Tag: Guj

Defamation case: No interim relief for Rahul as Guj HC reserves order on revision plea

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Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday reserved its orders in the revision plea filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in connection with his conviction in a defamation case that subsequently led to his disqualification as a Member of Parliament.
Rahul Gandhi had appealed to the Gujarat High Court for an interim stay of his conviction until the court pronounced its order on his petition.
However, the single judge hearing the case, Justice Hemant Prachchhak, has postponed his decision until after the summer vacation, which ends on June 4.

On April 29, Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer — Abhishek Manu Singhvi, also a Congress leader, argued in the court that his client had not committed any heinous crime or an offence involving moral turpitude, which are the two tests for denying suspension of conviction.
The case stems from a 2019 rally in Kolar, Karnataka, where Rahul Gandhi had said, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come all the thieves have ‘Modi’ as a common surname?”
This remark led to a criminal defamation case being filed against him by Surat BJP legislator, Purnesh Modi.
Gandhi had been sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court, leading to his disqualification as a Member of Parliament.
During the previous hearing, Justice Prachchhak had emphasised that Rahul Gandhi, being an elected representative of the people, should have been more cautious while making statements.

Singhvi had argued that the maximum punishment for a bailable, non-cognizable offence of two years could result in his disqualification, leading to a “very serious additional irreversible consequence to the person and the constituency he represents”.
Earlier this year, the Sessions Court in Surat had dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s plea seeking suspension of his conviction by the Magistrate court, stating that his disqualification would not result in an irreversible loss to him.
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#Defamation #case #interim #relief #Rahul #Guj #reserves #order #revision #plea
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 2, 2023
‘Modi surname’ case: Rahul moves Guj HC against sessions court verdict

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Ahmedabad: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has moved the Gujarat High Court challenging the Surat Sessions court verdict that rejected his plea seeking a stay on his conviction in the 2019 criminal defamation case over the ‘Modi surname’ remark.
The hearing in the case is likely this week.
A Surat court on April 20 rejected Rahul Gandhi’s plea seeking a stay on his conviction in the 2019 criminal defamation case.

The Congress had said that Rahul Gandhi will move the High Court against the verdict.
In his judgement, Additional sessions judge Robin P Mogera had cited Gandhi’s stature as an MP and former chief of the country’s second-largest political party and said he should have been more careful. He cited prima facie evidence and observations of the trial court and said it transpires that Gandhi made certain derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi apart from comparing people with the same surname with thieves.
Mogera said the surname of the complainant in the case, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Purnesh Modi, is also Modi. “…the complainant is [also an] ex-minister and involved in public life and such defamatory remarks would have certainly harmed his reputation and caused him pain and agony in society,” he said.
Mogera cited the disqualification criteria under the Representation of the People Act and added that removal or disqualification as MP could not be termed irreversible or irreparable loss or damage to Gandhi.
Earlier on April 3, the Sessions Court granted bail to the Congress leader.

While granting bail to the former MP, the court had issued notices to Purnesh Modi and the state government.
It heard both parties and then reserved the order for April 20.
Rahul Gandhi was a Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad but was disqualified after a lower court in Surat sentenced him to two years in jail on March 23 under sections 499 and 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in a case filed by Purnesh Modi.
The case pertained to a remark Rahul Gandhi made using the surname ‘Modi’ while addressing a campaign event ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
At a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar in April 2019, Rahul, in a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?”.
Following his conviction, Rahul was disqualified as an MP on March 24, as per a Supreme Court ruling in 2013. Under the ruling, any MP or MLA is automatically disqualified if convicted and sentenced to two years or more. (ANI)
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#Modi #surname #case #Rahul #moves #Guj #sessions #court #verdict
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 25, 2023
Hate speech: Guj court reserves order on Kajal Hindustani’s bail plea

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Gir Somnath: A court in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath district on Tuesday reserved its order on a bail plea filed by right-wing activist Kajal Hindustani in a case of her alleged “hate speech” on Ram Navami that caused a communal clash in Una town.
The court of additional sessions judge R M Asodiya reserved its order on Hindustani’s bail plea for April 13, additional public prosecutor Moham Gohel said.
The state government opposed the bail plea citing that the activist’s speech on Ram Navami hurt the sentiments of the Muslim community and subsequently led to the communal clash, Gohel said.

