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Sunday, July 14, 2013

LEGAL NEWS 14.07.2013

HC acquits 7 men awarded death penalty in honour killing case

  
ALLAHABAD: Due to lack of evidence, theAllahabad high court has let off seven persons, who were awarded death sentence by a lower court in connection with an alleged honour killing case of Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh. 

A division bench comprising Justice Amar Saran and Justice Pankaj Naqvi on Friday ordered "the release of Natthu, Rakesh, Mahavir, Viresh, Jai Prakash, Pappu and Gulab Singh" holding that they "stand acquitted of charges they had been found guilty of". 

The appellants had challenged July 30, 2012 order of additional sessions judge, Badaun. 

They were awarded death sentence for allegedly burning 
alive Deen Dayal and Anita in a village under Gunnaur police station of the district on the intervening night of May 22-23, 2006. 

Anita was the daughter of one of the appellants, Natthu. 

The girl's affair with Deen Dayal was said to have been bitterly opposed by her family. 

However, during the trial, Natthu denied his involvement in the incident and claimed that the remaining six accused had "resorted to this abhorrent crime to grab his property". 

The high court struck down the conviction of all the seven accused observing that the trial court had convicted them "on the strength of the statement" given by Natthu, which was "not a substantive piece of evidence which could have nailed the other set of accused persons". 

"The trial court was swayed by the fact Natthu in his statement ... had admitted his presence at the scene of occurrence," the court noted, adding "this approach was absolutely de hors the law. 

The prosecution had failed to prove the case, in the mode and manner as alleged by them beyond a reasonable doubt.




HC comes to the rescue of job aspirant

http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/hc-comes-to-the-rescue-of-job-aspirant-113071300501_1.html

Giving relief to a person whose appointment as Associate Professor in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering in the school of Naval Architecture here was withdrawn, the Madras High Court has directed the Indian Maritime University to allow him to join duty. 

Justice D Hariparanthaman, while passing an interim order yesterday, directed the Indian Maritime University to allow M S Ravi Sharma to work as Associate Professor and issued a notice to it directing it not to fill the post. 

The petitioner Sharma, who resigned his job in the USA after his selection as Associate Professor, had challenged the University decision to withdraw the appointment order issued to him in this June. 

The petitioner submitted that the University invited applications for recruitment of various faculty members in September 2012, pursuant to which he applied for the post. 

Sharma further submitted that he attended the interview through Video Conferencing in November 2012 and an order of appointment was issued on December 4, 2012 asking him to join duty on or before March 3, 2013. 

In the meantime the Ministry of Shipping, which constituted a Faculty Assessment Committee, kept in abeyance the joining of selected candidates and new set of directions were issued by it because of which he was not able to join duty, he stated. 

Sharma contended that there was no deviation in the recruitment process, but on the basis of an order issued by the Ministry of Shipping, the university withdrew the appointment order on June 14 following which he challenged the decision.




HC restrains AI from making staff in south work longer

  
·          
CHENNAI: The Madras high court has upheld its stay on Air India's move to make its employees posted in southern region work longer than their counterparts elsewhere in the country. 

The airline changed working hours to 44 hours per week for all its employees at airports, hangars and administrative offices in the southern region in February. But the new schedule was implemented only in southern and western regions. The western region, however, went back to the old schedule after the employees approached the Bombay high court against the new rules and some staff unions asked their members not to follow the revised timings. 

But the southern region stuck with the new rules. The employees then challenged the increased working hours in the high court, which in May this year issued a stay on the new schedule. An affidavit filed by Air Corporation Employees Union, which opposed the move, said the airline decided to change work hours without amending the Indian Airlines (general employees) Service Regulations and without the consent of employees. 

Rejecting Air India's appeal seeking lifting of the stay order, Justice D Hariparanthaman, in an interim order on July 8, said the court could not accept the airline's argument that the new work hours were introduced because the company was making a loss. 

The issue has it origin in Air India's decision to hive off ground handling and engineering sections into two subsidiaries. Ground handling employees were to be brought under Air India Air Transport Services and engineering staff under Air India Engineering Services. "A few employees were transferred while a few were sent on deputation. To ensure that the employees did not complain about the change in working hours, the management changed the timings for all employees," said an employee. 

"The new work hours force several employees to stay back for more than one and a half day though there is no work to do," said another employee. More than 250 employees were affected by the new timings, he said. The airline follows two sets of work hours - 38 hours per week and 44 hours per week - because the nature of work for those at airport terminals, hangars and workshops and those in administrative offices are different. The different working hours are also linked to different incentives and compensations.



