Tag: probe

Federal investigators to probe Norfolk Southern’s ‘safety culture’

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NTSB urged the company to “take immediate action today to review and assess its safety practices, with the input of employees and others, and implement necessary changes to improve safety”
Norfolk Southern announced several safety measures on Monday, but most were focused on addressing one of the specific problems thought to have caused the Feb. 3 derailment, primarily involving an overheating wheel and the adequacy of detection technology.
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw said in a statement that he went to Cleveland as soon as he heard the news about the death of the conductor. He said he offered his condolences to the family as well as the promise of “support for anything they need.”
He also said he called together every member of the management team Tuesday afternoon “to emphasize the urgency of finding new solutions” and that on Wednesday, the company will take time out of the workday to discuss safety with “every employee across our network.”
“Moving forward, we are going to rebuild our safety culture from the ground up,” he said. “We are going to invest more in safety. This is not who we are, it is not acceptable, and it will not continue.”
Shaw is scheduled to testify Thursday before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee — his first time facing lawmakers following the East Palestine derailment.
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#Federal #investigators #probe #Norfolk #Southerns #safety #culture
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 8, 2023
‘Shoddy’ probe by UP police reason for acquittals in Hathras case: Cong

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New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday attacked the BJP over the acquittal of three persons accused in the Hathras rape-murder case and alleged that it has exposed the “weak and shoddy” investigation done by the Uttar Pradesh Police and later by the CBI.
A special court in Hathras on Thursday last sentenced the main accused in the 2020 Hathras rape-murder case to life imprisonment, while acquitting the three other accused.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress leader Dolly Sharma said the heinous crime in Hathras and then the government’s role in this matter has exposed the BJP’s “Beti Bachao” slogan.
“The crime of depriving the minor girl of the Dalit community of justice has been committed by the BJP, which keeps on giving the slogan of supporting everyone,” she said.
The court finding one accused guilty and acquitting the other three has again “exposed the weak and shoddy investigation” done by the Uttar Pradesh Police and later by the CBI in this case, Sharma said.
“In this matter, voice was continuously raised by the Congress party and our leader Rahul Gandhi and the general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, constantly demanded justice for the victim’s family,” she said.
The most unfortunate thing is that the minor daughter of a Dalit family was brutally gang-raped and murdered and only because of the “shoddy” investigation by the police, the prosecution could not even prove the charge of rape in the court, Sharma said.
The rape and murder charges could not be proved against the prime accused. The court held Sandeep (20) guilty under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, a lesser charge than section 302 (murder).

Ravi (35), Luv Kush (23) and Ramu (26) were acquitted in the case that triggered outrage and put Yogi Adityanath’s BJP government in the dock over law and order in the state.
The court also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 against Sandeep.
Sharma alleged that as soon as the matter came to light, the government machinery was busy giving it the form of a “conspiracy” to save the accused and suppress the matter.
“The acquittal of three out of four accused once again proves our allegation that the police and the administration acted with serious negligence in the initial investigation, witnesses and evidence was tampered with, pressure was created in every way and a weak prosecution was presented before the Court which benefited the accused and denied justice to the victim,” she alleged.
Sharma also cited other cases in which BJP leaders were allegedly involved in atrocities against women such as the Unnao rape case in 2017, Ankita Bhandari case in Uttarakhand and the release of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case under the BJP government in Gujarat.
“It is noteworthy that in spite of all these barbaric incidents that took place in the last nine years, Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi did not say a word. What does this silence represent?” she said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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#Shoddy #probe #police #reason #acquittals #Hathras #case #Cong
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 5, 2023
In Nord Stream bombings probe, German investigators see Ukraine link, reports say

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BERLIN — German prosecutors have found “traces” of evidence indicating that Ukrainians may have been involved in the explosions that blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022, according to German media reports Tuesday.
Investigators identified a boat that was potentially used for transporting a crew of six people, diving equipment and explosives into the Baltic Sea in early September. Charges were then placed on the pipelines, according to a joint investigation by German public broadcasters ARD and SWR as well as the newspaper Die Zeit.
The German reports said that the yacht had been rented from a company based in Poland that is “apparently owned by two Ukrainians.”
However, no clear evidence has been established so far on who ordered the attack, the reports said.
In its first reaction, Ukraine’s government dismissed the reports.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denied the Ukrainian government had any involvement in the pipeline attacks. “Although I enjoy collecting amusing conspiracy theories about the Ukrainian government, I have to say: Ukraine has nothing to do with the Baltic Sea mishap and has no information about ‘pro-Ukraine sabotage groups,’” Podolyak wrote in a tweet.
Three of the four pipes making up the Nord Stream 1 and 2 undersea gas pipelines from Russia to Germany were destroyed by explosions last September. Germany, Sweden and Denmark launched investigations into an incident that was quickly established to be a case of “sabotage.”
The German media reports — which come on top of a New York Times report Tuesday which said that “intelligence suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group” sabotaged the pipelines — stress that there’s no proof that Ukrainian authorities ordered the attack or were involved in it.

