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Supreme Court stays ban on dance bars in Maharashtra

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Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today stayed the operation of 2014 amendment in the Maharashtra Police Act that had banned dance performances at bars and some other places, paving the way for reopening of dance bars across the state.

Referring to the brief history of judicial pronouncement in the case and subsequent amendment in the state law, a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla Chandra Pant said “We think it appropriate to stay the provisions section 33 (A)(1) of the Maharashtra Police (second amendment) Act.”

The court however added a rider to its interim order and allowed the licensing authorities in the state to regulate indecent dance performances at bars and other places.

“However, we have a rider that no performance of dance will be remotely expressive of any kind of obscenity…the licensing authority can regulate such dance performances so that individual dignity of woman performer is not harmed,” the bench said.

The apex court has now fixed the petition filed by Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association for final hearing on November 5 and said that the matter pertaining to the similar issue had already been decided by this court in 2013.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Maharashtra said at the outset that interim relief may be granted to the Association and added that 2014 amendment in the Act is distinct by its nature.

The Maharashtra government had brought an amendment in 2005 — the Bombay Police Act — which was challenged in high court by an association representing restaurants and bars.

The Bombay High Court on April 12, 2006 had quashed the government’s decision and declared the provision as unconstitutional saying that it is against Article 19(1)(g) (to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business) of the constitution.

However, the state government had moved the apex court against the high court’s order that same year.

On July 16, 2013, the Supreme Court upheld the Bombay High Court verdict quashing the state government’s order and had said that the ban violated the constitutional right to earn a living.

(Agencies)

Maharashtra Governor rejects plea to cancel Sanjay Dutt’s jail term

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sanjay_dutt

Mumbai: Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao has rejected a plea to waive off the remaining jail term of actor Sanjay Dutt, convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

“While turning down the plea for pardon, the Governor followed the advice of Home Department which had recommended him that the plea for pardon be turned down as Dutt had been convicted by the highest (Supreme) court. It was felt that granting him pardon would set a bad precedent”, an official said.

The petition to cancel Dutt’s remaining jail term was submitted by former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, who had argued that Dutt was “not a terrorist” and had only erred.

The 56-year-old actor was jailed in 1996 and spent 18 months behind bars before walking out on bail.

In 2013, the Supreme Court sentenced him to five years in prison for the crime.

The 18 months that Dutt had earlier spent in jail were taken into account and he was to spend another 42 months.

After the imprisonment in May 2013, Dutt has spent nearly 30 months in prison already and is due to walk out as a free man in February 2016.

After he was sent to Pune-based Yerwada jail in May 2013, Dutt had been out on parole twice and an equal number of times on furlough.

In October 2013, he was out on furlough for 14 days, which was extended by a fortnight. In January 2014, a 30-day parole was extended by another 30 days. In December 2014, he was granted a 14-day furlough. Since August 27, 2015, he has been again out on furlough.

In his petition, Katju had said, “The only charge on which Sanjay Dutt has been found guilty is the charge of having in his possession a prohibited weapon”.

He also emphasised that he was in no way questioning the Supreme Court verdict.

He had written that though the imprisonment of five years for possessing the weapon was correct, Dutt had suffered enough after spending 18 months in jail before he was sentenced in March 2013 and thus would be a fit case for pardon.

“I prayed that until my pardon petition is disposed of respite should be granted because Article 72 not only empowers the President to grant pardon, it also empowers the President to grant respite or suspension of sentence. So, till the pardon petition is decided, I have prayed that the President should grant respite,” Katju had said.

Along with Dutt, Katju had also sought pardon for Zaibunnisa Kazi, another convict in the 1993 blasts case.

Katju had written, “I am not appealing that Sanjay Dutt should be pardoned because he is a celebrity. I am also appealing for pardon to Zaibunnasa Kazi, co-accused who is not a celebrity.”

(PTI)

Pansare murder: Two more Sangh Parivar activists from Karnataka detained

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govindrao pansare

Kolhapur: Maharashtra Police have detained two people from Karnataka in connection with the killing of senior Communist leader Govind Pansare here in February, a police official said on Thursday.

“We have detained two people from Karnataka in connection with the murder and are investigating further,” Additional DGO (CID) Pune, Sanjay Kumar, who is heading a SIT for the case, told media persons here.

The suspects detained are Sushil Jadhav and Shriram Jadhav and their links with various other individuals and organizations are being probed.

The two detentions came a day after Samir V. Gaikwad, an activist of the right-wing Sanatan Sanstha was arrested from Sangli, and was remanded in police custody till September 23.

Kumar said Gaikwad was not cooperating in the investigations, while the Sanatan Sanstha has accused the police of scheming to implicate him in the Pansare killing.