Hindustani had moved sessions court on Monday after a court of additional chief judicial magistrate rejected her bail and sent her to 14-day judicial custody after her surrender on April 9.
Hindustani’s speech on Ram Navami festival on March 30 caused a communal clash in Una town on April 1.
The police lodged an FIR against her on April 2 under sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 295 A (deliberate or malicious act intending to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Hindustani, who identifies herself as an entrepreneur, research analyst, debater, social activist, and nationalist and a “proud Indian” on her Twitter bio and has over 92,000 followers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and is a regular at events organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
She is known for her fiery speeches targeting the minority community, including the one she delivered at a ‘Hindu Sammelan’ organised by the VHP on the occasion of Ram Navami.

Communal tension prevailed in Una for two days, which led to clash and stone pelting between two communities on April 1.
The police have arrested 96 people and registered an FIR against 76 named persons and a mob of around 200 people under various IPC sections including 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 337 (rash or negligent act to cause hurt), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting) and 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons).
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#Hate #speech #Guj #court #reserves #order #Kajal #Hindustanis #bail #plea
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 11, 2023
Guj court acquits all 26 accused in 2002 gangrape & murders case

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Godhra: A court in Gujarat has acquitted all 26 persons accused of gang rape and murder of more than a dozen members of a minority community in separate incidents in Kalol during 2002 communal riots for want of evidence in the 20-year-old case.
Of the total 39 accused, 13 died during the pendency of the case and the trial against them was abated.
A court of additional sessions judge of Halol in Panchmahal district, Leelabhai Chudasama, on Friday acquitted 26 persons for the offence of murder, gangrape and rioting for want of evidence.
“As many as 13 out of a total 39 accused in the case had died during the pendency of the trial,” the court said in the order passed on Friday.

The accused persons were part of a mob that went on a rampage in the communal riots that broke out on March 1, 2002, during a bandh call given after the Sabarmati train burning incident in Godhra on February 27. An FIR was lodged against the accused at Kalol police station on March 2 that year.
The prosecution examined 190 witnesses and 334 documentary evidence in support of its argument, but the court said there were contradictions in the witnesses’ accounts, and they did not support the prosecution’s argument.
On March 1, 2002, a mob of over 2,000 people from two different communities clashed with sharp weapons and inflammable objects in Kalol city in Gandhinagar district.
They damaged shops and set them on fire. A man who was injured in police firing and being rushed to the hospital was burnt alive along with a tempo. The mob attacked and killed another man coming out of a mosque and burnt his body inside the mosque.
In another incident, 38 persons fleeing Delol village and coming towards Kalol were attacked and 11 of them were burnt alive. A woman was gang raped when she and others were trying to escape, as per the FIR.

(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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#Guj #court #acquits #accused #gangrape #murders #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 2, 2023
Chicken is treated as animal under law: Guj Govt tells HC

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Ahmedabad: Chicken and other varieties of poultry birds fall in the animal’ category under the Food Safety and Standards Act, the Gujarat Government told the High Court on Friday.
It prompted senior lawyer Percy Kavina, who is representing chicken shops which have faced action for violation of rules, to say that in that case poultry shops will have to engage veterinary doctors to comply fully with law.
In January, two NGOs filed a PIL in the High Court seeking a ban on supply of poultry birds to meat shops contending that birds were illegally slaughtered in these establishments instead of being sent to slaughterhouses.
The HC then directed the authorities to take action against unlicensed meat shops. Civic bodies across the state raided meat shops and issued closure notices to several of them for violation of rules.
Several chicken shops were also shut during this drive. The owners of these sealed meat shops and chicken shops approached the High Court for relief.
The bench of Justice NV Anjaria and Justice Niral Mehta was hearing these civil applications. During the hearing on these applications on Friday, Government Pleader Manisha Lavkumar said the definition ofanimal’ under the Act also includes poultry.
Fish is not included because they are not “slaughtered” but only taken out of water, the lawyer said.
Advocate Kavina said the inclusion of poultry in the larger category of meat “goes against age old practice of how meat has been sold and consumed.”
When poultry birds are slaughtered in a small concealed area discreetly, it should not be banned, he said.