Any potential involvement by Kyiv in the attack would risk straining relations between Ukraine and Germany, which is one of the most important suppliers of civilian and military assistance to the country as it fights against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
According to the investigation by German public prosecutors that is cited by the German outlets, the team which placed the explosive charges on the pipelines was comprised of five men — a captain, two divers and two diving assistants — as well as one woman doctor, all of them of unknown nationality and operating with false passports. They left the German port of Rostock on September 6 on the rented boat, the report said.
It added that the yacht was later returned to the owner “in uncleaned condition” and that “on the table in the cabin, the investigators were able to detect traces of explosives.”
But the reports also said that investigators can’t exclude that the potential link to Ukraine was part of a “false flag” operation aiming to pin the blame on Kyiv for the attacks.
Contacted by POLITICO, a spokesperson for the German government referred to ongoing investigations by the German prosecutor general’s office, which declined to comment.
The government spokesperson also said: “a few days ago, Sweden, Denmark and Germany informed the United Nations Security Council that investigations were ongoing and that there was no result yet.”
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova dismissed the reports of Ukrainian involvement in the Nord Stream bombings, saying in a post on the Telegram social media site that they were aimed at distracting attention from earlier, unsubstantiated, reports that the U.S. destroyed the pipelines.
Veronika Melkozerova in Kyiv contributed reporting.

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#Nord #Stream #bombings #probe #German #investigators #Ukraine #link #reports
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 2, 2023
Only JPC probe into Adani row can bring out truth: Congress

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New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said no panel other than a joint parliamentary committee can bring out the truth in the Adani row and the industrialist’s relationship with the prime minister and asserted that it will raise the demand in Parliament when it meets again on March 13.
Congress general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said he had stated on February 16 that any panel by the Supreme Court would only look into violations of SEBI rules and regulations and will not be able to bring out the truth in the Adani issue.
“If the prime minister and the government are to be held accountable, any committee other than the JPC will be nothing but an exercise in legitimisation and exoneration,” he told reporters here, asserting that he had stated this earlier too.
“In the Adani case, the Supreme Court committee is limited only to the investigation of violations of SEBI law and regulation. The truth of what has been the relationship between Prime Minister Modi and (Gautam) Adani will never come to the fore if JPC is not formed,” he said.
The Congress party wants that a JPC be instituted and will raise the demand in the Parliament session beginning March 13, he noted.
The Congress leader also asserted that it has been posing a set of three questions to the prime minister everyday but has not received any answers, and they will remain unanswered by the SC-appointed panel formed to look into the issue.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty, who is also head of the party’s data analytics department, urged “experts” such as Nandan Nilekani and K V Kamath on the SC-appointed panel to “not be timid” as they usually are and “be bold and diligent” in their investigation.
Ramesh said on February 16 he had stated that any committee formed by the Supreme Curt into the Adani-Hindenburg issue would be nothing but an exercise in legitimisation and exoneration.

Asked whether the Congress was not in favour of the Supreme Court setting up a panel, he said “we are not confident that the truth in Adani issue will come out” through it.
The Congress and some other opposition parties have been demanding the constitution of a joint parliamentary committee to look into the Adani issue in the wake of charges of stock manipulation and financial irregularities raised by US firm Hindenburg that led to meltdown of stocks of Adani Group companies on Indian bourses.
The party had also stalled proceedings in both houses of Parliament over the issue and it is likely to step up the heat over its demand in the forthcoming budget session of Parliament.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered setting up of a six-member committee headed by former apex court judge Justice A M Sapre to investigate the recent Adani Group shares crash triggered by the Hindenburg Research’s fraud allegations and other regulatory aspects related to stock markets.
The court asked the panel to submit its report in a sealed cover within two months.
The top court observed that the PILs pertained to “the loss of investors’ wealth over the past few weeks due to the steep decline of share prices of Adani Group companies, precipitated by the Hindenburg Research report which alleged manipulations and malpractices by the Adani Group companies” and also directed market regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) to complete its ongoing probe into the issue in two months and file a status report.
Besides former apex court judge Justice Sapre, the other members of the court-appointed panel will be O P Bhat (former Chairman of SBI), Justice J P Devadhar (retired judge of the Bombay High Court), K V Kamath, Nandan Nilekani and Somasekharan Sundaresan.
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#JPC #probe #Adani #row #bring #truth #Congress
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 2, 2023
Iranian President orders probe into cases of schoolgirls’ poisoning

