New Delhi, December 19
The then additional sessions judge (ASJ) S L Bhayana, who presided over the trial court acquitting all accused in the Jessica Lall murder case, was strongly criticized by the Division Bench of Delhi High Court which overturned his judgment on Monday.

The landmark judgment delivered on Monday observes that although the ASJ, who has since been elevated as a judge in the same court, had relied upon an eye witness, Deepak Bhojwani, to establish the presence of the accused at the murder spot, he held him as a 'bad witness'.

“Obviously, this reflects total lack of application of mind and suggests a hasty approach towards securing a particular end, namely the acquittal,” the Bench said.

Observing that the criticism of the trial court to the deposition of Bhojwani appears to be ‘self contradictory’, the Bench said: “With very great respect to the learned judge, we point out that this manner of testing the credibility of the witness is hardly a rule of appreciation of evidence”.

In its 61-page judgement yesterday in which they convicted Manu Sharma, son of senior Congress leader, of murdering model Jessica Lall some seven years ago, Justice R S Sodhi and Justice P K Bhasin Bench also made some scathing remarks against a key witness, actor-model Shyam Munshi, dubbing him a 'liar' who took a 'somersault' in the court.

“...in court he has taken a somersault and came out with a version that there were two gentlemen at the bar counter...,” the Bench observed, saying that there was no doubt that Munshi had been won over by the accused.

In the FIR, Munshi had stated that a man had demanded whiskey from the model and fired twice after she refused to serve it, once at her and then towards the ceiling.

The court said although he supported the prosecution's version that the accused was present on the spot as told by him after the offence, he deviated in his version when in the trial he stated that Manu had not fired towards the ceiling or at Jessica.

“However, we have no manner of doubt that on this aspect he is telling a complete lie,” the Bench said, adding that at no point of time had he accused the police of exerting any pressure on him to put his signature on that statement.

“All that he is now claiming is that the said statement was recorded in Hindi while he had narrated the whole story in English as he did not know Hindi at all,” the Bench said about Munshi, who is currently acting in some Bollywood films.

The court also fixed Wednesday as the date to hear the arguments from both prosecution and defence on the quantum of sentence.

It further held that there was another reason for not accepting the version of Munshi as even the restaurant owner Bina Ramani had said that his statement was recorded by the police in her presence and so there was no question of concoction of such a detailed statement by the police.

Holding that he came out for the first time in the court that his statement was recorded incorrectly, the Bench said: “We have no manner of doubt from the facts and circumstances of this case that he was won over by accused Manu Sharma”.

New Delhi, December 19
Manu Sharma, son of a senior Haryana Congress leader, has been lodged in Tihar Jail along with Amardeep Singh 'Tony' Gill after being convicted by the Delhi High Court in the Jessica Lall murder case.

Manu and Gill, an executive with a multinational firm, were kept in Jail number four in the high security prison where prisoners of Patiala House court are lodged, jail sources said.

Manu had surrendered to the police yesterday, while Gill was taken into custody at the HC premises.

Initially, the duo will not be assigned any job as the court is yet to pronounce the quantum of the sentence, they said.

“They will be treated like undertrials and will not be given any work. They will get work after the punishment is pronounced in the case on Wednesday,” they said. They are entitled to two interviews, each of half-an-hour duration, every week. The trio will get normal food - dal, sabzi, roti - during lunch and dinner in jail. — PTI

New Delhi, December 19
An FIR was lodged against a father-son duo, both working with Delhi Police, after they allegedly bashed up a lawyer and his mother appearing against them in a dowry case.

The incident happened outside the courtroom of the Metropolitan Magistrate, where Rajesh Kasana, who is employed with the Delhi Armed Police (DAP) and his father Mukut Lal, posted with the Welcome Police Station here, appeared as the accused in a dowry harassment case.

The case was lodged by one Neelam, wife of Kasana, that her husband and father-in-law, Lal, used to treat her with cruelty over dowry demands. She had also approached Crime Against Woman (CAW) cell of Delhi Police for redressal.

Apprehending arrest, Kasana had sought anticipatory bail from a Karkardooma court, which was reportedly opposed by Pritam Singh, brother of the victim and a lawyer by profession, and Rajwati, her mother.

