Tag: reply

  • HC seeks reply from Jharkhand Assembly over separate room for Namaz in its premise

    HC seeks reply from Jharkhand Assembly over separate room for Namaz in its premise

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    Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday directed the state Assembly to file a response on why a separate room was allotted for offering Namaz in its premise.

    A division bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra verbally asked the Assembly the basis on which the decision for allotment of a room for offering Namaz was given.

    The matter will now be heard on May 18.

    MS Education Academy

    The petition has been filed by one Ajay Kumar Modi. Advocate Naveen Kumar argued on his behalf.

    In 2021, a room was allotted for the minorities in the Jharkhand Assembly building to offer Namaz.

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    #seeks #reply #Jharkhand #Assembly #separate #room #Namaz #premise

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • SC refuses to stay conviction of Abdullah Azam Khan in criminal case, seeks UP’s reply

    SC refuses to stay conviction of Abdullah Azam Khan in criminal case, seeks UP’s reply

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    New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay the conviction and sentence of senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan’s son Abdullah Azam Khan in a 15-year-old case without hearing the state.

    A bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna asked senior advocate Vivek Tankha and advocate Sumeer Sodhi to serve the copy of the petition to the standing counsel of Uttar Pradesh government and posted the matter for further hearing on April 5.

    Tankha said Khan was a juvenile at the time of offence and hence his conviction and sentence be stayed.

    “Sorry, for that we will have to hear the state also,” the bench said.

    During the hearing, Tankha said Khan was juvenile at the time of incident and the high court has erred in not staying the session court’s order.

    In his plea filed through Sodhi, Khan said he has challenged the order of Allahabad High Court dated March 17 by which it had asked the state to respond to the appeal in three weeks.

    “The high court failed to appreciate the fact that if the application is not decided expeditiously then the same would be rendered infructuous and the petitioner would suffer irreparable harm which no court of competent jurisdiction would be able to undo even if the application is decided in favour of the petitioner,” it said.

    Giving the detail of the case, he said the trial court had on February 13, convicted him for offences punishable under section 353 and 341 of IPC and other offences and sentenced him to undergo two years of simple imprisonment with a fine of Rs 2,000.

    He said subsequent to the order of the trial court, the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly secretariat on February 15, notified that Suar constituency of Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh has become vacant with effect from February 13.

    Khan said he appealed the verdict of the trial court before additional sessions judge Rampur and also filed an application for stay of conviction and sentence but the court on February 28 dismissed the plea and application.

    He said that on the same day he approached the high court against the order of the sessions court but the high court on March 17, granted a time period of three weeks to the state government to respond to his plea.

    “In a nutshell, the case of the SLP petitioner before this court is that the impugned order passed by the high court is bad in law as the said order is passed without taking into account the urgent requirement of the issues involved in the application preferred by the petitioner,” the plea said.

    Khan said that non-adjudication of his application in a time bound manner would render the same infructuous and therefore it is imperative that the high court considers the application as soon as possible, given the potential consequences of the conviction and sentence, which may include re-election on his assembly seat in the assembly.

    “The petitioner believes that during the pendency of the application before the high court, by-election to the Rampur constituency would be announced. The petitioner is concerned that if such an announcement is made and thereafter, the high court passes a stay order the same would be rendered moot due to the announcement of the by-elections,” his plea said.

    Khan said his conviction is legally unsustainable as he was a minor when the offence was committed.

    “There are judicial orders to the effect that the date of birth of the petitioner is January 1, 1993, hence the petitioner was merely 15 years old at the time of commission of the offence in question. Accordingly, the entire trial proceedings are flawed,” he said.

    The FIR against Khan, Azam and seven others was lodged in 2008.

    Khan had sat on dharna on a state highway on January 29, 2008 as their cavalcade was stopped by police for checking in the wake of an attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh on December 31, 2007.

    The FIR was lodged at the Chhajlait police station.

    While Khan and Azam were sentenced to two years in jail under section 353 (criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the seven other accused were exonerated.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Ban on loudspeakers in mosques: Gujarat HC seeks state govt’s reply

    Ban on loudspeakers in mosques: Gujarat HC seeks state govt’s reply

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    Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has sought the state government’s reply on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a ban on the use of loudspeakers for reciting azaan’ (call to prayer) in mosques.

    A division bench of Acting Chief Justice A J Desai and Justice Biren Vaishnav on Monday allowed Shaktisinh Zala, a Bajrang Dal leader, to join the PIL after the original petitioner Dharmendra Prajapati sought to withdraw it citing threats.

