Archives for November 2022

BENGALURU: While the BJP is set to hold the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community’s ‘Navashakti Samavesha’ in Ballari on November 20, and one for Scheduled Castes later in Mysuru, in an apparent bid to claim credit for the hike in quota, the Congress leadership has planned a joint SC-ST convention in December, with a similar agenda, ahead of assembly elections. 

Following a suggestion by Opposition leader Siddaramaiah, who recently met former deputy chief minister Dr G Parameshwara and former minister Dr H C Mahadevappa, a preliminary meeting is scheduled for November 20 to chalk out a plan. The Basavaraj Bommai-led government, through an ordinance, hiked the SC quota from 15 to 17 per cent, and ST quota from 3 to 7 per cent, as per the recommendation of the Justice Nagmohandas Commission, as ST Nayaka religious head Sri Prasannananda Swamiji held a dharna to bring pressure. Now, the onus is on the Centre to include the decision in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution. 

BJP national president JP Nadda and the Union minister for tribal welfare are expected to take part in the ST samavesha, and make an announcement. “Over 5 lakh people from the community from across the state will take part,” informed Prabhakara Myasanayaka, a BJP ticket aspirant from Molakalmuru constituency.

Having got a clue that BJP will claim credit for a hike in quota, the Congress does not want to be left behind in the race for credit, as the commission that recommended the hike was set up during the Congress-JDS regime. 

“BJP cannot claim credit for the hike in quota as the commission was set up when I was social welfare minister,” claimed Chittapur MLA Priyank Kharge, adding that he has no qualms about BJP holding ST samavesha. As transport minister, B Sriramulu is the BJP’s ST community mascot, while the Congress is likely to project all its ST leaders including the working president Satish Jarkiholi, who had triggered a controversy over the origin of the word ‘Hindu’ recently.

JDS leaders claimed the ST Nayaka community cannot ignore the contribution of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, as the latter had managed to convince former prime minister Chandra Shekar to bring in an ordinance to give the Nayaka community of Karnataka the ST tag, by promulgating an ordinance in April 1991. “When P V Narasimha Rao was prime minister, Parliament passed a Bill to give it constitutional provision,” remarked Ugrappa.

NEW DELHI: Lawyers in Gujarat and Telangana were up in arms on Thursday amid buzz that the Supreme Court collegium has decided to transfer Gujarat High Court judge Nikhil S Kariel and his Telangana counterpart A Abhishek Reddy to the Patna High Court for “administrative reasons”. 

Both the Gujarat High Court Advocates’ Association (GHCAA) and the Telangana High Court Bar Association resolved to abstain from work indefinitely to protest against the transfer. In its meeting on Wednesday, the collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud is also said to have decided to transfer Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice T Raja to the Rajasthan High Court, again for administrative reasons.

Justice Kariel is one of the finest, honest, upright and unbiased judges whose integrity is being vouched by the entire Bar in unison, the GHCAA said in a resolution. Though the collegium resolution confirming the proposed transfers is yet to be uploaded on the Supreme Court website, a large number of advocates gathered in the court of Gujarat Chief Justice Aravind Kumar in the afternoon at a time when proceedings were being live-streamed.

When the intrigued CJ sought to inquire about the sudden rush of the Bar in court, senior advocate Mihir Thakore said they were against the proposed transfer of Justice Kariel and wished to observe two minutes of silence in mourning. “We are here to mourn the death of independent judiciary,” Thakore added.

Another member of the Bar sought to blame it on Chief Justice Aravind Kumar, saying such transfers are done in consultation with the CJ. Later in the day, the GHCAA resolved to abstain from work indefinitely till the issue is resolved. 

A similar decision was taken by the  Telangana HC Bar Association in its extraordinary meeting on Thursday. The president of the association said the transfer of Justice Reddy is arbitrary and affects the independence of the judiciary.