HC seeks info on panel to review cancellation of victims’ red cards

JSingh July 13, 2013Asia
Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday directed the Punjab government to inform about modalities for the formation of a high-level committee to review orders of the authority cancelling red cards of victims of the 1984 Sikh genocide .
The division bench comprising chief justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and justice Augustine George Masih was hearing a bunch of petitions of Sikh genocide  victims taking up the issue of cancellation of their red cards illegally and also about cancellation of red cards of illegal beneficiaries. The state government had issued red cards to riot victims so as to avail compensation of Rs 2 lakh and other benefits in housing schemes and commercial booths as per the state policy.
Appearing for the state government, advocate general Ashok Aggarwal sought time from the court to seek instructions from the appropriate authorities regarding the constitution of the high-level committee.
Representing the riot victims in one case, advocate Mansur Ali said the Ludhiana deputy commissioner (DC) had in an arbitrary manner cancelled red cards issued to the petitioners despite the fact that the latter had submitted all comprehensive proofs to the authorities that during the 1984 genocide , they were displaced from various cities and states.
The court was informed that after the high court directions on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Sikh Danga Peerat Welfare Committee, P unjab, regarding illegal issuance of red cards to some people, the Ludhiana DC had ordered an inquiry into the case.
The high court had on February 13 stayed the Ludhiana DC’s January 29 order cancelling red cards issued to 20 victims of the 1984 genocide .
Source: The Tribune

 

 

 

 

Decide on controversial appointments in two months: HC to PGI director

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times  Chandigarh, July 13, 2013
First Published: 18:39 IST(13/7/2013) | Last Updated: 18:44 IST(13/7/2013)

Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) director to decide on the appointment of assistant administrative officers' and other posts that have been challenged in a petition filed by a workers' union of the institute, within two months.

The directions came from the division bench comprising chief justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and justice Augustine George Masih on a public interest litigation filed by Adhoc Front PGI Employees' Union.
The petitioner union had sought quashing of the selection of five assistant administrative officers namely Dinesh Kumar, Sanjay Trikha, Ankur Sharma, Surinder Kumar and Rajesh Kumar Saxena stating that these selections had been made in "utter violation" of rules and advertisements. 

It was submitted that also the appointments to the three advertised posts of assistant accounts officers and lower division clerks had been made by violating the rules after 2006.
The court was informed that despite bringing the issue to the notice of the authorities concerned, no action had been taken so far and that needed to be probed.
After hearing the case, though the court questioned the petitioner's counsel about the delay in filing the petition in the high court but since the matter seemed to be important, the court issued directions to the PGIMER director to look into the issue.




Treatment of SOL students: PIL in HC
14th July 2013 10:11 AM
University of Delhi has hit the headlines again. Now it is the turn of the open school which has been taken to court for its alleged ‘indifferent’ treatment meted out to the students.
A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice B D Ahmed and Justice Vibhu Bhakru of the Delhi High Court has sought responses from the Central Government, Delhi University, and its School of Open Learning (SOL) against a PIL filled by an organisation called Fight for Human Rights by September 4.
The PIL has alleged that the practice and procedures adopted by the SOL were extremely ‘arbitrary and discriminatory.’
“The students are treated as second-class citizens, which discourage the students to take admission for studies with SOL and this results in the defeat of the very purpose of imparting education to maximum number of citizens,” the PIL said.  The plea said that the SOL procedure while conducting annual examinations, rechecking and revaluation of answer sheets and treatment of students is arbitrary and discriminatory.
The plea pointed at the lackadaisical attitude of the school administration stating that the school declares result very late depriving students the chance to pursue higher studies. “The authorities concerned conduct the annual examination for the students of  SOL in May/June every year and declare results very late in November/December,” it said.
It added, “As a result, the candidates, who fail to clear any paper in their final year, are deprived of the chance to pursue higher studies because the result of supplementary examination conducted for failed students is announced very late when admission of all courses are closed by all universities,” it added.
The university, however, remains divided on the subject. Subhadra Channa, professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi says, “There may be disparity in terms of facilities, but this may not necessarily be termed as human rights violation. The biggest problem is that the number of students admitted in SOL are much more than that of regular students and so it takes time to deliver the facilities provided to regular students such as examination results.”




Bombay high court modifies order on St Mary's School

  
PUNE: The Bombay high court has modified its July 1 order which stated that the St Mary's School in Pune Camp "shall reserve" 25% seats for children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups of society as provided under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

The high court division bench of justices V M Kanade and K R Shriram stated in its modified order on July 11 that the word "reserve" is substituted by the words "keep vacant". The movecame after it was brought to the court's notice that the 25% seats ought to be kept vacant till it issues further orders on the writ petition filed by the school.