    Zala’s lawyer urged the court to allow him to join the litigation in the absence of the original petitioner.

    The court listed the matter on April 12 while directing the government to file a reply.

    The PIL has sought a ban on the use of loudspeakers for azaan’ at mosques in Gujarat claiming that they add to noise pollution and violate the fundamental rights of citizens.

    The petitioner said a muezzin at a mosque in his neighbourhood uses a loudspeaker to recite azaan’ five times a day, causing “great inconvenience”.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Delhi HC seeks Centre’s reply on journalist Angad Singh’s plea

    Delhi HC seeks Centre’s reply on journalist Angad Singh’s plea

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    New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Central government to file a proper counter affidavit to a Vice News journalist Angad Singh’s plea challenging his deportation from Delhi to New York in August last year and being “blacklisted” despite being an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holder.

    Appearing for the Centre, advocate Anurag Ahluwalia had last month told the court that as the US-based journalist has violated Section 11A of the Foreigners Order, 1948, which prohibits a foreigner from producing any picture, film or documentary without permission in writing from the Centre, he is a blacklisted subject.

    During the hearing on Tuesday, appearing for Singh, Advocate Swathi Sukumar said that she had moved an amendment application against the blacklisting which was mentioned in the counter affidavit of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

    The FRRO, in an affidavit, told the court that Singh was blacklisted at the instance of the Consulate General of India in New York.

    According to the affidavit, Singh had allegedly depicted India in a negative manner in the “India Burning” documentary.

    Ahluwalia had earlier submitted that Singh was entering India on his journalist visa for a personal visit but he wasn’t issued a visa for that.

    On Tuesday, Sukumar further said that she did not have a copy of the blacklisting order.

    Ahluwalia said that he would file a “detailed response”. He added that the primary condition was that Singh comes to the place, makes a video, gives it to the consulate general for approval, once approved, then the video could have been made public.

    Sukumar argued that the Centre had to seek instructions on whether any proceedings were initiated for cancellation of Singh’s OCI card.

    To this, Ahluwalia said that they have not initiated any proceedings as of now and added that filing the blacklisting order may not be necessary.

    While allowing the amendment to the writ petition and directing the Centre to file a proper counter affidavit to the amended petition, the court noted: “It is submitted by the Centre that their stand would be stated in the counter affidavit which is now to be filed in the amended writ.”

    The court listed the matter for the next hearing in May.

    Singh has covered important issues in his documentaries, including the Shaheen Bagh protests, the farmers’ protests and the Covid-19 pandemic in India, among others.

    In his plea, Singh has mentioned that his fundamental right under the Citizenship Act, 1955, is being violated by not letting him into India.

    Earlier, Singh’s counsel had sought a declaration that his deportation from the government was illegal and disclosure of all the materials and data available with the government related to him.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • SC seeks Centre’s reply on PIL alleging ‘unnecessary’ hysterectomies in Bihar, Raj, Chhattisgarh

    SC seeks Centre’s reply on PIL alleging ‘unnecessary’ hysterectomies in Bihar, Raj, Chhattisgarh

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    New Delhi: The Supreme Court sought the Centre’s response on Monday on a PIL alleging that doctors in Bihar, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have been performing “unnecessary hysterectomies”, a surgical procedure to remove the uterus, on poor women just to reap high insurance fees from governments under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY).

    A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud also sought the assistance of Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to deal with the public interest litigation (PIL) matter filed by Narendra Gupta, himself a medical practitioner.

    The bench, also comprising Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, granted four weeks’ time to the Centre for filing its response to the PIL.

    A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the uterus after which a woman can neither conceive nor can have menstrual periods regardless of her age.

    The PIL, based on media reports and researched facts, alleged a “widespread pattern of doctors performing medically unnecessary hysterectomies to reap high insurance fees from the government” in states such as Bihar, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

    It sought compensation for the victim women and meaningful policy changes to deal with the problem.

    The women, aided by heavily-subsidised state-funded health insurance schemes, usually go to private hospitals for medical care for symptoms such as “abdominal pain and general weakness” and doctors resort to “unnecessary hysterectomy operations after cursory, or in some cases, no medical examinations”, the petition alleged.

    “The present petition has been filed in the nature of public interest litigation…and arises from an influx of news stories and Right to Information (RTI) results in the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan regarding unlawful hysterectomies and related insurance scams,” it said.

    The petition sought directions to the state governments “to implement monitoring, inspection and accountability mechanisms for the private healthcare industry”, which are empanelled to serve the poor covered under the government’s Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY).

