Supreme Court grants relief to anti-Sikh riots case accused Sajjan Kumar

New Delhi, Mar 29 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday granted relief to Congress party leader Sajjan Kumar, who is one of the accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, saying it would not intervene with a Delhi High Court order that granted bail to Kumar in the case.

The apex court raised several questions in this regard and said, “If the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) would have wanted, they could have arrested Sajjan Kumar in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.”

Sajjan Kumar was granted bail by the Delhi High Court on February 26 in connection with two cases registered against him in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

The Karkardooma Court had on February 23 issued a fresh non-bailable warrant against Kumar and slammed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its failure to arrest Kumar and others accused in the case.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Lokesh Kumar Sharma had refuted the plea of investigating agencies to issue a proclamation against the accused on the ground that he was absconding.

Earlier, the court had issued two non-bailable warrants against Kumar, who had surrendered before the court on March 10.

The CBI, which arrested one out of 12 accused, said that it conducted raids at Kumar”s residence four times after the warrant was issued on February 17, but failed to apprehend him. It also asked the court to declare the former MP and other accused as absconders.

The CBI had on January 13 charge-sheeted Kumar and others in the two cases accusing them of making provocative speeches, leading to the killing of 12 persons in the riots that followed the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. (ANI)

Allahabad High Court grants relief to Mayawati in currency garland case

Allahabad, Mar 22 (ANI): The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged expenses of about Rs 200 crore, which includes the currency note garland that was presented to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati by her supporters during the Bahujan Samaj Party”s (BSP) silver jubilee celebrations on March 15.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court Justice Amitava Lala and Justice Anil Kumar dismissed the PIL after hearing both the parties.

Three local lawyers had filed the PIL on March 18.

It was alleged in the PIL that approximately Rs 175 crore of public money was spent in the ”maharally” and another Rs 25 crore on the garland presented to Mayawati.

The income-tax department is investigation the source from where the money came for the giant currency garland that was presented to Mayawati by her supporters.

The Samajwadi Party and the Congress both have demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the matter, questioning the source from where the money had come.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh has accused Mayawati of misusing public money, and said that she is not the daughter of a Dalit, but the daughter of wealth.

Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev has also criticized her of doing business through politics.

The multi-crore garland was just a small part of the extravagant Rs 200 crore celebrations that marked the BSP”s 25th anniversary, and its founder Kanshi Ram”s birthday, with a massive rally in Lucknow. (ANI)

Shopian Case: J and K High court grants bail to four cops

Srinagar, Sep.11 (ANI): The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Friday granted bail to four policemen who were accused of having a role in the controversial Shopian murder case.

The policemen-Former Superintendent of Police of Shopian Javed Iqbal Mattoo, Deputy Superintendent of Police Rohit Baskota, Station House Officer Shopian Shafiq Ahmed and Sub-inspector Gazi Abdul Rehman-were released on payment of a bond of Rs.50, 000 each. The four had been accused of destroying evidence related to the case.

Last month, the Jammu and Kashmir Government had decided to hand over the controversial rape and murder case involving two women to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The State Cabinet unanimously took the decision hours after opposition parties created an uproar in the State Assembly alleging tampering of DNA test reports in the case.

Friday’s granting of bail came almost a month after the same court rejected an earlier bail plea.

The court had then rejected their plea under the Section 497 of CRPC (discretionary powers of the judge to grant bail or not).

The four had also moved a petition in the Supreme Court against the ruling of J and K High Court, to arrest these officers and also to collect blood samples to prepare the DNA mapping of these officers.

An apex court bench headed by the Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan had asked the Shopian sessions court to expeditiously consider the bail pleas.

During the hearing, the bench had said the High Court should have left it to the superior police officers to investigate the case and should have entitled the police officers to move for bail before the appropriate court.

The bench had also expressed surprise that only because of agitation the investigation was handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

The J and K High Court, hearing a Public Interest Litigation Petition (PIL) filed by J and K High Court Bar Association in connection with alleged rape and murder of Neelofar and Aasiya Jan in Shopian ordered for the arrest of four police officers who were suspended in the same the case. The court also ordered to constitute SIT and DNA mapping of these officers. (ANI)

Supreme Court grants bail to Binayek Sen

New Delhi, May 25 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Chhattisgarh human rights activist Binayak Sen, who has been charged of aiding and abetting Naxal activities in Chattisgarh and was lodged in a jail for the past 22 months.

Sen has been in custody since May 2007, and he had contended that there was no evidence against him to be booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

The Chhattisgarh Government has accused Sen, who is the vice-president of the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), of acting as a courier for an alleged Naxalite who is in jail.

Earlier, Sen had filed a bail petition for an urgent hearing.

The Supreme Court Vacation Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Deepak Vermahad had said that the matter would be listed for hearing on May 25, after senior advocate Shanti Bhushan mentioned Sen’s petition in which a notice was issued to the Chhattisgarh government.

After the notice, a Bench headed by Justice D. K. Jain had directed the state government to provide medical aid to Sen, who has been suffering from heart ailments.

