New Delhi (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Monday held Sajjan Kumar and five others guilty in a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case and sentenced the Congress leader to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life.
The court asked Sajjan Kumar to surrender by December 31.
A bench of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel overturned a trial court judgement that had acquitted the Congress leader.
“In the summer of 1947, during partition, this country witnessed horrific mass crimes where several lakhs of civilians, including Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus were massacred,” the bench said.
“Thirty-seven years later, the country was again witness to another enormous human tragedy. Following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, on the morning of October 31, 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards, a communal frenzy was unleashed.”
“For four days between November 1 to November 4 of that year, all over Delhi, 2,733 Sikhs were brutally murdered. Their houses were destroyed. In the rest of the country too, thousands of Sikhs were killed,” the bench observed in its 203-page order.
The court said: “A majority of the perpetrators of these horrific mass crimes, enjoyed political patronage and were aided by an indifferent law enforcement agency.
“The criminals escaped prosecution and punishment for over two decades.
“It took as many as 10 Committees and Commissions for the investigation into the role of some of them to be entrusted in 2005 to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), 21 years after the occurrence.”
The court convicted the Congress leader under various counts of Indian Penal Code (IPC) including murder, criminal conspiracy, wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot, mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house and injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class.
The CBI had filed an appeal challenging the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar and said that the trial court “erred in acquitting Sajjan Kumar as it was he who had instigated the mob during the riots”.
In October, the High Court reserved its order on the pleas challenging that trial court judgement on Sajjan Kumar but convicted the other five accused in the case related to the killing of five people in Delhi Cantonment area following the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
The HC Division Bench upheld the trial court April 30, 2013, judgement convicting five other accused — former councillor Balwan Khokhar, former legislator Mahender Yadav, Krishan Khokar, Girdhari Lal and Retired Captain Bhagmal — for their involvement in the case.
The five convicts have also filed appeals against their conviction.
Sajjan Kumar and five others were tried in the case involving the killing of five Sikhs — Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh, who were members of the same family — by a mob in Delhi Cantonment’s Raj Nagar area following the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
The case against Sajjan Kumar and others was registered in 2005 on a recommendation by the Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission.
Lok Sabha adjourned till noon
New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 p.m. on Monday after the opposition created a ruckus in support of various demands.
Soon after the House met, AIADMK and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) members trooped near the Speaker’s podium and started sloganeering.
The AIADMK members raised the Cauvery water issue while the TDP demanded special status for Andhra Pradesh.
The Congress members were seen sloganeering against the government for misleading the apex court on the Rafale deal. They were countered by the Bharatiya Janata Party, who demanded an apology from Congress President Rahul Gandhi as the Supreme Court has given a clean chit to the government in the case.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan urged the agitating members to allow the Question Hour to progress but the members continued with their protest.
Amid the din she adjourned the House till 12 p.m.
Foggy Monday morning in Delhi, air quality remains ‘very poor’
(10:22)
New Delhi, (IANS) Residents of the national capital woke up to a foggy morning on Monday with the minimum temperature touching 6.2 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season’s average.
“There was shallow fog in the morning along with haze and mist. The sky will remain clear with no chances of rainfall,” an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.
The humidity at 8.30 a.m. was 94 per cent.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi continued to breathe under ‘very poor’ air quality with index being at 321. The major air pollutants were PM 2.5 and PM 10.
The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 22 degrees Celsius, season’s average while the day’s minimum will remain around 6 degrees Celsius.
Sunday’s maximum temperature settled at 22 degrees Celsius, a notch above season’s average, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 7.2 degree Celsius, a notch below the season’s average.
Cyclone Phethai: Over 50 trains cancelled in Andhra
Vijayawada (IANS) The South Central Railway has cancelled over 50 trains in coastal Andhra Pradesh in view of severe cyclonic storm Phethai, which is set to hit the coast near Kakinada on Monday afternoon.
Many trains from Vijayawada to various destinations in coastal Andhra were suspended as a precautionary measure.
The Visakhapatnam-Guntur Simhadri Express, Guntur-Visakhapatnam Simhadri Express, Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada Ratnachalam Express, Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam Ratnachalam Express, Narsapur-Nidadavolu Link Express and Nidadavolu-Narsapu Link Express were among the trains cancelled.
Passenger trains between Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Guntur and Bhimavaram were also cancelled.
Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) passenger trains between Vijayawada and destinations like Rajahmundry, Kakinada Port, Tenali, Bhimavaram, Guntur and Machilipatnam, MEMU trains between Rajahmundry and Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam and Kakinada Port, Tenali and Guntur, Visakhapatnam and Rajahmundry, Rajahmundry and Bhimavaram, Bhimavaram and Nidadavolu, Rajahmundry and Narasapur and Narasapur and Guntur were also cancelled.
The other cancelled trains include Kakinada Port-Kotipalli Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) passenger, Kotipalli-Kakinada Port DMU passenger, Machilipatnam-Gudivada, Bhimavaram-Rajahmundry, Nidadavolu-Bhimavaram, Ongole-Guntur passenger trains.
Vinod Kumar Yadav, General Manager, South Central Railway directed officials of divisions likely to be affected to be prepared to handle any emergency situation.
Helplines were opened at Vijayawada, Guntur and Guntakal station for round-the-clock monitoring of the situation.
Sindhu breaks jinx to win World Tour Finals title
Guangzhou (China) (IANS) India’s P.V. Sindhu became the first Indian to win the season finale at the BWF World Tour Finals 2018 badminton tournament here on Sunday.
Sindhu defeated title favourite Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-19, 21-17 in the women’s singles final, reports Efe.
The straight games win is special for the star Indian shuttler, who has won no title this year, although she made it to the finals of four tournaments, including the BWF World Championships and the Asian Games.
She finished runner-up at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the 2017 World Championships and the 2017 World Superseries Finals.
She had also lost to Okuhara in the epic World Championships final in Glasgow last year.
However, on Sunday, Sindhu held her attack and dominated the game.
Okuhara won the very first point of the match, but failed to secure a lead again in the match.
“I got close to her in both games, but I wasn’t patient. She wasn’t as aggressive as she usually is, she played at a slower pace. I tried to play the longer rallies in the second game, but I couldn’t recover from my first game loss,” Okuhara said after the game.
“I’m really proud, the year has ended on a beautiful note. People have been asking me the same question, I think the question won’t come again – asking why I always lose in the final. Now I can say I won the gold and I’m proud of it. It was good that people were asking me about losing so many finals, because I had to ask myself why I was losing. Finally I got the answer,” Sindhu said after her win.
“I got emotional because it’s my first gold in this tournament. I didn’t have anything in my mind. I was on my knees. I wanted this win very much.”
Both players had advanced to the final in straight games on Saturday.
Okuhara had defeated compatriot and defending champion, Akane Yamaguchi, while Sindhu beat Thailand’s Ratchanok Intan
India’s Sindhu defeats Thailand’s Intanon, storms into final
Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu defeated former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in straight games in their women’s singles semi-final at the 2018 BWF World Tour Finals here on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Olympic silver medallist, who has not lost to World No.8 Intanon in the last two years, breezed into the final after quashing her Thai opponent 21-16, 25-23 in 54 minutes, reports Efe.
The world number six from Hyderabad – who entered the semi-finals after defeating Beiwen Zhang of the US 21-9, 21-15 on Friday – dominated the first game, winning it in 20 minutes after grabbing an initial 6-4 lead.
Intanon bounced back in the second game but Sindhu did not lose nerve and won it in a nail-biting finish to wrap up the match.
Sindhu will now play against Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in the final on Sunday.
IANS
2nd Test: India 172/3 at stumps, trail by 154 runs vs Australia
India were 172/3 at stumps on the second day of the second Test against Australia at the Perth stadium here on Saturday.
India skipper Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane were batting on 82 and 51 runs respectively when the day ended.
The visiting side still trail by 154 runs against Australia’s first innings total of 326. Resuming the second day at 277/6, the Aussies were all out for 326 shortly before lunch.
Brief Scores: India (First Innings): 172/3 (Virat KOhli 82 batting, Ajinkya Rahane 51 batting) vs Australia (First Innings): 326 (Marcus Harris 70; Ishant Sharma 4/41).
IANS
Congress steps up heat on Modi government over ‘CAG report’ on Rafale
A day after the Supreme Court dismissed petitions seeking a probe into the Rafale deal, the political dogfight over the issue intensified with the Congress accusing the Narendra Modi government of “misleading” the apex court that resulted in “factual bloomers” in the judgment. The opposition party demanded that the Attorney General and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) be summoned by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament in this connection.
The Centre’s ruling BJP, which has been touting the verdict as a “clean chit”, hit back charging the Congress with trying to sabotage the country’s security preparedness by raking up the deal again and again.
The CAG report, relying on which the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions, turned out to be the latest flashpoint over the Modi government’s decision to buy 36 French built fighters.
