Salman Khan gets Bail from Rajasthan High Court

Aug. 31 - The Jodhpur bench of Rajasthan High Court grants bail to Actor Salman Khan

Salman Khan was arrested on Saturday, a day after a lower court rejected his appeal against his 2006 conviction for killing the endangered animals during hunting trips to the state in 1998.

Khan has been convicted of poaching a chinkara deer at the Ghoda farm near Jodhpur on the night of September 28, 1998 while filming Sooraj Barjatya's blockbuster Hum Saath Saath Hain.

Khan has been in the jail for five days, serving a five-year sentence in the blackbuck hunting case and was waiting for relief from Rajasthan High Court.

Delhi High Court dismisses suit on nuke deal

New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday dismissed a pubic suit urging that the government be asked to approach the president for referring the India-US civilian nuclear deal to the Supreme Court for its opinion.

"As of today there is no legislation with regard to the deal, so it is purely a policy decision of the government of India and the court could not interfere in the matter," a division bench headed by Chief Justice M.K. Sharma said, while dismissing the suit.

"We are of the considered opinion that a mandamus cannot be issued directing the union government to approach the president to refer the issue to the Supreme Court for its legal advice," the court observed.

Referring to a previous Supreme Court ruling, the Bench said: "It is a matter essentially for the president to decide whether to refer the issue or not to Supreme Court for its opinion."

On Wednesday, while seeking the opinion of the government, the court had said: "Though the matter is important, we think this is at a premature stage. No issue is arising as the agreement is yet to be arrived at by the government.

"However at this stage, we think there are certain things which are not clear and before passing any order, the centre has to make them clear to us," the court had added.

While appointing senior counsel Jagmohan Sabharwal to assist it, the court had also asked the additional solicitor general to state the government's opinion on Thursday.

The government submitted that the court could not direct the executive or the president to refer the matter to the apex court for its legal opinion.

The suit, filed by social worker Sarvjeet Kumar, said the nuclear deal was a legal matter and affected the country's sovereignty and thus should be scrutinised by the Supreme Court.

In the light of various political parties "misinterpreting" the issue, the matter should be referred to the apex court for its opinion, the petition, filed by counsel Sugriv Dubey, said.

Shahabuddin convicted in yet another case

Patna, Aug 30 (IANS) A Bihar court Thursday convicted Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Mohammed Shahabuddin for a murderous attack on then Siwan superintendent of police (SP) in 1996.

This is the third time Shahabuddin has been convicted this year. He will be sentenced in the case Friday.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Gyaneshwar Prasad Srivastava of a special court inside Siwan jail, 150 km from here, found him guilty. Two of his bodyguards were also convicted.

The attack on then Siwan superintendent of police S.P. Singhal took place May 3, 1996 when Shahabuddin was the legislator from the Zeeradei assembly constituency in Siwan district.

Singhal, upon receiving information about tension in Darauli Mathiya village, went there for investigation. He saw four people carrying arms at Done Bazaar and sent his bodyguards to inquire. But the men sped away in a vehicle. As Singhal gave chase, he was followed by a car. The occupants of both the vehicles then fired upon the police official.

Singhal identified three of his assailants as Shahabuddin and his two bodyguards, Jehangir and Khaliq, who were in uniforms. The men managed to escape while Singhal returned to Siwan.

The cop then lodged a written complaint with the Darauli police station.

In May, a court had sentenced Shahabuddin to life imprisonment for murdering a political activist in 1999. In March, he was convicted of attacking the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist office in Siwan town Sep 19, 1998.

A Lok Sabha member from Siwan since 1996, Shahabuddin is involved in 40 criminal cases, including murder, abduction and possession of illegal arms. Currently lodged in Siwan jail, he was arrested in Delhi more than a year ago over the seizure of arms from his ancestral house in the same district.

Earlier this year, the Patna High Court directed that all pending cases against him be tried by a special court set up by the state government in Siwan jail.

Human rights team visiting Bhagalpur to probe police torture

Patna, Aug 30 (IANS) A National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team is visiting Bhagalpur district Thursday to probe the brutal torture by police of an alleged chain-snatcher at Nathnagar in the district.