Kasana had allegedly threatened them with dire consequences for their plea in the court against his bail.—OC

New Delhi, December 19
Just a day after the conviction of prime accused Manu Sharma by Delhi High Court, the curtains came down on yet another episode in the Jessica Lal murder case today when an MCD team sealed Qutab Colonnade, housing the Tamarind Court restaurant where the murder took place.

As part of the court-ordered sealing drive, the civic body today targeted 23 establishments falling in the South zone, including Qutub Colonnade which presently houses a boutique and jewellery story run by Malini, daughter of key witness Bina Ramani.

The restaurant itself had been closed within an year of the incident.

An MCD team also sealed the corporate office of a mobile service provider, Bharti Airtel Ltd, India Cottage Industries and India Crafts Emporium, located within a stone's throw from Qutub Minar.

The sealing drive was carried out at Mehrauli Road, Aurobindo Marg and Anuvart Marg.

On Monday, the MCD had sealed some fashion designers' outlets and farm houses in posh south Delhi, including Mehrauli Main Market, Ambavatha, Lado Sarai and Andheria Mor, where many properties were being misused, an MCD spokesperson said.

With today's action, a total of 3,395 commercial establishments functioning from residential areas without authorisation have been sealed since the resumption of the drive on November 8.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of All India Traders today demanded the cancellation of DDA's Golden Jubilee celebrations beginning December 27 as it had 'failed to address basic issues of Delhi citizens'.

“Therefore, spending huge amounts of money on the event has no meaning and shall prove to be a mockery,” the CAIT said in a statement.

New Delhi, December 19
A delegation of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) today called on the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Commissioner, Mr A. K. Nigam, and discussed at length various sealing issues.

During discussions, the Municipal Commissioner categorically stated that all those traders falling under the category of 20 square metre in 24 specified categories of items, retail shops and shops of other activities and professional activities establishments carrying commercial activities on 2,183 notified roads are liable for registration before December 31.

He also stated that all such registration would be done online only and registration seekers would have to pay only Rs 1,000 for retail shops, Rs 500 for other activities and Rs 250 for professional activities establishments as registration charges.

The CAIT secretary general, Mr Praveen Khandelwal, said that the core 
committee of the confederation would be meeting shortly and would decide the final strategy on registration issue and the trade bodies would be informed accordingly.

He also said that the CAIT had vigorously taken up the issue of reduction in rates of conversion charges with the Union Government and very soon the CAIT would meet the Union Urban Development Minister Mr Jaipal Reddy and State Minister Mr Ajay Maken to apprise them of the gross resentment among the traders community on conversion charges issue.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of All India Traders has demanded from the Union Government to refrain DDA from celebrating its Golden Jubilee Celebrations beginning from December 27.

“The DDA has failed to address basic issues of Delhi citizens and has over ruled its charter of serving Delhi people and therefore spending huge amount on Golden Jubilee Celebrations has no meaning and will prove to be a mockery,” its members said. 

New Delhi, December 19
The DDA today sold out three hotel sites at Vikas Sadan, taking the total number of plots auctioned this year to 15.

The plots are located at Shahadra Central Business District in the East Shalimar Bagh District Centre in the North and Dwarka Sector 14 in the South. The plots were sold for a total amount of Rs 574.059 crore.

The plots, measuring 8,446 square metre, 6,151 square metre and 24,355 square metre respectively, were purchased by the reputed developers like Parsvnath Developer Ltd, Anus Finlease and Construction (P) Ltd and Brilliant Buildtech Pvt. Ltd.

The biggest plot was at Dwarka and was sold for the highest bid of Rs 449.91 crores. No bids were received for the hotel sites at Dwarka, Sector 10.

The DDA has sold a total of 15 plots so far this year, four of them being hotel plots.

It is expected that the construction on these plots will commence soon and hotels will be ready before the Commonwealth Games 2010, DDA spokesman said. 

New Delhi, December 19
The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) has welcomed the cabinet's decision to set up wage boards for journalists and non-journalist employees of newspapers.