The earlier order read, "...the petitioner (St Mary's School) shall reserve 25% seats for children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged group of the society as defined under the said Act." Referring to this, the petitioner made an application submitting that it did not mention that the said seats should be kept vacant until further orders.

The bench has since ruled, "In our view, it is obvious that there is a typographical mistake in the said order and it is clarified that the petitioner shall keep 25% seats vacant. In the order, the word 'reserve' therefore is substituted by the word 'keep vacant'. The order is accordingly modified."

The matter is now expected to be heard on August 8, considering that the court has extended the returnable date for the notices issued to the respondents, including the Pune zilla parishad (ZP) education officer, by four weeks.

Representatives of non-aided minority schools here have expressed their satisfaction over the modified order as the high court - in another petition filed by the Bishop's education society regarding its schools at Pune Camp, Kalyaninagar and Undri - is dealing with the question as to what constitutes "aid".

This is in view of the Supreme Court's ruling that the RTE Act is applicable to aided minority schools only and is not applicable to non-aided minority schools.

The St Mary's School, relying on the high court's May 15 order in the Bishop's Schools matter, had pleaded for an interim stay on the ZP education officer's May 5 order. The ZP order had directed the school to cancel its admission process for academic year 2013-14 for not adhering to the provisions of the RTE Act regarding 25% quota.

The Bishop's education society has claimed the status of a non-aided minority institution and has argued that it is not bound by RTE provisions. However, the ZP, which had directed the Bishop's Schools to cancel their admissions process for 2013-14 for not adhering to the 25% quota under the RTE Act, has contested the society's claim.

The ZP has submitted in the court that the Bishop's School in Pune Camp is located on land granted by the central government on lease at a concessional rate, while the schools in Kalyaninagar and Undri were receiving aid in the form of concession in property tax.

The court observed that whether concession in property tax could be considered as "aid" was a matter that required debate. It has since allowed the Bishop's Schools to fill up 75% seats on a first-come-first basis, while admissions to the remaining 25% seats shall be subject to further orders. The Bishop's matter is slated to be next heard on August 5.




High court asks Veer Narmad South Gujarat University to give admissions on 600 BCom seats

  
SURAT: The Gujarat high court on Friday asked Veer Narmad South Gujarat University (VNSGU) to give admission on 600 seats ofBCom at CJ Patel College (CJPC), Variav, which was suspended by it from the admission process. The university had suspended the college fromCentralized Admission Committee (CAC) in June end and did not allow admissions on the 600 B Com seats.

The university has now initiated the process for admission on the 600 seats of CJPC. "According to the court order, we will immediately publish an advertisement announcing admission on 600 seats. The CAC has also been asked to take necessary steps to include the college in the admission process," said Dakshesh Thakar, vice-chancellor, VNSGU.

Earlier, the college was suspended from admission process by the university, saying that the CJPC had failed to deposit Rs 50 lakh with it as security deposit towards teachers' salaries. Teachers at the college were not paid salaries as per the 6{+t}{+h} Pay Commission, the university claimed.

On the Rs 50 lakh deposit, the court order said, "Considering the issue involved in this petition, this court is of the opinion that the demand raised by the university on the basis of the resolution passed by the syndicate is not backed and/or supported by any rule or regulation. Prima facie, the respondents (VNSGU) are not able to establish that there is any legal basis for such demand."

However, the court asked CJPC to submit an affidavit agreeing to pay salaries to its teachers as per the 6{+t}{+h} Pay Commission. "We are ready to pay salaries as per the norms but the teachers are not qualified. Hence, we are not paying them the full salary. The court is yet to decide the issue," said Jagdish Tekrawala, managing trustee of CJPC, Variav.

The university argued that CJPC was allowed to collect fees from students to accommodate teachers' salaries as per the 6{+t}{+h} Pay Commission. However, despite it collecting high fees, it was not paying salaries to its teachers as per the norms.




High court to aid of prisoner suffering from cancer

  
MADURAI: The prison authority, Madurai, has been directed by the Madras high court, Maduraibench, to provide treatment to a remand prisoner suffering by cancer at the Government RajajiHospital (GRH). The prisoner, Sownther aliasSownthrapandian, was arrested on June 17 in connection with a robbery and kept at theMadurai central prison.

Seeking treatment for Sownther at Adayar Cancer Research Institute, his wife, Karthiga Rani, 29, a resident of Thirunagar in Madurai, filed a writ petition before the bench.

Disposing the petition, justice S Manikumar ordered that Sownther should first be treated at Madurai GRH and be shifted to Adayar cancer institute, if necessary.