If chicken is considered to be on par with meat, “chicken shop owners need to appoint a veterinarian to do the stamping (as in slaughterhouses),” he said.
“Inclusion of poultry as an animal ignores the way poultry is sold in retail. You are insisting that poultry is meat and therefore it must be checked pre-slaughter and post-slaughter and then it should be stamped. It is impossible for small chicken sellers. He will have to keep a vet there,” said Kavina.
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#Chicken #treated #animal #law #Guj #Govt #tells
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 31, 2023
IIT-B student’s death: Mumbai Police quiz kin; candle marches in Guj on Feb 19

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Mumbai: A three-member team of Mumbai Police on Thursday met the family members of Darshan Solanki, a student of IIT-Bombay who ended his life on the Powai campus on February 12 – and recorded their statements, a family member said.
The police called on Solanki’s family members at their home in Maninagar on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on Thursday morning and posed various questions pertaining to 18-year-old Solanki’s sudden death.
Simultaneously, several student bodies in Gujarat will hold a peace procession which will culminate with a candle-lit march to pay homage to Solanki, the relative told IANS, but declined to be quoted.
The procession and candle march will be held in Ahmedabad and several other cities of Gujarat between 6.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. on Sunday, he added.
A day before, the distraught family had expressed suspicions of foul play behind the extreme measure taken by Solanki – who hailed from a Dalit family – shocking the educational circles all over the country.
The police had earlier recorded the family’s initial statements and are now questioning other students and hostelites on various aspects, including allegations of caste discrimination, which the IIT-B management has officially denied.
A student body on the campus, Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle-IITB, had issued a detailed statement last Monday pointing at alleged caste discrimination, which the IIT-B has rejected outright.
Meanwhile, Dalit leader and Congress MLA from Vadgam, Jignesh Mevani, on Thursday demanded an investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the death of Solanki.

Mevani told the media in Ahmedabad that the tragic incident involved a Dalit student who got into IIT Bombay after clearing the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) with flying colours.
The Maharashtra government should set up an SIT to probe the incident because the family suspects foul play, Mevani said. The Dalit leader also demanded that the government should pay Rs 50 lakh compensation to the deceased student’s family.
Solanki’s father, Ramesh Solanki, has alleged that his son was harassed by the other students because “we are Dalits”.
“When he visited us during Makar Sankranti, he had complained to his aunt that the other students were harassing him, taunting him that ‘because you are a Dalit, you got an opportunity to study free of cost’,” Ramesh Solanki said.
In a related development, the students of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalay in Wardha have sent a memorandum to President Draupadi Murmu urging the Centre to enact a ‘Rohith Vemula Act’ to safeguard students from marginalised communities in nationally important institutions of higher learning and end the suicides that are being reported from there, citing the two cases – one each at IIT-B and IIT-Madras this week – and an attempted suicide case in IIT-Madras.
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#IITB #students #death #Mumbai #Police #quiz #kin #candle #marches #Guj #Feb
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 16, 2023
Guj court rejects bail pleas of seven accused in Morbi bridge collapse case

