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Junaid Khan lynching case: Judge says Haryana AAG helping accused

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Chandigarh: In a shocking turn of events in the Junaid Khan lynching case, the judge of the trial court hearing the case has sought action against Additional Advocate General Naveen Kaushik for allegedly helping persons charged with killing the 15-year-old.

In an interim order on October 25, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Faridabad, Y S Rathore accused Kaushik of assisting the defense counsel representing Naresh Kumar, one among those accused in the violence which eventually resulted in the death of 16-year-old Junaid Khan last June.

“This act of Mr Naveen Kaushik, Additional Advocate General Haryana amounts to professional misconduct and is against legal ethics and highly unbecoming of an Advocate, particularly because he is a Law Officer in the office of Advocate General, Haryana,” Judge Rathore said on October 25.

The judge noted that the case is a sensitive one with communal overtones. As such, if the AAG appears along with the defense counsel, “it will send a wrong signal and will also create a feeling of insecurity amongst the victim party and will adversely affect the aim of the court to conduct free and fair trial.”

The judge has directed that the issue be brought to the notice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court so that appropriate action may be taken in the matter.

According to an Indian Express report, Advocate General of Haryana Baldev Raj Mahajan has said that action would be taken if it is found that Kaushik had made an appearance as alleged.

Junaid, his brother and two cousins were attacked on a Mathura-bound train in June by a mob, which also hurled communal slurs against them. The 15-year-old later died of stabbing injuries. The trial court had recently framed charges against Naresh Kumar among others.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: Robbers loot Rs 18.5 lakh from ATM cash loaders

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Bengaluru: Two bike-borne men robbed Rs 18.5 lac from a private agency staffer who was loading cash at an ATM kiosk near Jalahalli Cross here on Monday, October 31.

Police said that the incident happened at 6.30 am on Monday morning at ICICI ATM kiosk. The ATM kiosk is just 300 metres away from Rockline Mall.

As per details available, three staff members of the agency named ‘Secure Well Security Services’ identified as Sagar, Mohan and Prasanna, had gone to Jalahalli Cross ICICI ATM to load cash. They were followed by the bike-borne duo and then waited near the ATM.

After the cash carrying van stopped outside the ATM, Mohan and Prasanna went inside the ATM kiosk to open the machine. When Sagar got down with the cash bag, he was attacked by the two who tried to snatch the bag from him. Sagar resisted, but was stabbed on the chest, shoulder, and legs. By the time Mohan and Prasanna came to his rescue, the duo had fled with the cash.

Police said that there was no gunman in the van, which is mandatory as per rules.

Injured Sagar is recovering in a hospital. As per Sagar’s statement, the two men were aged between 25 and 30 years and had covered their faces with helmet.

The Bagalagunte police have formed a separate team to nab the miscreants.

Police said the agency had brought Rs 1.25 crore in cash to replenish five ATM kiosks. Sagar had taken Rs 18.5 lac in a bag to replenish the Jalahalli Cross ATM when the incident took place.

(Agencies)

Aadhaar a threat to national security: Subramanian Swamy

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New Delhi: BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday said that compulsory Aadhaar is a threat to the country’s security and expressed hope that the Supreme Court will strike it down when its larger Constitution bench takes up the matter.

The firebrand BJP leader took to Twitter and tweeted that he will soon write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi detailing how compulsory Aadhaar poses a big threat to the country’s security.

Swamy said this a day after the Supreme Court referred a batch of petitions challenging the Centre’s move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of various services and social welfare schemes to a five-judge Constitution bench.

The order was passed by the Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud while responding to a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the Aadhaar law on charges of being intrusive and violating the right to privacy.

The top court also pulled up the West Bengal government for directly approaching it against the central government’s move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits under social welfare schemes.

The bench said that hearing on the petitions challenging the government’s move would take place in the last week of November.

The court said this after Attorney General KKVenugopal told the bench that the government had filed a detailed affidavit refuting all the allegations on expanding the area under Aadhaar linkage.