According to the petitioner, her husband is suffering from giant cell tumor (Grade II), for which he underwent three surgeries on his left leg knee during 2009 -2010 in a private hospital in Madurai. Doctors had advised him to undergo one more surgery.

The petition claimed that the Jaihindpuram police in Madurai had foisted a false case on Sownther on June 17. Sownther has been accused of robbing Rs 700 from a Meenakshi Sundaram at knifepoint. The police booked him in the case with the malafide intention of detaining him, the petition said.

Rani claimed that she visited Madurai central prison four times and found that he was unable to walk without help. She pleaded before the prison authority that he be allowed treatment on July 10. The writ petition was filed as there was no proper response from the prison authorities, Rani claimed.






Bad reputation can justify forced early retirement: Punjab and Haryana high court

  
CHANDIGARH: An employee may be forced to retire in public interest if his/her "general reputation" is not good even without tangible material to substantiate it, the Punjab and Haryana high court has said. 

A division bench comprising Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Fateh Deep Singh passed the order on Friday while upholding the high court decision on premature retirement of Haryana Superior Judicial Services judicial officer Chaman Lal Mohal. 

Mohal was entitled to work till the age of 60, but was forced to prematurely retire on January 29 after the court's administrative judge declared his integrity as "doubtful". 

The officer appealed against the decision in February, arguing there was no material or the basis for doubting his integrity. He submitted that there was no complaint against him in 2011-12 nor any other material or report was ever communicated to him. 

The court dismissed his petition and held that it was not necessary to limit the "material" only to written complaints or "tangible" evidence pointing fingers at the integrity of the judicial officer. 

"Such evidence may not be forthcoming in such cases," the bench said. It observed that if an authority bona fide forms an opinion that the integrity of a particular officer is doubtful, the correctness of that opinion cannot be challenged before courts. 





Court orders winding up of Deccan Cargo

KRISHNAPRASAD
BANGALORE, JULY 13:  
The Karnataka High Court has issued orders for winding up Capt. G.R. Gopinath’s Deccan Cargo and Express Logistics Pvt Ltd (DCEL), which operates under the ‘Deccan 360’ brand.
The High Court’s order indicates that DCEL, even after being given several opportunities, could not pay dues to the tune of Rs 39 lakh to Dubai-based United Aviation Services (UAS) and Rs 1.36 crore to Patel Integrated Logistics Pvt Ltd.
The court directed the winding up of the company in its June 11, 2013 order based on two petitions — one filed by UAS, which provided various facilities like permits, ground handling and fuelling in West Asia, Europe and Russia for DCEL, and another one filed by Patel Integrated, which had provided various logistic services to DCEL.
Now, the Court has ordered the Official Liquidator to commence the liquidation process. Last year itself, the court had prohibited DCEL from selling any of its assets following these two petitions.
DCEL had opposed Patel Integrated’s plea. It alleged that the petition for winding up was filed to avoid payment of court fee to launch a recovery suit under the civil laws, and to “pressurise the company (DCEL) to act in accordance with the dictates of Patel Integrated”. However, DCEL did not file any objection against the plea of UAS to wind up the company.
Both the petitioners knocked the doors of the court in 2011 after failing in their attempts to recover DCEL’s dues since 2009. It was pointed out in the petitions that DCEL had asked many of its 600-odd employees to either quit or go on long leave due to a serious financial crisis, and that it was selling its assets to clear its debts. As DCEL too had admitted its financial difficulties in making payments, the petitioner-companies had pleaded for the winding up of DCEL.
The court also noticed that though two separate public notices were issued in 2012 about the pleas for winding up, no objection was received against them.
Global Airport and Ground Services Pvt Ltd, JP Aviation Services Pvt Ltd, Lufthansa Tehnik Services India Ltd, Aegis Ltd, Dolphin Transport Corporation and Mindtree Ltd had also approached the court subsequently for winding up DCEL.
However, the court, in its various orders issued between June 12 and 28, has referred them to the Official Liquidator for claiming the amount due through the liquidation process.
DCEL was originally incorporated as Deccan Cargo Ltd in 2001 and later changed its name to DCEL in 2007-08. It launched operations in November 2009, two years after Capt Gopinath sold off his airline business, Deccan Aviation, to Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines.