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Tehran: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered an immediate investigation into the cases of reported schoolgirls’ poisoning in several cities.
Raisi on Wednesday issued the directive at a cabinet meeting, asking Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidito to remove parents’ worries and public concerns about the cases, according to the website of the President’s office.
Over the past three months, several mysterious poisoning cases have been reported in a number of girls’ schools in different Iranian cities, mainly in the northern province of Qom, Xinhua news agency reported.
The first case was reported on November 30, 2022, in Qom, where 18 schoolgirls were transferred to medical centres after displaying poisoning symptoms, the official news agency IRNA reported.
Later, other schools in Qom, the western province of Lorestan, the northwestern province of Ardabil, the western province of Kermanshah and even the capital Tehran also reported similar cases, the IRNA said.
As of now, more than 700 students in more than 30 schools across the country have fallen victim to such incidents, it added, noting in most of the cases, the students were released from the hospital soon after receiving treatment.
The IRNA cited Health Ministry Spokesman Pedram Pakaein as saying that the reported poisoning is “not caused by a virus or a microbe and the symptoms are transient”.

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#Iranian #President #orders #probe #cases #schoolgirls #poisoning
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 2, 2023
Doctor ‘Manhandled’, DC Orders Probe

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SRINAGAR: After a video of a Councillor allegedly misbehaving with a doctor on duty at the District Hospital (DH) Pulwama, went viral, the authorities in the district ordered an inquiry into the matter.
Deputy Commissioner, Pulwama has tasked the ADC concerned to probe the matter and submit the report within 2 days, and initiate the action as per rules.
Councillor, Municipal Council, Pulwama Bilal Rather, accused of misbehaving with the doctor on duty in Pulwama, was seen screaming at a doctor , and later allegedly hurling choicest abuses at him. All this was recorded in a video that was posted on various social media platforms garnering thousands of views.
After the incident, the doctors of the DH Pulwama including the paramedical staff have written to the concerned Medical Superintendent, seeking immediate action.
The medical staff has stated that on 27-02-2023, around 06:15 pm while their colleague was busy with his duty in casualty, “few miscreants barged into the room and started asking in a rude manner about the non-availability of USG facility in the hospital after 4.30 pm and why the patient has been asked to undergo USG outside.”
“Miscreants obstructed the patient care which could have caused death or a serious complication to critical patients admitted in the casualty,” they added.
They said that the doctor accompanied the “mob” to the triage room where they hurled abuses at him and tried to manhandle him. “He tried to make them understand about the non-availability of USG facility after 4.30 pm that day as the concerned Sinologist’s son was admitted to ICU, but still they were not in a mood to listen.”
The staff said that in case he would have retaliated, he would have been lynched.

Medical staff has requested the concerned authorities to take stringent and exemplary action against the accused Councillor for his condemnable act.
The Medical Superintendent of DH Pulwama, has, in the meantime, lodged an FIR against the identified MC Pulwama Councillor.
Meanwhile, the J&K Doctors Coordination Committee (JKDCC) has also written to the Deputy Commissioner, Pulwama about the matter and has sought immediate action against the accused person.

