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SC upholds life term for Punjab cop
Sonia deceiving people of Bihar, says Jaitley
Twin benefits for Nitish
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Reddy: states told to emulate AP
Speaker writes to Pak counterpart
Doyen of Carnatic music dead
Dawood aide gunned down
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SC upholds life term for Punjab cop
New Delhi, October 9 Rejecting the appeal of Sarup Singh, who had challenged his conviction on the grounds that he had “no motive” to commit the murder, a Bench of Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice R.V. Raveendran in a judgement recorded how appellant (Sarup Singh) and his colleagues Dilbagh Singh and Baljit Singh had abandoned their duty when on a patrol at Fatuwal village and travelled 45 km to Kot Budha village to commit the murder on the night of February 21, 1995. The trial court had found the trio guilty of the mruder of Baljit’s mother-in-law Kans Kaur and causing grievous injuries to his father-in-law Joginder Singh and brother-in-law Avtar Singh in a bullet spree fired form a self-loading rifle and 303 rifles allotted to them to protect the life and property of people, the court said. The life sentence to the trio was confirmed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, but only Sarup Singh had preferred an appeal in the apex court. Upholding the sentence, the apex court said “all the accused, who are constables, came to the residence of Joginder Singh armed with sophisticated weapons and each one of them played an active role. The common intention of Sarup Singh with Baljit Singh and Dilbagh Singh in committing the crime, has thus, been proved.” by eyewitnesses’ account. The convicted police officials broke into the house of Joginder Singh and went on a firing spree when dressed in full uniform, killing Kans Kaur. The police had recovered nine bullets from the spot which matched with the firearms allotted to them as per the forensic report, the court said. The cause of the crime was that Baljit Singh’s wife Sukhwinder Kaur had left his home for demanding dowry. Baljit had made several attempts to forcibly take Sukhwinder Kaur to his home from her parents, which they had foiled fearing that she might face grave consequences, the court said adding that the panchayat had executed an “informal divorce”. Infuriated with this, Baljit Singh had hatched a conspiracy and roped in his two colleagues to help him in teaching his in-laws a lesson and all three had left their ‘naka’ duty to reach Kot Budha in a private vehicle and broke the doors of Joginder Singh’s house with rifle butts. When Joginder Singh and other members of the family woke up to see what had happened, the policemen went on a shooting spree despite the pleas from Sukhwinder Kaur and her two sisters not to kill their parents and as their cousin Atar Singh reached the spot, they also fired upon him. However, Joginder Singh and Attar Singh had survived the assault. The apex court was not impressed with Sarup Singh’s plea that he had no motive to commit the crime, observing that on examining the totality of the offence committed by the three policemen in full uniform, the question of “motive takes a back seat which was, thus, not necessary to be proved.” Evidence of eyewitnesses having been accepted by courts below and as nothing was pointed out by counsel for the appellant as to why the said finding should be disturbed, “we accept the same,” the Bench held. |
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Sonia deceiving people of Bihar, says Jaitley
Patna, October 9 Addressing the media, Mr Jaitley said: “Sonia Gandhi may deceive her by stating that Governor house was not politicised, but she cannot deceive the people of Bihar.” Close on the heels of the NDA delegation meeting the President tomorrow in Delhi, Mr Jaitley referred to the news report published in The Tribune on May 21 exposing the story behind Buta Singh’s report. Claiming that the report of Buta Singh was “politically motivated and concocted”, Mr Jaitley alleged that it was prepared by Buta Singh under “pressure from Lalu Prasad Yadav”. Mr Jaitley quoted a portion of the report that said: “RJD MLAs were getting restive with the possibility of Nitish Kumar to form the next government.” Mr Jaitley charged Sonia Gandhi with patronising the politicisation of a constitutionally sacrosanct place like Raj Bhavan by dancing to the tunes of Lalu Prasad Yadav. Mr Jaitley said the Supreme Court’s verdict describing the presidential proclamation as “unconstitutional” had proved beyond doubt the political motivation behind the move from the Governor house. He also wondered at the way, despite owning the responsibility, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had failed to recall Buta Singh. “I presume the UPA apprehends that if Buta Singh is recalled, he may expose the political conspiracy behind the imposition of President’s rule,” he alleged. The BJP leader also cautioned “some civil servants” in the state for their alleged politically motivated actions. He referred to the way a senior police official implicated a BJP MLA from UP for the abduction of school student Golu, alias Gaurav Kumar, from Danapur, which later on compelled Chief Secretary G.S. Kang to dismiss such allegation against the MLA. In guarded, yet assertive manner, Mr Jaitley reminded the civil servants of the state of their glorious history of being non-partisan, failing which the BJP would be compelled to approach the election commission. |
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Twin benefits for Nitish
Patna, October 9 Even though RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav was trying to put up a brave front by interpreting the judgement as a victory for the RJD since the court did not stop the elections, for Mr Nitish Kumar it is twin-benefit before the first phase of the four-phased polls scheduled to begin on October 18. The court's verdict describing the dissolution as unconstitutional, has clearly freed Mr Nitish Kumar of the charge of "horse-trading" which was levelled against him and his ally, the BJP, at the time of his effort to form the government after the February elections. This will certainly help enhance the credibility of Mr Nitish Kumar who is being projected as the chief ministerial candidate on behalf of the JD(U) and BJP. The judgement has discredited the RJD-led UPA by raising doubts of its respect for democratic values. Secondly, Mr Nitish Kumar is understood to be more than happy with the court not reviving the dissolved Assembly. It is true that Mr Nitish Kumar managed the majority number with defection from the LJP and with Independents joining the JD(U)-BJP coalition after the February polls. The NDA even paraded the MLAs before the President in New Delhi. But with changing equations before the coming polls, some of the Independents were denied the ticket and for Mr Nitish Kumar it could have been really difficult to reach the simple-majority mark again had the court revived the dissolved Assembly. |