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Morbi: A court here on Saturday rejected the bail applications of seven people arrested in connection with the collapse of a suspension bridge in Morbi town of Gujarat, in which 135 people were killed.
The court of principal sessions judge P C Joshi refused to grant bail to the seven accused, including two managers of Oreva Group, the company which was given the contract for operation and maintenance of the bridge.
The British-era bridge on Machchhu river collapsed on October 30, 2022, days after it was reopened following repairs.
Jaysukh Patel, the managing director of Oreva Group, had surrendered before a court here on February 1 before his arrest.
The Morbi police had last week filed a chargesheet in the case, in which 10 persons have been arrested so far, including Patel.
The other nine arrested persons include two managers of the firm, two ticket-booking clerks, three security guards and two sub-contractors who were engaged for the repair works by Oreva Group.
The bail pleas of these nine persons were rejected earlier by the Gujarat High Court and sessions court. Except the two sub-contractors, the other seven once again approached court for bail on Thursday.
Earlier, a special investigation team (SIT), which was formed by the state government to probe the collapse, had cited several lapses on the part of the firm.
Nearly 250 persons were on the hanging bridge, a popular tourist site, when it caved in.

According to the SIT, the lapses included lack of restriction on the number of persons accessing the bridge and no curb on sale of tickets, which led to unrestricted movement on the structure, and carrying out repairs without consulting experts.
The probe had revealed the new metal flooring done by the firm had increased the weight of the structure and it had failed to change the rusted cables on which the entire bridge was hanging.
Apart from this, the contractors hired by Patel’s firm were not qualified to carry out such repair and renovation work, the SIT stated.
The probe report also revealed the Oreva Group did not hire any expert agency to assess the load-bearing capacity of the carriageway before throwing it open to the public after repair and renovation work.
The prosecution had earlier informed the lower court that the firm had sold 3,165 tickets on the day of the collapse alone and there was no coordination between ticket booking offices on both sides of the bridge.
All 10 accused, including Jaysukh Patel, have been charged under the Indian Penal Code sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 336 (act which endangers human life), 337 (causing hurt to any person by doing any rash or negligent act) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by doing rash or negligent act).
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#Guj #court #rejects #bail #pleas #accused #Morbi #bridge #collapse #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 4, 2023
Guj: VHP withdraws protest against ‘Pathaan’ after removal of ‘objectionable’ content

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Ahmedabad: The Gujarat unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Tuesday withdrew its protest against Shah Rukh Khan-starrer “Pathaan”, a day before its release, expressing satisfaction over the removal of “objectionable” contents from the film.
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has revised the “obscene song” and “lewd words” in the film and hence the right-wing groups will no longer protest against its release, the Gujarat VHP’s secretary Ashok Raval said in a statement.
“Pathaan” has been facing backlash for featuring actor Deepika Padukone in a saffron bikini in the song Besharam Rang’. Several leaders, including from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, had sought a ban on the film, which is scheduled to release on Wednesday.
Talking to PTI, Raval claimed that in its recent circular, the censor board has made 40 to 45 corrections regarding songs, colour and clothes, which resolve the issues and hence, they no longer need to protest.
This was a victory of the Hindu community, he claimed.
The VHP leader in a statement said, “Following the Bajrang Dal’s protests against ‘Pathaan’, the Censor Board has revised the obscene song and unsavoury words in the film, which is good news. I congratulate all the activists and the entire Hindu community who fought this successful struggle for the protection of religion and culture.”
It is now up to the enlightened citizens to decide whether to watch the film, he said.
The right-wing groups had earlier threatened to stop the release of the film in Gujarat, while the state government had assured police protection to theatres following a representation made by multiplex owners.

Representatives of the Multiplex Association of Gujarat had last week met Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi in Gandhinagar concerned about the threat they had received from various groups.
Sanghavi had assured them support and promised to deploy policemen outside movie theatres for smooth screening of the film.
Earlier on Sunday, five activists of the VHP were arrested in Surat for rioting after they barged into a movie theatre and tore down posters of the movie. Similar protests were reported earlier.
The advance bookings for “Pathaan”, backed by Yash Raj Films, opened from January 20. The film is reportedly set to be released across India on 5,000 screens. It is the first Shah Rukh Khan film to have 6 am shows.
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#Guj #VHP #withdraws #protest #Pathaan #removal #objectionable #content
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 24, 2023