Asking the court not to issue any further interim orders, Venugopal said the government was ready to argue and the court, if deemed fit, could set up a Constitution bench to decide on the various Aadhaar petitions.

He said the government had already issued more than 100 orders and notifications to address the glitches in the implementation of Aadhaar.

The government counsel also told the court that fake reports were being spread about Aadhaar linking, including how the unique ID was being made compulsory for CBSE students to appear in Class 10 and 12 exams.

As court said that the challenge to Aadhaar law would be heard by the five-judge Constitution bench, the issue of extending the deadline for linking Aadhaar with bank accounts, PAN, mobile numbers and other schemes for those who don’t have the unique identification number is now on the backburner.

The issue is not there, as the court is hearing the matter in the last week of November, the Attorney General said.

The existing deadline is up to December 31.

In the last hearing of the matter on October 25, the Centre had indicated that the deadline for linking Aadhaar with bank accounts, PAN, mobile numbers and other schemes for those who don’t have the unique identification number and are willing to go for it may be extended till March 31.

The validity of Aadhaar law that has been challenged by a number of people, including former Karnataka High Court Judge KS Puttaswamy, first Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Magsaysay awardee Shanta Sinha and researcher Kalyani Sen Menon.

Aadhaar is being challenged in the court amid apprehensions that it violated right to privacy – which a nine-judge bench had already declared as a fundamental right – with the use of biometric details like fingerprints and iris scans.

(Agencies)

Tushar Gandhi moves SC opposing reopening of Mahatma’s assassination case

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New Delhi: Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Monday moved the Supreme Court opposing a plea seeking reopening of the 70-year-old assassination case of the Mahatma.

A bench of Justices S A Bobde and M M Shantanagoudar questioned the locus of Tushar Gandhi in the case.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for Gandhi, said she will explain the locus if the court moves ahead with issuing of notice.

The bench said there were several ifs and buts in the case and will like to wait for the amicus curiae (friend of the court) Amrender Sharan’s report.

Sharan sought four weeks time to file the report, saying he was yet to receive relevant documents from the National Archives.

Jaising said that she is opposing the reopening of the 70-year-old assassination case of Mahatma and also questioned the locus of the petitioner, Mumbai-based Pankaj Phadnis, a researcher and a trustee of Abhinav Bharat.

The bench listed the matter after four weeks.

The apex court had on October 6 appointed senior advocate Sharan as amicus curiae to assist it in the matter.

The bench had raised a volley of questions including how evidence could be collected now to order further investigation into the case which had led to the conviction and execution of Nathuram Vinayak Godse and Narayan Apte on November 15, 1949.

Gandhi was shot dead at point blank range in New Delhi on January 30, 1948 by Godse, a right-wing advocate of Hindu nationalism.

Phadnis has sought reopening of the probe on several grounds, claiming it was one of the biggest cover-ups in the history.

He has questioned the ‘three bullet theory’ relied upon by various courts of law to hold the conviction of accused Godse and Apte, who were hanged, and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar who was given the benefit of doubt due to lack of evidence.

He has also claimed that there could be a third assassin other than the two convicted persons and submitted that there was a need to investigate whether the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), an intelligence agency of the US during World War II and a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), had tried to protect Gandhi.

Phadnis has challenged the decision of the Bombay High Court which on June 6, 2016 had dismissed his PIL on two grounds — firstly, that the findings of fact have been recorded by the competent court and confirmed right up to the apex court, and secondly, the Kapur Commission has submitted its report and made observations in 1969, while the present petition has been filed 46 years later.

(PTI)

Qatar emir: Our sovereignty is a red line

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The Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (Credit: Reuters)

by Al Jazeera

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, has said he will not bow to pressure from a group of Arab states blockading his country, calling the independence and sovereignty of the Gulf nation a “red line”.

“Our sovereignty is a red line. We don’t accept anybody interfering our sovereignty,” Sheikh Tamim told US television programme 60 Minutes.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar on June 5 and imposed a land, sea and air embargo, accusing it of supporting “terrorism”. Doha has repeatedly denied the allegation.

