Tag: Court

Atiq Ahmed’s shooters to be presented before Prayagraj Court, police to seek remand

[ad_1]
Prayagraj: Gangster Atiq Ahmed’s shooters will be presented before the CGM court in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj on Wednesday where the Special Investigation Team has filed an application in the court seeking remand for questioning for all three accused.
The police have sought their custody by filing an application with the Chief Magistrate and have asked for 14 days of custodial remand.
Security was increased while taking them to the court due to the incident which occurred on April 15 night when Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were killed in police presence while being taken for medical checkup.

The media is being kept away from the accused.
Earlier, the three assailants were shifted from Prayagraj’s Naini Central Jail to the Pratapgarh district jail on Monday.
“All three shooters, Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh and Lovelesh Tiwari, are under threat of attack behind bars, owing to which they have been shifted to a high-security cell and are kept under CCTV surveillance,” official sources said.
Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad were shot dead by men posing as press persons on Saturday night while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj. Both the gangsters collapsed on the spot after they were shot at nearly point-blank range.
The three shooters, Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh and Lovelesh Tiwari were sent to 14-day judicial custody by the district court on April 16.

On April 16, the last rites of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf took place at a family graveyard in the Kasari Masari area of Prayagraj.
[ad_2]
#Atiq #Ahmeds #shooters #presented #Prayagraj #Court #police #seek #remand
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 19, 2023
Delhi court convicts father-son duo in 2020 riots case

[ad_1]
New Delhi: A court here has convicted a father-son duo for rioting and arson in a case of the 2020 North East Delhi riots, saying the prosecution proved the charges against them beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case against Mithhan Singh and his son Jony Kumar was being heard by Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachala.
The duo was accused of being part of a riotous mob that set many properties on fire in lane number 4 in Khajuri Khas on February 25, 2020.

“I find that it is proved beyond doubt against both the accused that they were part of the mob which burnt the property (of complainant Shabana Khatoon). Thus, they are held guilty of the offences under sections 147 (rioting) 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon) 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house, etc) read with section 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code and convicted accordingly,” the judge said.
The court posted the matter for filing affidavits on April 19, following which the proceedings on sentencing will commence.
An unlawful assembly was established with the shared goal of harming the properties of a specific community, according to ASJ Pramachala, who took note of the statements of various public witnesses. The riotous mob also committed acts of vandalism and arson, according to the judge.
Regarding the claim that the two were members of the mob, the judge stated that none of the complainants, locals, or other witnesses backed the prosecution’s evidence and refused to label the accused as mob members.
The judge stated that prosecution witnesses Mohd. Tahir and Constable Rohtash were the only witnesses to identify the duo as mob members.

He said Tahir’s testimony was “reliable” to show both accused were out in the lane and that they had joined the riotous mob raising slogans, while Constable Rohtash was the beat officer of the area and saw the duo as part of the mob that torched Khatoon’s property.
Because there was no entry in the daily diary or formal report on the occurrence, the judge ruled that the police official’s testimony could not be discarded.
Based on the evidence of the two witnesses, there was “no doubt that both accused persons were part of the mob” that indulged in the incident of arson at Khatoon’s property, the judge said.
[ad_2]
#Delhi #court #convicts #fatherson #duo #riots #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 19, 2023
Supreme Court sides with New Jersey in dispute over port police agency

[ad_1]

The high court sided with New Jersey.
During oral arguments in March, justices were clearly willing to allow New Jersey to exit the deal; they were only trying to figure out how to do so without creating precedent that might disrupt other multistate deals, like those setting boundaries and setting water rights.
In a short, 11-page ruling, Kavanaugh distinguishes this deal, known as a compact, from such water rights cases and ruled “it would not make much sense to conclude that each State implicitly conferred on the other a perpetual veto of withdrawal” in this deal.
After the oral arguments, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, both Democrats, had their staffs start meeting to figure out how to maintain ongoing investigations, enforcement actions and operations in anticipated of a ruling in New Jersey’s favor.
[ad_2]
#Supreme #Court #sides #Jersey #dispute #port #police #agency
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 18, 2023
PNB scam: PMLA court grants bail to Nirav Modi’s close aide

[ad_1]
Mumbai: A special PMLA court here on Tuesday granted bail to Subash Parab, a close aide of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case.
Parab was a deputy general manager (finance) at Firestar Diamond, a firm owned by Modi, and was deported to India from Cairo in Egypt in April 2022.
Special PMLA judge S M Menjonge allowed the Parab’s bail plea, citing that it appeared from the bail application that the accused was not beneficiary of the proceeds of crime.

Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are accused of duping PNB, a public sector bank, of Rs 13,000 crore using letters of undertaking (LoUs) and foreign letters of credit (FLCs) by bribing its officials at the Brady House branch in Mumbai.
Parab is understood to be a key witness to the letters of undertaking submitted to the bank to siphon off more than Rs 7,000 crore.
India had issued an Interpol Red Notice against Parab to track him down and bring him back.
In February, he was granted bail in a related case being probed by the CBI.
A LoU is a guarantee given by a bank to Indian banks having branches abroad for the grant of short-term credit to an applicant. In case of default, the bank issuing the LoU has to pay the liability.

The companies of Modi and Choksi took loans from banks abroad using the PNB’s LoUs, but did not repay them, thus transferring the liability to the bank.
[ad_2]
#PNB #scam #PMLA #court #grants #bail #Nirav #Modis #close #aide
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 18, 2023
Pak court sends Chinese man to 14-day remand on blasphemy charges

[ad_1]
Peshawar: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has sent a Chinese national to jail on a 14-day judicial remand on blasphemy charges in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after he was arrested on Monday, according to media reports on Tuesday.
The police arrested the Chinese national identified as Tian on Sunday and on Monday he was shifted to Abbottabad via an Army helicopter due to security concerns as the police feared local people could harm him.
Tian was booked on blasphemy charges and sent to prison on a 14-day judicial remand by an Abbottabad anti-terrorism court on Monday, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The Chinese citizen, a manager at the Dasu Hydropower Project, the biggest hydropower project in Pakistan, in the Upper Kohistan district of the province, allegedly made blasphemous remarks on Friday when the workers were going to perform the weekly prayer.
According to local people, the Chinese manager complained to workers at the dam that “precious time” was being lost due to prayer breaks.
The Dasu Hydropower Project is a major venture under the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPC).
“We have arrested the foreigner suspect under blasphemy and terrorism charges and airlifted him from here to present him before the anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Abbottabad,” District Police Officer (DPO) Upper Kohistan, Mohammad Khalid, was quoted as saying in the report.
The suspect was later produced before the ATC amid strict security measures. The DPO said the Chinese national was moved to Islamabad onboard a helicopter on Monday evening, the report said.

The police registered a first information report (FIR) against Tian at the Dasu police station on Monday, hours after hundreds of residents and labourers working on the dam project blocked a key highway and rallied, demanding his arrest.
Under Pakistan’s tough blasphemy laws, the offence carries the death penalty.
According to the officer, police swung into action after getting reports on Sunday night that a local mob tried to break into a Chinese camp near the project site.
The mob was controlled, but they assembled again on Monday and blocked the Karakoram Highway, which links Pakistan with China, in a protest that lasted for over six to seven hours, demanding the Chinese national’s arrest.
The blocked highway was later reopened to traffic, and work resumed at the Dasu Dam after Tian’s arrest.
In Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the embassy in Islamabad was looking into the incident.
“The Chinese government has always asked Chinese citizens overseas to abide by the laws and regulations of their host countries and respect local customs and traditions,” Wang told reporters at a regular news briefing.
Meanwhile, in a bid to defuse the situation, a team of Ulema from nearby towns and villages have set up a committee to examine the situation.
The meeting was attended, among others, by Upper Kohistan Deputy Commissioner Irfanullah Mehsood and District Police Officer Mohammad Khalid.
The participants urged the agitators not to take the law into their hands as police and the district administration were “handling the matter admirably”.
Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan. On December 3, 2021, a Sri Lankan national working in a factory in Sialkot was lynched by a mob after workers accused him of blasphemy.
The Dasu Hydropower Project site was hit by a suicide bus blast in July 2021, in which 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals, were killed.
Nine Chinese nationals and two Frontier Corps soldiers were among those killed when the bus carrying Chinese engineers and workers to the site of the under-construction Dasu Dam exploded.
The Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), in a report in January 2022, stated that as many as 89 citizens were killed in 1,415 accusations and cases of blasphemy in the country since independence.
The report said that from 1947 to 2021, 18 women and 71 men were extra-judicially killed over blasphemy accusations. The allegations were made against 107 women and 1,308 men.
A large number of Chinese nationals have been working in Pakistan on various projects being undertaken under the CEPC.
[ad_2]
#Pak #court #sends #Chinese #man #14day #remand #blasphemy #charges
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 18, 2023
Biden DOJ wins transfer of lawsuit challenging student loan rule away from conservative Texas court