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#Doctor #Manhandled #Orders #Probe
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

March 1, 2023
Viveka murder probe sparks war of words between YSRCP, TDP

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Amaravati: As the CBI investigates the murder of former Andhra Pradesh minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, paternal uncle of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, appears to be reaching climax, a war of words has broken out between the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
With the CBI pointing fingers at Jagan Mohan Reddy’s cousin and Kadapa MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy and the latter’s father Y.S. Bhaskar Reddy, the TDP is looking to corner the ruling party and even blaming the chief minister himself.
That the CBI’s recent startling revelations have rattled the YSRCP was evident when its leaders alleged that the TDP president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu were influencing the CBI probe.
The recent developments in the four year old sensational case, which has all the trappings of a crime thriller, are likely to have an impact on the course of state politics at a time when the parties are gearing up for next year’s elections.
Claiming that lower-rung officials of the CBI are taking the investigations into a particular direction, the YSRCP leaders are pointing fingers at Chandrababu Naidu, who was the chief minister when Viveka was murdered.
Vivekananda Reddy was the younger brother of former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, father of Jagan Mohan Reddy.
He was found murdered mysteriously at his residence at Pulivendula in Kadapa district on March 15, 2019, a month ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The 68-year-old former state minister and former MP was alone at his house when unidentified persons barged in and killed him. He was killed hours before he was to launch YSR Congress Party’s election campaign in Kadapa.

Though three Special Investigation Teams (SITs) conducted the probe they failed to solve the mystery.
The CBI took over the investigation into the case in 2020 on the direction of Andhra Pradesh High Court while hearing a petition of Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Sunitha Reddy, who raised suspicion about some relatives.
The CBI filed a charge sheet in the murder case on October 26, 2021 and followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet on January 31, 2022
In November last year, the Supreme Court transferred to a CBI court in Hyderabad the trial and probe into the larger conspiracy behind the murder. The apex court observed that doubts raised by Sunitha Reddy about getting a fair trial and investigation in Andhra Pradesh were reasonable.
Stepping up the pace of investigation, the CBI on January 28 questioned Avinash Reddy for more than four-and-a-half hours. The Lok Sabha member from Kadapa was questioned by the agency for the second time on February 24.
Avinash Reddy made the second appearance two days after the CBI made startling revelations in the case.
While opposing the bail petition of one of the accused Sunil Yadav, the CBI stated in its counter filed in Telangana High Court on February 22 that Avinash Reddy, his father Y.S. Bhaskar Reddy and their follower D.Siva Sankar Reddy had hatched a criminal conspiracy to kill Vivekananda Reddy due to the grouse they had over conflicting political ambitions.
The CBI submitted to the court that the trio used other accused Yerra Gangi Reddy, Sunil Yadav, Dastagiri and others who worked for Vivekananda Reddy to execute the murder plot.
The investigating agency stated in its counter that Vivekananda Reddy was not happy with his brother Bhaskar Reddy and nephew Avinash Reddy as they had sabotaged his chances in the MLC election in 2017 in Kadapa. Avinash and his father wanted Siva Sankar as MLC candidate but when Jagan Mohan Reddy fielded Vivekananda, the trio ensured he was defeated.
To settle scores, Viveka opposed the proposal of fielding Avinash as the YSRCP candidate from Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency. The former minister wanted Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sister Y.S. Sharmila or mother Y.S. Vijayamma be fielded.
The CBI claimed that Rs 40 crore was offered to the other accused to carry out the murder.
On February 3, the CBI questioned Krishna Mohan Reddy, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) for the chief minister. It also quizzed Naveen, who works in the house of the chief minister.
They were reportedly questioned about the sequence of events on the day when Vivekananda Reddy was murdered. They collected information about phone calls made or received by them on the day.
This prompted TDP to step up attack on Jagan Mohan Reddy and the opposition party started pointing fingers at him.
After Avinash Reddy appeared before the CBI, YSRCP general secretary government advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy alleged that the CBI probe into Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy murder case is progressing as per the TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu’s directions.
He also raised suspicion that Naidu is influencing the probe agency through his aides in the BJP. He alleged that the CBI is deliberately taking the probe into a particular direction to target a few people.
Giving a clean chit to Avinash Reddy, Sajjala said the Kadapa MP had no role behind the murder. “There is no evidence to point to Avinash Reddy’s role,” he said and added that the murder had been committed as per Chandrababu Naidu’s screenplay and direction.
Sajjala recalled that the murder took place when Naidu was the chief minister. He called it a conspiracy hatched by the TDP chief to demoralize Jagan Mohan Reddy ahead of the 2019 elections. He claimed that Viveka’s murder was a big loss for Jagan at personal level and YSRCP as a whole.
He alleged that TDP leaders Adinarayana Reddy, B Tech Ravi had close links with the criminals. He said that CBI had not interrogated B Tech Ravi, Adinarayana Reddy and brother-in-law of Vivekananda Reddy, Sivaprakash Reddy who first called Avinash to inform about the death.
Sivaprakash Reddy told Avinash that Viveka died of cardiac arrest. Sajjala dared the CBI to probe why the call records of Viveka were not retrieved to bring more facts to light. He also wanted to know as to why CBI did not seize the mobile phones of Adinrayana Reddy and Viveka’s son-in-law Rajasekhara Reddy.
The TDP is making every effort to politically capitalize on the recent developments. “The question everybody was asking in the state was who killed babai (uncle). Now they have got an answer. Abbai (nephew) killed Babai,” says Chandrababu Naidu.
He also claimed that Google Takeout helped in solving the puzzle who killed babai. Naidu claimed that the technology revealed the location of every suspect on the day of the murder.
The chronology of events and phone numbers of the people allegedly involved in the murder have been traced.
Naidu alleged that Jagan’s main aim then was to gain sympathy from the murder. He said that as then chief minister, he too was made to believe that Viveka died of a heart attack.
He was all praise for Viveka’s daughter Sunitha for her lone battle to expose the plot.
He slammed Sajjala for finding fault with the CBI’s findings even as the investigation is in progress
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#Viveka #murder #probe #sparks #war #words #YSRCP #TDP
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 26, 2023
Pak probe agency accuses Imran of misusing interim bail