"The NHRC team will hold talks with Bhagalpur district administration officials, policemen, locals and also the victim to prepare a report," a senior district official said.

Two days after taking suo motu cognisance of the incident, the NHRC issued notice to the Bihar home department to produce a report on the incident. Its visit assumes significance as the commission views the incident as a serious violation of human rights by the policemen.

On Monday, Aurangzeb, a man in his early 20s, was thrashed and brutally tortured by police at Nathnagar. TV footage showed a cop dragging him through the street tied to the back of a motorcycle. He was hospitalised in a critical condition. His condition has improved Thursday, according to officials.

The incident triggered protests and violent clashes in Nathnagar. The situation turned tense Tuesday after an angry crowd threw stones at a police station following rumours that the man had died due to the torture. Some anti-socials tried to give a communal twist to the incident, but the local administration controlled the situation.

A case was lodged against the police who tortured Aurangzeb. A senior official in the state police headquarters here said a complaint has been registered against the erring policemen and they have been issued a show cause notice. The accused cops, Ramchandra Rai and L.B. Singh, were suspended on Tuesday.

"If a policeman doesn't respect the people, he has no right to hold the post," said State Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah.

"The chief minister has ordered a probe into the incident and the Bhagalpur district superintendent of police has been asked to conduct the probe," Amanullah said.

Bihar police spokesperson Inspector General Anil Sinha said action had been taken against the accused and the officer-in-charge of Nathnagar police station had been asked to submit a report soon.

But Sinha tried to downplay the incident, alleging that Aurangzeb had a criminal background. "There were criminal cases lodged against him. He was a known criminal in the area," Sinha said.

Monday's incident has come as an embarrassment for the state government.

Human rights organisations have condemned the incident and demanded immediate action against the policemen.

New property tax imposed in Rajasthan

Jaipur, Aug 30 (IANS) The government in Rajasthan has imposed a new property tax in urban areas of the state.

In a notification issued here late Wednesday evening the state government imposed urban development tax with immediate effect. The urban development tax is being levied as an alternate to house tax, which was abolished in January.

Abolition of house tax was one of the promises made in the Bharatiya Janata Party manifesto released at the time of the assembly elections in 2003.

As per the new tax proposal, the government now plans to impose tax on residential plots of 300 square yards or more, on flats of over 1,500 sq feet and on commercial houses of more than 100 square yards.

The tax will be calculated on the basis of local district level committee (DLC) rates that will be divided by 2,000 to arrive at the tax figure.

However, the opposition Congress has decided to oppose any move to impose this tax.

"BJP government is trying to fool people by imposing the tax under a new name," said Pratap Singh Khachriawas, a Congress leader.

"We will hold agitation against this stubbornness of the state government," he said.

"AIIMS doctors call off strike after court intervention

New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS) Striking medics of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) called off their strike Thursday afternoon after the Delhi High Court asked them to do so in view of the suffering of patients.

The doctors said the high court had taken suo moto cognisance of their strike and the suffering of the thousands of patients who throng the hospital every day.

"Respecting the judiciary we have called off our strike. We hope the court will listen to our grievance as well," Nitin Kukkar, a protesting doctor, told IANS.

Since Tuesday evening, hundreds of resident doctors were protesting because they had not received their postgraduate degrees. The strike had affected services at the out patients department (OPD) of the premier hospital, which is visited by around 6,000 people every day.

On Wednesday, the resident doctors had boycotted the OPD although they attended the ICUs and emergency wards.

The resident doctors were protesting because they had not got their degrees even two years after clearing the exams, making it difficult for them to apply for jobs elsewhere or for further studies.

The protesting medicos allege that Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has not signed the degree certificates though the other three signatories - director, registrar and dean - had signed them.

Ramadoss had urged the protesting medicos to call off their strike and assured them that he would sign their degree certificates soon, but the junior doctors had earlier refused to relent.

