Tag: Gujarat

Gujarat HC sets up panel to probe denial of medical care to pregnant women

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Ahmedabad: A division bench of the Gujarat High Court has set up a committee to be headed by retired justice to look into two incidents where pregnant women were allegedly refused medical aid by hospitals.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Arvind Kumar and Justice A.J. Shastri while hearing a PIL observed on Tuesday, “We will appoint an independent panel, as we are seeing too many such incidents where unless an amount is paid, hospitals don’t admit patients…We want an independent authority to examine the issue.”
The court has appointed a three-member committee, which will be led by retired Justice Harsha Devani of the High Court. The other two members are Dr. Lavina Sinha, Deputy Commissioner of Police for Ahmedabad, who is also a licenced physician, and IAS Ramya Mohan, Mission Director of the National Health Mission. To assist the court on the matter Asim Pandya has been appointed as amicus curiae.
The committee will look into the two incidents in detail, prepare a detailed report and suggest remedies to the court.
A pregnant woman who gave birth outside the hospital on the sidewalk in February 2022 was refused medical attention by L.G. Hospital, which is managed by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. The newborn died soon after birth.
In another case, a pregnant woman was turned away by a private hospital in January 2022 because she was unable to pay the money. As a result, the woman gave birth on the hospital steps.
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#Gujarat #sets #panel #probe #denial #medical #care #pregnant #women
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 1, 2023
SC Collegium recommends elevation of Allahabad, Gujarat HC chief justices to apex court

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium Tuesday recommended to the Centre the names of Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Aravind Kumar for elevation as apex court judges.
While all six members of the Collegium, led by CJI DY Chandrachud, were unanimous in recommending the name of Justice Bindal, Justice K M Joseph had reservation on the name of Justice Kumar, according to a resolution uploaded on the apex court website.
The apex court, which has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges including the CJI, is functioning with 27 Judges presently.
“The resolution of the Collegium in regard to the appointment of Mr Justice Rajesh Bindal, Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, is unanimous. However, in regard to the appointment of Mr Justice Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat, Justice K M Joseph has expressed his reservations on the ground that his name can be considered at a later stage,” the resolution said.
Besides the CJI and Justice Joseph, the Collegium also comprises Justices S K Kaul, M R Shah, Ajay Rastogi and Sanjiv Khanna.
The Collegium had on December 13 recommended five judges — Justice Pankaj Mithal, Chief Justice, Rajasthan High Court; Justice Sanjay Karol, Chief Justice, Patna High Court; Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, Chief Justice, Manipur High Court; Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Judge, Patna High Court; and 5. Justice Manoj Misra, Judge, Allahabad High Court — for elevation to the apex court.
The Centre is yet to accept and notify these names, and the Collegium clarified on Tuesday these judges “shall have precedence over these two names recommended presently for appointment to the Supreme Court”.
“Therefore, the appointments of five judges recommended on December 13, 2022 should be notified separately and earlier in point of time before the two judges recommended by this resolution,” the Collegium said on Tuesday.