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Islamabad: Pakistans Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday accused PTI Chairman Imran Khan of “misusing” his interim bail to skip court hearings as it petitioned a banking court hearing his prohibited funding case to form a medical board to examine the former Prime Minister, media reports said.
The FIA had in October 2022 booked Khan and other PTI leaders in connection with their party allegedly receiving prohibited funding, Dawn reported.
The case was filed by the state through FIA’s Corporate Banking Circle in Islamabad.
Later, a special court in Islamabad had granted him an interim bail, in which he kept getting an extension on medical grounds, after he received bullet wounds in an assassination bid at a rally in Wazirabad on Nov 3 last year, Dawn reported.
In a fresh application filed with Islamabad’s banking court today, the FIA said a bail application filed by Imran was pending before the court.
“After getting an interim bail, the accused is misusing the concession and not appearing before this honourable court and in fact, he is not cooperating with the process of law and till date, neither he joined the investigation nor he is appearing before the court on one pretext or the other,” the agency said, Dawn reported.
It also said that a “stereotype medical certificate” was being presented from a cancer hospital, “although the petitioner alleges he has issues related to orthopedic”.
The FIA pointed out that the medical report presented by Khan was issued by a hospital which was owned by him, “thus the said reports are otherwise not credible”, Dawn reported.

The agency said, “The principles of fair play and justice requires that the accused is to be examined by the board of expert doctors on the subject from PIMS or polyclinic and if their reports can be entertained.”
“It is respectfully prayed that order of the constitution of a medical board and examination of accused may graciously be passed and said board may kindly be directed to submit report qua physical health or mobility of accused in the light of injuries claimed by him on his leg in the best interest of justice,” the FIA said in its prayer to the court.
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#Pak #probe #agency #accuses #Imran #misusing #interim #bail
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 25, 2023
YSRCP MP raises doubts over CBI probe into Vivekananda Reddy’s murder case

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Hyderabad: YSR Congress Party Lok Sabha member from Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh Y S Avinash Reddy on Friday raised doubts over the ongoing investigations by the CBI into the murder of former state Minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy in 2019.
Avinash Reddy, who appeared before the CBI officials here in connection with the ongoing probe, claimed that the investigation is going on in a way of “targetting a person” rather than with the objective of ascertaining the truth.
“This has been going on like targetting the person rather than aiming to find out the facts. This investigation has been going on targetting the person rather than in the direction of finding out the truth. It is not correct. There are many facts. Anybody will get doubts about the way this investigation is being conducted,” the MP told reporters after appearing before the CBI.
Avinash Reddy further said he submitted a representation to the CBI IO on the “facts” he knew and sought a comprehensive investigation on those as well.
After being issued summons by the CBI, this is the second time that Avinash Reddy is appearing before the central agency, which is probing Vivekananda Reddy’s murder case.
Avinash Reddy, who is related to Vivekananda Reddy, had earlier appeared before CBI in January.
The MP said he was called by the CBI through a notice under Section 160 CrPC (police officer’s power to require attendance of witnesses).
“Whatever the CBI IO (Investigating Officer) questioned, I gave answers to the best of my memory and to the best of my knoweldge. I stand by what I had spoken to media on the day after the death of Vivekananda Reddy,” Avinash Reddy said.