Court agrees to hear plea to decongest Delhi road

http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/court-agrees-to-hear-plea-to-decongest-delhi-road-113071300469_1.html

The Delhi High Court has agreed to hear a petition seeking urgent measures to improve traffic flow on the busy Vikas Marg for reducing accidents and saving motorists' time and energy.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Vibhu Bakhru, before which the petition came up recently, decided to hear it Aug 22.
Petitioner Sudhir Jain, an author, sought direction to the Delhi government and joint commissioner of police (traffic) to apply his suggestions to decongest the east Delhi road.
Jain contended that as per his proposal the traffic flow between ITO to Anand Vihar will become smooth and continuous during office hours.
He said he had surveyed the stretch and found that the techniques currently used by the traffic department to manage the vehicles were adding to congestion.
"The process (of traffic department) encourages lane changing, mixes non-motorised and motorised vehicle flow, creates traffic bottleneck and increases waiting at intersections. The effect, in turn, increases traffic congestion, air and sound pollution and wastes commuters' time and energy," the petition said.
He submitted that "the improvement in traffic flow on decongested Vikas Marg can be used as an example to simplify traffic management on all arterial roads, especially on which traffic at intersections is still managed by signals."
The petitioner said he wrote to various authorities about the plan but they ignored his suggestions.




Supreme Court orders Rs 9.2 lakh relief for landowners

  
0

GURGAON: Upholding a Punjab and Haryana high court judgment, the Supreme Court has ordered enhancement of compensation payable to several landowners whose land had been acquired to develop Manesar township, the industrial hub of Haryana, near Gurgaon.


Recently, a single bench of Punjab and Haryana high court had enhanced the amount of compensation payable to the landowners from Rs 28,15,356 per acre to Rs 37,40,000 per acre. 

The state government and landowners had moved the apex court over the issue of compensation. After hearing a bunch of petitions, the apex court on July 2, ordered the Haryana government and HSIIDC to pay Rs 9,24,644 per acre to petitioners. 

The two-member bench of Justice G S Singhvi and Justice S J Mukhopadhya, also ordered that the payment shall be made to the landowners and/or their legal representatives by following the procedure laid down in the interim orders passed by the apex court. 

The landowners of dozens of villages near Gurgaon had been fighting a lengthy legal battle against low compensation awarded to them by the Haryana government. The petitioners included people whose land had been acquired in the past several years. 

During the hearing the counsel of the landowner submitted that the high court should not have imposed a cut of one-fourth in one batch of appeals (petitioners) and 20% cut in the other batch of appeals (petitioners) as per the average sale price reflected on the ground that the area of the land acquired by the Haryana government was too large. The apex court held that in a matter like the present one, it cannot be ignored that the land was acquired for setting up an industrial model township in Manesar and after developing the land, the HSIIDC was bound to sell the plots at a much higher price to the existing or prospective industrial entrepreneurs. 

Commenting on the criteria relied on by the high court, the SC held that in this scenario, the judges committed an error by applying one-fourth or 20% cut on market value determined for the purpose of payment of relief to the landowners. The high court had enhanced the amount of compensation payable to the landowners from Rs 28,15,356 per acre to Rs 37,40,000 per acre. After hearing all the arguments, the SC held that Haryana shall pay Rs 9,24,644 per acre to the landowners and/or their legal representatives along with all statutory benefits within a period of four months.





Court slams Delhi cops for shoddy probe

  
NEW DELHI: The lackadaisical attitude of Delhi Police in probing a criminal case has earned flak from a trial court, which called its investigations a "sham" and pulled up the cops for taking the version of the accused as "gospel truth". 

Chief metropolitan magistrate Ajay Pandey said, "The investigators believe the version of accused is gospel truth and do not bother to recover the misappropriated articles, or cheated money, or to find the nexus among the accused." 

The court's remarks came on the investigation done by Economic Offence Wing (EOW) on a complaint of forgery, making a false document,criminal conspiracy, etc filed by a Korean national against nine people. 

While the FIR was registered in March 2012, cops are still investigating the case. The court was appalled that police relied on the complainant to find evidence, and said if the complainant could have recovered the misappropriated article, there was no need for the court to order filing of the FIR. 

Complainant's counsel Vijay Aggarwal contended that police was shielding the accused and let the evidence disappear. The court directed the investigating officer to make all efforts to recover the embezzled articles and other evidence. It also asked police to submit a compliance report by July 20.




CCI orders probe against CIL - Report
13 hours 22 minutes ago

PTI reported that the Competition Commission has ordered another probe into the allegations that state run CIL and its subsidiaries abused dominant market position in supplying fuel to power plants.

The latest investigation against the country's largest coal miner comes on a complaint filed by West Bengal Power Development Corporation.

The Commission has already ordered probe in the wake of five complaints against CIL and in at least three cases, the investigation reports have been submitted to the regulator.

Finding prima facie evidence of abuse of dominant market position, the Competition Commission of India on July 5th ordered probe against Coal India and its three subsidiaries. They are Eastern Coalfields, Bharat Coking Coal and Mahanadi Coalfields.