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday acquitted four Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, including two Pakistani nationals, who were awarded capital punishment for waging war against the country, while sentencing them for other offences.

All the four were found guilty of “conspiracy” to wage war against the Government of India and sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.

Acquitting the four persons of the charge under Section 121 of IPC for waging war against Government of India, a division bench presided by Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed that the two Pakistani nationals – Md Younus and Md Abdullah, who have already served out the period of sentence, be pushed back to their country.

The court directed that of the two Indian nationals who were also found guilty of conspiracy to wage war against the country under Section 121A of IPC and have also served the sentence period, Muzaffar Ahamed Rather be released from the correctional home while Sk Nayeem is to be produced before Patiala House court in Delhi in connection with another case.

“In view of the acquittal under section 121 of IPC, death sentence and fine of Rs 50,000 each, imposed on the appellants on such score are set aside,” the division bench, also comprising Justice Ananya Badopadhyay, directed in its judgement on the appeals against a sessions court order that awarded the capital punishment.

The court said that since an offence under section 121A IPC deals with conspiracy to wage war or overawe the sovereign authority of a democratically elected government by show of criminal force, it is a grave one and “involves indoctrinated members of a terrorist organisation whose purpose is to strike terror and destabilise the nation.”

Holding that the appellants are not men who were in the higher echelons of the terrorist organisation, the court observed that they are foot soldiers who were recruited through allurement or coercion for the activities of the organisation.

The court said that mitigating circumstances show the appellants are not prominent players in the organisation and there is little possibility of their reverting to the path of terrorism.

“As Md Younus and Md Abdullah have served out their sentences, appropriate authorities are directed to push them to their country of origin, that is, Pakistan,” the court directed.

The two Pakistani nationals were also found guilty under the Foreigners’ Act and were sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, which were concurrent.

A district court in North 24 Parganas had sentenced three LeT terrorists – Md Younus, Md Abdullah and Muzaffar Ahamed Rather to death in January 2017 and awarded the capital sentence to the fourth terror module Abdul Nayeem in December 2018 for “waging war against the country”.

The division bench was hearing the death reference of the four as a high court has to confirm a capital sentence awarded by a sessions court, apart from their appeals against conviction and sentence.

On April 3, 2007, BSF had apprehended the four persons on suspicion of being members of terror outfit LeT and handed them over to the local police.

The West Bengal CID, which took over the probe, had charged them with waging war against the country and procuring arms and explosives, apart from other charges.

Nayeem had escaped from custody in 2013 while being taken to Maharashtra for interrogation in connection with Mumbai train blasts case in 2006, but was apprehended by NIA sleuths again in October, 2018.

While Rather was taken to Pakistan for arms training by the LeT, Nayeem was assigned to meet the three in Bangladesh and help them enter India and then take them to Jammu and Kashmir.

The four LeT operatives illegally crossed the border at Petrapole in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal and were thereafter apprehended by the BSF following a hot pursuit.

Veteran Telugu actor Krishna

Hyderabad: Veteran Telugu actor Krishna died on Tuesday at a city-based private super-specialty hospital where he was undergoing treatment following a cardiac arrest.

He was 80.

Krishna, father of superstar Mahesh Babu, was admitted to the hospital in the early hours of Monday and was put on ventilator.

He was being treated by a multi-disciplinary team of doctors following the cardiac arrest. The actor died at 4 AM on Tuesday, hospital sources said.

Over the last 24 hours, Krishna continued to remain in an extremely critical state, following his admission to the emergency ward due to a cardiac arrest and upon resuscitation he was shifted to ICU, the hospital said in a statement

“He remained critically ill with multi-organ failure and severe hypoxic brain injury It was decided late evening with family members and all the consultants not to pursue further supportive care given to his dismal prognosis and to keep him final moments painless and peaceful. He expired in early hours of the morning at 4.09 AM,” the statement said.