Avinash, a cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, said the media should act in a responsible manner over its reporting on the case.
Vivekananda Reddy was the brother of late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and uncle of incumbent AP Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy.
He was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula, the constituency now represented by his nephew, on the night of March 15, 2019, weeks before the state Assembly elections.
Asked on the CBI counter affidavit filed in the High Court opposing the bail of one of the accused in the murder case, Avinash Reddy said he was also asked on that and he gave replies as per his knowledge.
The case was initially probed by a special investigation team (SIT) of the state crime investigation department, but was handed over to the CBI in July 2020.
The CBI had filed a charge sheet in the murder case on October 26, 2021 and followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet on January 31, 2022.
The CBI affidavit had said “Investigation further revealed that YS Avinash Reddy along with other persons, after entering in the house of Vivekananda Reddy and seeing blood in the bedroom and body lying in pool of blood in the bathroom, conveyed to a local political leader that Vivekananda Reddy died due to heart attack.”
Y S Avinash Reddy also informed police that Vivekananda Reddy died due to heart attack and heavy blood vomiting, “as if the death had occurred due to natural causes”, the affidavit said.
“It indicates that he deliberately intended to conceal the design of murder of Vivekananda Reddy. It also indicates that as a part of conspiracy of fake story of heart attack and blood vomiting was floated in a pre-meditated manner to give it a colour of natural death,” the affidavit said.
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#YSRCP #raises #doubts #CBI #probe #Vivekananda #Reddys #murder #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 24, 2023
Special court should be careful before extending probe in anti-terror cases: HC

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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court said on Friday that before granting further extension to a probe agency to complete investigation in a case lodged under the anti-terror law, a special court has to apply its mind to ascertain the reasonable time required and extend the period of custody of accused for a period up to 90 days.
The high court said the report of public prosecutor is not required to be provided to the accused at the stage of grant of extension of remand for continued investigation.
However, the “accused cannot be a silent spectator” and the special court would be required to take into consideration his submissions while examining the report regarding the progress of investigation and the reasons for seeking further detention for continued probe, it said.
“As regards the issue whenever a report of the public prosecutor is presented for seeking extension of time for investigation beyond 90 days, the special court will apply its mind to find out the reasonable time required to complete the investigation and extend the period of custody for such period upto 90 days…
“Subject to the right of the investigating agency to seek further extension of remand if remand for less than 90 days is granted, based on a fresh report of the public prosecutor, upto a maximum of 90 days,” a bench of Justices Mukta Gupta and Anish Dayal said.
The high court said the special court would also be required to satisfy itself from the investigation carried out that there is sufficient material to form a reasonable belief that prima facie an offence under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is made out.
It said no reasons with regard to this will be required to be reflected in the order as the same would entail disclosure of the investigation carried out.
The bench in its 81-page judgement, dealt with the common issues raised in 10 appeals regarding the validity of extension of the period of detention beyond 90 days under Section 43D(2)(b) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

In these cases, the period of detention of the accused and investigation was extended from 90 days to 180 days.
Section 43 D (2) of the anti-terror law grants 90 days to the investigating agency to complete its probe and file the charge sheet. It, however, states if it is not possible to complete the investigation within that period, the court concerned may extend the deadline up to 180 days.
The high court said the essential requirements to be seen by the special court while extending the remand of the accused to complete the investigation include reasons evidencing the personal satisfaction of the public prosecutor regarding the progress of investigation made.
The other two requirements are “reasons indicating why the investigation could not be completed within the period of 90 days and further investigation required to be carried out for which extended period of time is necessary”.
All these three essential ingredients must form part of the public prosecutor’s report, based on which the special court will arrive at the satisfaction to extend the period of remand, the bench said.
The high court dismissed several of the appeals including those of accused Zeeshan Qamar, Mizha Siddeeque and Shifa Haris who had challenged the special court’s orders granting extension of time for investigation and remand, leading to continued detention.
It, however, granted default bail to accused Mushab Anwar and Dr. Rahees Rasheed and directed that they be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with two sureties of the like amount.
The high court was informed that accused Mohd. Manan Dar has already been granted bail by the trial court.
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#Special #court #careful #extending #probe #antiterror #cases
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 24, 2023