AIIMS is India's top government hospital and medical college that treats over 8,000 patients every day. - IANS

Patna High Court does Bihar proud

New Delhi, Aug 26 (IANS) This might come as a pleasant surprise. Bihar, which has one of the highest crime rates in India, can boast of a high court with relatively one of the fewest number of pending cases - 97,354. This is in sharp contrast to many other states where the backlog in the high courts runs into hundreds of thousands.

According to latest official statistics from various high courts at the end of March this year, the figure of 97,354 for the Patna High Court compares very favourably with those at the high courts of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.

While the Allahabad High Court tops the list of courts with a high backlog - at 815,602 cases, the Orissa High Court has 224,382 cases.

Three other high courts - in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh - have 209,095, 188,796 and 148,512 cases respectively pending with them.

What's worse, other economically well off states too have a surfeit of cases at their high courts.

For example, the Madras High Court and the Bombay High Court respectively occupy the second and third positions in the list of high courts with a huge build-up of cases awaiting adjudication. The Madras High Court has 418,110 cases pending with it, while the backlog of cases at Bombay High Court stands at 366,495.

The high courts of West Bengal, Punjab and Haryana, and Gujarat had 272,643, 244,875, and 112,045 cases pending with them respectively at the end of March this year.

What's surprising is that the Patna High Court has been able to keep the backlog of cases low despite having a massive vacancy - 32.5 percent - of judges. Against a sanctioned strength of 43 judges, it has just 29 judges.

In contrast, the Allahabad High Court has merely 19 percent judicial vacancy, having 77 judges against a sanctioned strength of 95 judges. Only the Orissa as well as Punjab and Haryana high courts have judicial vacancies higher than that of the Patna High Court.

The Orissa High Court, which tops the list of courts with 36 percent of judicial vacancy, has only 14 judges against a sanctioned strength of 22. The vacancy at the Punjab and Haryana High Court is to the tune of 34 percent (35 judges working against a sanctioned strength of 53).

The vacancy of judges in other high courts is in the range of 20 percent with Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan having 20 percent vacancy each, Gujarat 26 percent, Bombay 17 percent and Madras 10 percent.

Delhi High Court asks BCCI not take action against ICL players

New Delhi, Aug 27 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Monday asked Indian cricket board not to take any coercive action against the cricketers aligning with the rival Indian Cricket League (ICL).

"Let the cricketers play. Don't take any action against them," Justice S.K. Koul said after hearing the ICL petition on the issue.

The court asked the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), union government and 22 state cricket associations to file their reply to the petition and fixed Sep 28 as the next date of hearing.

The court also asked the government to clarify the situation on the Indian cricket team and the role of BCCI in controlling the game in the country.

Senior Counsel Harish Salve appearing for the ICL submitted that the team representing the BCCI was not the India team.

BCCI counsel Abhishek Sanghvi said the board would file its reply within three weeks.

Dutt out of jail for a month

Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS) Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who is currently out on interim bail, Monday got temporary relief for a month as he will get a copy of his court verdict only Sep 27. He is supposed to surrender once he gets the copy.

Dutt, 48, appeared before P.D. Kode, judge at the special anti-terror court here, along with his lawyer Farhana Shah to receive his copy of the verdict, which will now be given to him a month later.

Dutt was sent to jail July 31 after the special TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities) court sentenced him to six years rigorous imprisonment for illegal possession of arms in connection with the 1993 Mumbai bombings. He was moved to Yerawada Jail in Pune Aug 2.

He was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court Aug 20 and was released from jail last week.

The actor is required to mark his attendance before the Central Bureau of Investigation office here every Friday.

High court judge seeks transfer of Dera chief's case

Chandigarh, Aug 23 (IANS) In a surprise development, a Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Thursday refused to take up the bail application of Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh and instead asked the chief justice to transfer the case to another bench of the court.

Justice Surya Kant, in whose court the matter was listed for decision Thursday, heard the sect chief's lawyers and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) counsel Tuesday, and then refused to take up the matter, saying that he had realised that he had been party to the matter when he was advocate general of Haryana a few years ago.

He said that he had written to the chief justice to transfer the case to another bench of the high court.

The bail application will now come up for hearing after the case is transferred to another bench.

The dera chief's bail was pending before the court in cases registered by the CBI against the godman for his alleged involvement in two murders and the rape of a woman devotee. The three incidents took place between 2001-04.

The dera chief has been summoned by a special CBI court in Ambala city in Haryana Aug 31 for personal appearance so that he can be served the charge sheet filed by the CBI.

The files relating to the cases had been seen by Justice Surya Kant when he was advocate general of Haryana.

The murders relate to that of the dera chief's former manager Ranjit Singh in July 2002 and of a journalist, Ram Chandra Chhatrapati, in November 2001.

Dera activists murdered Ranjit Singh allegedly at the behest of the godman, while it is alleged that he got Chhatrapati killed after the latter wrote about shady activities inside the sect headquarters located at Sirsa, 300 km from here.

The rape case relates to allegations by a former female follower that the dera chief had raped her more than once inside the dera premises.

The dera management has so far refuted all these charges.

The sect chief has been involved in a major stand-off with Sikhs since May this year after he portrayed himself as the revered 10th Sikh guru, Gobind Singh.

Supreme Court: CAs, Architects to Pay Service Tax

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Parliament’s legislative competence to levy service tax on chartered accountants, cost accountants and architects.

Rejecting the contention of All India Federation of Tax Practitioners, a bench of Justice SH Kapadia and Justice B Sudershan Reddy said, “Service tax is a tax on each activity undertaken by a chartered accountant, a cost accountant or an architect. For each transaction or a contract, they render professional-based services.”

The bench further observed that although from the point of view from these professionals the activity undertaken by them is based on their performance but, from a client’s perspective, they are service providers. While upholding the Central Government’s law to levy service tax through Finance Act 1994 and 1998 the bench also distinguished between a service tax and a professional tax. Rejecting the appellant’s argument that the word “profession” was synonymous with the word “service,” the bench held that service tax and professional tax were distinct.

Professional tax, according to the court, is a tax on an individual, person, a firm or a company. And, therefore, the state legislature was entitled to levy the same. However, service tax was a tax on the “status of a cost accountant or a chartered accountant.” Read Complete News

Supreme Court:CAs, Architects to Pay Service Tax

Sanjay Dutt gets interim bail from Supreme Court

Aug 20 - Sanjay Dutt gets interim bail from Supreme Court

Supreme Court granted bail on Monday to Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, jailed for six years for receiving guns from gangsters involved in the country's worst bombings as per TV Reports

Convicted last November on charges of possessing illegal fire arms in the run-up to the Mumbai serial bombings of March 1993, Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to a six-year jail term on July the 31 this year. Actor Sanjay Dutt's bail application was heard by the Supreme Court Today.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan said it was releasing Dutt and others while restoring "status quo ante sentencing".

However, those who had been in prison before being sentenced by the anti-terror TADA court would continue to be inside jail.

Presently serving his term in Pune's Yerwada jail, the popular actor had been taken into custody soon after the July pronouncement of the sentence.

He then moved the apex court seeking bail and challenging his conviction under the Arms Act.

Karan Singh, a member of Dutt's legal team, had told IANS that he hoped the apex court would readily grant interim bail to the actor following the trial court's failure to supply him its detailed judgement at the time of jailing him. - IANS

Insurance against Kidnapping in India

Insurance cover against kidnapping has many takers


New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS) Chander Lal, 52, an industrialist from Kanpur, is hesitant about telling his friends that he has taken an insurance policy for himself and his family against kidnapping, a growing 'industry' in the country's largest state.

Lal's foremost fear is that word might get around making him vulnerable especially with the kidnapping industry in Uttar Pradesh still thriving despite the crackdown against criminal gangs in the last three months.

But hundreds of industrialists and high net-worth individuals like Lal are increasingly coming forward to take up such policies as their businesses expand in crime-prone areas of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and the northeastern states.

"Most of the requests are coming in from big contractors, industrialists and corporate honchos. Some of them stay in big metros but their industry or enterprise is located in areas where kidnappers hold sway," Santosh Balan of Bajaj Allianz, a private insurance company, told IANS.