Ghattamaneni Sivarama Krishna, popularly known as Krishna, began his career in the early 1960s and acted in about 350 films.

Krishna is known in the Telugu film industry for his good-nature and courageous attitude. He earned fame with his cowboy roles and by introducing advanced technologies in film-making.

Krishna was a Lok Sabha member from Eluru Parliamentary constituency, winning the elections in 1989. His son-in-law Jayadev Galla is presently a TDP Lok Sabha member representing the Guntur constituency.

Chief Ministers of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, K Chandrasekhar Rao, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and MK Stalin respectively condoled his death.

Chandrasekhar Rao, in a statement recalled Krishna’s five decades of contribution to the Telugu film industry as an actor, producer and director.

“Krishna, who acted in over 350 movies, left an indelible mark on the hearts of moviegoers and his death is a huge loss for the Telugu film industry,” Rao said.

“Krishna garu is a Telugu superstar. He is Alluri…He is our James Bond. As a man of heart in real life as well, who earned distinction for himself in the film industry, his death is a great loss for Telugu film industry and Telugu people,” Jagan Mohan Reddy tweeted.

Condoling, the death, Stalin said his demise is an irreparable loss to Indian cinema.

In a statement, he said Krishna was known for including many innovative aspects in cinema. He expressed his condolences to his son Mahesh Babu and the bereaved family.

Actor and former union minister Chiranjeevi in a statement posted in his Twitter page said he could not believe that Krishna is no more and offered condolences to his family members.

“Krishna garu is synonym for adventure. Apart from many experimental films and distinctive characters, your credit for introducing many techniques to Telugu cinema will always be remembered,” Jr NTR tweeted.
Several film personalities have recalled their association with the departing soul.

Hyderabad: Eight students of a business school here were arrested in connection with an alleged incident of ragging, including a student being beaten up, which assumed a communal colour after a video of it had gone viral.

While five were arrested earlier, three were arrested and sent to jail on Monday, police said.
Efforts were on to nab two more accused students.

In the same case, nine members of the school’s administration have been booked for their alleged inaction in responding to the incident, police said.

The issue began when a woman student took exception to certain comments made by the victim student during a social media chat last month and informed some friends, they said.

Some of these friends allegedly went to the victim student’s room on November 1 and beat him up. He had complained to the institute management on the matter and later e-mailed to some government officials and others.

He had later complained to the police and a case under the ragging act and under relevant sections of law was registered.

Meanwhile, the issue got a communal colour when a purported video of the incident had gone viral in which some religious slogans were made.

Police, however, said the accused students belong to different religions and not just one.

Rooh Afza bottles on a cart in a local market of Delhi

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has permanently restrained retailers on e-commerce platform Amazon from selling sherbets made in Pakistan under the Rooh Afza’ brand owned by India’s Hamdard.

The court’s verdict came after the Hamdard National Foundation (India) approached it with a complaint that sherbets manufactured in Pakistan were being sold in India under identical name.

The high court decreed the suit in favour of Hamdard which had adopted the mark Rooh Afza’ in 1907. The company sells over Rs 200 crore worth of products under this brand name annually.

Justice Prathiba Singh also said in case any other listings infringing the plaintiff’s (Hamdard) ‘Rooh Afza’ mark are found, it shall be brought to the notice of Amazon India and the same shall be taken down in accordance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules.

The high court’s order came while deciding the trademark infringement suit filed by Hamdard National Foundation (India) and Hamdard Dawakhana, which is also trading as Hamdard Laboratories India, against Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd and Golden Leaf.

The plaintiffs claimed a company named Golden Leaf was selling products under the Rooh Afza’ mark on Amazon India which were not sold by them.

They said the product, which infringed their trademark, was manufactured in Pakistan and it does not comply with the requirements of the Legal Metrology Act and the Food Safety and Standards Act which governs such products in India.

The plaintiffs also pointed out that three purchases were made by them from three sellers through the Amazon platform and on all occasions the product was claimed to be manufactured by Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Pakistan.

