The Lok Sabha was informed on Monday that the Centre has filed a review petition over the Supreme Court’s order for the dilution of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
Amid protests and din in the Lower House, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said the SC/ST Act was an important issue which the opposition wanted to discuss in the debate on the no confidence motion.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar informed the House that a review petition has been filed by the government.

“I want to assure that the Modi government is 100 per cent on the side of the Scheduled Castes…” Kumar said amid a ruckus.

“We have already filed a review petition,” he added.

On March 20, the Supreme Court ruled that the arrest of an accused under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act was not mandatory and recourse to coercive action would be only after a preliminary inquiry and sanction by the competent authority.

There was no “absolute bar against grant of anticipatory bail in cases under the Atrocities Act if no prima facie case is made out or where on judicial scrutiny the complaint is found to be prima facie mala fide”, the apex court added.

A supplementary charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday asserted that former media baron Peter Mukerjea was indeed aware of the murder of Sheena Bora. The report also confirmed property angle in the 2012 murder case. Arguments on framing of charge are set to begin on Saturday.

Rahul Mukerjea, Peter Mukerjea, Indrani Mukerjea and Sheena Bora. Rahul Mukerjea, Peter Mukerjea, Indrani Mukerjea and Sheena Bora.
CBI has asserted that though “Peter was not in India when the murder took place, he was part of the conspiracy.” The charge sheet, third in the case, also said that the investigation has thrown up evidence that “Indrani was in touch with him while she was doing the recce of the place to dispose of her body, and after the disposal of Sheena’s body,on Friday.

Sheena Bora chargesheet: Indrani had kept Peter in loop in process of disposing of the body; Peter was aware of the conspiracy

The charge sheet also asserts that unlike what Peter has been stating, he was against the relationship between his son Rahul and Sheena citing an email conversation between the accused and Rahul.

The charge sheet also throws light on how Sheena and Rahul were separated by Indrani and how Indrani brought Sheena to Mumbai under the pretext of financial assistance, TimesNow said on Friday. “The charge sheet gives details of the relationship between Indrani and Sheena citing few email and SMS exchanges between the two,” it said.

The charge sheet for the first time also confirms property angle in the murder. “It has brought out in the open details of financial transactions, and wills of Ridhie and Sheena Bora that were not raised by Indrani,” the news channel said. Moder details on the evidence are expected to surface when the case goes on trial.

Sheena (24) was strangled in a car in Mumbai on April 2012 allegedly by her mother Indrani Mukerjea, Indrani’s former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her former driver Shyamvar Rai. Sheena’s body was then dumped in a forest in neighbouring Raigad district.

There had been two charge sheets filed in the case so far. According to the first charge sheet filed on 19 November last year, the CBI had named Indrani, Khanna, and Rai as accused in the case. The trio was arrested in August last year after Rai spilled the beans while he was being interrogated in a case pertaining to illegal possession of arms.

Rai later turned approver in the case. According to investigators, Sheena’s relationship with Rahul, son of Indrani’s current husband and former media baron Peter Mukerjea, was the possible motive behind her murder apart from certain financial dealings. The second charge sheet was filed on 16 February against Peter for his alleged role in the murder plot. He was arrested on 19 November last year.

The agency had stated Sheena was killed as her relationship with Rahul was disapproved by Peter and Indrani both of whom were part of the plot to murder her. However, Peter had denied the allegations. He had cited his emails to prove that he was never against the relationship.

The investigation agency had informed the Bombay High Court of the charge sheet on 17 October.The trial on the case is expected to begin in the first week of December. The high court had given the CBI one month’s time (November) to comply with formalities

A day after the SC’s six-week deadline to put in place a mechanism to resolve Cauvery dispute ended, Tamil Nadu government on Saturday filed contempt proceedings against Union cabinet secretary PK Sinha and water resources secretary U P Singh for “wilful disobedience” in carrying out court orders.

The state sought directions to the respondents to purge the contempt forthwith by framing a scheme in accordance with the judgment for providing for Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee vested with all powers to give effect to the decision of the tribunal as well as the judgment of the court.

“The petitioner is constrained to approach this court seeking justice. The petitioner State as parens patriae for the suffering farmers and its inhabitants has been pursuing the lawful and constitutional remedies and is seeking implementation of the court seeking to remedy the injury and suffering being caused by the inaction of the respondent,” the TN government said.

The government recalled the February 16 court order directing the Centre to frame a scheme within a span of six weeks from the date of the judgment so that the authorities, Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee, under the scheme can see to it that the present decision which modified the award passed by the tribunal is smoothly made functional and the rights of the states as determined by it are protected. The court also held that no extension of time shall be granted on any ground. The period of six weeks expired on March 30.
However, till date the Centre has not complied with the judgment of the court and failed to constitute the scheme providing for the authorities for the implementation of the tribunal’s decision as modified by the court. “In the absence of any cogent reasons for not constituting Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee within the time frame and/or not making any substantial steps in that directions amounts to willful disobedience of the judgment of this court,” the petition said.