[ad_1]
Critics have accused conservative opponents of Biden policies of filing their lawsuits in particular divisions in the district, seeking to guarantee they’re heard by a sympathetic judge. The Biden administration, for example, has accused Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of “judge shopping” in recent cases he’s filed in the district challenging various administration policies.
The lawsuit that Pittman agreed to transfer on Monday was brought by a for-profit college trade association that wants to block a new Biden administration policy that makes it easier for student loan borrowers to have their debts forgiven when they are misled or defrauded by their college.
Career Colleges & Schools of Texas, which filed the case in February, is trying to block the Education Department’s rewrite of federal standards — known as “borrower defense to repayment” — that govern when the agency discharges a student loan based on a college’s misconduct. The group argues that the policy, which is set to take effect July 1, is an illegal and unfair effort by the Biden administration to provide more loan forgiveness to borrowers while sticking colleges with the bill.
In a six-page decision, Pittman rejected arguments by the Austin-based association that it should be able to pursue the case in the Fort Worth division of the Northern District of Texas on behalf of member schools in that area that would be affected by the new policy even though the group itself doesn’t have any office or employees there.
Pittman ruled that connection to the district was too far removed. Career Colleges & Schools of Texas “may have an interest in assisting various burdened parties in the division, but it does not have any presence,” Pittman wrote, concluding that “venue is improper” in his district.
The Biden administration had asked that the case be moved either to Austin where the college group is based or federal district court in Washington, D.C. Pittman ruled that Austin would be the “more appropriate” venue because it still “affords some ‘respect’ to Plaintiff’s original choice of forum — even though it was an incorrect one.”
The Justice Department declined to comment. An attorney representing Career Colleges & Schools of Texas said that the organization would not comment on pending litigation.
The Northern District of Texas is widely seen a one of the nation’s most conservative with GOP appointed judges who have demonstrated a willingness to strike down major Democratic policies.

Pittman, for example, was the judge who first blocked Biden’s sweeping student debt relief program last fall. His colleague Judge Reed O’Connor is a George W. Bush appointee who notably struck down the Affordable Care Act in 2018.
More recently, another judge in the district, Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, authored the controversial ruling earlier this month that overturned the Food and Drug Administration’s decades-old approval of a common abortion pill. That decision is on pause while the Supreme Court hears an emergency appeal.
Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
#Biden #DOJ #wins #transfer #lawsuit #challenging #student #loan #rule #conservative #Texas #court
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 18, 2023
Senate Dems weighing a Clarence Thomas invite to future Supreme Court ethics hearing

[ad_1]
Earlier in the day, when asked if he’d consider subpoenaing Thomas for his testimony, Durbin told reporters that his panel would “talk about a number of options.”
Thomas’ behavior was “high on the list” of topics discussed Monday evening, said Blumenthal, who added that there is no final decision yet on who else should testify.
Durbin has not yet confirmed that Thomas would be asked to testify. Any subpoena that Democrats might issue, should the justice turn down such an invitation, would likely be challenged and could end up before Thomas and his colleagues at the high court.
Judiciary Democrats already sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts urging him to investigate Thomas’ undisclosed acceptance of luxury travel and gifts from wealthy GOP donor Harlan Crow. Later reports from ProPublica delved into the sale to Crow of three Georgia properties, including the home where Thomas’ mother currently lives.
“What he did is really unprecedented, the magnitude of the gifts and luxury travel but the money changing hands and the nondisclosure,” said Blumenthal.
Senators are still hoping that the Supreme Court will take its own action, but Durbin said his panel was also open to discussing proposals to impose a formal code of ethics on the court.
“This reflects on the integrity of the Supreme Court. [Roberts] should take the initiative and initiate his own investigation and promise results that answer this problem directly,” the chair said on Monday.
[ad_2]
#Senate #Dems #weighing #Clarence #Thomas #invite #future #Supreme #Court #ethics #hearing
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 18, 2023
Karnataka court orders filing of criminal case against Janardhana Reddy

[ad_1]
Bengaluru: Mining baron-turned-politician Janardhana Reddy, who is all set to contest Karnataka Assembly elections by launching a new party, on Monday suffered a setback as a special court has ordered filing of criminal case against him.
The Special Court for People’s Representatives here has given this order in connection with the illegal selling of iron ore. Investigation Officer Manjunath Annigeri had submitted a private complaint in this regard.
The court after looking into the complaint ordered filing of the criminal case against 16 persons including Janardhana Reddy and Congress MLA B. Nagendra.

The court has given direction to lodge a case under the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, citing Sections 21, 23, 4(1), 41(A) of the act and adjourned the matter to June 24.
The complaint is regarding the sale of iron ore which caused loss of Rs 211 crores for the state exchequer between 2008 and 2011. The accused came together to avoid payment of royalty, and cess to the state government.
Presently, Janardhana Reddy has launched a new party in Karnataka to fight the May 10 Assembly elections, and claimed that without his support, the national parties can not form the government.
Subscribe us on

[ad_2]
#Karnataka #court #orders #filing #criminal #case #Janardhana #Reddy
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 17, 2023
‘Govt forcing police to deny hunger strike’, YSRTP to knock court doors

[ad_1]
Hyderabad: YSR Telangana party on Monday said that it would knock on court doors to get permission for Telangana Students’ Action for Vacancies and Employment’s (T-SAVE) day-long hunger strike at Indira Park, which was refused by the city police earlier.
Addressing the media after the political affairs committee meeting, YSRTP official spokesperson Gattu Ramachandra Rao said, “This is completely shocking and a sorry picture where YS Sharmila is repeatedly being targeted because chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao is now scared of her fight and commitment towards Telangana”.
The YSRTP spokesperson said that the CM KCR’s treatment of those who raised their voices against his failures and fake promises was atrocious and dictatorial. Rao claimed that the state government is forcing the Hyderabad police to refuse permission to a T-SAVE hunger strike.

