NEW DELHI: More than two years after reserving its verdict, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered perjury prosecution of Bollywood actor Shayan Munshi and ballistic expert P. S. Manocha for turning hostile in the Jessica Lal murder trial case.

The court, however, absolved 17 other witnesses in the case.

The court had reserved its order on May 4, 2011, after hearing arguments on behalf of police and the witnessess who had turned hostile.

A Bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and GP Mittal pronounced its decision in the case in which the high court had taken suo motu cognisance and questioned the prosecution as to how all the witnesses took somersault during the trial.

Lal was shot dead in April 1999 by Manu Sharma, son of Haryana Congress leader Venod Sharma after she refused to serve a drink to him at a late night party at socialite Bina Ramani's restaurant Tamarind Court here in South Delhi. The High Court, which reversed trial court's verdict on December 18, 2006, awarded life imprisonment to Manu Sharma.

Munshi, who had lodged the FIR in the case, had pleaded to the court not to prosecute him saying, "He cannot be termed hostile as even the apex court had used part of his deposition in convicting the accused." Munshi, the complainant in the case, had disowned the complaint during the trial, saying he did not know Hindi. The prosecution had urged the high court to refer 19 out of the 31 hostile witnesses, including Munshi, to the magisterial court for their trial on charges of perjury.

It had pointed out that of the total 31 witnesses, only 19 were available for trial as three had died while the court had itself discharged 10 of them earlier on the ground that there was no major deviation between their statements to the police and later to the court. The 19 persons, whose fate will be decided tomorrow for turning hostile include socialite Andleeb Sehgal, ballistic experts Roop Singh and Prem Sagar, electrician Shiv Shankar Dass and eyewitness Jagannath Jha. The apex court, while upholding the high court's ruling in the case in April 2010, had also endorsed its findings on the issue of perjury. — PTI

MUMBAI: A relative of the owner of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings with whom actor Vindoo Randhawa, arrested in connection with the spot-fixing scandal, was in frequent touch, is under the scanner of Mumbai Police, Crime Branch sources said on Wednesday.

"Vindoo made several calls to this relative of the Chennai IPL owner. We may call the person in question to ascertain the reasons why these frequent calls were made," an officer involved in the investigation said.

He, however, said it was "too premature" to conclude that the relative of the high-profile owner of the Chennai franchise had links with the betting syndicate.

Asked if Vindoo had named any Bollywood celebrity who was involved in the betting racket, the officer said, "Vindoo is himself from the film industry and it is natural that his phone contains numbers of several people from the industry. We have not yet got evidence of involvement of anyone of them in betting or spot-fixing."

On whether Vindoo was involved in betting or fixing in earlier seasons of the Indian Premier League, the officer said, "everything is under investigation."

The 49-year-old actor was arrested on Tuesday for his alleged association with bookies. Vindoo, winner of reality TV show Bigg Boss season 3, was allegedly in touch with some bookies arrested in the scandal. He was on many occasions spotted watching IPL matches and attending post-match parties. — PTI

NEW DELHI: The Madras High Court on Wednesday issued notice on a PIL seeking a direction to the government to take over the management and administration of the Indian Premier League and Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) as it had "failed" to promote the game.

The notice was issued by Madurai Bench of Justices M M Sundresh and R Mala to the Secretary, Department of Culture and Youth Affairs, IPL Chairman, BCCI President, among others. It is returnable by June 6.

In his petition, city-based lawyer V Santhakumaresan alleged that conduct of certain activities and receipt of income were totally commercial and there was no element of charity in the conduct of BCCI.

The surplus generated by BCCI was shared with players instead of being used for promoting the game, he claimed.

Santhakumaresan also sought a direction for CBI to conduct investigation into the entire affairs relating to sources of income, financial status, betting and match-fixing.

He said BCCI should desist from using the name "Indian cricket team" for its team till disposal of the petition while pleading for a stay on the IPL 20-20 matches to be held from today till May 26.— PTI

NEW DELHI: BJP on Wednesday sought to paint a dismal picture of UPA-II holding it responsible for the economic gloom and failure to give the country leadership while accusing it of diminishing the role of the Prime Minister.

On the fourth anniversary of UPA-II, BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley said they would limit their critique to the second innings of the Congress-led coalition, which has witnessed “mindboggling” scams that hit the common man the hardest.