The accused told the police that he got in touch with the victim through a dating site and had met thrice in 10 days.
Days after a 21-year-old Delhi University student was found murdered near a drain in Dwarka, the police have arrested the accused, Ishtiaq (25), who confessed to killing the student on March 22 after a tiff.

He said he had cooked up the kidnapping story to mislead the victim’s family and the police.

The accused told the police that he got in touch with the victim through a dating site and had met thrice in 10 days.

On March 22, when they met, they had a fight which got aggravated and the accused attacked Nautiyal multiple times on the head with a hammer, the police said.

Ayush Nautiyal, a final year student of commerce at the Ram Lal Anand college, went missing last Thursday just after he left home for college. Later, his family received a WhatsApp message from his phone in which the kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 50 lakh. The accused had also shared a photo in which Nautiyal was gagged and his head was bandaged. His clothes had blood stains on them.

The family drove through the area in search of the kidnapper carrying the money after which Ayush’s body was found near a drain on Wednesday night.

During an investigation, it was found that the deceased had gone to a restaurant in Dwarka Sector 14 with another man on March 22.

On the basis of that clue, the police proceeded in their investigation. On the basis of a photograph that the police had procured from a CCTV camera at the restaurant, it was found that the man accompanying him is a former student of a fashion institute.

Details of the student were sought from the institute and subsequently, he was nabbed from Uttam Nagar on Thursday.

With the Supreme Court deadline to set up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC) approaching, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to discuss the next course of action on the river water sharing issue.

Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and other senior Ministers participated in the meeting held at the Secretariat here.

Later, Palaniswami held another meeting with some ruling AIADMK MPs, who said they were willing to resign if directed by the party high command.

There were reports that the central government was toying with the idea of filing a petition in the Supreme Court for seeking clarification on term ‘scheme’ mentioned in its February 16 order wherein the government was directed to set up the CMB and the CWRC within six weeks.

Asked about AIADMK MP A. Navaneethakrishnan’s remarks in Parliament on Wednesday that his party MPs were ready to commit suicide if the Centre did not set up the CMB and the CWRC, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan said: “If my resignation helps in constitution of the CMB and CWRC, I am ready to do it.”

He said that the coming Assembly polls in Karnataka had nothing to do with the delay in action on the Cauvery issue.

Radhakrishnan also promised the BJP’s full support to the Tamil Nadu government in securing the state’s rights in the Cauvery water issue.

DMK leader and former PWD Minister Duraimurugan said both Palaniswami and Panneerselvam should meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ask him to set up the CMB and the CWRC.

“The AIADMK could have staged a protest outside Modi’s office in Delhi. It is not enough if we just pass resolutions. We have to exert pressure on the central government,” he added.

He questioned why the Chief Minister had convened a high-level meeting on the day the deadline was to end as well as the central government’s action to seek clarificaion on the ‘scheme’ word just before the last date.

Actor Rajinikanth said setting up the CMB and the CWRC alone could help resolve the Cauvery issue.

PMK Founder Dr S. Ramadoss also flayed the Centre for allegedly not abiding by the Supreme Court order and said the Tamil Nadu people will not pardon it for betraying the state’s interests.

“The Union government, instead of filing a clarification plea in the Supreme Court, should set up the CMB and the CWRC as the deadline ends tonight,” he said in a statement.

(IANS)

A Jodhpur court will announce on April 5 the verdict in the 1998 black buck poaching case against actor Salman Khan.

The court of the chief judicial magistrate (Jodhpur Rural), where the trial of the case has been in progress for the last 19 years, reserved the judgment today after the final arguments.

Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri reserved the order to be pronounced on April 5 in the presence of Khan and other accused, including a local, Dushyant Singh.

Khan’s counsel H M Saraswat said the final arguments in the case began on September 13 last year with the prosecution counsel citing the statements of the eyewitnesses of the case.

“After the completion of the prosecution’s arguments on October 23, we began our arguments on October 28 last year and completed on February 4,” he said.

After this, the counsels for the co-accused began their arguments, which completed on March 24, he said.

Khan was accused of killing two black bucks on October 2, 1998 in Kankani village in Jodhpur during the shooting of “Hum Saath Saath Hain”.

He was acquitted in two poaching cases by the high court and in a case under Arms Act by the lower court.

Police providing details about the incident said that the passenger while de-boarding the aircraft at T3 terminal in New Delhi on March 24 had ‘inappropriately’ touched the crew member.

