Archives for November 2021

Gurgaon: A Gurudwara in Gurgaon has come forward to volunteer allowing Muslim Friday prayers on November 19 after the recent incidents wherein Right-Wing Organisations protested over Muslims offering Friday prayers in public spaces in the city.

Gurgaon’s Sadar Bazaar Gurudwara will reportedly allow Muslims to offer prayers in its premises keeping in mind the recent events that took place in the city.

Popular entrepreneur and activist Harteerath Singh on Wednesday evening took to his Twitter handle to break the news asserting that the Gurudwara was open for Muslims to offer prayers.

“#Gurgaon’s Sadar Bazaar Gurudwara is now open for our Muslim brothers to offer their daily namaz keeping in mind the recent events that took place in the city.” Harteerath Singh wrote in his tweet.

November 19 will also mark Guru Nanak Dev jis Gurpurab. Harteerath said it will be a spectacular sight and a show of brotherhood and humanity.

“The best part is tomorrow is Guru Nanak Dev jis Gurpurab and Friday namaaz too. What a spectacular sight it will be tomorrow- prime example of brotherhood and humanity!” he wrote in another tweet.

In a similar gesture earlier, a Hindu man had offered his vacant shop for Muslims to offer prayers while another man had similarly offered his terrace space for the cause.

On November 2, the district administration had withdrawn permission for namaz at eight of the 37 previously agreed upon sites citing “objection from local residents and RWAs”.

A Gurudwara in Gurgaon has come forward to volunteer allowing Muslim Friday prayers on November 19 after the recent incidents wherein Right-Wing Organisations protested over Muslims offering Friday prayers in public spaces in the city. Gurgaon’s Sadar Bazaar Gurudwara will reportedly allow Muslims to offer prayers in its premises keeping in mind the recent events that took place in the city. Popular entrepreneur and activist Harteerath Singh on Wednesday evening took to his Twitter handle to break the news asserting that the Gurudwara was open for Muslims to offer prayers. “#Gurgaon’s Sadar Bazaar Gurudwara is now open for our Muslim brothers to offer their daily namaz keeping in mind the recent events that took place in the city.” Harteerath Singh wrote in his tweet. In a similar gesture earlier, a Hindu man had offered his vacant shop for Muslims to offer prayers while another man had similarly offered his terrace space for the cause. On November 2, the district administration had withdrawn permission for namaz at eight of the 37 previously agreed upon sites citing “objection from local residents and RWAs”.

New Delhi: Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Thursday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Union government’s ordinances extending the tenures of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chiefs from two to up to five years.

He has moved the plea against the Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, of November 14 along with the Personnel Ministry’s November 15 notification amending the fundamental rules which enable the government to extend the tenures of ED, CBI chiefs, as also of the defence, home and foreign secretaries.

These ordinances empower the Government of India to provide “piecemeal extensions” of one year each to the tenures of the directors of ED and CBI following the conclusion of the fixed terms provided in their statutes, Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Surjewala claimed.

“There are no criteria provided save for a vague reference to ‘public interest’ and is in fact, based on the subjective satisfaction of the respondents. This has the direct and clear impact of eroding the independence of the investigative bodies in question,” he said in the petition.

Surjewala also alleged that the extension of tenure in this “ad-hoc and episodic fashion” reaffirms the control of the Executive over investigative agencies and is “directly antithetical” to their independent functioning.

The CBI and ED directors had a fixed tenure of two years but can now be given an extension each year as long as the cumulative extension is not beyond five years from the initial date of appointment, the Congress leader said.

“It would thus mean that each permissible extension will be at the discretion and the subjective satisfaction of the appointing authority,” he said.

The Congress leader has also sought from the court an interim relief, alleging that the ordinances violate the court orders issued from time to time to ensure the independence of such institutions and it also reveals the clear abuse of power by the authorities.

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday ordered a magisterial probe into the Hyderpora encounter here, in which police claimed to have killed two terrorists and two terror associates.

“A magisterial inquiry by officer of ADM rank has been ordered in Hyderpora encounter. Govt will take suitable action as soon as report is submitted in a time-bound manner. JK admin reiterates commitment of protecting lives of innocent civilians & it will ensure there is no injustice,” Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said in a tweet.

The magisterial probe was ordered amidst protests by the family members of three of the four persons killed in the encounter on Monday.

The family members of Mohammad Altaf Bhat (the building owner), Mudasir Gul (a tenant) and Amir Magray (Gul’s office boy) have been protesting against the killings, which they have described as cold-blooded murder.

They have demanded that the bodies of the deceased be handed over to them for the last rites.