“UPA-II has seen more corruption than UPA-I. There have been mindboggling scams, which were not seen by any previous government,” Swaraj told a press conference in Delhi with Jaitley.

Noting that coalition politics was the order of the day, Swaraj said such governments require “special leadership qualities”.

“Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister but neither a leader of the country nor the leader of his own party. Dr Singh’s colleagues sit with him in the Cabinet and look towards the UPA chairperson (Sonia Gandhi) for directions. Such split leadership is the biggest failure of UPA,” she said.

Echoing Swaraj, Jaitley said, “UPA has devalued the Prime Minister’s post. Dr Singh’s Cabinet colleagues look towards UPA chairperson for policy directions and somewhere else for future leadership.”

At the same time, the BJP leaders parried questions on Narendra Modi’s projection as NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate by a section within the party.

“Whether we will have a (Prime Ministerial) face or not and if we decide to have a face, who it will be, these issues will be decided by the BJP Parliamentary Board in consultation with NDA partners,” Swaraj said.

Jaitley said UPA’s fourth anniversary was being celebrated in an environment of “gloom, pessimism, cynicism and negativism”. — PTI

WASHINGTON: Far-reaching legislation to grant a chance at citizenship to millions of immigrants living illegally in the United States cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a solid bipartisan vote on Tuesday night after supporters sidestepped a controversy over the rights of gay spouses.

The 13-5 vote cleared the way for an epic showdown on the Senate floor on the measure, which is one of President Barack Obama’s top domestic priorities yet also gives the Republican Party a chance to recast itself as more appealing to minorities.

The committee’s action sparked rejoicing from immigration activists who crowded into a Senate committee room to witness the proceedings. “Yes, we can!” they shouted as they clapped rhythmically to show their pleasure.

In addition to creating a pathway to citizenship for 11.5 million immigrants, the legislation creates a new programme for low-skilled foreign labour and would permit highly-skilled workers into the country at far higher levels than is currently the case.

At the same time, it requires the government to take costly new steps to guard against future illegal immigration.

There was suspense to the end of the committee’s deliberations, when Sen. Patrick Leahy, who serves as chairman, sparked a debate over his proposal to give same-sex and heterosexual spouses equal rights under immigration law.

“I don’t want to be the Senator who asks people to choose between the love of their life and the love of their country,” he said, adding he wanted to hear from others on the committee.

In response, he heard a chorus of pleas from the Bill’s supporters, seconding private appeals from the White House, not to force a vote that they warned would lead to the Bill’s demise.

“I believe in my heart of hearts that what you’re doing is the right and just thing,” said one of them, Sen. Richard Durbin. “But I believe this is the wrong moment, that this is the wrong bill.”

In the hours leading to a final vote, the panel also agreed to a last-minute compromise covering an increase in the visa program for high-tech workers, a deal that brought Sen. Orrin Hatch, over to the ranks of supporters.

Under the compromise, the number of highly skilled workers admitted to the country would rise from 65,000 annually to 1,10,000, with the possibility of a further rise to 1,80,000, depending in part on unemployment levels.

Firms where foreign labour accounts for at least 15 percent of the skilled work force would be subjected to tighter conditions than companies less dependent on H-IB visa holders.

The centrepiece provision of the legislation allows an estimated 11 million people living in the US illegally to obtain “registered provisional immigrant status” six months after enactment if certain conditions are also met.

Applicants must have arrived in the US before December 31, 2011, and maintained continuous physical presence, must not have a felony conviction of more than two misdemeanours on their record, and pay a $500 fine.

The registered provisional immigrant status lasts six years and is renewable for another $500. After a decade, though, individuals could seek a green card and lawful permanent resident status if they are up to date on their taxes and pay a $1,000 fine and meet other conditions.

Individuals brought to the country as youths would be able to apply for green cards in five years. — AP

MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was on Wednesday shifted to high security Yerawada jail in Pune from Mumbai, a jail official said.

“Sanjay Dutt was escorted to Pune jail at about 4 am from Mumbai. There were three police vans that took him to the Pune jail,” the official said.

He was secretly shifted to the Pune jail early in the morning due to security reasons and to avoid media glare, the official said.

The actor was earlier lodged in the ‘anda’ cell after he was brought to the Arthur Road jail on May 16 following his surrender before the expiry of the Supreme Court-set deadline to serve his remaining sentence in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. — PTI