“They don’t like our independence, the way how we are thinking, our vision for the region,” he told host Charlie Rose in a wide-ranging interview that aired on Sunday.

“We want freedom of speech for the people of the region and they’re not happy with that, and so they think that this is a threat to them.”

When people took to the streets across the Middle East and North Africa in protests that would become known as the Arab spring, Qatar “stood by the people,” Sheikh Tamim said.

“The difference between us and them during the Arab Spring is that we stood by the people. They stood by the regimes.

“I feel that we chose the right side when we stood by the people.”

‘It was a shock’
The months-long diplomatic dispute began about two weeks after a late May Arab-Islamic-American summit in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, which was attended by US President Donald Trump and representatives of 55 Arab and Muslim-dominated countries.

Among them was both the Qatari emir and the leaders of the countries that subsequently blockaded Qatar.

“It was a shock,” said Sheikh Tamim, referring to the blockade.

“A few weeks before that, we were meeting, all of us together, in one room, including President Trump,” he told CBS News’ 60 Minutes.

“We were discussing terrorism, financing terrorism, and nobody brought any concern from those countries. Nobody told me anything.”

When asked about the presence of Taliban in Qatar, Sheikh Tamim said that they were asked and allowed to set up offices in the Qatari capital of Doha at the request of the United States.

“The reason why they came here, it’s not because we asked them to come,” he told 60 Minutes.

“America asked … They wanted to have dialogue so they asked us if we can host them here and have the dialogue. So we hosted them here, this is the reason why they’re here,” added Sheikh Thamim.

“When they [blockading countries] talk about terrorism, absolutely not. We do not support terrorism.”

Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said that this was the “first public statement from the emir since this crisis began back in June.

“He made it very clear his belief that the charges by the other Gulf states and Egypt are completely baseless … and rejected out of hand the claims by the boycotting states that Qatar is backing terrorism in any form,” added Hanna.

‘We want it to end’
In the interview, the emir also said he is willing to attend US-hosted direct talks to put an and to the diplomatic crisis, but added that he has yet to hear a response to Trump’s offer to hold a meeting at his retreat in Camp David.

“We want it [the crisis] to end. But nothing is going to be above our dignity, our sovereignty,” Sheikh Tamim told 60 Minutes.

“But we want it to end, I always say that. If they going to walk one metre toward me, I’m willing to walk 10,000 miles towards them.”

On June 22, the quartet issued a 13-point list of demands, including the shutdown of Qatar-based media network Al Jazeera, limiting ties with Iran, and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country as a prerequisite to lifting the blockade.

Doha rejected all the demands, denouncing them as attempts to infringe Qatar’s sovereignty.

During the interview, the Qatari emir reiterated that the fate of Al Jazeera, which was launched in 1996, was not up for discussion.

“We’re not going to shut down Al Jazeera,” he said.

“When you tell me to close a channel like Al Jazeera, history will write one day in 50, 60 or 70 years how it changed the whole idea of free speech in the region.”

Attempt to change Qatar leadership
The emir of Qatar also accused the blockading countries of seeking “regime change”.

It was “obvious” that the Saudi-led quartet is trying to force a change of leadership in Qatar, Sheikh Tamim said.

“History as well tells us, teaches us, they tried to do that before, in 1996 after my father became the emir.”

Sheikh Tamim became emir in 2013 at the age of 33, after his father, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, transferred power to him.

The 60 Minutes interview took place in Doha in early October, shortly after the emir’s return to the country after his first foreign trip since the start of the crisis.

In a major show of unity, thousands lined up the streets of Doha to welcome back Sheikh Tamim following the trips to Europe and the United General Assembly in New York, where he denounced the “unjust siege” imposed on Qatar.

When asked by Rose if he thought that the Saudi-led group had underestimated him, Sheikh Tamim replied: “I think they underestimated the Qatari people. I’m so proud of the people.”