All the four persons killed in the encounter were buried in the Handwara area of Kupwara district.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the Bombay High Court verdict which had held that no offence of sexual assault under the POCSO Act is made out if there is no direct skin-to-skin contact between an accused and victim.

A bench headed by Justice U U Lalit set aside the high court judgement, and said the most important ingredient of constituting sexual assault is sexual intent and not skin-to-skin with the child.

Purpose of the law cannot be to allow the offender to escape the meshes of the law, the apex court said.

“We have held that when the legislature has expressed clear intention, the courts cannot create ambiguity in the provision. It is right that courts cannot be overzealous in creating ambiguity,” the bench, also comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi, said.

The top court, which was hearing separate appeals of Attorney General and the National Commission for women (NCW), had on January 27 stayed the order which had acquitted a man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act saying groping a minor’s breast without ‘skin to skin contact’ cannot be termed as sexual assault .

The sessions court had sentenced the man to three years of imprisonment for the offences under the POCSO Act as also under IPC section 354. The sentences were to run concurrently.

The high court, however, acquitted him under the POCSO Act while upholding his conviction under IPC section 354.

Jaipur: Skipper Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav produced sublime knocks as India bungled towards end before recovering in time to fashion a five-wicket win over New Zealand in the opening T20 International ushering in a new era in Indian cricket.

Martin Guptill (70 off 42) and Mark Chapman (63 off 50) took New Zealand to 164 for six on a good batting surface.

India’s chase was set up by Rohit (48 off 36), who made his full-time captaincy debut, and Suryakumar Yadav (62 off 40) who came in at number three in place of rested Virat Kohli.

The home team was cantering to a comfortable win but messed up the chase in the final four overs. In the end, with New Zealand running out of bowling options, the job was done in the 20th over bowled by part-time pacer Daryl Mitchell.

Debutant Venkatesh Iyer hit his first ball in international cricket for four before Rishabh Pant got the winning runs.

The game marked the start of a new chapter in Indian cricket with Rohit as T20 skipper and Rahul Dravid as head coach.

With both teams resting some of their key players as part of workload management, it was very much an even contest before the first ball was bowled.

India raced to 50 for no loss in five overs with Rohit playing some delightful shots.

He got going with back to back fours off Tim Southee in the third over before unleashing his signature front pull on the final ball of the over.

The seasoned pace duo of Southee and Trent Boult were put under pressure upfront by both the openers. K L Rahul (15 off 14) got into the act with a massive six over deep square leg off Boult before Rohit hit another pull shot to collect 21 from the over.

Rahul fell to a soft dismissal on the first ball of Mitchell Santer’s spell to give New Zealand a wicket against run of play.

Suryakumar meant business from ball one and the most memorable shot of his innings was the pick up stroke off Lockie Ferguson to get to his third T20 fifty.

Both Rohit and Suryakumar should have gone on to finish the game but that didn’t happen.

From a straight forward 23 off the last 24 balls, India made it complicated by making the equation to 10 runs off the last over.

Earlier, Guptill and Chapman ensured New Zealand were well placed for a 180 plus total on a batting beauty but Ravichandran Ashwin’s double strike in one over put the brakes on the scoring rate.

Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers for India, taking two for 23 in four overs while senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/24 in four overs) too got his swing back.

Expecting heavy dew later in the evening, Rohit opted to field. Venkatesh was expectedly handed a debut while New Zealand made four changes to the playing eleven that played the T20 World Cup final on Sunday as part of workload management.

Bhuvneshwar, who looked far from his best in the T20 World Cup, got his trademark swing in the very first over of the match.

After a couple that shaped away from Guptill, he bowled a beautiful outswinger from length to breach Daryl Mitchell’s defence.

New Zealand reached 41 for one in the powerplay after a 15-run over from Deepak Chahar, who was guilty of bowling too short or too full.

The Hong Kong-born Chapman whipped and pulled Chahar for a four and six in the 6th over to give the innings much needed momentum.

India had the run rate under control until 10 overs with New Zealand reaching 65 for one.

Three big overs followed with Chapman and Guptill putting their foot on the pedal.

Chapman collected a four and six off Axar Patel in another 15-run over to bring up his first fifty for New Zealand, having played earlier for Hong Kong.

Guptill too looked in ominous touch at the other end as he deposited a slower one from Siraj over long-off.

Ashwin was brought back into the attack in the 14th and he struck twice at a timely juncture for his team with New Zealand getting to 123 for three in 15 overs.

With Guptill in full flow, even 200 seemed on the card but the opener was caught in the deep in the 18th over.

India did well in the last five overs to concede 41 runs besides taking three wickets.

Mumbai: A magistrate’s court here on Wednesday declared former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh a “proclaimed offender” in an extortion case registered against him and some other police officers in the city.

