Archives for 2024

New Delhi: Two of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case have moved the Supreme Court contending that its January 8 verdict cancelling remission of their sentence was “in teeth of” a 2002 constitution bench order and sought the issue to be referred to a larger bench for “final” adjudication.

Radheyshaym Bhagwandas Shah and Rajubhai Babulal Soni, both lodged in Godhra sub-jail after the apex court verdict, said an “anomalous” situation has arisen wherein two different coordinate benches (benches of same strength) have taken diametrically opposite view on the same issue of premature release as well as on which policy of the state government would be applicable to the petitioners for remission.

The plea, filed through advocate Rishi Malhotra, said while one bench on May 13, 2022 categorically ordered the Gujarat government to consider the application of Radheyshaym Shah for premature release in terms of the state government’s remission policy of July 9, 1992, the bench that pronounced the verdict on January 8, 2024 concluded that it was Maharashtra and not the Gujarat government that was competent to grant remission.

“That with greatest respect the judgement rendered on January 8, 2024 is directly in teeth of the constitution bench decision in Rupa Ashok Hurra’s case of 2002 and the same needs to be set aside, as if the same is permitted then it would lead to not only judicial impropriety but to uncertainty and chaos as to which precedence (sic) of law has to be applied in future. In other words, if any party being not satisfied with the Supreme Court Judgment on an issue, he would be entitled to file a Writ Petition challenging the said Judgement by taking recourse to law laid down in Bilkis Bano case,” the plea said.

Shah has also filed an application for bail.

“In another words, a fundamental issue arises for consideration as to whether a subsequent Co-ordinate Bench can set aside its earlier Judgement rendered by its earlier Co-ordinate Bench and pass contradictory orders/judgments overruling its earlier view or the proper course would have been to refer the matter to a larger bench in case it felt that the earlier Judgment was passed in wrong appreciation of law and facts,” the plea said.

The plea sought a direction to the Centre to consider the case of the petitioners for premature release and clarify which judgement of its coordinate benches- of May 13, 2022 or January 8, 2024- would be applicable to them.

It said since two benches of the apex court of same strength have passed conflicting orders, the matter should be referred to a larger bench for final adjudication.

On Janaury 8, in a massive setback to the Gujarat government, the top court quashed the remission it had granted to 11 convicts in the high-profile gang-rape case of Bilkis Bano and the killing of her seven family members, while slamming the state for being “complicit” with the accused and abusing its discretion.

It ordered all the convicts, who were released prematurely on Independence Day in 2022, back to jail within two weeks.

Excoriating the Gujarat government, the apex court said it “usurped” the power of the Maharashtra government to grant remission to the convicts.

It held as nullity the May 13, 2022 judgement of another bench of the apex court, which had directed the Gujarat government to consider the remission applications of the 11 convicts in the case, saying it was obtained by “playing fraud on court”.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was raped while fleeing the horror of the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident in February 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

Uppinangady: A private bus operator reportedly lost control of the vehicle while reversing at the Uppinangady bus stand on Saturday evening, damaging two shops and several vehicles parked in the parking lot. There were no reported casualties from the incident.

Meanwhile, locals alleged the driver of recklessly reversing, causing damage to shops owned by Nagaraj Bhat and Anil Kumar and vehicles and resulting in the bus entering the Uppinangady Grama Panchayat Commercial Complex.

The bus stand, which is crowded on most days, had only a lesser amount of crowd on Saturday preventing a major mishap from happening.

A complaint in connection with the incident has been registered at the Uppinangady Police Station.

Mumbai: Security agencies at Mumbai’s Nhava Sheva port intercepted and seized the consignment of a Karachi-bound ship from China after it was found carrying a dual-use consignment with implications for Pakistan’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, officials said on Saturday.

Customs officials, acting on intelligence, halted the Malta-flagged merchant ship — CMA CGM Attila — en route to Karachi on January 23 and, during its inspection, found that the consignment had a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine, manufactured by an Italian company, known for its precision and efficiency controlled by a computer system.

A Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) team examined the consignment and confirmed its potential usage in Pakistan’s nuclear initiatives, notably in manufacturing crucial components for missile development, the officials said.

CNC machines fall under the Wassenaar Arrangement, an international arms control regime aimed at curbing the spread of items with dual civilian and military applications, in which India is an active participant. The CNC machine was used by North Korea in its nuclear programme.

Further investigations showed many discrepancies in the shipping details, indicating potential evasion tactics to conceal the true recipients. This incident follows past seizures of dual-use military-grade items being transhipped from China to Pakistan, raising concerns over illicit procurement activities.

The ongoing probe aims to ascertain if the suspected Pakistani entities receiving these items are linked to the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DESTO), responsible for Pakistan’s defence research and development.

The port officials, with specific intelligence, had alerted the Indian defence authorities who inspected the heavy cargo and reported their suspicions, after which the consignment was seized, the officials said and added that the seizure falls under the prevention of possible proliferation by Pakistan and China.

According to documents such as bills of loading and other details of the consignment, the consigner was mentioned as “Shanghai JXE Global Logistics Co Ltd” and the consignee as “Pakistan Wings Pvt Ltd” of Sialkot.

