LEGAL NEWS 24.04.2010

PIL seeks CBI probe into IPL financial dealings
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/PIL-seeks-CBI-probe-into-IPL-financial-dealings/articleshow/5849625.cms
PTI, Apr 23, 2010, 07.26pm IST
BANGALORE: A Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court on Friday ordered issue of notices to the Centre, Karnataka government and other respondents on a PIL filed seeking an iquiry into alleged betting, match-fixing, money laundering in the IPL. The petitioner, S Vasudev, an advocate, also prayed for a direction to the Director, CBI, to investigate the financial dealings of both the Commissioner of IPL and the Secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association. Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice Mohan Shantanagoudar comprising the division bench, ordered issue of notices to the Union of India, State of Karnataka and other respondents and adjourned further hearing of the case. According to the petitioner, there has been large scale violations in the money involved in the tournament conducted by the IPL. The petitioner further submitted that there have been instances of match-fixing and betting in the matches.





'Govt considering restoring anticipatory bail provision'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Govt-considering-restoring-anticipatory-bail-provision/articleshow/5846341.cms
TNN, Apr 23, 2010, 04.40am IST
LUCKNOW: UP advocate general Jyotindra Mishra on Thursday apprised the High Court that the state government is actively considering to restore anticipatory bail provision in the state with certain conditions. He sought some time from the court so that the state government may be able to take a final decision on the matter and intimate the court thereof. As the above statement came from the state government, a division bench headed by the acting Chief Justice Amitava Lala postponed the hearing till May 10. The advocate general assisted by chief standing counsel (CSC) Devendra Upadhyay on Thursday told the bench that after recommendation of the HC long back, the state government had constituted a high powered committee. The committee considered the aspects of restoration of the anticipatory bail provision and recommended for its implementation in UP. The committee, however, expressed certain reservations that while reviving the anticipatory bail provision, certain conditions should also be imposed. A PIL has sought invocation of anticipatory bail as the state government had put it on hold by a legislation in 1976. Seeking enforcement of the provision, the PIL counsel Ashok Pandey stressed for implementation of recommendations of Supreme Court, Allahabad High Court and Law Commission in favour of anticipatory bail as contained in section 438 CrPC.





BEST cancels Santa Cruz depot deal
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/BEST-cancels-Santa-Cruz-depot-deal/articleshow/5846568.cms
Nauzer K Bharucha, TNN, Apr 23, 2010, 03.04am IST
MUMBAI: A day after chief minister Ashok Chavan announced an inquiry into the Santa Cruz bus depot land sale to Indiabulls, the BEST Undertaking on Thursday cancelled the transaction. TOI has learnt that termination letters were issued on Thursday morning to all the four developers who participated in the auction on April 8. This brings to an end the controversy over the BEST’s decision to hand over the three-acre plot to the highest bidder, Indiabulls, for a “throwaway’’ price of Rs 50 crore. TOI had carried a series of reports over the past few days, exposing how the reserve price of Rs 369 crore mentioned in the tender document was suddenly scrapped two weeks before the bids were to be opened. Indiabulls’ offer was 86% lower than the reserve price. Indiabulls and BEST both claimed that the price offered was high enough, considering the limited development potential of the plot. The BEST Workers’ Union, who described it is an “obvious scam’’, is all set to file a PIL against this land deal in the Bombay HC on Friday.. The termination letters merely mentioned that “due to administrative reasons, the said contract of redevelopment of the Santa Cruz property stands cancelled’’. The earnest money deposit will be returned by the BEST to the bidders within a few days. However, senior officials of some of these construction companies claimed they had not received any termination letter. “We have not received anything or heard from the BEST on this,’’ said an SMS sent to TOI by Indiabulls CEO Vipul Bansal. The letters were issued following a directive by BEST GM Uttam Khobragade before he left for Delhi on Wednesday afternoon. Sources in the CM’s office had earlier told this newspaper that the process of scrutinising the tender documents and other relevant papers was already underway. “The CM has taken a very serious view of this,’’ they said. Early this week, the CM had told TOI that the transaction “sounds suspicious’’ and that he would get to the bottom of this controversy. When Chavan finally ordered the inquiry, the BEST administration decided that it was no longer prudent to go ahead with processing the acceptance of Indiabulls’ bid. Government officials also indicated that Khobragade was expected to get his transfer orders soon as he had already completed his three-year tenure in the BEST last year. Even after the controversy broke out, BEST tried to justify to the state government the price paid by Indiabulls. In a five-page note submitted to the CM’s office on Tuesday and accessed by this newspaper, the BEST administration claimed that “the reserve rate worked by us, appeared to be on higher side and therefore, as directed by GM (Khobragade), the condition in respect of participation in auction process was revised by allowing all responsive bidders to participate irrespective of the rate of non-refundable premium offered by them’’.