Singh, currently posted as Director General of Home Guards, attended his office last in May, after which he went on leave. The state police had told the Bombay High Court in October that his whereabouts were not known.

The crime branch of Mumbai Police, which is probing the extortion case, had sought the proclamation against him, saying that the IPS officer could not be traced even after the issuance of a non-bailable warrant.

Under section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a court can publish a proclamation requiring an accused to appear if a warrant issued against him or her cannot be executed.

As per section 83, after issuing such a proclamation the court can also order attachment of the proclaimed offender’s properties.

Former assistant police inspector Sachin Waze is also an accused in the case, registered at the Goregaon police station in the city.

Besides Param Bir Singh, co-accused Vinay Singh and Riyaz Bhatti were also declared as proclaimed offenders by additional chief metropolitan magistrate S B Bhajipale on Wednesday.

Bimal Agrawal, a real estate developer and hotelier, had alleged that the accused extorted Rs 9 lakh from him for not conducting raid on two bars and restaurants which he ran in partnership, and also forced him to buy two smartphones worth around Rs 2.92 lakh for them.

The incidents occurred between January 2020 and March 2021, he had claimed.

Following his complaint, a case was filed under Indian Penal Code sections 384 and 385 (both pertaining to extortion) and 34 (common intention) against six accused.

Singh is facing an extortion case in Thane too.

The IPS officer was shunted out from the post of Mumbai police commissioner in March 2021 after Waze was arrested in the case of the SUV with explosives found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s south Mumbai residence `Antilia’ and the subsequent death of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran.

Singh was then appointed as Director General, Home Guards, following which he accused then Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption, a charge the latter denied.

Deshmukh later stepped down as minister and the CBI registered a case against him based on Singh’s allegations.

Singh was last seen in public on April 7, when he appeared before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) here to record statement in the Antilia bomb scare case. The CBI also recorded his statement in the Deshmukh case. He last attended office on May 4, following which he went on leave citing health issues, a senior official said.

Singh then sought an extension of leave claiming he had undergone a surgery. In August he requested one more extension.

On October 20, the police told the Bombay High Court that he was “not traceable”, and therefore they can not continue an earlier assurance not to arrest him in a case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The HC was hearing a petition filed by Singh seeking to quash the FIR in the case, registered on the complaint of harassment filed by police inspector Bhimrao Ghadge.

Bengaluru: JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday alleged that a former Chief Minister from the Congress, who also desires to hold the post in the future as well, was making attempts to lure in his party leaders, especially from the old Mysuru region.

Though Kumaraswamy did not wish to take the name of the Congress leader, it appeared to be directed at former Chief Minister and now Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah. There was no reaction as yet from him or the Congress.

“Yesterday, a MLA friend of mine came and discussed with me, saying that a senior Congress leader who wants to become Chief Minister and was also the CM in the past, has called him twelve times, asking what he has decided (on joining Congress), stating that JD(S) has no future,” Kumaraswamy said.

But the MLA directly replied that he was in JD(S) because of his good relationship with Kumaraswamy and not for any position and politics, he told reporters.

Kumaraswamy said the MLA even showed him details of the number of times he received calls from the Congress leader and said despite making his stand clear, the leader kept repeatedly calling him. “I’m aware that there have been constant attempts to brainwash JD(S) leaders who have a hold on their constituency, but it will be ineffective,” he added.

There have been speculations within JD(S) circles that some of its sitting legislators and leaders may jump ship to other parties, ahead of the 2023 assembly polls.

JD(S) MLA from Chamundeshwari segment G T Devegowda and Gubbi legislator S R Srinivas have given enough indications about joining Congress in the days to come.

Kumaraswamy who did not wish to name the Congress leader, when reporters asked him, said, “why should I tell the name?. He is the Congress leader. I don’t want to talk about anyone. They have been making efforts for the last three years. I’m aware of it.”

“Let them (Congress) take whomever they want. I’m not worried, as my party workers are strongly with me,” he said, adding that he was surprised to see that the leader, who claims that JD(S) is finished, was in “a pitiable situation of luring JD(S) leaders.”

In response to a question, Kumaraswamy said it was not the case of one legislator, several of his party leaders have been contacted.

“Finishing JD(S) by the next assembly polls is their (Congress leaders) aim and desire, but it won’t get fulfilled,” he said, adding that the attempts to lure regional party leaders was more in the old Mysuru region.

Congress and JD(S) are traditional rivals in the old Mysuru region.

JD(S) has already announced “mission 123” (winning 123 seats in the 224 member assembly) to bring the party to power independently, after the 2023 assembly polls.