India vs New Zealand: India register thrilling victory over Kiwis

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Kanpur: India produced a brilliant all-round performance to beat New Zealand by six runs in the third and final One-Day International (ODI) at the Green Park Stadium here on Sunday and clinch the series.

Chasing a daunting target of 338 runs, the Kiwis could only manage 331/7 in their allotted 50 overs.

Colin Munro (75), skipper Kane Williamson (64) and Tom Latham (65) were the major contributors for New Zealand.

For India, pacer Jasprit Bumrah scalped three wickets and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal took two.

India have clinched the three-match ODI series 2-1. The visitors had won the series opener in Mumbai by six wickets before the Indians won the second match by the same margin in Pune to draw level, reports IANS.

India captain Virat Kohli was declared the man of the series for scoring 263 runs in the three matches. He has notched up two centuries in this series. This was the first day-night match at this venue. The Kiwis were off to a flying start with openers Martin Guptill and Munro going after the Indian bowlers.

Bumrah struck the first blow for India when a miscued shot by Guptill saw Dinesh Karthik latch on to the catch at mid-off.

It was the 50th ODI wicket for Bumrah, who is the second fastest Indian bowler to reach the landmark, completing the feat in 28 matches. Former pacer Ajit Agarkar holds the record at 23 matches.

Munro and Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson then put together a partnership of 109 runs to put the visitors on a firm footing. Chahal broke the partnership when Munro was bowled after failing to read the turn.

Munro, who was the highest scorer for the visitors, hit seven boundaries and three sixes during his 62-ball stay in the middle.

Chahal claimed his second wicket four overs later, sending Williamson back to the pavilion. The Kiwis however, stayed firmly on course with Latham and Ross Taylor adding 79 runs between them off 76 deliveries.

But the dismissals of Taylor and Henry Nicholls broke the visitors’ momentum as the hosts made a strong comeback.

Latham was run out following a horrible mix-up with Colin de Grandhomme in the very next over while Bumrah accounted for Mitchell Santner with two balls remaining.

With the Kiwis needing 11 runs to win off the last ball, a desperate slog by Tim Southee only earned a boundary at the mid-wicket fence as the Indians celebrated.

Earlier, brilliant performances from opener Rohit Sharma and Kohli helped India post a daunting 337/6 after being asked to bat first.

Rohit was the top scorer for India with 147 runs while Kohli slammed 113 to cross the milestone of 9,000 ODI runs.

Rohit struck his 15th century in ODIs, the fifth of this year and the first against New Zealand. Kohli slammed his 32nd ton and the fifth against the visitors to help India score the highest total in 15 ODIs here.

The previous was 303 by South Africa against India in 2015.

It was also Kohli’s sixth century in 2017, the most by a captain in a year, beating five by Sourav Ganguly (2000), Australia’s Ricky Ponting (2003, 2007), South Africa’s Graeme Smith (2005) and AB de Villiers (2015).

For New Zealand, pacer Southee, Milne and spinner Santner scalped two wickets each.

Brief scores: India 337/6 (Rohit Sharma 147, Virat Kohli 113; Mitchell Santner 2/58) against New Zealand 331/7 (Colin Munro 75, Kane Williamson 64, Tom Latham 65; Yuzvendra Chahal 2/47).

(Agencies)

Man detained over ‘bomb threat’ on Jet flight

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Ahmedabad: The city police has detained a passenger of a Mumbai-Delhi Jet Airways flight which was forced to make an emergency landing at the Ahmedabad airport today after a note stating that there were hijackers and a bomb on board was found in the washroom, a police officer said.

The passenger, identified as Birju Salla, a jeweller hailing from Rajula town in Gujarat’s Amreli district, was taken into custody based on suspicion after the plane landed here, he said.

Salla, who now lives in Mumbai, had in the past too done such a mischief with the airline out of some grudge, the police official said.

Earlier, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the person responsible for the security threat on the Mumbai-Delhi Jet Airways flight had been identified and should be immediately put on the no-fly list.