Pansare was attacked on February 16 in Kolhapur when he was shot at from a close range. the 81-year-old leader died of bullet injuries four days later. His wife Uma, who was also shot and seriously injured, survived the attack.

Police raided Gaikwad’s residence in Sangli and recovered 23 mobiles, one large knife and the Sanatan Sanstha literature, while further investigations are on in other parts of the state.

A police team from Karnataka has also arrived here to question Gaikwad to ascertain a possible link between the Pansare killing and the recent murder of Kannada litterateur M. M. Kalburgi, who was shot dead outside his home in Dharwad on August 30.

Investigators are probing whether the killing of Pune rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, who was shot dead in August 2013, is also connected to the murders of Pansare and Kalburgi.

Investigations are continuing simultaneously in different parts of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka.

(Agencies)

Meat ban can’t be forced down people’s throats: Supreme Court

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Supreme Court

New Delhi: Refusing to interfere with a Bombay High Court order limiting the ban on the sale of meat on Thursday, the Supreme Court said it is not an issue that could be forced down people’s throats.

“Matters like these must be handled with tolerance and compassion,” the apex court said while rejecting a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a Jain group challenging the Mumbai High Court’s decision to stay the ban on sale of meat on Thursday.

“If the Maharashtra government has any objection to the High Court order, it must approach the Supreme Court,” the ruling said.

On Monday, the Bombay High Court had granted a stay on the controversial ban on sale of meat in Mumbai on September 17, but declined to lift the bar on animal slaughter. The court was hearing a PIL filed by Bombay Mutton Dealers’ Association challenging the ban imposed in the wake of Jain community’s Paryushan festival of fasting.

A similar ban has been imposed in the adjoining Mira-Bhayander and Navi Mumbai municipal corporations in Thane district, but the High Court said it was not concerned about it as nobody from there has challenged the ban in those cities.

(Agencies)

One arrested in connection with Govind Pansare’s murder

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Govind_Pansare

Mumbai: One person was today arrested in connection with the killing of veteran Communist leader and rationalist Govind Pansare in February this year.

Sameer Gaikwad, in his early 30s, was arrested from Sangli early today after a joint operation by Kolhapur and Sangli police.

Police said Gaikwad has some criminal backgound.

He was produced in a court at Kolhapur in western Maharashtra which remanded him in police custody till September 23.

Pansare was gunned down outside his home in Sagar Mala locality of Kolhapur city on February 16 and succumbed to his injuries on February 20 at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital.

The arrest comes close on the heels of the recent killing of Kannada scholar and researcher M M Kalburgi at Dharwad in Karnataka on August 30. Another rationalist Narendra Dabholkar was killed in Pune in 2013.

Left parties and rationalist forums have voiced deep concern over the delay in tracking down and apprehending the killers of these social activists and held that fundmanetal elements could be behind these murders.

The Karnataka government yesterday announced Rs 5 lakh reward to those who could provide clues about the murder of Kalburgi.

Dabholkar, who spent much of his life exposing sham rituals, miracles, black magic, and godmen, was murdered in Pune in 2013 and there has been no breakthrough in his case yet.

Pansare’s family has been demanding a probe into the Communist leader’s murder. They had also filed a petition in the Bombay High Court which had asked Maharashtra government to file its response to the petition seeking constitution of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the killing.

Till now, the probe by police teams had not yielded much apart from vaguely probable sketches of the assassins and the recovery of a couple of motorbikes from Kolhapur city which were suspected to have been used by the killers.

(Agencies)

Bombay HC allows sale of meat on September 17

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Bombay High Court

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court today stayed the controversial ban on sale of meat in Mumbai on September 17, but refused to interfere with the bar on animal slaughter on that day.

The High Court, which was hearing a petition filed by Bombay Mutton Dealers Association challenging the ban imposed in the wake of Jain community’s ‘Paryushan’ fasting period, said the stay will be limited to Mumbai jurisdiction area.

Though a similar ban has been imposed in Mira-Bhayander and Navi Mumbai municipal corporations in Mumbai’s adjoining Thane district, the court said it was not concerned about it “as nobody has come forward challenging the ban there.”

A division bench of Justices Anoop V Mohta and Amjad Sayyed in their order said, “We are staying the ban on sale of meat on September 17, but we are not interfering with the ban on slaughter of meat and closure of abattoirs on that date.”

The High Court also observed that though the Maharashtra government issued a circular in 2004 banning meat sale on two days, it was never implemented fully.

“Though there was a ban since 2004, it was never implemented in its true sense,” the judges said.

The court said there has been inconsistency in the stands of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and the state government.

The state government had on September 7, 2004, issued a circular stating that for two days during the Jain community’s ‘Paryushan’ fasting period there will be closure of abattoirs and ban on slaughter and sale of meat.