In its meeting held on Tuesday, the Collegium said, it deliberated on the names of chief justices and senior puisne judges of high courts eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court.
“Judgments authored by those falling in the zone of consideration for elevation to the Supreme Court were circulated among the members of the Collegium for a meaningful discussion on and assessment of their judicial acumen,” it said.
The four-page resolution said the Collegium carefully evaluated the merit, integrity and competence of “eligible Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of the High Courts”.
The Collegium also took note of the facts regarding “accommodating a plurality of considerations” while deciding the names of Justice Bindal and Justice Aravind Kumar for judgeship in the apex court.
Justice Bindal was appointed as a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 22, 2006 and became the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court on October 11, 2021.
“Mr Justice Bindal stands at Serial No. 02 in the combined All-India-seniority of High Court Judges. He is the senior most Judge hailing from the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
“While recommending his name, the Collegium has taken into consideration the fact that the Punjab and Haryana High Court which is one of the largest High Courts with a sanctioned strength of eighty-five judges is not adequately represented on the Bench of the Supreme Court. The High Court of Punjab and Haryana is a common High Court for two States,” the resolution said.
Justice Aravind Kumar was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Karnataka High Court on June 26, 2009 and was made a permanent Judge on December 7, 2012.
“He was elevated as Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat on 13 October 2021. Mr Justice Aravind Kumar stands at Sl. No.26 in the combined All-India-seniority of High Court Judges,” the resolution said.
While recommending his name, the Collegium is “conscious of the fact that in the seniority of Judges hailing from the Karnataka High Court, Mr Justice Aravind Kumar stands at Sl. No.02”, it said, adding that at present, the apex court is represented by two Judges from the Karnataka High Court.
The resolution said while recommending the two names, the Collegium has taken into consideration the seniority of Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges in their respective parent High Courts as well as overall seniority of the High Court Judges.
The resolution said there was a need to ensure diversity and inclusion in the Supreme Court by ensuring “the representation of High Courts which are not represented or are inadequately represented” in the top court.
It said the Collegium, besides gender diversity and representation of minorities, also considered that “persons from marginalized and backward segments of society” are recommended for judgeship.
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#Collegium #recommends #elevation #Allahabad #Gujarat #chief #justices #apex #court
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 1, 2023
MD of firm that operated Morbi suspension bridge surrenders before Gujarat court

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Morbi: Managing Director of Oreva Group Jaysukh Patel, an accused in the last year’s Morbi suspension bridge collapse case who is facing culpable homicide not amounting to murder charges, on Tuesday surrendered before a court here in Gujarat and was subsequently sent to jail.
As many as 135 people were killed and scores others injured when a suspension bridge collapsed in Gujarat’s Morbi town on October 30 last year.
Patel, whose company was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the carriageway, surrendered before the Morbi-based court of chief judicial magistrate which had issued an arrest warrant against him. The court accepted his application for surrender and sent him to jail under judicial custody.
The businessman was named as the tenth accused in the case in a chargesheet filed by the police on January 27.
Ajanta Manufacturing Ltd (Oreva Group) was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river that collapsed, days after its repairs. Nearly 250 persons were on the more than a century-old hanging bridge, a popular tourist site, when it caved in.
“Jaysukh Patel surrendered before the court of chief judicial magistrate MJ Khan which had issued an arrest warrant against him under section 70 of the CrPC. The court accepted his application and sent him to judicial custody. The police will approach the court and seek his custody,” said Dilip Agechaniya, a lawyer representing families of the victims.
The CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) section 70 deals with warrant of arrest.
As the Oreva Group Managing Director arrived in the court for surrender, angry kin of the victims who had gathered outside the court shouted slogans against him.

After his surrender, Patel was taken for a medical check-up.
“Jaysukh Patel surrendered in the court today. He was sent to judicial custody. We will soon initiate the process of seeking his custody from the court,” said Morbi Superintendent of Police Rahul Tripathi.
In the chargesheet running in more than 1,200 pages and filed in the court of chief judicial magistrate MJ Khan by Deputy Superintendent of Police P S Zala, Patel was shown as the tenth accused.
Earlier, fearing arrest in the case, Patel had moved an anticipatory bail plea in the court and it was due to come up for hearing on February 1.
On October 31, a day after the tragedy, the Morbi police had arrested nine persons in connection with the case, including two managers of the Oreva Group, two ticket booking clerks, two sub-contractors who repaired the bridge and three security guards deployed on the cable-stayed structure to guide and control the crowd.
Two weeks ago, the same court issued an arrest warrant against Patel.
All the ten accused, including Patel, have been charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) 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 under 338 (causing grievous hurt by doing rash or negligent act).
During a suo motu (on its own motion) hearing on the tragedy in the Gujarat High Court recently, the Oreva Group offered to pay compensation to the victims. However, the court made it clear the compensation would “not absolve it of any liability”.
A special investigation team (SIT) formed by the state government to probe the collapse had cited several lapses on the part of the firm.
The lapses included no restriction on the number of persons accessing the bridge and no curb on sale of tickets, which led to unrestricted movement on the bridge, as well as 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, while the rusted cables on which the entire bridge was hanging were not changed by the Oreva Group.
Moreover, both contractors hired by Patel’s firm were not qualified to carry out such repair and renovation work, according to the SIT.
The probe report also revealed the Ahmedabad-based 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 group had sold 3,165 tickets on October 30 (the day of the collapse) alone and there was no coordination between ticket booking offices on both sides of the bridge, the lower court was informed in the past by the prosecution.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 31, 2023
Godman Asaram convicted in Gujarat rape case