The constitution of wage boards was long overdue, the DUJ said in a statement here, and hoped the wage boards would start functioning soon and announce interim relief as early as possible as spiraling prices have caused heavily erosion in the wages of newspaper industry.

The DUJ also hoped that the government would soon announce the setting up of a Media Commission to look into the entire media scene which has undergone a sea change since the last Press Commission submitted its report over two decades ago.

The DUJ also asked the government to take steps for reinstatement of illegally retrenched 362 employees of the Hindustan Times. 

New Delhi, December 19
The teachers' community from Delhi University is all set to elect its two representatives to the university's highest statutory executive body, the DU Executive Council, for a period of two years. This key election is scheduled for tomorrow.

Besides the two executive council members (EC), over 26 teachers' representatives will also be elected to the highest academic body of the university, the DU Academic Council.

It is in this context that Dr S.S. Rathi, chairman of the Academics for Action and Development (AAD), has appealed to all DU teachers to help elect the right kind of representatives. He stressed that, "They should evaluate the past performance and sincerity of purpose of contestant groups and individual activists on the issues of collective concerns."

The AAD has suggested the name of outgoing EC member, Dr Rekha Dayal, for EC membership. While, for AC membership, the AAD's candidates include Dr Veena Aggarwal, Dr Rajiv Kumar Verma, J. Khuntia, Dr Kishore Kumar Aggarwal and R.C. Thakur.

Greater Noida, December 19
Students taking the UP Technical University examinations were stunned to find that supervisors had distributed wrong question papers to them in an examination conducted on Monday.

When the students protested noisily against this, the authorities realised their mistake and started looking for the question papers of the subject scheduled for the day in the exam datesheet.

The examination of third semester of the B. Tech first year was scheduled for Monday. The students had come prepared for the paper of 'Network and Systems', but they were given the paper on 'Basic Systems and Analysis', which led to students creating a ruckus

They were later assured that the university would take a 'lenient view' and all the students would be declared passed in the examination in question.

Since it was not possible to dispatch the paper scheduled for the day in such a short time, the authorities decided to ask the students to give the examination of the subject of which the question papers had already been distributed. The students were assured that some additional marks would be allowed to compensate them so that they clear the exam.

Interestingly, this faux pass was not confined to one centre alone, but all examination centres in various institutions.

When the university officials were contacted in Lucknow, they blamed the staff at the university in Lucknow for "carelessly dispatching wrong question papers". 

Noida, December 19
The Lok Adalat organised by the District Judicial Service Authority resolved 375 cases yesterday. The Lok Adalat imposed a fine of Rs 6 lakh on the defaulters while Rs 14 lakh was recovered as tax revenues. In all 1,268 cases have been filed in the Lok Adalat situated in the district court complex in Phase-II Noida. Majority of the cases pertained to small crimes.

The Lok Adalat was held on the orders of the District and Session Judge, S.N.H. Zaidi.

Fifteen, out of a total of 22 criminal cases, were decided in the Lok Adalat and a fine of Rs 4,18,635 was imposed on the parties yesterday. Some 300 cases, out of a total of over 1,000, cases of small crimes were also decided.

The next Lok Adalat will be held in the Judicial complex Noida Phase-II on January 7, 2007.

Faridabad, December 19
Hundreds of snake charmers assembled here to protest against the government in view of the legislation that prohibits them to continue with their age-old profession. The law is meant to curb any physical torture on animals. They demanded the law should be repealed so that they are able to continue with their profession.

The gathering of the snake charmers was organized by Vaid Iqbal Singh Shastri, who runs an NGO called Nav Jeevan Society.

He lamented that it was inhuman to put snake charmers in the category of the ban imposed in connection with animal rights. He claimed that no physical torture of the animals was carried out by snake charmers as alleged by certain bodies working in the area.

He said that snake charmers were a 'part of the Indian cultural heritage', making it unjustifiable to include it under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act.

According to Risal Nath, president of the Panchayat of snake charmers of Northern region of India, "Around 10,000 people are dependent on this profession and they will starve if they are stopped from pursuing it." He added that the community has been treating snakes like 'children'. He claims, “There is no question of torturing them, as snakes are our source of livelihood.”