Archives for January 2018

New Delhi: The CBI has begun a probe into a Rs 487 crore scam related to over valuation of inferior quality of coal imported from Indonesia, which was passed on to NTPC and other power generation companies in collusion with officials. The action of the agency came on the basis of a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence investigation which had shown over-invoicing in the imports between 2011-12 and 2014- 15, officials said today

The CBI FIR is against Ahmed A R Buhari, promoter of Coastal Energy Private Limited, Channi and unidentified officials of National Thermal Power Corporation, Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation, Aravali Power Company Pvt Ltd. The agency has booked them under the charges of criminal conspiracy cheating and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the officials said.

It is alleged that they entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the Government by importing coal of Indonesian origin by fraudulently showing inferior quality coal as that of superior quality, officials said.

(PTI)

Pratapgarh: A 19-year-old Dalit girl was burnt alive allegedly by a father-son duo in Lalganj area here, police said today.

The incident took place yesterday when one Deep and his father entered the house of Mithailal and set her daughter Anju ablaze after sprinkling kerosene oil on her, they said.

The victim was alone in the house at the time of the incident. She was rushed to the hospital where she died during treatment, police said.

An FIR has been registered in this connection, they said, adding no arrests have been made so far.

(PTI)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday said the NIA could continue with its probe into the alleged love jihad case involving Hadiya and Shafin Jahan but it cannot investigate the marital status of the man and the woman.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra observed this after the NIA told the court that it had made substantial progress in the investigation which was conducted after the apex court’s direction.

“We are not concerned with it (probe). Whether you carry on your investigation or arrest someone, we are not concerned,” the bench also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said.

“You can investigate it but you cannot investigate about their marital status,” the bench said.

The top court also said that Hadiya had appeared before it and had specifically said she had married Shafin Jahan on her own.

The bench also observed that it would examine whether the Kerala High Court was correct in annulling the marriage while hearing a Habeas Corpus petition.

“We are only concerned with the choice of an adult to marry someone,” the bench said and posted the matter for hearing on February 22.

On November 27, last year, the apex court freed Hadiya from her parents’ custody and sent her to college to pursue her studies, even as she pleaded to be allowed to go with her husband.

The court took the decision after interacting with the 25-year-old woman, a Hindu by birth who had converted to Islam and married Jahan months later.

The court was hearing a plea filed by Jahan challenging the Kerala High Court’s order annulling his marriage with Hadiya.

While Hadiya’s parents have been alleging that her marriage was a case of love jihad and that she was converted to Islam forcibly, Hadiya has refuted these claims so far.

(Agencies)

Raebareli: Desperate to get justice for the wrongs done on her, a rape victim has reportedly written a letter in her blood to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath, demanding action against those responsible for her state.

“The police is not taking action against the accused due to their powerful links. They (accused) are putting pressure on me to withdraw the case. I should be given justice otherwise I will commit suicide,” the girl said in the letter written on January 20.

When contacted, ASP Shashi Shekhar Singh, said an FIR was registered on March 24, 2017, against Divya Pandey and Ankit Verma on rape charges in Barabanki, following a complaint by the victim’s father.

The father alleged that the accused raped his daughter, an engineering student, and were blackmailing her since. In October, 2017, another FIR against unidentified persons was registered in Raebareli in which it was alleged that a fake Facebook profile of the girl was made and obscene pictures were posted on it.

A probe is on in the matter, Singh said.

On being asked about the victim’s letter, the ASP said he did not have any information about it.

(PTI)

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena today passed a resolution not to align with the BJP and go solo in the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly polls next year.

The resolution was moved by Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who said the BJP had been demoralising the party for the last three years.

The resolution was passed unanimously in the party’s National Executive meet here.

“I moved the resolution for the Shiv Sena to fight the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls on its own in 2019,” Raut said.

He said the party will win at least 25 Lok Sabha seats (out of a total 48 in Maharashtra) and 125 Assembly seats (out of a total 288) in the state.

“The BJP allied with the Sena in the name of Hindutva and the Sena kept patience for Hindutva. However, the BJP in the last three years has been demoralising the Sena and using power to do so,” Raut said.