“Salla was detained by police after preliminary investigation. He was on board the flight which made an emergency landing this morning. It was revealed that Salla had put the threat letter in the plane’s washroom. We will take necessary action against him,” the official said.

“This is the second time when Salla did such a mischief with Jet Airways. A few months ago, he tried to harass the airline using some other trick. It seems that Salla has some grudge against the airline,” he said.

He was being questioned by senior police officials at an undisclosed location.

Flight 9W 339, which had taken off from Mumbai at 2.55 am with 115 passengers and seven crew members, landed without incident at Ahmedabad around 3.45 am. The Boeing 737-900 plane was parked at a remote bay and all 122 safely deplaned, a Jet Airways spokesperson said.

The printed note, in Urdu and English, said the flight had 12 hijackers on board and a bomb in the cargo area and should be flown straight to PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir).

Giving details of what had happened, Ahmedabad Airport Director Manoj Gangal said the flight was allowed to make an emergency landing on the pilot’s request.

The bomb disposal squad and the local police conducted a thorough search but found no explosive substance, said Sardarnagar police station inspector H B Zala.

(Agencies)

Najeeb’s missing case: Court allows CBI’s plea

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New Delhi: A Delhi court today allowed the CBI’s plea seeking advancing of hearing on its application on polygraph test on nine students in connection with JNU student Najeeb Ahmed who has been missing for over a year now.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal posted the matter for November 10 and sought the response of nine students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on the central probe agency’s application.

Najeeb, a first-year MSc Biotechnology student, has been missing from the Mahi Mandavi hostel in JNU since October 16, 2016.

The CBI, in its plea, had sought early hearing on its application seeking consent of nine students for a lie detection test regarding the disappearance of Najeeb in October last year.

The CBI had on October 16 approached the court seeking early hearing of its plea seeking consent of the suspect students for a polygraph test.

The application was moved by the agency on the direction of the Delhi High Court for an early hearing of the plea, which has been adjourned to January 24, 2018.

27-year-old Najeeb went missing after a scuffle at his JNU hostel allegedly with ABVP activists. The RSS students wing has denied any involvement in his disappearance.

A Delhi court had on May 3 quashed a police order summoning nine JNU students for recording their consent or denial for lie-detector test in the case after it noted a defect in the notice sent by the investigating officer to the students.

On May 16, the high court handed over probe of the case to the CBI.

The nine students, who are suspects in the case, had approached a magisterial court challenging the notice sent to them by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police seeking their presence before the magistrate for recording of their statement.

The notice was sent after the Delhi High Court had asked the police to explore other avenues of probe as all other leads had not yielded any result.

(Agencies)

100 year old woman raped in UP, dies

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Meerut: A 100-year-old woman died on Monday after being unwell and allegedly being raped by a drunk youth in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh.

Police said that the victim, who was unwell, lived in Jaani village with her brother. The police told that the youth was drunk when he allegedly raped the 100-year-old woman.

The youth has been identified as Ankit Punia. He was trying to escape when her cries were heard by her brother and neighbours who overpowered Punia and handed him over to police.

Police officials said since the woman had died, relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) would be added in the case against the youth. Punia claimed he was innocent and had not committed any crime.

(Agencies)

SC orders Kerala Police, Hadiya’s father to produce her in court on November 27

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the father of Hadiya, a 24-year-old Hindu woman from Kerala who converted to Islam, to present her in court on November 27 to ascertain her views on her marriage to a Muslim man, Shafin Jahan.

The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra also said that it would ascertain her views in the open court, as it did not accept that she be questioned by the judges in-camera.

Hadiya alias Akhila had converted to Islam last year and married Shafin Jahan.

The apex court was on Monday hearing Jahan’s plea against the Kerala High Court order of May, annulling her marriage.

Het father had appealed for in-camera proceedings, but the Supreme Court declined his request.

The marriage had been challenged in the High Court by Hadiya’s father, who also alleged that her husband had links with terror group IS.

Jahan had also pleaded before the Supreme Court to cancel the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into their marriage. The NIA probe was ordered by the apex court.

(IANS)

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