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Reddy: states told to emulate AP
Hyderabad, October 9 In a press note on his return from Chandigarh, the Chief Minister said this was perhaps for the first time in the history of Independent India that a Prime Minister had advised the rest of the states to emulate the Andhra Pradesh model in irrigation, agriculture, housing and overall development. The Chief Minister said he felt proud when his counterparts sought blueprints of some of the programmes being implemented in the state, particularly Jala Yajnam, which involves execution of more than 30 major and medium projects at a cost of Rs 46,000 crore to irrigate around 66 lakh acres besides stabilisation of 20 lakh acres. The other schemes that elicited interest included provision of drinking water to around 1.2 crore people and generation of 1700 MW of hydel power. He pointed out that the Rajiv Nagara Bata (Rajiv’s Urban Trek), under which he conceived civic projects based on the feedback given by citizens, had helped the government in the recently-held civic poll, in which the ruling party bagged almost 90 per cent of the municipalities and 100 per cent corporations. |
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Speaker writes to Pak counterpart
New Delhi, October 9 In his separate condolence messages to Pakistan Senate Chairman Mohammed Mian Somroo and National Assembly Speaker Chaudhary Amir Hussain, Mr Chatterjee said he was “deeply shocked” at the large scale death and destruction, caused by the earthquake in the neighbouring country. He said he expressed solidarity with all those who suffered heavy losses due to the calamity.
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Modi offers help to Pak
Ahmedabad, October 9 |
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Minor Baslica develops crack
Lucknow, October 9 Speaking to The Tribune Meerut D.M. Ram Krishan said he had already asked the SDM, Sardana, Ms Pinki Joval, to submit a report on the nature and extent of damage. Ms Joval, who visited the spot soon after receiving reports of the damage, admitted that the church built in 1822 by Begum Samru had indeed suffered minor damage. “It is an old structure already in a state of disrepair. The minaret has suffered heavy seepage during the rain and part of the plaster fell down during the earthquake yesterday”, she disclosed. According to her the wall in front of the statue of Mother Mary had also developed a crack. “I have asked the engineers of my department to examine the nature of the crack. Fortunately the main structure of the church has remained untouched by the disaster”, she told The Tribune. However, Ms Joval is hopeful that the annual fair organised on the first Sunday of November accompanied by a large feast in honour of Mother Mary will be held as per schedule. A beautiful medieval Indian nautch girl Farzana , who came to be known as Begum Samru, married a gallant European mercenary in India. After his death, she took over his fiefdom, converted to Christianity, and built the beautiful basilica in Sardana. The sculptor Adamo Tadolini finished this marble masterpiece in 1842, eight years after the Begum’s death. It was installed here in 1870, having travelled all the way from Italy over sea, river and land. On the pedestal below the Begum, stands her adopted son David Dyce and her Vazir. Behind them are her general and Bishop. Greco-Roman figures lie at the base of the sculpture as symbols of prosperity, generosity, prudence, wisdom and death — all symbols of the Begum’s love and her conquering spirit. The panels on the front and sides of the sculpture show episodes from the Begum’s reign. Apart from the sculptured Tomb, the church itself is impressive, especially the central altar. The altar is made of Jaipur marble with delicate inlay work and dates back to the Begum’s reign. Begum Sumru is said to have written to Pope Gregory XVI that the church was the finest in India. It is said to be amongst the most expensive of its time in the country. The basilica is now also an important pilgrim centre as a shrine of Mother Mary. The basilica and the palace stand witness to the transformation of Farzana, the nautch girl into Begum Sumru, the powerful ruler of Sardana. |
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Doyen of Carnatic music dead
Chennai, October 9 He belonged to the “guru-shishya parampara” of saint composer Thyagaraja and was also a close relative of Ramnad Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar and his guru, the late Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar. Endowed with a rich and vibrant voice, Krishnan’s singing emnates from the “nabhi”. The awards conferred on him include the Padma Shri (1992), the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1987), Kalaimamani (1982), and the UNESCO Award.
— UNI |
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Dawood aide gunned down
Ahmedabad, October 9 Ismail, wanted by the Interpol for running an international drug cartel, was shot dead after a gunbattle with policemen after he had entered the Gujarat border from Maharashtra in the wee hours. Police teams was on a vigil near the state-border after receiving information about Ismail. The criminal shot at the police. He was killed in the return fire Valsad District Superintendent of Police Abhay Chudasma said. Ismail, part of an international drug cartel smuggling mandrax tablets, fired 12 rounds from his two weapons while officials fired 20 rounds. He died during treatment at a local hospital.
—PTI |
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Police guns down 2 dacoits
Lucknow, October 9 |
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