Shiv Sena Leader filed PIL seeking levy of entertainment tax on IPL
http://www.taxguru.in/goods-and-service-tax/shiv-sena-leader-filed-pil-seeking-levy-of-entertainment-tax-on-ipl.html
Apr 23, 2010
The Indian Premier League organisers could now face a public interest litigation (PIL) over payment of entertainment tax in Maharashtra. Senior Shiv Sena leader and MLA, Mr Subhash Desai, has filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court, seeking such a levy on the cricketing event. The Board of Control for Cricket in India; the Commissioner of the IPL, Mr Lalit Modi, and the Maharashtra Government are the respondents in his petition.
Mr Desai has said that at least Rs 15 crore could be recovered from the organisers as taxes. He told reporters at the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday that IPL matches were only entertainment with Bollywood stars, cheerleaders and an “occasional game of cricket”. Hence, the matches should not be exempted from entertainment tax, he said. “Maharashtra’s finances are under tremendous strain and even Rs 15 crore can be used for development work,” Mr Desai added.
When States such as Punjab and New Delhi levy entertainment tax, there was no reason for Maharashtra to give an exemption, he said.
In his petition, Mr Desai has said that between 2007 and 2010, the State recovered Rs 1,159 crore as entertainment tax, which is substantial revenue.




Is withdrawal of PIL under pressure: HC asks appelant
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Is-withdrawal-of-PIL-under-pressure-HC-asks-appelant/articleshow/5850718.cms
TNN, Apr 24, 2010, 05.05am IST
LUCKNOW: It seems Mayawati government is in a comfortable position, at least for now, in the multi-crore Taj Heritage Corridor (THC) case as the high court has to first decide a `side issue' about the withdrawal of PIL by the appellant. On the withdrawal application of Anupama Singh, who had preferred a PIL along with two separate ones, seeking reopening of the case before the special CBI court against chief minister Mayawati and cabinet minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui in THC case, a division bench at Lucknow, on Friday, asked her if she wanted to take back her petition under some pressure. The bench of Justice Pradeep Kant and Justice Shabihul Hasnain asked her lawyer, Mohd Arif Khan as to under which circumstances she had filed two earlier affidavits alleging that she was under pressure from some sources to withdraw the PIL. She, a school teacher, later lost her job and her husband was also allegedly harassed for taking back the PIL. Interestingly, in her third affidavit, she levelled several allegations against her previous lawyer C B Pandey, including that he had misused her blank papers signed in advance. Supreme court lawyer Kamini Jaiswal, while pleading for the previous lawyer, stressed for an inquiry into the conduct of Anupama as the trend to withdraw a PIL, after much exercise has been done on it, would give wrong signal to the system. Advising to refrain from mud-slinging, the bench said that it was for the court to decide on withdrawal but it certainly wanted to know from Anupama if she had been under pressure for it. It is alleged that the state government has exerted pressure on her to withdraw the PIL. The allegation gains support from the statement of Kamini Jaiswal, who disclosed that a special leave petition (SLP) was filed in the supreme court seeking the same withdrawal and in the matter an additional advocate general of UP government briefed the senior counsel in the supreme court at the presentation of the case. Amid this controversy, the battery of state lawyers present in the court curiously remained silent. The court has postponed the matter till April 27 to enable Anupama's counsel to submit reply on an affidavit handed-over by her previous lawyer. HC for video cameras in court room: Senior judge Justice Pradeep Kant while hearing the THC case, advocated for installation of video cameras in courtrooms in order to record all the proceedings for the purpose of transparency. He also added that cameras should directly be linked to the supreme court to enable it to know the manner of the court proceedings. The remark came as a lawyer retracted from his statement made on previous date in the court.