Senior Sena leaders backed Raut’s resolution.

(PTI)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked all states to comply with its order not to stand in the way of the release of controversial film “Padmaavat” as it dismissed last ditch efforts by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh governments to block its January 25 release.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said: “People must understand that the Supreme Court has passed an order and it must be complied with.”

“Our order is to be complied with by one and all. A few hundred people come on the street and create a law and order situation demanding ban. That can’t be accepted,” Misra said.

“You can advise them not to watch the movie if they don’t like it. We will not modify our order,” the Chief Justice told Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who tried to flag the law and order situation as a ground for blocking release of the film.

The court also dismissed a plea by Akhil Bharatiya Karni Mahasangh, saying: “We are not inclined to modify order” — clearing the decks for the release of the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial.

Admitting that maintaining law and order was the state’s obligation, Mehta appearing for the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh governments urged the court to appreciate the ground situation and threat to breach of peace.

“You can’t make virtue of creating trouble. You can’t first create trouble and then make a virtue of it,” said Justice Chandrachud.

Seeking clarification, Mehta said a situation could arise where after the release of the film, there could be trouble in some parts.

“Let the state honour this order. Rest we will deal with when it comes to it,” Justice Khanwilkar said.

(IANS)

Ujjain: Members of the Karni Sena on Monday blocked some roads here to oppose the release of the controversial film “Padmaavat”. The Karni Sena, an organisation of the Rajput community, here staged blockades by burning tyres on roads connecting Ujjain to Nagda, Dewas to Maksi and Agar to Kota.

The Sanjay Leela Bansali-directed period drama is scheduled to release on January 25. Superintendent of Police (SP) Sachin Atulkar said that the administration has urged the protesters not to take the law into their hands.

“We have cleared the road after receiving a memorandum from the protesters,” he said. There were also reports that protesters had pelted vehicles with stones on the Agar-Kota road. The SP, however, denied any incidents of violence.

“There were small road blockades. We will take stern legal action if protesters disrupt law and order,” he said. The Supreme Court had last week paved the way for the nationwide release of “Padmaavat”, by staying the ban on its screening in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

However, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on Monday moved the apex court seeking a recall of its January 18 order by which the controversial film was allowed to be released in theatres across India. The film, starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, is based on the saga of the 13th Century battle between Maharaja Ratan Singh of Mewar and Sultan Alauddin Khilji of Delhi.

(PTI)

New Delhi: The Gujarat government on Monday told the Supreme Court that the victim in a rape case involving self-styled preacher Asaram Bapu will be examined from January 29. The top court adjourned the hearing on the bail plea of Asaram by nine weeks and said it will taken it up after the victim is examined by the trial court.

A bench of Justices N V Ramana and A M Sapre which was initially inclined to dismiss the bail petition said the petitioner can easily approach after the victim is examined. The court had on January 15 sought to know the status of trial in a rape case involving Asaram and asked the Gujarat government to file a progress report on it.

Asaram’s counsel had then told the court that in the Gujarat case, of 92 witnesses, 22 material witnesses have been examined, 14 of them are dropped and rest need to be examine. On August 28, the apex court had expressed anguish over the tardy pace of progress in the rape case and had asked the state government to file the report.

On April 12 last year, the apex court had asked the Gujarat trial court to expedite the recording of evidence of prosecution witnesses in a sexual assault case lodged by two Surat-based sisters against Asaram. Earlier, the top court had refused to grant bail to Asaram on various grounds in the two sexual assault cases lodged in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The two Surat-based sisters had lodged separate complaints against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai, accusing them of rape and illegal confinement among other charges. The elder sister, in her complaint against Asaram, had accused him of repeated sexual assaults between 2001 and 2006 when she was staying at his ashram near Ahmedabad.

In the case in Rajasthan, a teenage girl had accused him of sexual assault at his ashram in Manai village near Jodhpur. The girl, who belonged to Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was a student living in the ashram.

The apex court had on November 18 last year sought the response of the Centre and five states on a plea seeking a CBI probe into the murder of children and attacks on several witnesses in the Asaram rape cases. Asaram was arrested by Jodhpur Police on August 31, 2013, and has been in jail since then.

(PTI)