    The RSBY has been launched by the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment to provide a health insurance coverage to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

    The objective of the scheme is to provide protection to BPL households from financial liabilities arising out of health shocks that involve hospitalisation.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • ED gets 5-day custody of Sivasankar; Cong, BJP slam Kerala govt seeking CM’s reply

    ED gets 5-day custody of Sivasankar; Cong, BJP slam Kerala govt seeking CM’s reply

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    Kochi: A special court here on Wednesday sent M Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, to five-day Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody in connection with alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulations) Act in the Life Mission, a flagship housing project of the state government.

    Sivasankar was taken into custody on Tuesday night by the central agency which has been questioning the former IAS officer for the past three days. His arrest was recorded earlier in the day.

    The PMLA court here today granted till February 20 custody of Sivasankar to ED and issued a direction to produce him before it on that date.

    The ED was directed to provide relaxation time to Sivasankar during interrogation and also medical assistance if needed, court sources said.

    Meanwhile, his arrest triggered sharp political reactions in Kerala as opposition parties slammed the Left government and urged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to break his silence on the development.

    The opposition Congress, which had earlier raised several corruption charges in connection with the Life Mission project, today said truth would come out one day even if it is covered by a golden vessel and the arrest of Sivasankar is the latest proof for this.

    Leader of Opposition in the assembly, V D Satheesan said the person, who had been in a key position in the Chief Minister’s office, was earlier arrested in the gold smuggling case and now in the bribery case.

    With his arrest, the scandals that were covered up during the period of the first Vijayan government would come out one by one, he told reporters in Kochi.

    “The Chief Minister has a moral responsibility to answer the questions raised by the Opposition and the people of the state.”

    “If neither the government nor the CM is involved in corruption, why are they afraid of the CBI investigation? If there is nothing to hide, they should be ready to withdraw their petition in the apex court against the CBI probe in the case,” he said.

    Lawyers have been appointed by spending crores of rupees from the people’s tax money and the CM should give an answer to all these questions, the LoP added.

    Senior Congress leader and former home minister, Ramesh Chennithala also wanted Vijayan to break his silence on the matter.

    It is time for those who had said that the charges we raised against the Life Mission project were just politically motivated to give a reply, he said.

    “The Chief Minister is the chairman of the Life Mission. All the present developments are pointing fingers at the CM. So, he should break his silence and react,” he said.

    Noting that the present probe by the central agency was going in the right direction, Chennithala expressed hope that big sharks would be caught in the case soon if there was no political interference.

    “The truth will come out one day even if it is covered by a golden vessel.”

    Both Chennithala and Satheesan also claimed that the ED probe in the Life Mission case was slowed down for some time due to the settlement between the CPI(M) in Kerala and the BJP’s national leadership.

    However, senior BJP leader and union minister V Muraleedharan rejected the “settlement” charge raised by the Congress and said the retired IAS officer’s arrest is an eye-opener for those who alleged a BJP-CPI(M) understanding.

    “It’s a tight slap on @pinarayivijayan, who is the Chairman of Life Mission Project – who even tried to seize files to stall the investigation. Shame!” he tweeted.

    The union minister also alleged that Sivasankar’s arrest exposed the culture of kickbacks and corruption in the system run by the Vijayan government.

    “The arrest of M Shivshankar, Ex Principal Secretary at @CMOKerala exposed the culture of Kickbacks, Corruption & Rot in the system run by @pinarayivijayan & his cronies,” he said.

    Sivasankar, who retired on January 31, was earlier arrested in a related gold smuggling case involving diplomatic baggage to UAE consulate.

    The CBI had in 2020 filed an FIR in a Kochi court under section 120 B of the IPC and section 35 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010 on a complaint by the then Wadakancherry Congress MLA, Anil Akkara, listing Santosh Eappen, Managing Director of Unitac Builder, Kochi as the first accused and Sane Ventures as the second accused.

    The alleged FCRA violation and corruption in the project had snowballed into a major political issue at that time with opposition parties charging that Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the gold smuggling case, had admitted before an NIA court that she had received Rs 1 crore as commission from the project.

    She had reportedly claimed that the money was for Sivasankar.

    However, Life Mission CEO had submitted before the court that Unitac and Sane Ventures had undertaken the construction based on the agreement entered into with them by Red Crescent and had directly accepted foreign contributions from Red Crescent, which is a foreign agency.

    It also said the companies which signed an agreement with the Red Crescent do not come under the categories of persons prohibited from receiving any foreign contribution as per Section 3 of the FCRA.