However, further investigation by the security agencies indicated that the consignment, weighing 22,180 kilogrammes, was shipped by Taiyuan Mining Import and Export Co Ltd and meant for Cosmos Engineering in Pakistan, the officials said.

This is not the first instance that Indian port officials have seized such dual-use military-grade items being shipped from China to Pakistan.

Cosmos Engineering, a Pakistani defence supplier, has been on a watchlist since March 12, 2022, when Indian authorities intercepted a shipment of Italian-made thermoelectric instruments, once again at the Nhava Sheva port.

Despite international conventions, the interception highlights persistent cooperation between Pakistan and China in activities that contravene global agreements, raising alarms about potential proliferation activities.

In February 2020, China was supplying autoclaves to Pakistan under the cover of an “industrial dryer”.

The autoclave was seized from a Chinese ship — Dai Cui Yun — that carried a Hong Kong flag and had left Jiangyin port on the Yangtze river in Jiangsu province of China, bound for Pakistan’s Port Qasim.

The seizure of the autoclave, possibly meant to be used in the missile programme of Pakistan, strengthened apprehensions that Pakistan is unabashedly indulging in illegal trade of missiles and violating the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).

The cooperation between China and Pakistan in acquiring sensitive items and equipment, coupled with China’s support in constructing nuclear power plants for Pakistan, has drawn scrutiny from international bodies, challenging established guidelines and control regimes.

The officials said China’s assistance to Pakistan has come in two ways — supplying sensitive materials or equipment of proliferation concern clandestinely and acting as a conduit in facilitating the country to procure dual-use military-grade items from overseas, especially Europe and the US.

Additionally, China has assisted Pakistan in constructing civil nuclear power plants. China has constructed four 300 MWe nuclear power plants in Chashma and two 1,000 MWe plants in Karachi, violating Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) guidelines. China has plans to construct another 1,000 MWe nuclear power plant in Chashma, they said.

The recent sanctions imposed by the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on Chinese companies involved in supplying missile-relevant items to Pakistan highlight the gravity of the situation and the necessity for heightened oversight in curbing potential proliferation activities.

Lucknow: BSP leader and former UP MLA Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali on Wednesday joined the Samajwadi Party in presence of Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

Jamali, a two-time MLA (2012, 2017) from Mubarakpur seat of Azamgarh, is considered to have a good following in the district.

He had contested 2014 and 2022 Lok Sabha by-election from Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat against SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and Dharmendra Yadav, respectively, on a BSP ticket.

In 2022 bypoll, Jamali had secured 2,66,210 votes from the constituency, apparently on the back of the Muslim voters.

BJP’s Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirhua won that poll by getting 3.12 lakh votes, while SP’s Dharmendra Yadav secured 3.04 lakh votes.

In 2014 poll also, Jamali secured over 2.66 lakh votes from Azamgarh and was at third place, while SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav won the seat securing 3.40 lakh votes.

SP has not yet declared any candidate on Azamgarh seat and has made Dharmendra Yadav in-charge of this and Kannauj seat.

New Delhi: Indian agencies have seized 3,300 kg of narcotics in the highest ever offshore capture and arrested five foreigners from an Iranian boat off the Gujarat coast, the NCB said on Wednesday.

The operation was undertaken in the Arabian Sea along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) jointly by the Navy, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The contraband is suspected to be containing charas, methamphetamine, and morphine.

The NCB and other agencies have busted yet another international drug trafficking network and effected the highest-ever offshore seizure (by quantity) in the country, a senior officer of the federal anti-narcotics agency said.

The five people arrested from the boat are suspected to be either Iranian or Pakistani nationals. No documents of nationality have been recovered from them, a senior NCB officer said.

Shimla : Amid a fresh scramble for power in the state, Himachal Pradesh Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh on Wednesday announced his resignation from the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu cabinet.

“I am submitting my resignation to the chief minister and the governor,” he told reporters.

“There have been attempts to humiliate and undermine me from some quarters and in spite of reservations, I supported the government,” he said.

Troubles have been mounting for Congress since Tuesday, when it lost the sole Rajya Sabha seat to the BJP with six of its members cross-voting in the poll.

Vikramaditya Singh, as he announced his resignation, said he was “deeply hurt” with the transpirings over the past two days and said there’s a need to ponder what went wrong for the Congress.

He said he has apprised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi about the developments and the ball is now in the party high command’s court.

“The Congress party had made promises to the people and we owe the responsibility to fulfil those promises and I would decide my future course of action after consulting my supporters,” Vikramaditya Singh said.

He said that the 2022 assembly election in the state was fought in the name of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, also his father. “There was no poster, or hoarding or banner which did not carry his picture. There was a full-page ad with his picture in the newspapers a day before voting.”

But after victory when the matter of his statue came, the government failed to decide the location.

“It is not a political but an emotional thing for a son,” Vikramaditya Singh said.

He also quoted a couplet by the last Mughal Emperor of India Bahadur Shah Zafar, “Kitna hai bad-naseeb ‘Zafar’ dafn ke liye, do gaz zameen bhi na mili kuch-e-yaar main.”