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Gandhinagar: A court in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar on Monday found “godman” Asaram Bapu guilty in a 2013 rape case, and will announce the quantum of punishment on Tuesday.
The Additional District Sessions Court, however, acquitted six other accused in the rape case – Asaram’s wife Lakshmiben, daughter Bharati, Nirmala Lalvani, Meera Kalvani, Dhruvben Lalvani, and Javantiben Chaudhary.
Special Public Prosecutor R.C. Kodekar told media that the victim had registered a case with Surat police, which was transferred to Ahmedabad police in 2013. The Chandkheda police station had registered a case under various section of the IPC, including rape by one or more in group, common intent, unnatural offence, criminal force on women, wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation against 8 persons, including Asaram Bapu, and his son Narayan Sai.
While Asaram is presently in Jodhpur jail following conviction in another rape case, a separate trial against Narayan Sai is going on in the Surat court.
Two sisters had filed complaint against Asaram and his son, alleging that between 1997 to 2006, they were raped at the Motera Ashram run by Asaram and his son. The younger sister had lodged a complaint against Narayan Sai and the older against Asaram.
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#Godman #Asaram #convicted #Gujarat #rape #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 30, 2023
Junior clerk exam paper leak: Gujarat ATS arrests accused from Hyderabad

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Hyderabad: A Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) team has reportedly arrested Jit Nayak, an accused in the junior clerk exam paper leakage case, from the city. Although 15 accused persons were identified and arrested in the case, Nayak allegedly fled Ahmedabad and took shelter in Hyderabad.
On credible information, the ATS team located the accused in the city and arrested him. He reportedly is being taken to Gujarat, Ahmedabad on a transit warrant.
The recruitment examination for the post of junior clerks with the Gujarat government was postponed by the Gujarat Panchayat Service Selection Board (GPSSB) hours before it was to be held on Sunday after its question paper was reportedly leaked.
The Gujarat ATS arrested 16 persons in connection with the case registered under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy. The ATS also claimed to have busted an inter-state gang involved in paper leaks.
Gujarat Panchayat Service Selection Board (GPSSB) has announced 1000 vacancies for Class III Junior Clerk (Administration/Account) posts. As many as over 9.53 lakh candidates had applied. The examination was to be conducted at 2,995 examination centres across the state.
In an official statement, the Gujarat ATS declared the names of the 15 accused as Pradeep Nayak, Ketan Barot, Bhaskar Chaudhary, Murari Kumar Paswan, Kamlesh Chaudhary, Mohammed Firoz Alam, Sarvesh Kumar, Mintu Kumar Rai, Mukesh Kumar, Prabhat Kumar, Aniket Bhatt, Raj Barot, Pranay Sharma, Hardik Sharma and Naresh Mohanty.
As per reports, the sixteenth accused was arrested from Hyderabad.

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#Junior #clerk #exam #paper #leak #Gujarat #ATS #arrests #accused #Hyderabad
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 30, 2023
AAP appoints Chaitar Vasava as Gujarat legislature party leader

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Ahmedabad: The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday appointed tribal MLA Chaitar Vasava as its legislature party leader in Gujarat and Hemant Khava as the deputy leader, it said in a release.
Vasava represents the reserved Dediapada assembly constituency in Narmada district, while Khavais is an MLA from Jamjodhpur in Jamnagar district.
A legislature party comprises the members of a particular party in the House.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party had contested in 181 of Gujarat’s 182 constituencies in last year’s assembly elections but could win only five seats despite claiming to be the main contender to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The BJP, on the other hand, registered a historic victory by winning a record 156 seats.
Despite the defeat of its top leadership, the AAP polled 12.6 per cent votes. Four of its candidates won seats in the Saurashtra region, and one in a tribal seat of south Gujarat.
Other than Vasava and Khava, the other winners were Umesh Makwana from Botad, Sudhir Vaghani from Gariadhar, and Bhupat Bhayani from Visavadar.