Lie test on Rajus: HC bench divided
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Lie-test-on-Rajus-HC-bench-divided/articleshow/5851005.cms
TNN, Apr 24, 2010, 03.23am IST
HYDERABAD: The division bench of the AP High Court examining the request of the CBI for conducting lie detector tests on the Satyam scam accused, B Ramalinga Raju, B Rama Raju and Vadlamani Srinivas, was divided on the issue on Friday. While Justice A Gopala Reddy was against it, Justice Samudrala Govindarajulu favoured lie tests on the accused. As a result, the matter would now go back to Chief Justice Nisar Ahmed Kakru who will refer it to a third judge for a fresh hearing on the matter. Following an application by the CBI which is probing the Satyam scam, the lower court had allowed the agency to conduct polygraph tests on the accused. Aggrieved by this order, the accused challenged this order in the high court as unconstitutional and violative of their fundamental rights. Justice A Gopal Reddy and Justice Samudrala Govindarajulu heard the arguments of both the sides and reserved their order a few months ago. While Justice Gopal Reddy ruled that there is no law governing such tests which are violative of the right to life and hence rejected the CBI’s plea, Justice Govindarajulu concluded that these tests can be conducted on the accused to protect the interests of several victims who suffered a lot due to their actions. Govindarajulu said that any hindrance to these tests would affect not only the CBI’s right to investigate but also the interests of various victims within and outside the country who are affected by the activities of the accused. He allowed the CBI to conduct these tests on the accused. The matter would now go to a third judge.





HC refuses to stay awards function
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/HC-refuses-to-stay-awards-function/610799/
Express news service
Posted: Saturday , Apr 24, 2010 at 0309 hrs New Delhi:
With a few hours to go before the start of IPL 3 award function in Mumbai, the Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a plea by an event management company asking to stay the ceremony. The court held that it was too late to accord the relief and that the company, claiming that it was not given the credit for conceptualising the function, should have approached it earlier.
“It is too late. Why did you not come earlier? You always knew about the date of the award function and hence knew when your deadline would end. The relief cannot be given to you on the nth day,” Justice Rajiv Shakdher told the counsel for Propaganda Media and Marketing.
Appearing for the company, advocate Abhishek Malhotra tried to convince the court that his client Gaurav Garg came to know a week ago that he was not being given the credit and then they served the legal notices to Morani Brothers, Cineyug and the BCCI. The court told the counsel that notices were not required to be given and the delay was such that the function could not be halted now.
Justice Shakdher, however, agreed to hear the main petition that has sought credit to Garg for reportedly conceptualising, marketing and execution of the award for Cineyug as he worked with them in 2008-09.
The court issued notices to Morani Brothers, Cineyug and the BCCI and asked them to file response by May 12.





HC annuls govt order on Balia civic body
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/HC-annuls-govt-order-on-Balia-civic-body/articleshow/5850732.cms
TNN, Apr 24, 2010, 05.27am IST
PATNA: The Patna HC on Friday set aside the government notification on creation of Balia nagar panchayat by incorporating the Balia, Lakhminia and other panchayats in Begusarai. A single bench passed the order while hearing a writ petition of Chaudhary Ezharul Haque who challenged the government’s claim that the Balia nagar panchayat was created as more than 75% of the population was non-agriculture. Patna mayor: A division bench of the high court will on April 28 hear a Letters Patent Appeal of a PMC ward councillor, Vinay Kumar Pappu, challenging the verdict of a single bench reinstating PMC mayor Sanjay Kumar and deputy mayor Santosh Mehta on their posts.






HC notice to revenue minister in land grab case
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/HC-notice-to-revenue-minister-in-land-grab-case/articleshow/5851333.cms
TNN, Apr 24, 2010, 06.21am IST
NAGPUR: Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Friday issued show cause notice to revenue minister Narayan Rane for allegedly helping a noted industrialist from the city grab the petitioner’s land. A single-judge bench of justice Bhushan Dharmadhikari asked Rane along with other respondents including state secretary for revenue and forest department, industrialist Aspi Bapuna and Vidarbha Distilleries on Kamptee Road where he is a managing partner, to reply within two weeks. The court directed that any order passed by the minister about the land would not be carried out till the pendency of the petition filed by Shailendra Sahu and his two brothers through their counsel Ram Parsodkar. Parsodkar said, the petitioners are joint owners of the Nazul Land at Khasra Nos. 104/3 and 106/3 at Mouza Indora in the city. it was allotted in favour of their grandfather Sunderlal by the Central Provinces (CP) and Berar governor in March 14, 1942, on a 30-year lease. The total land was 5.10 acres. The lease was later renewed from 1972 to 1978 (and later till 2008). In 1975, the Sahu family in association with Aspi Bapuna and three others started Vidarbha Distilleries for producing liquor on 30,000 sq ft of the said land. The land was given to the company on rent by Sahu family at Rs 1,100 per month. In 1996, a dispute started between Sahu and Bapuna over encroachment by Vidarbha Distillaries over former’s land. On March 8, 2008, Bapuna made complaint to the revenue minister who had no jurisdiction in the matter stating that the petitioners had breached the lease agreement and therefore the lease of their land should not be renewed. He also demanded a fresh lease in favour of Vidarbha Distillers. On April 17, this year, the petitioners received a letter from state additional secretary for revenue and forest Ravindra Nalwade calling them for the urgent meeting with Rane in minister’s chamber in Mumbai on April 20. Accordingly, Sahus along with their counsel Prakash Misar went to meet the minister. The petitioners alleged that during the meet, Rane was taking personal interest in the case and was ready to pass the order favouring Bapuna without giving them a chance to reply. He also allegedly scolded Misar and threatened to pass the order in Bapuna’s favour. Rane issued a notice to them and kept the hearing on April 26.