While the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi-led bench in the verdict said that the “pricing details have been shared with the CAG, and the report of the CAG has been examined by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)”, the Congress maintained that “no portion of the CAG report has been placed before Parliament or placed in the public domain”.
Keeping the pot boiling, PAC Chairman and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said he will press for summoning the Attorney General and the CAG to ask them when was the public auditor’s report tabled and when did the PAC examine it.
“The government lied in the Court that the CAG report was presented in the House and in PAC. They also told the Court that the PAC has probed it. They claimed that the report was in the public domain. Where is it,” Kharge told the media here.
He said the CAG will be questioned as to when was the report presented, when was it accepted, when was it brought to PAC, when was the evidence taken and when was it presented in Parliament.
Subsequently addressing a media conference here, Congress leader and advocate Kapil Sibal said the Supreme Court verdict had “factual bloomers” for which the Modi-led Centre was responsible.
“There are factual bloomers in the judgment for which the government is responsible and not the court. If you give wrong facts to the court and on that basis, the court makes factual assertions, in that case it’s the government which is responsible,” said Sibal.
He also asserted that the apex court was neither the right forum to examine the corruption in the deal nor the verdict was a “clean chit” for the BJP-led Centre.
“The Supreme Court is not the appropriate forum because, it cannot examine all the file notings or examine witnesses on oath including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who needs to be questioned as also defence ministry officials.
“It is childish that the government and the BJP is claiming victory,” Sibal said ridiculing Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for their assertions that the verdict was a clean chit to the Modi government and accusing the Congress of jeopardising national security by politicising the defence deal.
“The court said that it cannot go into issues of pricing and matters relating to technical suitability of the jets, so how can the government claim that the deal is clean and there is no corruption. The court nowhere said that,” Sibal said iterating that only a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe can unearth the “corruption and crony capitalism” in the deal.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party continued its attack on the Congress saying the grand old party was trying to “sabotage India’s security preparedness by raking up the Rafale deal issue, despite the Supreme Court ruling that there was no need for a probe”.
“This is nothing but sabotage of our security preparedness. We have already said that (Congress President) Rahul Gandhi owes an apology to the nation, to the defence forces and Lok Sabha also,” Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar told the media in Panaji.
“The Supreme Court has clearly exposed the falsehood of Congress and also gave a clean chit to the deal by saying that no further enquiry was needed. Still if the Congress persists with the issue, the only conclusion is that it wants to stop the deal which will weaken the security preparedness of the country,” he added.
The Supreme Court on Friday junked the pleas seeking a court-monitored probe into the alleged financial and procedural “irregularities” in the Rafale deal, but the issue has continued to reverberate both inside and outside parliament.
IANS
Man stabbed to death by his friend in Bengaluru
Police said at 11.15 pm on Wednesday, Chandrababu was standing on Doddabele Main Road.
A 20-year-old mechanic was stabbed to death by three persons, including a friend, over a trivial issue at Doddabele in Kumbalagodu police station limits on the outskirts of the city on Wednesday night.
The deceased has been identified as Chandrababu. Police are on the lookout for the accused Ranjith (28) and his two associates. Both were residents of Doddabele. Chandrababu was a mechanic while his friend Ranjith worked as a delivery boy at a biscuit factory.
Police said at 11.15 pm on Wednesday, Chandrababu was standing on Doddabele Main Road. Meanwhile, Ranjith and his aides, who were drunk, were passing by and Chandrababu stared at him and allegedly passed some comment. Ranjith was enraged by this and picked up a fight with Chandrababu.
While two of his aides assaulted him, Ranjith, allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed Chandrababu. While the three escaped, passersby rushed the injured to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead. Kumbalagodu police have registered a murder case.
IANS
Facebook friend cheats woman of Rs 90 lakh
A 41-year-old man with four aliases, who posed as a choreographer, cheated a woman of Rs 90 lakh after befriending her on Facebook and promising to marry her. The accused, Vadiraj Gowda was arrested by Yeshwantpur police from Salem district in Tamil Nadu.
“I put on stake not just my money, modesty and reputation, but also invested all my friends’ and relatives’ hard-earned money,” Sarika (name changed) told media.
Vadiraj Gowda, a real estate agent by profession and a resident of Subedarpalya in Yeshwantpur, befriended Sarika on Facebook in January 2017. After they grew close, Sarika decided to move in with him. Vadiraj then asked her to introduce him to her friends and relatives interested in buying BDA sites. Trusting him, Sarika allegedly collected Rs 90 lakh from 45 persons, including her sister. “Immediately after this, he began to avoid me. One day in October, he managed to escape and switched off his phone,” she told police.
IANS