Anuradha. R Manohar of SICHREM, says, "It's very difficult to find lawyers specializing in human rights. So, lawyers from other specialization argue from the human rights perspective and we have civil and criminal lawyers assisting the public on our helpline." According to legal expert, with human rights angle in almost all legal cases, specialisation in human rights brings in the sensitivity as well as in depth understanding of the issue but there are very few law students opting for specialisation and for pursuing research in human rights. To encourage law students to take up research, NHRC is funding several programmes and currently, five students from the tenth batch of NIHR are studying amendments in the Constitution of India that have impacted human rights. The research focuses on personal liberty, land reforms, reservation, gender justice and child rights and funded by NHRC. Researcher's Perspective * The edifice of human rights firmly stands on the bedrock of a dignified existence of human being and fullest efflorescence of individual personality is unattainable without the right to personal liberty. -- Saurabh Dhawan, personal liberty * Human rights cannot be fossilised and given a new dimension by constitutional amendments. -- Iranagouda K Kabbur, reservation * Women constitute 50% of the world's population and account for 66% of the work done, but they have only a 10% share in the world's income and own 1% of the world's property. This battle for gender justice has been a long-drawn struggle. -- Shradha Baranwal, gender justice * For long children's issues have been viewed from a paternalistic and welfarist approach. It is only in recent times that children have been recognized as distinct individuals. -- Anuradha Saibaba, NIHR faculty and project co-ordinator * Land reforms has perhaps seen the maximum number of amendments rivalled only by those pertaining to reservation. Daniel Mathew, land reform
DARJEELING HILLS: Gorkhaland activists approach rights panel for justice
http://beacononline.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/darjeeling-hills-gorkhaland-activists-approach-rights-panel-for-justice/
Posted by barunroy on December 17, 2008
FROM THAINDIAN
Siliguri, Dec 16 (IANS) Protesting an attack on its supporters last week, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) has approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), seeking an end to what it terms “state-sponsored terrorism”.”We have sent a letter to NHRC Monday demanding its intervention into the collusion of the police and administration with those perpetrating violence against us,” GJM press and publicity secretary Binoy Tamang told IANS Tuesday.
Tamang said he did not understand why Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) cadres were attacking supporters of the GJM, which is leading a democratic movement for the creation of a separate Gorkhaland state in the hill areas of northern Bengal.
He alleged as these parties were constituents of the state’s ruling Left Front, the police looked the other way when their activists attacked GJM members. “Later, instead of coming to the rescue of our suppporters who were being mercilessly beaten up, the police attacked them with canes,” he said.
“We have given a list of the accused, who had attacked the GJM supporters Dec 10, to the police and demanded immediate action against them. But now we find it has all been meaningless. So, we had to turn to the NHRC for justice,” Tamang said.
At least 25 people, including 10 policemen, were injured last week following violent clashes between rival GJM and Jana Jagaran Mancha (JJM) at Hamiltonganj in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district.
The clashes took place occurred when GJM activists, who surrounded the Block Development Office and the Gram Panchayat office at Hamiltonganj under Alipurduar sub-division, met with resistance from workers of JJM, which is opposed to the creation of a Gorkhaland state.
After the incident, the GJM gave a call for a 12-hour shutdown in Darjeeling Hills and the neighbouring Terai and Dooars regions Thursday (Dec 11).
A round of tripartite talks held in the national capital to resolve the issue has not been able to break the deadlock so far.
“We have also called a central committee meeting Dec 22 to decide whether our representatives will participate in the tripartite meeting in New Delhi Dec 29,” Tamang said.
About Me
- Kamal Kumar Pandey (Adv. Supreme Court of India)
- Lawyer Practising at Supreme Court of India. Court Experience: Criminal, Civil & PIL (related to Property, Tax, Custom & Duties, MVAC, insurance, I.P.R., Copyrights & Trademarks, Partnerships, Labour Disputes, etc.) Socio-Legal: Child Rights, Mid Day Meal Programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, Women Rights, Against Female Foeticide, P.R.Is, Bonded Labour, Child labour, Child marriage, Domestic violence, Legal Literacy, HIV/AIDS, etc. Worked for Legal Aid/Advise/Awareness/Training/Empowerment/Interventions/Training & Sensitisation.
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