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    #5day #custody #Sivasankar #Cong #BJP #slam #Kerala #govt #seeking #CMs #reply

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Noise ColorFit Pulse 2: 1.8″ Biggest Display Smart Watch, 550 NITS Brightness, Sleek Metallic Body, HR, Sleep & Spo2 Monitoring, Upto 10 Days Battery Life, Calls & SMS Reply – Jet Black

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  • SC seeks Centre, 6 states reply on transfer of religious conversion cases from HC

    SC seeks Centre, 6 states reply on transfer of religious conversion cases from HC

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    New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from Centre and six state governments on a plea by Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind seeking transfer of over 20 cases, challenging laws regulating religious conversion, to the top court.

    A bench, headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, issued a notice on the Muslim body’s plea moved through advocate M.R. Shamshad.

    The bench, also comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha, said: “Issue notice in petitions, in which no notices have been issued till now, including the transfer petition.” The bench also asked Attorney General R. Venkataramani to file a reply.

    Five petitions are pending in Allahabad High Court, one petition in the Karnataka High Court, three in the Gujarat High Court, three in the Himachal Pradesh High Court, three in the Jharkhand High Court, and six in the Madhya Pradesh High Court. These petitions have challenged the respective state laws. The Muslim body has sought transfer of all these petitions from the high courts to the apex court.

    Also, two separate petitions have been filed by Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat governments challenging the interim orders of the respective high courts, which put on hold certain provisions of the state laws on conversion.

    The top court has scheduled the matter for further hearing after three weeks.

    On January 30, the top court had agreed to examine a clutch of pleas challenging the controversial state laws regulating religious conversions.

    NGO “Citizens for Justice and Peace” of activist Teesta Setalvad, had also moved the apex court in the matter but Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had challenged the locus standi.

    The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in a written response to a petition filed by NGO ‘Citizens for Justice and Peace’, said: “The petitioner is guilty of collecting huge funds exploiting the agonies of riot affected people for which criminal proceedings are going on against Teesta Setalvad and other office bearers of the petitioner.”

    It further added, “under the guise of serving public interest, the petitioner deliberately undertakes, and consciously and surreptitiously espouses, divisive politics in an attempt to divide the society on religious and communal lines. Similar activities/endeavors of the petitioner organization are also found in other states. Presently this activity is going on in the state of Assam”.

    The NGO has challenged the laws passed by the Uttar Pradesh government and Chhattisgarh government.

    Attorney General R. Venkataramani had submitted that the high courts concerned should hear these petitions instead of the apex court.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • John Abraham gives witty reply to fan chanting ‘SRK is back’ at Pathaan event

    John Abraham gives witty reply to fan chanting ‘SRK is back’ at Pathaan event

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    Mumbai: Actor John Abraham, who stars as the antagonist in Shah Rukh Khan’s box office blockbuster ‘Pathaan’, recently during the film’s success event wittily corrected a fan who was cheering “Shah Rukh Khan is back.”

    Shah Rukh’s latest release ‘Pathaan’ has concluded the Bollywood superstar’s 4-year long hiatus and has proved to be a box-office breaker.

    During the event, when one of the fans shouted ” Shah Rukh is back,” to which John gave a witty reply. He said, “Just one correction. Shah Rukh Khan isn’t back. He had just gone for a loo break.”

    SRK also revealed the story behind taking a break for 4 long years to do a film.

    He said, “The four, actually 2 years have some good parts and some bad parts like in all our lives because of Covid. This is exactly the same for me. I didn’t work, I wanted to be with the children. The good thing was for the first time I could see my children grow, Aryan, Suhana and AbRam. I could spend time with my family and friends. The second good thing was my last film didn’t work and people started saying that now my films.

    He jokingly said “I thought of an alternative business. And thought of opening a restaurant and for that started cooking. I started cooking to open a restaurant. And thought to name it Red Chillies food eatery. Then I learned to cook Italian cuisine and that went well.”

    He added, “Siddharth who loves to eat and for 10 days I made him ear pizza as he was not happy with my work. The good thing was that also when I came to know that John is doing Pathaan with me. I have never worked with him. We have done small endorsements together. John is a very old friend of mine, when I came to Mumbai we got to know each other but unfortunately we have not worked together.”