He had sought bail on medical grounds, saying that he had been suffering from a heart ailment and needs treatment at the Christian Medical College in Tamil Nadu. Sen, a doctor by profession, had also sought bail on the ground that the chargesheet against him has already been filed and he has remained in jail during the investigation of the case registered against him. (ANI)

Pakistan Supreme Court grants bail to Red Mosque cleric

Islamabad – Pakistan’s Supreme Court Wednesday granted bail to a radical cleric who incited a standoff with security forces at Islamabad’s Red Mosque and adjoining seminary nearly two years ago, his lawyer said. “The court has observed that there was no evidence against Maulana Abdul Aziz in this case that could prevent his release on bail,” attorney Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui told reporters.

The court ruling followed a petition filed by Aziz challenging the earlier denial of bail by a lower court in a case regarding the illegal occupation of a state-owned library adjacent to the mosque.

Authorities had filed 27 criminal cases against the cleric after he was arrested trying to escape disguised as a burqa-clad woman, shortly before military commandos stormed the Red Mosque to end the standoff with his armed pupils in July 2007.

The “Operation Silence” left more than 100 people dead, including around a dozen security personnel, according to the government.

Aziz has already been granted bail in 25 other cases while charges against him in one case were dropped.

“Maulana Abdul Aziz is expected to be released within two to three days,” Siddiqui said.

The military attack on the Red Mosque sparked a series of suicide attacks across Pakistan. Militant Muslims claim that more than 3,000 female students in the adjoining girls’ seminary also died in the operation. The government denied those allegations.(dpa)

Railway Court Grants Bail To Sunny Deol In 1997 Case

The railway court has granted bail to ace Bollywood superstar Sunny Deol in over a decade-old case of pulling a train’s emergency chain during a movie shoot.

Besides Sunny, actress Karishma Kapoor, fight master Tinu Verma and Satish Shah were accused in the 1997 case.

Earlier, the Court stayed an arrest warrant issued Sunny and Karisma, and ordered them to turn up in court.

The court granted bail to Karisma on March 24 in the same case.

Last week, the High Court ordered that Deol could be arrested, if he fails to appear before the court by April 17.

In compliance with the Rajasthan High court’s order, Sunny accompanied by his counsel Suresh Sahani, appeared before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Railway) Jaipur who granted him the bail on personal bond of Rs 25000 and two sureties of the same amount

While shooting the scene of film ‘Bajrang’, they barged into the Narena railway station in Ajmer division and allegedly pulled the chain of a train.

Sitaram Malakar, assistant station master of Narena station, filed an FIR at the GRP police station Phulera under Section 141 of the Railway Act 1989.

Deol and his co-star were made accused in the case as the train was allegedly delayed for 25 minutes due to chain pulling.

Delhi High Court grants interim bail to Sanjeev Nanda

New Delhi, Mar 6 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Friday granted a week’s interim bail to Sanjeev Nanda who is undergoing a five year jail term in connection with the BMW hit-and-run case.

Justice Kailash Gambhir granted a week’s interim bail to Nanda so that he could meet his 90-year-old ailing grandfather, former Naval Chief S. M. Nanda.

The court said that Sanjeev Nanda sentence would remain suspended for a week from the day of his release.

The Court had earlier, on December 19, granted three-week interim bail to Nanda.

The court convicted Nanda under the Section 304 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), dealing with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The law prescribes ten years imprisonment as maximum punishment.

The ten-year-old case involving Nanda, allegedly in an inebriated state is accused of mowing down seven people with his high speeding BMW car in the wee hours of January 10, 1999 in Lodhi Colony area. Six persons died on the spot while one survived. (ANI)

Uphaar case: Supreme Court grants bail to Ansal brothers

New Delhi, Jan 30 (ANI): The Supreme Court has granted bail to the Ansal brothers- Sushil and Gopal who were earlier convicted and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment in connection with the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case.

The bail was sanctioned after both furnished a personal bond of Rs. 10,000 each.

The apex bench, headed by Justice S B Sinha, issued notices on the appeals against the one year sentence filed by the Ansal brothers and Victims of the Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT).

While the Ansal brothers have complained against their imprisonment, the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy had appealed for extending the mere one-year sentence further, as the grave offence fell under the purview of section 304 IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder)

The high court had previously reduced the imprisonment from two years to a year.

The Uphaar Cinema fire, which occurred on June 13, 1997, claimed the lives of 59 people. (ANI)

Rizwan case: Supreme Court grants bail to key accused Ashok Todi, brother

New Delhi, Jan 16(ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Kolkata industrialist Ashok Todi and his brother Pradip Todi in connection with the Rizwan Rahman suicide case.

The apex court told the Todis to surrender their passports and not to move out of Kolkata without prior permission of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). They have also been hindered from communicating or influencing witnesses connected with the case.

Ashok Todi and his two relatives-Pradip Todi and Anil Saraogi, Rizwanur’s family friend Pappu and three Police Officers- Former Deputy Commissioner Ajoy Kumar, ACP Sukanti Chakraborty, Sub-Inspector Krishnendu Das, have been accused of abetment to suicide, criminal intimidation and conspiracy by the CBI in connection with the death of Rizwanur.

Rizwanur’s body was found on the railway tracks between Biddhanagar Road and Dum Dum Junctionn on September 21 last year, almost a month after his marriage to Priyanka, Todi’s daughter.

Though the Police was convinced that it was a suicide case, Rizwanur’s family members were not convinced moved to the higher level courts seeking a CBI inquiry.

The Rizwanur case got politicized soon after Trinamool Congress Chief Mamta Banerjee demanded a CBI investigation on October 14,2008. (ANI)