CCI said that "The Commission is of the opinion that the present case was a fit case for investigation into the allegations made by the informant about violation of provisions of Competition Act."

As per the latest complaint, CIL imposed unfair conditions in the Fuel Supply Agreements for providing coal to thermal power plants.

According to the Commission, CIL is in a dominant position as it accounts for about 82% of coal supply in the country.

It said that "Taking advantage of their dominant position, the opposite parties were allegedly not adhering to the terms and conditions in the Fuel Supply Agreements and conducting themselves in a manner detrimental to the interest of the informant."

It added that the FSA's terms and conditions were being "heavily loaded in favour of opposite parties. the consumer had no alternative but to depend on them for fuel supply.

Source - PTI




Man gets life term for killing DU students' union president

http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/man-gets-life-term-for-killing-du-students-union-president-113071300476_1.html

A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a students' union president of a Delhi University college 14 years ago by a Delhi court, which termed it as a "rare" case. 

Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau sentenced Jitender alias Kalla for murdering Anil Badana, the then president of Satyawati College students' union and made it clear that he would not be considered for any remission till he spends 30 years in jail. 

"I am of a considered opinion that this case cannot be put on the same pedestal as other ordinary murder cases. It is also true that punishment in every case does send a message to the community at large. 

"Thus besides a number of other factors to be considered one of the relevant factor... Is the sentiments of community or the message which may travel to the community at large and the fact that it may deter similar other such like offenders. The present case can be easily classified as a 'rare case' which calls for the exercising of alternative options by the court," the judge said. 

The court imposed a fine of Rs four lakh on Kalla, who is in jail from past over 13 years, and said if the amount is realised, Rs two lakh should be given to the victim's family. 

According to the prosecution, Kalla had shot dead Badana, 26, at a marriage function under Keshav Puram police station on March 10, 1999. Kalla was harbouring ill-will against Badana as he was going to depose against him in a criminal case, it said. 

Kalla had also injured the bridegroom's father Madan Lal Sharma while opening fire indiscriminately as those attending function tried to nab him, it said. 

One of the eye witnesses Sumit Nayyar, who had informed the police about the incident, had to pay a heavy price as Kalla immediately went to his home at Mukherjee Nagar to kill him but when he realised that Sumit had not reached there, the accused pumped three bullets in the chest of his father to scare him away from maintaining his stand before the police.





SC tells NDMA to file status report on Uttarakhand rescue operations by July 26

The Supreme Court has asked the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to submit its status report on rescue operations in rain-ravaged Uttarakhand by July 26.
A bench headed by Justice A K Patnaik asked the NDMA to file an affidavit on the status of rescue operations within two weeks.
Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand Government informed the court that pilgrims who were stranded in the various affected areas of the state have been evacuated.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing on July 26.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by a lawyer, who has sought the apex court's directions to the Centre and the state government to rescue people stranded in the flood-hit areas in Uttarakhand
Meanwhile, a team from the National Human Rights Commission-NHRC will visit the flood ravaged Uttarakhand on July 15 (Monday) to take stock of the situation.
The NHRC in a statement said that the team headed by the Director General (Investigation), Kanwaljit Deol, will hold meetings with senior officials of the State Government and Non-governmental organisations during their four-day stay.
The team will also visit the affected areas of the state and make assessment of various aspects including the number of deaths, relief camps, alternate arrangements for rehabilitation of affected people, restoration of infrastructure and monetary relief.





Mishap victim's kin get Rs20 lakh compensation

Saturday, Jul 13, 2013, 1:05 IST | Place: Pune | Agency: DNA
DNA 
  
The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), Pune recently ordered the owner of a goods carrier and Cholamandalam General Insurance Company to pay compensation of Rs20 lakh to the relatives of a 30-year-old man who was killed in a road accident involving the vehicle last year.
The parties in the case had resorted to mediation and agreed to the amount.
The order was issued by MACT member and additional sessions judge SV Mane after the legal heirs of the deceased, Vinod Gorakh Kadam of Kiwale, filed a claim.
The petition named the goods carrier owner Sandeep Kute and Cholamandalam General Insurance Company as respondents.
Kadam used to work with a private firm and earned Rs20,500 per month.
On September 9, 2012, the goods carrier dashed his bicycle near Dehu Road at 2 pm, killing Kadam on the spot. The Dehu Road police station arrested the goods carrier driver for rash and negligent driving.
In December last year, Kadam’s wife Swati (27), son Shaurya (4) and parents moved the MACT through their lawyer Atul Gunjal, seeking compensation of Rs30 lakh.
The case came up for hearing before the MACT member VK Shewale. Later it was sent for mediation when both parties showed interest for settlement.
Within six months, the compensation amount was settled and the insurance firm agreed to pay Rs20 lakh considering the age and earning capacity of the deceased.