    Shah Rukh continued, “Its nice to be back. I am not in a hurry to finish the film. Its always been my desire to spread happiness among people and make films to entertain. Whenever I fail to do so, nobody feels as bad as me. I am very happy that I was able to spread the happiness and especially to those who are close to my heart – Aditya Chopra and Siddharth. And those who gave me the opportunity as you will notice the film is a very big film, it will be an expensive film. But to get me and give me a chance to come at the time I was not working and allow me to be a part of this film. I will ever ever be grateful to Aditya Chopra and Siddharth. And also to Deepika. I have forgotten those 4 years in these 4 days.”

    John also shared his experience working with Shah Rukh. He said, “I got to work with Shah Rukh for the first time. I don’t think he is an actor anymore he is an emotion. It is wonderful to have Shah Rukh back like this after 4 years. Earlier I felt like I was an action hero, but I think Shah Rukh Khan today is the number 1 action hero of the country. It’s going to be my biggest hit for a long time.”

    John received a lot of appreciation for his negative portrayal in the film. During the event, SRK mentioned John as the backbone of the film and appreciated his work.

    ‘Pathaan’ is on a record-breaking run at the domestic and overseas box office as it collected Rs 542 crore gross worldwide in just 5 days.

    Helmed by Siddharth Anand, ‘Pathaan’, which was released on January 25, also stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham in the lead roles. Apart from “seeti maar” dialogues and high-octane action scenes, it’s Salman Khan’s extended cameo as Tiger that has made the film more special.

    It is the fourth instalment in the YRF Spy Universe and is SRK’s comeback film after Zero (2018). The film has created history as it has overtaken SS Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali 2’ and Yash-starrer ‘KGF 2’ to become the fastest film to enter Rs 200 crore club. It collected Rs 429 crore gross worldwide in four days, said production banner Yash Raj Films (YRF) on Sunday.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Morbi bridge collapse: Municipality seeks docs seized by SIT to reply to Gujarat govt’s notice

    Morbi bridge collapse: Municipality seeks docs seized by SIT to reply to Gujarat govt’s notice

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    Morbi: The Morbi municipality has appealed to the Gujarat government to return documents seized by a special investigation team (SIT) probing the collapse of a bridge in the town so it could respond to the government’s show-cause notice asking why the civic body should not be dissolved over the tragedy, which claimed 135 lives.

    All the documents are with the government-appointed SIT and the Morbi municipality does not have any document, an official from the civic body has said.

    The British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi collapsed on October 30, 2022. The Gujarat government last week issued a show-cause notice to the Morbi municipality asking why it should not be dissolved for failing to discharge its duties.

    In the notice, the state Urban Development Department directed the civic body to submit a written clarification in the form of a general body resolution by January 25.

    The bridge was maintained and operated by the Oreva Group as per an agreement signed with the Morbi municipality.
    The 52-member Morbi municipality held a meeting on Monday and passed a resolution urging the government to return documents seized by the (government-appointed) SIT so it could respond to the government’s show-cause notice, the civic body’s vice president, Jayrajsinh Jadeja, told reporters after the meeting.

    All the 52 elected representatives of the Morbi Municipality are from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power in the state.

    “Since all the documents are with the SIT and the Morbi municipality does not have any document, the municipality passed a resolution urging the government to return them as soon as possible so that it could reply to its notice,” Jadeja said.

    In the notice, the Urban Development Department said the previous contract to operate the bridge expired in 2017.

    Between 2018 and 2020, the Oreva Group had written several letters to the Morbi municipality warning about the dilapidated condition of the bridge and also cautioned that a serious accident may occur if the bridge remains open to the public in such a condition.

    However, the civic body did not take cognizance of such warnings by the company, the notice said.

    Moreover, the municipality did not take any concrete action to take over the bridge from the company in 2017 after the completion of the contract and remained inactive despite knowing the situation of the bridge, it said.

    Notably, the state government had on December 13 told the Gujarat High Court, which took cognisance of the tragedy on its own and registered a public interest litigation (PIL), that it had decided to dissolve the municipality. The court had turned down the plea of the civic body members to be impleaded as a party in the case.

    Nine persons, including four employees of Ajanta Manufacturing (Oreva Group), have been arrested so far in the case.
    They include two managers and as many ticket booking clerks of the Oreva Group that was managing the British-era bridge.

    The SIT had cited several lapses on part of the Oreva Group in repairs, maintenance and operation of the carriageway.
    A Gujarat court last week also issued an arrest warrant against Jaysukh Patel, managing director of the Oreva Group, after getting an application for the same from police under section 70 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

    Patel, who is not named as an accused in the FIR, had moved the Morbi sessions court on January 20 for anticipatory bail fearing arrest in the bridge collapse case. The hearing was adjourned till February 1 as the public prosecutor was not present.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )