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SC notices to Centre, ‘tainted’
ministers
SC issues notice to Pappu Yadav
NHRC to probe Andhra murders
SC notices to Centre, Mufti
Minister honours Chandigarh
lawyer
3 journalists get Sarojini Naidu Prize
Woman Army aspirant gets another chance
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14 Badrinath pilgrims
killed
CM: talks only after Naxalites
lay down arms
Kohli alleges ill-treatment in jail
New procedures for US visit soon
BJP asks Cong to clarify stand on Savarkar
UP pleads to SC for lifting ban on night visit to Taj
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SC notices to Centre, ‘tainted’
ministers
New Delhi, September 24 A Bench of Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde, Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice A.K. Mathur, which had declined to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) in the matter on July 16, issued the notices yesterday while considering a review petition against the earlier order. Since the review petition is not heard in the open court, the order on notices to them, was circulated among the counsel for the parties concerned only today. The court sought replies from the Union Government and the four ministers — Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mohammed Taslimuddin, M.A.A. Fatmi and Jai Prakash Yadav — why a petition seeking their removal from the Union Cabinet should not be admitted. With the acceptance of the review petition, the court has virtually revived the PIL on the “tainted” ministers issue, filed by Manoj Narula. The court had on July 16 declined to entertain the PIL on the grounds that the matter of tainted ministers was being debated in Parliament. But the petitioner in his review petition was able to convince the court that the issue was not in fact “ever debated” in Parliament, petitioner’s counsel Anil Kumar Jha told mediapersons here today. In his PIL, Narula had sought removal of the four “tainted” ministers on the grounds that administering of the oath of office and secrecy to them was not in consonance with the spirit of the Constitution as “their honesty and integrity will not be beyond reasonable doubt because of their being chargesheeted in criminal cases.” The petitioner had contended that the inclusion of the chargesheeted ministers, three of whom, excluding Laloo Prasad, faced even serious charges like murder and attempt to murder, “would amount to violation of the oath of office.” The petitioner’s counsel had argued that a person assigned to perform a duty under the Constitution or holding a constitutional post should not have “stigma” attached to him to repose people’s faith in him. Countering the arguments that the said ministers had the people’s mandate in their favour, Jha had questioned whether a person under the garb of people’s will would be allowed to hold a constitutional office if his integrity was beyond reasonable doubt. The petitioner had contended that even if the law on inclusion of “tainted” ministers was not clear, a duty had been cast upon the Supreme Court under the Constitution to define the law in the spirit of its Preamble and clarify whether it “contemplated” assigning of constitutional duty to a person with questionable integrity. He had contended that admininistering the oath of office to a “tainted person” would not be in the interests of the country and society as a whole. |
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SC issues notice to Pappu Yadav
New Delhi, September 24 A Bench of Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde, Mr Justice S. B.Sinha and Mr Justice A. K. Mathur expressed surprise over the grant of bail to Yadav even when it was cancelled twice earlier by the apex court. “We issue notice to the respondent (Yadav) why the bail granted by the high court may not be suspended. The notice be returned within a week,” the Bench said, directing the CBI investigating officer of the case to serve the notice on Yadav personally to ensure he files his reply in time. Yadav, who recently had quit Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party and joined Laloo Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal, is the key accused in the trade union leader Ajit Sarkar’s murder case. The slain trade union leader’s brother, Kalyan Chandra Sarkar, challenged the grant of bail to Yadav in the apex court, alleging that the high court had ignored the fact that his bail was cancelled by the apex court on March 3. The CBI also supported the plea of Kalyan Chandra Sarkar, as Additional Solicitor-General Amrendra Sharan told the court that the agency was contemplating to file an appeal against the high court order. But the Bench took exception to the CBI for the delay in filing the appeal, if it so intended, saying “why the poor man (Kalyan Chandra Sarkar) has to approach the apex court every time instead of the investigating agency.” The RJD has nominated Pappu Yadav as its candidate for the Madhepura Lok Saba
by-election. Former Additional Solicitor-General Raju Ramchandraan, appearing for the petitioner, alleged that the “the high court
judgment has virtually acquitted Yadav in the case by granting him bail even when the apex court was seized of Kalyan Sarkar’s petition on the issue.” The Supreme Court earlier on July 20 had ordered shifting of Pappu Yadav from Patna Medical College to Beur jail after he had “faked” illness to stay in the hospital during judicial custody instead of the prison. The court had then taken a serious view of the Bihar Government allowing Yadav to violate the jail norms to facilitate his stay in the hospital. |
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NHRC to probe Andhra murders
New Delhi, September 24 Talking to newspersons in the Capital after meeting the NHRC chief and submitting a memorandum, he said the Congress-led Andhra Pradesh Government had “unleashed” a terror wave in the state, resulting in the killing of more than 35 TDP workers. Alleging that Chief Minister Y. Rajshekhar Reddy was “morally” supporting the political killings in the state, Mr Naidu said “the statement by the Chief Minister that the incidents were a continuation of the past, only encourages the perpetrators of the act.” Having a dig at Congress President Sonia Gandhi, the TDP chief said Ms Gandhi should visit Andhra Pradesh, a Congress-ruled state, to know the state of law and order in the southern Indian state. On the issue of criminalisation of politics, he alleged that the Congress had been colluding with persons having criminal records. “In the Centre, several persons with criminal cases have been made minister and in Andhra Pradesh, the party has given the command of the state to Mr Rajshekhar Reddy, against whom several criminal cases are pending,” he said. In the memorandum to the NHRC, he prayed that the commission should investigate the killings in the state, provide adequate compensation to the victims and get corrupt officials against whom inquiries are pending transferred from violence-prone districts. However, on the question of appointment of foreign experts in Plan panel, he appeared to be in line with the Congress. Not responding directly, he had a dig at Left parties, stating that “reforms are taking place in China and West Bengal, but at the Centre there seems to be some opposition. Nobody is talking about development, only thinking of political gains.” Mr Naidu, who is on his first visit to the Capital after the General Election, also met President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and sought his intervention in ending the political killings in the state. The former Chief Minister said he would take part in the birth anniversary of legendary Haryana leader Devi Lal in the Capital tomorrow. |
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SC notices to Centre, Mufti
New Delhi, September 24 A public interest litigation (PIL) questioned the militants rehabilitation policy of the state government on the ground that it would encourage youth to take on militant activities to gain financial benefits from the state after surrendering to the authorities instead of controlling terrorism. A Bench of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, Mr Justice G.P. Mathur and Mr Justice P.P. Naolekar, while entertaining a public interest litigation (PIL) by a civil rights body, the Society for Human Rights and Civil Liberties (SHRCL), sought replies from the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir Government. The petitioner had named Chief Minister as the respondent in the case. SHRCL counsel Ramesh K. Haritash said the Jammu and Kashmir Government's policy, approved by the Cabinet on January 31, this year was not in the interest of the country. It would amount to rewarding of militants for killing of the personnel of security forces and innocent people, he said. The petitioner claimed that under the policy a surrendered militant would be given Rs 1.50 lakh cash compensation, Rs 2,000 stipend for three years, easy loan from banks. Besides, he would be paid amount ranging between Rs 1,000 to Rs 25,000 for surrendering different categories of weapons. According to a list furnished with the PIL, the SHRCL said for surrendering an assult rifle, a militant would be paid Rs 15,000, for weapons like UMG, GMPG, RPG and sniper rifle Rs 25,000, SAM missiles Rs 20,000, satellite phones Rs 10,000 and for High Frequency communication system Rs 5,000. The petitioner has also submitted a list containing the names of 183 militant outfits, operating in Jammu and Kashmir, indicating that militancy has become an industry there with the mushrooming of so many organisations.
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Minister honours Chandigarh
lawyer
Chennai, September 24 The felicitation was given at the 29th national conference of the Indian Society for Blood Transfusion and Immunohaematology (ISBTI) being held here. Talking to The Tribune, the 55-year-old lawyer said, “I have donated blood 84 times during the past 35 years. I was an undergraduate student when I first donated blood in 1968 and in the first camp itself I met my wife, Niti, who has also donated blood 36 times.” In fact, the ISBTI was started in Chandigarh in 1972 and Mr Sarin’s mother-in-law, Mrs Swarup Kishan, is one of the founder members. One of Mr Sarin’s achievements as a legal adviser to the ISBTI was a meeting of the office-bearers with Atal Bihari Vajpayee four years ago, which led to the formulation of the national blood policy. The former Advocate-General of Punjab and Haryana was also associated with a famous case which went up to the Supreme Court and led to the apex court banning buying and selling of blood in 1996. Other than Mr Sarin making Chandigarh proud here, two national awards were bagged by Haryana, one of which was for creating a world record. Sacha Sauda Dera in Sirsa district of Haryana was given a national award for organising donation of 15,700 units of blood in a single day in the past year, which is a world record. Mr J.M. Ghalaut, President of the Haryana chapter of the ISBTI, was also conferred a national award for being the “Best Motivator”. |
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3 journalists get Sarojini Naidu Prize
New Delhi, September 24 Dr Manglani, a freelance journalist from Rajasthan, got the award for articles in Hindi on the subject of women in Panchayati Raj while Ms Sushmita Malaviya got it for articles in English. Mr Arun Ram of Tamil Today (India Today), Tamil Nadu, got the award in the other Indian language category. The winners were selected by a jury chaired by Mr Ajit
Bhattacharjee. Other members of the jury were Usha Rai of the Press Institute of India, Mr N S Jagannathan, who is the former editor of the Indian Express, Ms Syeda S Hameed, member of the Planning Commission and Dr George Mathew, Director of the Institute of Social Sciences. — UNI |