High court deals blow to prevalent illegal police practice

TNN Jul 13, 2013, 06.53AM IST
PANAJI: The high court of Bombay at Goa has held that police cannot deny registration of a FIR by stating that the matter is of a civil nature when the complaint discloses the commission of a criminal offence.
The verdict comes as a blow to the illegal practice adopted by police of declining investigations of criminal cases and advising complainants to approach the civil courts for relief.
The high court passed the judgment on a petition filed by Chowgule and Company Pvt Ltd against Panaji police station. The company alleged that it was forcibly ousted from a premises in a building in Panaji.
A division bench comprising Justice A P Lavande and Justice U V Bakre stated that the law permits the victim to sue for civil wrong and at the same time proceed against the wrongdoer for having committed a criminal offence and hence it was incumbent upon the police to have registered a FIR.
The high court added that the facts stated in the complaint give cause of action to Chowgules to file a civil suit. However, the same, prima facie, also discloses the ingredients of many of the offences mentioned therein, some of which are cognizable, the court opined.
Chowgule claimed that it was a lawful tenant of the premises, however, the possession of the premises, except for one room was taken over clandestinely by business partners Tahir and Zeenat Isani. Later, the Isanis renovated, reconstructed and modified the premises and started using it for their business purposes.
From P1
On November 3, 2010, Chowgule lodged a complaint of house trespass, mischief and under other sections of IPC. On September 12, 2011 police informed the company that the matter was of a civil nature and requested it to approach the civil court for redressal. Later, when the petitioner approached a judicial magistrate first class court, it held that the report filed by the company before the police does not disclose criminal intention.
During the hearing of the case, advocate S D Lotlikar argued that Chowgule was restored possession of the premises by Rizvi Estates and Hotels Pvt Ltd following a consent decree passed in a civil suit in 2007. The Isanis criminally trespassed into the premises and dispossessed Chowgule, he stated. Lotlikar stated that no inquiry was conducted by police to treat the case as a civil matter.
On the other hand, additional public prosecutor M Amonkar submitted that the building owner had sold the premises to Tahir Isani by deed of sale dated April 24, 2007. He submitted that there was delay in lodging the report and that a preliminary inquiry was duly conducted by the investigating officer and found that the matter was of a civil nature.
The high court opined that the consent decree, reveals that Rizvi Estates and Hotels Pvt Ltd had restored possession of the premises to Chowgule and therefore, prima facie, there was ample evidence to show that Chowgule was in lawful possession of the premises.
The high court stated that when a report relating to the commission of cognizable offence is received by an officer in charge of a police station, he has to register a FIR in terms of Section 154(1) of CrPC.
The court observed that there can be no dispute that in appropriate cases a preliminary inquiry may be conducted before registering the FIR. It also noted that Panaji police station records pertaining to the case do not reveal that any preliminary inquiry was conducted to conclude that the case is of a civil nature and not a cognizable offence.
"In our view the report (complaint), prima facie disclosed the commission of offences punishable under Sections 447; 448; 453; 427 read with Section 34 of IPC," the bench said. Stating that criminal intention is made out prima facie, the court has directed the police to register the offence. tnn