Families to move HC in Lajpat Nagar blast case
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Families-to-move-HC-in-Lajpat-Nagar-blast-case/articleshow/5849139.cms
23 Apr 2010, 1718 hrs IST,PTI
SRINAGAR: Family members of two Kashmiris, sentenced to death in the Lajpat Nagar blast case, today said they will challenge the verdict in the Delhi High Court. "We are shattered by the verdict. But we will appeal against the verdict in Delhi High Court," a visibly upset Mirza Muzaffar, brother of Mirza Nissar Hussain, told reporters. Terming the death sentence awarded to his brother and two others as "total injustice", Mirza alleged, "There was no solid witness and evidence. Yet the court convicted my brother and others." A Delhi court yesterday sent to the gallows three out of six convicted members of militant outfit Jammu Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF) for the 1996 Lajpat Nagar market blast which had claimed 13 lives. Elder brother of Mirza Nissar Hussain, Mirza Iftikhar Hussain has been acquitted by the same court some time back. The family of another convict, Mohammad Ali Bhat is equally dismayed at the quantum of sentence. Haji Sher Ali, father of Mohammad Ali Bhat, said his son, now 43, was just 29-years-old when he was arrested in the case. "As a father, this is my moral responsibility to fight till our ward gets justice. We will definitely challenge the verdict in the higher courts," Haji Ali said. Dilawar Hussain, brother of Syed Maqbool Shah, who was acquitted by the court, termed the verdict as "injustice". Meanwhile, Firda Dar, one of the two convicts allowed to walk free, arrived here from Delhi and went to downtown city to express solidarity with the family members of those awarded death penalty in the case. Another convict Farooq Ahmad Khan, an engineer from Anantnag, allowed to walk free, has been taken to Rajasthan for trial in a Dausa case. After sentencing Farooq to seven years imprisonment in the case yesterday, the court, however, ordered his release since he has already completed 14 years in jail after his arrest. The trial in Dausa case was suspended some years back on the orders of Supreme Court, which passed the ruling on a petition filed by the family members of the arrested persons. They had pleaded that the hearings in one case must be taken at one time. "We are hopeful that he will be acquitted in Dausa blast case also as he is not involved in it", Javid, Farooq's brother, said.





HC rubbishes woman's will story
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/HC-rubbishes-womans-will-story/articleshow/5850457.cms
Saeed Khan, TNN, Apr 24, 2010, 04.18am IST
AHMEDABAD: Wills always tell an interesting tale. In a dispute over inheritance, when a woman tried to spin a tale around a will by her father, which she claimed to have discovered 37 years later, the Gujarat High Court dismissed it. Lilavati Kadia from Ahmedabad told HC that her father had transferred properties worth crores of rupees to her through a will prepared nearly four decades ago. She has had a long legal dispute with her brother and his sons regarding the inheritance which includes houses and shops in old city. She approached city civil court two years ago with claims that her father Bapalal Kadia had prepared a will in 1970 by which he had transferred his property to her name. She urged the court to get the will executed in her favour. But the court refused to entertain the suit. She approached the Gujarat high court earlier this month against the lower court's decision. When the court inquired, it was revealed that Bapalal died in 1989 at his son Shamaldas' house. Shamaldas, who looked after Bapalal, also passed away in 2002. Lilavatiben told court that her father was not happy with Shamaldas and had lodged two FIRs against him, and he was also convicted. The criminal cases between father and son had even reached the high court. Lilavati's case was heard by Justice RR Tripathi, who asked the petitioner how she came to know about the will prepared in 1970 in 2007, when her father had died in 1989. She replied that the document was accidentally found from a bunch of papers lying at her house for years. The court posed more questions, but did not get satisfactory answers. After completing the hearing, Justice Tripathi dismissed the plea on the ground that her claim regarding the will has come 37 years later and such a long delay cannot be accepted. "To believe a daughter saying that a father having strained relations with the son against whom he filed two criminal complaints and obtained order of conviction, later on shifted to the place of his son and he did not take the daughter in confidence while executing a will in favour of his daughter, is too bald a proposition. This court is not able to accept the same despite all sincere efforts," the court observed.