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#AAP #appoints #Chaitar #Vasava #Gujarat #legislature #party #leader
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 28, 2023
Four candidates move Gujarat HC to challenge Assembly poll results

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Ahmedabad: Two candidates each from the BJP and Congress have moved the Gujarat High Court to challenge the state Assembly poll results.
The petitioners — BJP’s Harshad Ribadiya (Visavadar constituency), Hitesh Vasava (Dediyapada) and Congress candidates Lalit Kagathara (Tankara) and Raghu Desai from Radhanpur constituency — common grievances are that winning candidates have either left many subjects unfilled or concealed some important information from the Election Commission.
They alleged that such candidates’ nomination forms should have been rejected by the returning officer, which did not happen.
In his plea, former Congress MLA Lalit Kagathara said that BJP’s candidate and now MLA Durlabhji Devariya had not given details about his educational qualification, there is incomplete information about property owned by the candidate, though he owns car, yet he has not declared it in the affidavit. For concealing information, returning office should have rejected his candidature.
Whereas BJP Harshad Ribadiya’s grievance is that AAP’s elected MLA Bhupat Bhayani is facing charges of corruption and trial for siphoning off public money, but he had not disclosed the information while filing candidature, yet, returning officer approved his candidature and post elections, declared him elected.
The petitioners seek to nullify the election results in their respective constituencies.
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#candidates #move #Gujarat #challenge #Assembly #poll #results
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 26, 2023
Gujarat man sentenced to death for killing three family members

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Palanpur: A court in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district on Wednesday convicted the accused in a 2019 triple murder case – all the victims being members of his family – and sentenced him to death.
Additional District Judge, Deodar, K.S. Hirpara said that considering the testimony of eye-witnesses and the gruesome crime committed by Bhikkhaji Thakor, it has considered it as “a rarest of rare case” and hence, handed down capital punishment.
Additional Public Prosecutor V. Thakor told reporters that the court has appreciated eyewitnesses’ testimonies, and forensic evidence. He said it felt that the accused had not only murdered his mother Jabiben, and wife Jebarben but also one and half year old son Jignesh, who had little to do with spat between the accused and his mother.
Providing a brief history of the case, he said that Thakor was living with his mother, wife, and son in Bhakadiyal village. In 2019, he was not working to meet the financial needs of the family, so his mother scolded him. This irked him and in a fir of anger, he killed his mother, wife and son with an axe.
When family member saw the act, Bhikhaji’s sister-in-law tried to intervene and stop him, he hit her with an axe on her spine, and she was lucky to survive. Court has sentenced Thakor to a life term for an attempt to murder his sister-in-law, the Additional Public Prosecutor said.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 25, 2023
SC asks CBI, Gujarat why they want activist Teesta Setalvad, her husband back in jail

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the CBI and the Gujarat government as to why they want to send social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand back in jail after they have been out for over seven years on anticipatory bail.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Abhay S Oka and BV Nagarathna said, “Question is how long can you keep someone in custody. Seven years have passed since anticipatory bail was granted. You want to send her back to custody.”
Advocate Rajat Nair, appearing for the CBI and the Gujarat government said some additional material needed to be placed before the court with regard to the cases and, therefore, four weeks time may be given.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Aparna Bhat, appearing for Setalvad and her husband Anand, said in one of the proceedings in which the CBI has come in appeal, anticipatory bail was granted following which a charge sheet was filed and after that regular bail was granted to her.
He said since a regular bail was granted, the appeal of the probe agency against anticipatory bail does not survive.
Nair said this had happened in one case but there are more than one case against her and requested the court to grant him four weeks to place additional material on record.
“A bench of two judges has referred this matter to a larger bench and has framed questions which need to be decided by this court,” Nair said.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing after four weeks.