He said that the party is tirelessly fighting for the cause and the rights of the unemployed. “Not only is the state government silent and arrogant, but they are also depriving us of our right to fight and protest,” alleged Rao.
He said that it is shameful that a democratic setup does not let the partymen enter their own party office.
“T-SAVE was proposed as a common platform and we had decided to conduct a hunger strike, for a day near Indira Park. This plea was rejected by the city police. Is this fair on KCR who owes his party’s emergence and existence to public movements and people’s protests?” he added.
“Didn’t KCR also conduct protests at Indira Park? Why different rules for Bharat Sashtra Samithi (BRS) and other parties?” added Ramachandra Rao.
He said that the YSRTP will approach the court to obtain permission to conduct the day-long hunger strike. “We have the support of 39 social organisations and other political parties as well. When BRS can carry out dharnas in Delhi, why does it pose obstacles for other parties in Telangana? Isn’t it because they are scared?” said the party spokesperson.

The hunger strike was announced at T-SAVE’s inaugural roundtable meeting on April 10. YSRTP leader Sharmila had announced that her party will stage a hunger strike for a day at Indira Park to “bring this government to task” and put pressure and force it to deliver justice to the youth.
[ad_2]
#Govt #forcing #police #deny #hunger #strike #YSRTP #knock #court #doors
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 17, 2023
Russian court dismisses jailed Wall Street Journal reporter’s appeal

[ad_1]

MOSCOW — A Moscow city court on Tuesday dismissed American journalist Evan Gershkovich’s appeal to be released from a high-security jail where he is being held on espionage charges.
Gershkovich’s defense team had requested that the Wall Street Journal correspondent be transferred to house arrest, another jail or released on bail.
Although the outcome of the appeal hearing was never really in doubt, it was significant as the first time Gershkovich has been seen in public since he was arrested last month in the Ural mountains’ city of Yekaterinburg.
Confined to a glass cage, as is customary for defendants facing criminal charges in Russia, Gershkovich seemed tense but composed. Ahead of the hearing he even flashed a couple of smiles at some of those colleagues and attendants he recognized, before the courtroom was emptied and the hearing began.
Espionage cases in Russia are veiled in secrecy and held behind closed doors.
A handful of journalists were allowed back into the courtroom for the judge’s verdict. Gershkovich, dressed in light jeans and a checkered shirt, looked downcast as he paced back and forth in his glass cage.
Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, detained Gershkovich on March 29, accusing him of spying “for the American side.” A day later he was transferred to Moscow’s high-security Lefortovo prison, where he has remained largely in isolation barring a handful of meetings with his lawyers, state prison observers and, on Monday, a visit from the U.S. ambassador after more than two weeks of being denied consular access.
Speaking outside the courthouse on Tuesday, Ambassador Lynne Tracy told journalists that Gershkovich was “in good health and remains strong despite his circumstances.”

Gershkovich, who faces up to 20 years in jail, is the first foreign journalist to be arrested on espionage charges since the Cold War and his case sends a chilling signal to both Americans in Russia and the country’s foreign press corps.
Inside the courthouse, a man dressed in civilian clothes covertly filmed journalists who came to cover the case.
‘In fight mode’
Though details are sparse, the Kremlin has repeatedly claimed, without providing evidence, that Gershkovich was “caught red handed.”
Gershkovich’s employer, the Wall Street Journal, has dismissed the charges as bogus and the White House has classified him as “wrongfully detained,” implying Gershkovich was primarily targeted for being an American citizen.
Gershkovich’s supporters hope he will eventually be released as part of a prisoner swap with the U.S. But in the past, such deals have only taken place after a conviction, which in the journalist’s case is likely to take months if not years.
Outside the court, Gershkovich’s lawyer Tatiana Nozhkina said he was “in fight mode,” determined to prove his innocence and the right to free journalism.
In prison, she said, Gershkovich spent much of his time reading, watching television, including culinary programs, and trying to stay fit with exercise.
She added that Gershkovich, who is the son of Soviet emigrés to the U.S., told his mother jokingly in a letter that the prison’s porridge breakfast reminded him of his youth.
The next time Gershkovich could appear in court will be in late May, when a judge will have to decide whether to extend the term or his pre-trial detention.

[ad_2]
#Russian #court #dismisses #jailed #Wall #Street #Journal #reporters #appeal
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

April 17, 2023