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Woman Army aspirant gets another chance
New Delhi, September 24 Surya Moudgil was asked whether she could appear for her medical examination again after Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee directed the Army authorities to make women gynaecologists available for medical examination of women aspirants. "The girl would be given another chance to reappear before the medical board, this time under the supervision of an all-women doctors’ team," he said. Acknowledging that the Army had shortage of women doctors, specially gynaecologists, Mr Mukherjee said he had asked the
authorities to step up the recruitment of women doctors keeping in view the growing number of women in the Army. Moudgil, one of three aspirants for the Army, had refused to be examined by Army male gynaecologists at the Delhi base hospital, following which she was declared as having failed to complete her medical examination. —
PTI |
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14 Badrinath pilgrims
killed Dehra Dun, September 24 The accident occurred in the morning, leaving 12 persons dead on the spot and 15 injured. The injured were rushed to the government hospital in Joshimath. Two persons, however, succumbed to their injuries later in the day. All 27 pilgrims were from Tamil Nadu, most of them were from Chennai. The pilgrims had hired the bus owned by Mahalaxmi Tours and Travels from Delhi. The bus was traveling in a convoy of five buses from Delhi. The list of the dead includes S. Ramamurthi (75), A.M. Rajan (54), V. Seetharam (71), Sunder Rajan, R. Shayamala (65), Sundari Raman (63), Subhadra Madhava (64), Raja, Kamakshi (50), Vishal
Aarthee, D.S. Sundaramiya (62), Baluchand (52), Laxmi (57) and driver Charanjeet Singh (55). |
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CM: talks only after Naxalites
lay down arms
Kolkata, September 24 Unless the extremists stop their activities and surrender their arms, the Chief Minister said he would not sit with them. The Chief Minister said he was ready to talk to the extremists provided a congenial atmosphere was created for the purpose. He would not allow the extremists to talk about peace on the one hand and continue to attack the innocent people and the police on the other hand simultaneously, he added. Mr Bhattacharjee said it had been decided to spend Rs 13 crore on raising additional special battalion of the armed police for deployment in the extremists-infested areas in Purulia-Bankura, Midnapore, Nadia and Murshidabad border district in south Bengal and Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar and Darjeeling in north Bengal. |
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Kohli alleges ill-treatment in jail
New Delhi, September 24 Kohli was produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravinder Dudeja, who is “inquiring” into the demand for his
extradition to the UK, where he faces murder charges. The court issued notice to Tihar Jail Superintendent on an application by Kohli, who alleged that he was kept along with notorious criminals in the jail and was being
ill-treated. He prayed that he be shifted to a B-class cell. The matter would now be taken up on October 1. Kohli was brought here on September 10 from Chandigarh where he was lodged after his arrest on July 15 from Kalimpong in Darjeeling in connection with 17-year-old Foster’s murder. — PTI |
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New procedures for US visit soon
New Delhi, September 24 The countries eligible for the VWP are Andorra, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan , Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (for citizens with the unrestricted right of permanent abode in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man). Citizens of India are not affected by these changes in any way. By September 30, US visit procedures will be expanded to include visitors travelling to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program arriving at airports and seaports of entry. Most significantly this will include the collection of a photo and two fingerprint impressions during immigration processing at the port of entry, according to the US Embassy here. Data collected from arriving passengers will be carefully protected from unauthorised access and will only be used for clearly specified security and law enforcement purposes. Travellers are also reminded that the exit control procedures must be followed when departing the US if the airport of departure has the exit control kiosks installed and operating.
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BJP asks Cong to clarify stand on Savarkar
New Delhi, September 24 “Does the Congress consider them controversial,” BJP spokesman and former Law Minister Arun Jaitley asked while talking to newspersons at the party’s daily briefing. He said it was not an issue confined to the Congress government in Karnataka alone and the party would have to respond to it. The former Law Minister alleged that efforts were on to create an atmosphere against nationalist forces and personalities connected with India’s nationalism.
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UP pleads to SC for lifting ban on night visit to Taj
New Delhi, September 24 A Bench, headed by Chief Justice R. C. Lahoti, ordered listing of the UP Government petition, for hearing on Monday, after its counsel made a special mention of its filing before the court. The apex court had ordered closure of the Taj Mahal to visitors during the night few years ago, after some militant organisations had threatened to cause damage to it. Viewing of the Taj in the full moon is a tourists’ delight, especially those coming from abroad who get
fascinated by its night viewing.
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