A 62-year-old businessman hailing from Pune was arrested at Delhi airport after a complaint of sexual harassment was lodged against him by a cabin crew member of the Air Vistara, Lucknow-Delhi flight, police said on Wednesday. The complaint was lodged on March 24 and the accused who has been identified as Rajeev Vasant Dani was arrested at the airport by the Delhi Police on the same day.
A spokesperson of Air Vistara said, “A member of our cabin crew operating Flight No. UK997 from Lucknow to Delhi on 24 March 2018, reported an incident of sexual harassment by a passenger. Vistara does not tolerate abusive or unruly behaviour by passengers that puts the safety of its staff and other customers at risk, or compromises their dignity. We have reported the matter to the Police and other relevant authorities. An FIR is registered and an investigation is on. We are fully committed to providing our cooperation to all the authorities.”
Providing details about the incident, police said the passenger while de-boarding the aircraft at T3 terminal in New Delhi on March 24 had ‘inappropriately’ touched the crew member.
A statement released by the police states, “A case vide FIR under section 354A of IPC (sexual harassment, punishable with a maximum term of three years and a fine) has been registered.”

Two senior journalists were killed after a sport utility vehicle (SUV) rammed into their bike in Bihar late Sunday night, sparking violent protests.

Family members of the victims have described it as a “pre-meditated murder” carried out by a powerful village council official, and not a mere accident.

This is the fourth killing of journalist in the state in the past two years.

Police said journalist Navin Nishchal, 35, and his colleague Vijay Singh, 25, were returning on their bike after covering a procession, held to mark the major Hindu festival of Ramanavami, when a speeding Mahindra Scorpio came from behind and rammed into their bike, crushing them to death.

The incident took place near Nahasi village under Garhani police station in Bhojpur, a central Bihar district some 70 kilometres west of Patna, on Sunday evening.

Navin worked for prominent Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar while his colleague Vijay was stringing for a vernacular magazine.

Villagers alleged the pair were crushed to death by a powerful village council official, Mohammad Harsu, who was driving the vehicle at the time of accident.

“Before the incident, the village council official had heated arguments with the journalists after which he had threatened them with dire consequences. Shortly after that, they were crushed to death on a busy sate highway,” villagers alleged.

In a case registered with the police, victim Navin’s brother accused the said village council official of cold-blooded murder.

According to the complainant, the accused was nursing a grudge against the journalists over some news reports.

The incident sparked strong protests in the areas as angry villagers blocked the road and set afire a vehicle on Monday. On the fateful evening too, they had torched the Scorpio although its occupants managed to flee.

The police department while taking the matter seriously has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case. The team got a major breakthrough when it arrested the main accused who was absconding after the incident while raids were on to nab the other accused persons. The investigation was being monitored at the level of zonal inspector general of police Nair Hasnain Khan, authorities said.

“We have arrested the main accused Mohammad Harsu while raids are on to nab the other accused persons,” local district superintendent of police, Bhojpur, Avkash Kumar told the media on Monday.

This is the fourth incident involving the killing of journalists in the past two years. In January last year, unidentified gunmen shot dead a journalist, identified as Braj Kishore Rajesh, in Samastipur district.

Earlier in November, another journalist Dharmendra Singh, who was working for a Hindi daily, was killed by three motorcycle-riding criminals in Rohtas district. He was sipping tea at a tea stall in the morning when the gangsters shot him dead.

Another journalist Rajdeo Ranjan was shot dead by criminals in Siwan district in May 2016. The victim who worked for a prominent Hindi daily was returning home in the evening after work when the motorcycle-borne criminals shot him from a close range. Before leaving the spot, the shooters also shot in his temple to ensure he does not survive

A former radio jockey was hacked to death by unidentified assailants at his studio in Trivandarum’s Madavoor on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.

Former RJ Rajesh alias Rasikan Rajesh, 36, was also a mimicry artist as well as a folk singer.

One other person was injured in the incident, police investigation underway.

According to police, the crime took place around 2 am at the sound recording studio – Metro Studio – owned by Rajesh at Madavoor under Pallickal police station limits.

While police have registered a case of murder, they are yet to identify the accused. The police suspect that a gang is involved in the crime.

According to reports, Rajesh and his friend Kuttan had just returned from a stage programme and were loading their equipment back into the studio, when unidentified assailants who came in a red Maruti Swift car attacked them with sharp weapons.

Locals, who heard the commotion, alerted the police who rushed them to a hospital.

Rajesh died of his injuries at the hospital at Parippally while Kuttan is undergoing treatment at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital.

Rajesh has worked with Red FM as an RJ for several years before joining Voice of Kerala FM station in Doha.

According to reports, Rajesh has recently returned from abroad and joined a mimicry troupe.

He is survived by his wife and a son.

Social activist Anna Hazare has lost 4 kgs, his aide claimed, as his indefinite hunger strike entered its fourth day. Hazare’s blood pressure, however, is normal, his close associate Datta Awari said.

Hazare has been on an indefinite hunger strike since March 23 to press for his demands, including the appointment of a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states. His 2011 agitation had led to the passing of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013, but the Centre is yet to appoint an ombudsman.

This time Hazare is also demanding the government give better Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) to farmers to address agrarian distress.