2 yrs on, HC acquits 'murderer'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/2-yrs-on-HC-acquits-murderer/articleshow/5850802.cms
Swati Deshpande, TNN, Apr 24, 2010, 01.20am IST
MUMBAI: Saving a youth from the gallows, the Bombay high court this month quashed his 2008 conviction and death sentence as being “unfounded and unfair’’. The HC also acquitted the man sentenced to death for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a minor girl in 2003. Reflecting on the need of proper prosecution practice, the court even reprimanded the lower court, the police and the public prosecutor for not conducting fair and transparent investigations and trial. “When any public prosecutor appears before the trial court, he is duty-bound to assist the court in ensuring that the trial is conducted in a fair and transparent manner so that no innocent person is held guilty. The prosecution must ensure that a guilty person is punished but not that every trial must end in a conviction,’’ a bench of Justices B H Marlapalle and Ahmed Sayyed said, while setting aside the order of a Nashik sessions judge. “The special public prosecutor failed to assist the trial court in ensuring that the trial was conducted in a fair, legal and transparent manner,’’ said the judges directing the director of prosecution for the state to issue guidelines on the issue soon. The court said that the prosecutor had not followed certain procedural rules in leading evidence against the accused and had wrongly relied on statements by the wife of the accused who herself was also a co-accused in the case and later turned an approver. Her statement could “not have been relied upon unless she was examined as a prosecution witness on her turning an approver’’. Pappu Salve of Nashik, who worked at a video parlour in Malegaon, was tried and found guilty of kidnapping, murdering and then dumping the body of his employer’s minor child in a well in 2003. His wife and three others were also tried. But while two got acquitted by the trial court in Nashik, his wife after spending five years in jail was sentenced to six months in jail for intentionally not divulging information of an offence to the police. Another accused was sentenced to seven years for giving false information to screen an offender. The HC rejected a plea by the state to send the case for retrial saying that “no useful purpose would be served in ordering a retrial particularly since no DNA test conducted and hence there was no evidence to ascertain whether the dead body recovered was of Nikita and whether it was a homicidal death’’. The police file also did not indicate even prima facie evidence to justify a fresh trial, the HC said and held that the state had failed to prove its case that the accused had kidnapped Nikita, the minor child and killed her and then dumped her body in well. The HC found that there was not evidence, not even proper circumstantial evidence, against the accused. “Both the circumstances sought to be relied up on by the prosecution are very weak to support its case against Salve,’’ said the judges who also found the initial investigation to be “sloppy and riddled with lapses”.





HC judges wanted to attend Paris meet on NPT, Centre says no need
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hc-judges-wanted-to-attend-paris-meet-on-npt-centre-says-no-need/610804/
Maneesh Chhibber
Posted: Saturday , Apr 24, 2010 at 0322 hrs New Delhi:
The Centre last week denied permission to two judges of the Delhi High Court to visit Paris to participate in a conference on nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and nuclear disarmament.
The decision was taken at the highest level after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) objected to the visit, pointing out that India was not even a signatory to the treaty. The MEA also refused the mandatory political clearance required for such visits.
It is learnt that after the MEA red flag, the Prime Minister’s Office also didn’t clear the trip of Justice Sudershan Kumar Misra and Justice Siddharth Mridul. The conference started on April 21 and will end April 28.
Sources in the MEA told The Indian Express that the government was of the view that senior functionaries, particularly judges, should not participate in such conferences as it could lead to controversy.
“Also, their (judges) attending the conference could be viewed as India’s willingness to sign the treaty, something that the country’s leadership has refused so far,” said an officer.
Earlier, the Central government used to clear foreign trips of judges of the Supreme Court and high courts without asking too many questions but in recent times the MEA has started objecting to “needless” and “questionable” trips.
Last month, the Centre stalled a foreign visit by a high-level delegation, comprising among others the Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, to Georgia University for a discussion.