Sibal submitted a note to the bench pursuant to the earlier direction giving details of issues as to which of the appeals survive for consideration and what is the subject matter to be decided as the passage of time may have taken care of some aspects.
The top court was hearing a batch of pleas filed by Setalvad, Anand, the Gujarat police and the CBI arising out of three FIRs lodged against the couple.
On March 19, 2015, the top court had referred to a larger bench the anticipatory bail plea of Setalvad and her husband in the case of alleged embezzlement of funds for a museum at Ahmedabad’s Gulbarg Society devastated in the 2002 riots and extended its interim order protecting them against arrest.
It had said the question that arises for consideration is whether liberty on the one hand and fair and effective investigation on the other make out a case for extending the benefit under Section 438 CrPC (anticipatory bail).
In 2014, an FIR was registered against them with DCP, Crime Branch, Ahmedabad, on charges of cheating, breach of trust and under the IT Act in a matter related to the construction of the “Museum of Resistance” in the Gulbarg housing society.
Teesta Setalvad and her husband, who were trustees of two trusts- ‘Citizens for Justice and Peace’ (CJP) and ‘Sabrang Trust’- were accused by Feroz Khan Saeed Khan Pathan of having raised a few crore of rupees as donation from certain donors from India and abroad after projecting to them the plight of the riot-affected people of Gulbarg Society.
The top court had noted in its order of March 19, 2015 that Pathan had alleged in his complaint that the couple entered into a conspiracy and promised the residents of the housing society they will build a museum in the honour of the 2002 riot victims. The court had also noted that the couple had asked the residents to not sell their properties in the housing society.
Pathan alleged the couple neither built the museum as promised nor spent the amount for the benefit of the members of the Gulbarg Society nor did they fulfil the assurance made to the victims regarding the sale of their properties.
In the second case, the CBI has moved the apex court against grant of anticipatory bail to Setalvad and her husband in a case where they have been accused of misusing foreign funds.
The probe agency has alleged that a company floated by the couple-Sabrang Communication and Publishing Pvt Ltd (SCPPL)- had received Rs 1.8 crore from US-based Ford Foundation allegedly without the mandatory approval of the Centre.
It has sought cancellation of their anticipatory bail claiming the Bombay high court had erred in giving them the relief after prima facie finding that provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) had been violated.
In the third case, the Ahmedabad police had moved the apex court against the April 5, 2018 order of the Bombay High Court by which the couple was protected from arrest in an FIR registered on March 31, 2018 for allegedly securing central government funds worth Rs 1.4 crore “fraudulently” for her NGO Sabrang Trust between 2010 and 2013.
According to the Gujarat police, the funds were obtained for a project launched in some districts of Maharashtra and Gujarat to help the victims of the 2002 post-Godhra riots but were misappropriated or used for other purposes.
The couple has denied all the allegations made in the FIRs which are being probed by Gujarat police and the CBI.
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#asks #CBI #Gujarat #activist #Teesta #Setalvad #husband #jail
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 25, 2023
Sadhu commits suicide in Gujarat after sex chat, audio/video clips get leaked

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Junagadh: A sadhu, Ramkrushnanand alias Rajbharti, committed suicide here on Tuesday. He took the extreme step as since the last few days, a letter exposing him and his activities and his audio/video clips were in circulation on social media.
Junagadh taluka police station sources said that Rajbharti committed suicide at his farm in Khadia village by shooting himself with his licensed weapon. The police have registered a case and have begun an investigation.
Sources said that since the last few days a letter was in circulation in Junagadh, alleging that the sadhu is a Muslim and his real name is Hujefa. He has sold the property of Ram bapu, who always believed in social service, whereas Rajbharti believed in business, he has started a real estate business and is having physical relations with many women.
Video clips in circulation show the sadhu drinking liquor, his sex chats and conversations with women are also in circulation. A photograph of him hugging a woman too is in circulation.
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#Sadhu #commits #suicide #Gujarat #sex #chat #audiovideo #clips #leaked
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 24, 2023