“Although the circular was of 2004, we are very clear that the MCGM never fully implemented the ban on sale of meat. It never insisted on this (ban on sale of meat), but only insisted on closure of abattoirs,” the court said.

“We are only going by the law and not dealing with this matter via sentiments and political things,” the judges further observed.

The High Court also clarified that since the petition has challenged the ban only in Mumbai area, the stay too will be limited to the Mumbai jurisdiction area.

The court said, “We are not concerned about what is happening in Mira-Bhayander or Navi Mumbai as nobody has come forward challenging the ban there.”

The HC also queried as to why fish and eggs were excluded from the ban. “If it is a question of practice of non-violence by the Jain community, then why only mutton and chicken have been included in the ban and not fish and eggs?” the court asked.

(PTI)

Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde accused of Rs 206 cr 'scam'

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Pankaja Munde

Mumbai: Maharashtra’s Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde was in trouble today following allegations that she cleared purchases worth Rs 206 crore through 24 Government Resolutions on a single day instead of inviting tenders.

The alleged purchases relate to a host of items including snacks and books for children in institutions across the state.

Dubbing it as a “big scam”, Congress and other opposition parties attacked the 8-month-old BJP-led government headed by Devendra Fadnavis.

Former chief minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan demanded a CBI inquiry and said the scam exposed the “true colours” of the government.

Asked if he would demand Munde’s resignation, Chavan said “Be it Pankaja Munde or Vinod Tawade (education minister caught in a row over educational qualification), this government would not remove anyone. After all, this the policy of the Modi government to brazen out all allegations.”

“The scam has exposed the real character of this government. The Minister (Munde) must give an explanation on the issue”, Chavan said.

The scam first came to light on June 15, when the office of Pankaja Munde received a letter from Ahmednagar Zila Parishad president Manjushree Gund complaining about the quality of chikki (a popular snack) distributed to tribal students under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). Gund said the chikki was contaminated with clay.

This is the first time that an alleged scam of this magnitude has come to light after the BJP-Shiv Sena government took office.

All purchases were cleared by Munde, daughter of BJP stalwart late Gopinath Munde on a single day on February 13 through 24 Government Resolutions (GR).

As per norms, all government purchases above Rs 3 lakh have to be done through e-tendering. Fadnavis has banned purchases through the rate contract system, in which material is purchased after rates have been negotiated.

Pankaja Munde was unavailable for comments. An official in her department said the minister was out of India and was expected to return on June 28.

Munde said her decision to check corruption had “troubled” some “money-minded” people and that she was not scared of such accusations.

For years the women and child development department had been neglected and was taken “less seriously”, she said, adding that “I as a minister (have) taken some dynamic decision to reduce currption…has also troubled some money minded bunch of ppl (sic) involved…I hv not broken any rules as far I m concerned n also not feared any allegations”.

Senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Minister Eknath Khadse, while responding to the allegations, said,”Opposition keeps on levelling charges. We don’t take them seriously until they submit proof.”

BJP spokesperson Shaina NC said the opposition had levelled allegations “to be in news”. “The opposition wants to be in news. If Munde has done anything, it should be substantiated with proof.”

Accusing BJP and the Centre of double-speak, Congress’ media department chief Randeep Surjewala said,”We hope that BJP and its government will seriously investigate the way they used to say ‘na khayenge, na khane denge’ and will provide a corruption-free government.

“We hope that they will, before 1.25 crore people of India, prove that they do what they say,” he said, adding “as layers and layers of corruption get unveiled, one leader after another of BJP is getting exposed. First it was the External Affairs Minister helping a fugitive of law and a black money hoarder, we also saw forged degrees of Irani and now….Pankaja Munde.”

(PTI)

Rahul Gandhi begins sanvad padyatra; meets Maharashtra farmers

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Amravati: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi Thursday began a 15-km day-long padyatra in Amravati district in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, during which he is meeting the families of farmers who committed suicide.

Rahul, who reached Nagpur last night, left this morning for village Gunji to begin the foot march dubbed as ‘sanvad padyatra’.

On the way to Gunji, people were seen lined up on roads at Kondhali and Talegaon villages to greet the Congress leader.

Rahul stopped at Talegaon for some time, before proceeding to Gunji.

Rahul spoke to the people who greeted him and sought to know their problems and the issues affecting them.

He will be visiting five villages between Gunji to Ramgaon and will meet the farmers who have suffered crop losses due to unseasonal rain. He is accompanied by MPCC president Ashok Chavan and senior state Congress leaders.

Maharashtra is one of the states that experienced severe agrarian crisis and Amravati division in Vidarbha region has witnessed many suicide cases of farmers this year.

Ahead of his visit, a farmer, Gajanan Sheshrao Khongal, allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a well in Morshi tehsil of the district on Tuesday.

(PTI)

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