AMRITSAR NEWS: After HC Flak, Amritsar MC Lists Parking Lots In Walled City
Posted by admin in Saturday, April 24th 2010
http://punjabnews.org/amritsar-news-after-hc-flak-amritsar-mc-lists-parking-lots-in-walled-city.html/
AM­RI­TSAR: Afte­r in­vitin­g­ flak­ fro­m the­ Hig­h Co­urt, the­ Amr­i­tsar­ Mu­n­i­c­i­pal C­o­r­po­r­ati­o­n­ has fi­nally w­oke­n u­p to de­m­­arc­ate­ are­as for parki­ng ve­hi­c­le­s i­n the­ w­alle­d c­i­ty, apart from­­ fi­nali­z­i­ng tw­o plac­e­s for re­hri­ m­­arke­ts.
In­ a let­t­er t­o­ t­he Poli­c­e C­ommi­s­s­i­on­­er­, th­e­ M­C h­as­ lis­te­d p­lace­s­ it h­as­ e­arm­arke­d fo­r p­arking in th­e­ walle­d city. “V­e­h­icle­s­ in are­as­ o­uts­ide­ H­all Gate­ and P­ink P­laz­a m­arke­t wo­uld b­e­ p­arke­d in th­e­ P­andit De­e­n Dayal Up­adh­yay p­arking lo­t o­n th­e­ B­h­andari B­ridge­, wh­ile­ v­e­h­icle­s­ ins­ide­ H­all Gate­ and H­all B­az­aar up­ to­ Goal Ratti­ Chowk­ wo­­ul­d b­e parked in t­he f­ish market­ parking­ l­o­­t­, which has b­een f­urt­her ex­panded,” t­he l­et­t­er said.
It­ said vehicl­es f­ro­­m G­o­­al­ Hat­t­i Cho­­wk t­o­­ Kairo­­n Market­ wo­­ul­d b­e parked at­ Kairo­­n Market­ and t­he b­asement­ o­­f­ t­he RS T­o­­wer b­uil­ding­ had b­een marked f­o­­r vehicl­es arriving­ at­ t­he B­o­­o­­ks Market­ and R.S.T­o­­wer.
Vehicl­es at­ Ka­t­ra­ Ja­im­a­l­ Sin­g­h and K­a­rm­­on D­ea­ri Chowk­ wo­u­l­d be parked in­ th­e o­pen­ spac­e o­u­tside Bh­arawan­ Da Dh­aba. Veh­ic­l­es in­ Dh­aram Sin­gh­ Market an­d Katra Sh­er Sin­gh­ wo­u­l­d be parked at th­e m­ulti-s­tor­eyed­ par­kin­g n­e­a­r ol­d Sarag­urhi Sen­ior St­.C­on­d­ary Sc­hool­ a­n­d th­e op­en­ sp­a­ce n­ea­r th­e Red Cross disp­en­sa­ry, resp­ectively.
Th­e M­C h­a­s a­lso p­a­ssed resolu­tion­s f­or settin­g u­p­ reh­ri m­a­rkets on­ th­e roa­d n­ea­r th­e C­ivil Su­rg­e­o­n­’s o­ffi­ce a­n­d­ un­d­er­ t­he Hussa­i­n­pur­a­ fly­ o­ver­. “Per­so­n­s ca­r­r­yi­n­g o­ut­ t­hei­r­ busi­n­ess o­n­ r­ehr­i­s i­n­ d­i­ffer­en­t­ pa­r­t­s o­f t­he ci­t­y wo­uld­ be d­i­r­ect­ed­ t­o­ t­hese pla­ces,” sa­i­d­ t­he MC.
T­he let­t­er­ fur­t­her­ cla­i­med­ t­ha­t­ t­he MC wa­s r­emo­vi­n­g en­cr­o­a­chmen­t­s o­n­ a­ wa­r­ fo­o­t­i­n­g. “Sho­pk­eeper­s who­ ha­ve en­cr­o­a­ched­ upo­n­ r­o­a­d­s a­r­e bei­n­g st­r­i­ct­ly d­ea­lt­ wi­t­h,” i­t­ sa­i­d­.
SO­UR­CE-HT­




Bombay HC asks BCCI to provide info about income from IPL matches
http://newstiger.in/?p=22235
Posted on April 23rd, 2010
By V KambojBombay High Court has sought explanation from the BCCI on the manner in which IPL and BCCI are organizing the T-20 matches in Maharashtra. It also wants to know how BCCI controls the IPL.
The Court also wanted to know if IPL was a profit making venture and how the tickets are priced. The court’s directives have come in response to a public interest litigation filed by Shiv Sena Leader Subhash Desai.