HP High Court in dilemma over defamatory suit against judicial officers

BY: RAVINDER MAKHAIK JULY 12, 2013 18:12
Shimla: Suing a judge for not acting diligently and in good faith, resulting in defamation of the petitioner, is something unheard of in India but the Himachal Pradesh High Court is confronted with just such an issue and has reserved its order for next week about whether to admit or dismiss such a suit.
Yesterday taking up the application moved under section 482 of Cr.PC, Chief Justice AM Khanwilkar heading the bench with Justice Kuldip Singh after issuing a stern warning to the petitioner in person, Deepak Khosla, about the nature of the relief sought, (compensation of Rs 1 Cr) said in open court that in all his career in the bar or as a Judge, he had not come across any such case where judges were intended to be sued. 
Showing preparedness for all judicial action arising out of moving such an application before the higher court, Khosla relied upon the Judges Protection Act 1850 and Judges Protection Act 1985, and stated in court that the 1850 Act granted judges immunity only in civil matters and the 1985 Act had not debarred higher courts from taking action against subordinate judicial officers.
However, the petitioner in court stated that no mala fides was being alleged against two judges of a district court arrayed by name in the application but alleges “implied malice” resulting from their negligence in diligently perusing the case materials before them in which Khosla is an accused.
Besides the two judicial officers of a district court in Solan, ten others, including police officers, public prosecutors and others have been named as respondents. The petitioner has also evoked Article 227 and section 397-404 of CrPC to make out a case.
To buttress his argument Khosla cited the10 April, 2013 judgment in  S.Velankanni v Chitradevi & others case of Madras High Court wherein immunity under the Judicial Protection Act was denied and Rs 1 lakh compensation was imposed on a judicial magistrate for wrongfully remanding a rape victim to judicial custody.
Leading the charge for the state and district judges in question, Advocate General Sharwan Dogra termed the application as an attempt to breech the protection judicial officers had under the constitution and the Judicial Protection Acts. “It could lead to a breakdown of the system,” he said.
Without going into the merits of the petitioners’ case, the advocate general sought outright dismissal of the suit and asked for exemplary treatment so as to discourage such litigation as it was an attack on the very institution under which the judicial system of the country worked.
Given a chance to respond, Khosla said that by entertaining his application, the court could, in fact, send out a positive message, showing that it was willing to entertain cases against judicial officers, rendering all, including judicial officers, equal before law.
The case which was initially listed for the morning session was postponed for the afternoon as the advocate general was not available earlier.
Argued for about two hours, the listed matter evoked much interest in court and was attended by many senior lawyers, before the bench reserved its order for next week.
Before moving to the next listed matter, Khosla, with the court’s permission bowed out saying in Hindi, ‘Gustaki Maaf’, to which the chief justice responded in equal measure, ending the serious proceedings with a smile on the face of everybody present.




Amendment to RTI Act, 2005 will be contempt of assurance given in Parliament: Lokesh Batra

RTI activist Commodore Lokesh Batra has written a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee in which he has said that amendment to RTI Act, 2005 will be contempt of assurance given in Parliament.
"On 05 July 2009, the then Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions had assured the Parliament in a written response to a question that the 'Non-Governmental Organisations and Social activists' will be consulted before any amendment to the RTI Act, 2005," he said in his letter to President Mukherjee.
Commodore Batra told President Mukherjee there are media reports that the Government is contemplating to counter the decision of the CIC declaring six political parties as Public authorities which are subject to the Right to Information Act by amending the RTI Act, 2005.
"The representatives of all political parties have stated that they believe the CIC decision is unsound legally and hence they are opposing it. If they are being truthful, they can certainly go in a writ to the Courts. In the past CIC decisions have been quashed by the Courts," said Commodore Batra.
"In the instant case I cannot see any reason which justifies any amendment to the RTI Act, 2005 by the Government and that too without consulting all the stakeholders/ Citizenry at large that include 'Non-Governmental Organisations and Social activists'," he added.
Commodore Batra in his letter requested President Mukherjee to communicate to the Government not to undertake any amendment to the RTI Act, 2005 without consulting all the stakeholders i.e. Citizenry at large that include 'Non-Governmental Organisations and Social activists', as assured in the Parliament lest it becomes contempt of assurance given in the Parliament.




Suspended cop, wife get 3 yrs jail

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After 13 years of the matter being registered, the sessions court on Thursday held suspended additional commissioner of police Ajay Kumar Jain and wife Anita Jain guilty and sentenced the couple to three years imprisonment in a disproportionate assets case worth around `32 lakh. It also slapped a fine of `25,000 each.
In a separate case, Jain was earlier sentenced to five years in prison for seeking a `5 lakh bribe from a junior in lieu of protection in a departmental inquiry. He was out on bail that was granted by the Bombay high court.
While reading out the order, Special Judge V. A. Daulatabadkar said, “In the case of a default, both the accused will have to serve three months rigorous imprisonment. There is no need for a separate order for the attachment of the disproportionate assets.”
Terming an appeal for bail as Jain’s constitutional right, the court asked him and Anita to furnish a bail bond of `50,000 each.
The matter dates back to 1995 when an open inquiry in the matter was ordered. The state home department had received an anonymous letter in the year 1990 against Jain where it was alleged that a Kandivali slumlord by the name Birender Shukla had gifted Jain a Maruti car.
According to investigation officer of the anti-corruption bureau, Arun Wahable, Jain was involved in several cases of converting “black money into white”. “Jain and one Kasliwal, the owner of the fictitious ‘Coopergaon Estate’, were working in tandem. Jain and his family had flats in the building that existed only on paper. Kasliwal later filed an ‘eviction suit’ to which Jain gave his consent, but demanded `5 lakh,” said Mr Wahable, adding that Jain himself gave the amount in cash and asked him to return it by cheque.
“The common link between the two was their chartered accountant P.C. Lodha, who is an accused in the graft case against Jain,” said Mr Wahable.