Mumbai: A close friend of Maharashtra resident Shraddha Walkar, who was killed allegedly by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala in Delhi, has said there could be a “big conspiracy” behind her murder, while another friend claimed she had once called him saying Poonawala would kill her.

Poonawala (28) has been arrested by the Delhi Police for murdering Walkar in May this year, chopping the body into 35 pieces before dumping them at different places in the national capital over several days.

As per Manikpur police in Vasai town of Palghar district, Walkar, a graduate in mass media, worked at a call centre in Malad area of Mumbai and met Poonawala through the dating app Bumble in 2019.

A friend of Walkar, who had alerted her family members after being unable to contact her, claimed, “Once Walkar (when she was living in Vasai town near Mumbai) had messaged me and asked me to come and take her or else Aaftab would kill her.”

Some of the friends then reached out to Walkar and warned Poonawala, he said.

“We were then going to approach police against Aaftab but Shraddha stopped us,” he said.

The friend said he had a text message conversation on Walkar’s mobile phone in July. He started getting worrying about her in August after being unable to contact her.

Walkar was not replying to his messages and her number was coming switched-off, he said, adding that he had also enquired about her in their friend circle.

The friend also said when he did not get any update, he told his brother that it would be better to contact police.
Another close friend of Walkar said police should find out details about Poonawala, his background “as it (the murder) may be some big conspiracy”.

“She (Walkar) was wanted to become a journalist and after pursuing graduation in mass media, she was doing theatre too. She was very active and her personality had a spark,” he said.

The friend claimed they started noticing some changes in Walkar in 2018. It was not a good sign as she always seemed upset, he said.

“I think it was the time when Aaftab entered into her life,” he said.

The friend said they came to know in 2019 that Walkar was in a relationship with Poonawala and at that time they found him to be a “simple person”.

Walkar and Poonawala were in a live-in relationship and they later shifted to Delhi after a mutual understanding to work together, he said.

“We came to know sometime back that she was missing and now it has come to light that she was brutally murdered, and it may be some big conspiracy,” he said.

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday heard a suo motu PIL on Morbi bridge tragedy and asked the state government as to how no expression of interest was tendered, and how the “largesse of the state” was given to an individual without floating a tender.

The collapse of the British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Gujarat’s Morbi district on October 30 claimed 135 lives including women and children Hearing the suo motu PIL, the high court wanted to know from the state government as to whether a 2008 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and 2022 agreement with the Ajanta Manufacturing Private Ltd (Oreva Group) imposed any conditions regarding fitness certification and if so, who was the competent authority required to do so.

“This agreement is one-and-a-quarter page agreement, absolutely without any conditions. This agreement is by way of an understanding, largesse of the state for ten years, and no tenders floated, no expression of interest,” a division bench of Chief Jistice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh Shastri observed.

“After that term was over on June 15, 2017, what steps were taken by the state government or Morbi municipality to float a tender? How come no expression of interest was tendered, and how the largesse of the state was given to an individual without floating a tender…Why have you still not superseded the municipality?” the court asked.

The court observed that even after the term was over on June 15, 2017, Ajanta (Oreva Group) continued to maintain and manage the bridge even in the absence of any agreement.

It wanted to know from the state government whether any steps were taken by local authorities to float a tender for the operation and maintenance of the bridge after the 2008 MoU expired in 2017.

The HC said on November 7 that it had taken suo motu (on its own) cognisance of a news report on the bridge collapse tragedy and registered it as a PIL (Public Interest Litigation).

It had directed the registry to implead the Gujarat government, represented by its chief secretary, state home department, commissioner of municipalities, Morbi municipality, district collector and State Human Rights Commission.

On October 31, police arrested nine persons, including four from the Oreva group that was managing the Morbi suspension bridge, and filed a case against firms tasked with the maintenance and operation of the structure.