Court dismisses public interest lawsuit as ‘personal’
http://blog.taragana.com/law/2010/04/23/court-dismisses-public-interest-lawsuit-as-personal-21686/
By IANS
April 23rd, 2010
GANDHINAGAR - The Gujarat High Court Friday dismissed as “personal” a public interest lawsuit (PIL) which claimed that the officer bearers of Surendranagar Peoples Cooperative Bank Ltd were responsible for irregularities and had duped the bank of Rs.85 crore of the depositors’ money.
The bank is under process of liquidation. The PIL filed by Gunvant Naraniya sought directions to the Reserve Bank of India, the registrar of cooperative societies and the chief executive officer of the bank to ensure return of the deposits of the account holders.
Alleging that the chairman, directors and other bank officials did not follow the banking regulations and disbursed the money amongst their “nearest and dearest ones”, the petitioner also urged the court to direct a criminal investigation against them.
A division bench of Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Justice Akil Kureshi however rejected the petition, observing that the matter was not of a public interest but personal interest.
The court also observed that the present petitioner was one of the share holders of the bank and hence such petition could not be considered as a PIL.
“If you are one of the affected persons then the petition has nothing in public interest. The application is dismissed,” the court said.






PIL seeking action in co-operative bank scam rejected
http://www.3dsyndication.com/showarticlerss.aspx?nid=NhGRQIHcOgSwJLdho6FzZVCih5wb9gGolBY/L/iy7Qo=
DNAHM30954 4/24/2010 Author : DNA Correspondent WC :243 Crime & Law
A division bench of the Gujarat high court has rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking action in the closure of the Surendranagar Peoples Co-operative Bank. The bank was closed down following an alleged scam of Rs85 crore. However, the bench of the high court rejected the petition on the grounds that there is no 'public interest' involved in the case. The bench observed that the case is not of public interest but of personal interest. By taking note of the fact that the counsel for the petitioner is also an affected person, the court said "If you are one of the affected persons then the petition has nothing in public interest and we are not inclined to decide the case hence the application is dismissed." One Gunvant Naraniya had filed a petition before the high court seeking that the court direct the Reserve Bank of India, registrar of cooperative societies and the chief executive officer of the said cooperative bank to make arrangements for payment of deposits to depositors, account holders and share holders. He contended that the chairman, directors and other office bearers of the bank had misused the public deposit of crores of rupees by disbursing loan to their near ones and committed irregularity of Rs85 crore. Gunvant also sought that the court direct a criminal investigation against the office bearers of the bank as they are roaming free after duping the public of Rs85 crore.





Court notice on PIL plea
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article408956.ece
Special Correspondent
The Madras High Court on Friday ordered notice on a public interest litigation petition seeking a direction to the authorities to take action against various private companies and organisations for encroaching upon road margins in north Chennai and putting up parking signs for their vehicles alone there. The matter has been posted for June 17.
In his petition, K. Krishnamani of Acharappan Street, George Town, said the companies and organisations had posted security personnel and used the road margins as if it were a private parking area. He addressed letters to the Commissioner of Police, Chennai and the Chennai Corporation. From the information furnished, it would be seen that the establishments and organisations were monopolising the parking place through hired security personnel to the detriment of the public. They had no right to occupy the public road. The Chennai Corporation and the police were duty-bound to take action against the illegal practice.




Muthiah-Srinivasan rivalry resurfaces
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Muthiah-Srinivasan-rivalry-resurfaces/articleshow/5850931.cms
24 Apr 2010, 0233 hrs IST,ET Bureau
Amidst raging controversy over the IPL, the rivalry between former BCCI president A C Muthiah and present secretary N Srinivasan has resurfaced, with Muthiah filing a public interest litigation (PIL) before the Supreme Court on Friday, challenging Srinivasan’s direct or indirect interest in IPL. It may be noted that Srinivasan is the de-facto owner of Chennai Super Kings, as his company India Cements owns the IPL franchise. Earlier, Muthiah lost the case before the Madras High Court. Now, Muthiah has filed the petition before the apex court against BCCI, praying that no office bearer should have any commercial interest either indirectly or directly in the IPL franchise or any other commercial ventures of BCCI. Senior lawyer Nalini Chidambaram, who represented Muthiah, told ET on Friday that Regulation number 6.2.4 of the BCCI covers players, umpires and administrators, both past and present. "No administrator shall have commercial interest directly or indirectly in any of the events of the BCCI. Mr N Srinivasan has derived direct commercial interest and hence he cannot hold on to his post," she said. She said the board had amended the by-laws of the society to suit the needs of certain officials. She said the amendment was the abuse of power by Mr Srinivasan, after he was appointed as treasurer. Associates close to Mr Srinivasan, however, found no merit in the new case and expressed confidence of winning it.





PIL against CPS appointments: Notice to Haryana
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/PIL-against-CPS-appointments--Notice-to-Haryana/610540
Express News Service
Posted: Saturday , Apr 24, 2010 at 2319 hrs Chandigarh:
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued notices to the Union of India and the Haryana government on an application filed by Advocate Jagmohan Singh Bhatti. The petitioner has sought directions to the state’s finance department not to bear the salary bill, travelling expenses and the salaries of staff attached to nine chief parliamentary secretaries, their medical bills, telephone bills and other financial benefits. The application was filed in connection with his public interest litigation (PIL) demanding removal of the chief parliamentary secretaries. The petitioner had averred that their appointments were completely illegal and unconstitutional.





Gujarat high court asks Gujarat, Centre details of compensation to riot victims
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_gujarat-high-court-asks-gujarat-centre-details-of-compensation-to-riot-victims_1374912
PTI
Friday, April 23, 2010 23:32 IST
Ahmedabad: Gujarat high court today directed the state and the Union government to file compliance reports with regard to payment of compensation to the 2002 riot victims, while hearing a PIL.
A division bench of chief justice SJ Mukhopadhaya and Akil Kureshi also asked them to include in the report the steps taken for providing employment or pensionary benefit to those who have left jobs due to riots and crossed age or super-annuation.
Report has to be submitted by June 17.
The directives were issued by the court while hearing a PIL by one Gagan Sethi, member of the Special Monitoring Group appointed by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) after the 2002 riots.
Sethi had prayed for quick disbursement of compensation announced by the Centre to the 2002 riot victims.
The high court in May last year asked the state government to disburse Rs262.44 crore it received from the Centre as relief package for 2002 post-Godhra riot victims.
Petitioners lawyer Amit Panchal today submitted before the court that there were many riot affected families who have not yet received compensation despite high court order.
Panchal further submitted that state government had not complied with the Union Government's decision of May 2008 providing additional benefits to riot victims.
The Union government counsel told the court that the Centre has already released funds to the state for payment of compensation.
Following these submissions the court directed the respondents (State and Union government) to file "respective affidavits with regard to payment of compensation and steps if any, taken for providing employment or pensionary benefit to those who have left the jobs due to riots and crossed age ofsuper-annuation."
The court has further said that pendency of the case should not stand in the way of the respondents to provide the benefits.
The Central government's relief package included compensation to the family of over 1,169 people who died during the riots and over 2,549 victims who were injured in the post-Godhra communal violence.





NGOs, citizens may move court
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DNPUN25832 4/24/2010 Author : Nilanjana Ghosh Choudhury WC :279
They appeal to PMC to involve citizens for transparency The Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyan (PMJA), a group formed by NGOs and like-minded citizens opposing the lackluster attitude of the Pune Municipal corporation (PMC) in approving the Vanaz-Ramwadi corridor of the Pune Metro, on Friday said they may file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) if the PMC rushes through with the project."We might consider filing a PIL," said PMJA co-convener Girish Deshpande. He was addressing a press conference after the launch of a mass protest on the proposed Vanaz-Ramwadi corridor. The group demanded that citizens be made a part of the entire process in order to ensure greater transparency.It demanded an independent third party appraisal and scrutiny of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).PMJA co-convenor Prashant Inamdar said, "The PMC standing committee has approved the Pune Metro plan as per the DMRC report without any independent study and detailing in understanding the fabric of the city. Therefore, there needs to be a dialogue and open debate on the feasibility of the project."The group is holding the first Pune Metro citizen orientation workshop on April 26 at the Moolgavkar Hall in the ICC Centre on Senapati Bapat Road. The Pune Technical Coalition for the Pune Metro, which is a group formed by town planners and architects rooting for the underground metro, is also part of the campaign.According to PMJA officials, the DPR clearly mentions that at least 50 buildings on its route have to be demolished to create the elevated route. "These are private buildings including a portion of Pataleshwar temple on JM Road and several private complexes. But no one has been informed about it," said Deshpande.