"The policies we offer are not off-the-shelf products. They are tailor-made, confidential, and beneficiaries are given pan-Indian exposure."

Other insurance companies such as Tata AIG, ICICI Lombard and HDFC Chubb have also stepped in, offering similar polices with some even providing psychological counselling in the event of abduction.

According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau figures, Uttar Pradesh recorded 2,256 cases of kidnapping in 2006.

Figures received by the Patna High Court from district judges indicate that there were about 1,800 cases of kidnappings registered in Bihar in 2006 against 1,697 cases in 2005.

However, M.P. Gupta, a senior lawyer of the Patna High Court, put the figure higher saying that 4,849 cases of kidnapping took place in Bihar from July 2006 to June 2007. "This high figure of kidnappings in Bihar in one year is not mine or anyone else's. It is a court report and an authentic one," Gupta told IANS.

The indemnity policy of Tata AIG provides coverage for losses incurred as a result of kidnapping, bodily injury extortion (physical harm caused by extortionists), blackmail or property damage extortion (damage to property by extortionists) - including trade secrets, proprietary information and computer viruses and product contamination.

"Expert consultants help companies prepare for and respond to incidents in order to bring kidnap victims home safely and bring successful conclusions to extortion and blackmail situations," the Tata AIG website announces.

Because of the confidentiality clause, most insurance companies were reluctant to part with their customer portfolio, but according to police officials in Assam and Uttar Pradesh, leather goods exporters, contractors and tea estate owners had availed themselves of these policies.

Uttar Pradesh's additional director general of police (law and order) Brij Lal, who has over 100 encounters against his name, said he was unaware whether businessmen were taking policies but pointed out that his force had launched a massive crackdown.

"While it may not be possible to provide personal security to every single individual, strong action against criminal gangs has already brought down kidnappings by about 75 percent over the past three months since the new (Bahujan Samaj Party) government took over," Lal told IANS.

"Since kidnappings have been rampant in parts of western Uttar Pradesh, our special operations against criminal gangs in general has compelled several gangs to either lie low or slip out of the state."

"More recently, we eliminated one known kidnapping gang in Shahjahanpur, while our cops managed to get a hostage released unscathed from the clutches of another gang in the same district."

At a time when Bihar's kidnapping industry is thriving, the offer of insurance cover against kidnapping for ransom has come as a big relief.

Manorama Singh, a homemaker whose husband is an engineer in a top private telecom company, said that insurance cover against kidnapping was good.

"I was watching a news bulletin recently that insurance companies are offering cover against kidnapping for ransom in Uttar Pradesh. But I was told by my husband that companies will offer this in Bihar also," she said.

Fear of kidnapping runs high among the rich, many of whom cannot afford to pay the huge ransoms often demanded by kidnappers.

Professionals, businessmen and school students from well-off families are often the targets of kidnapping gangs. Just last week, Akash Pandey, 12, a Class 8 student was kidnapped while on his way to school in a posh Patna locality. The police are yet to find him.

A senior official of Tata AIG said the company would soon offer insurance cover against kidnapping for ransom in Bihar.

"We have been studying the market and business potential before launching it in Bihar," he said.

K. Ramalingam of Bajaj Allianz pointed out that the personal cover for the insured varied according to individuals and situations.

"It could start at Rs.5 million and go up to Rs.5 billion. There are many factors which go into drafting a policy. It is valid for a year like all other policies," he said.

By Murali Krishnan IANS

Parliamentary panel faults bill on errant judges

New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) A parliamentary panel Friday recommended drastic changes in a proposed law to discipline errant judges, virtually junking the bill in its original form.

The changes recommended to the Judges (Inquiry) Bill, 2006, ranged from the composition of the proposed National Judicial Council (NJC) to an impeached judge's right to move the apex court.

Strongly disapproving the all-judge composition of the NJC, the panel, headed by Rajya Sabha member E.M.S Natchiappan, asked the government to broad base it and include members from the executive, legislature and from among the lawyers as well.

The panel, referring to the judiciary's last word in appointment of judges, said, "Judges appointing judges is bad enough in itself; judges judging judges is worse."

The panel also recommended complete omission of section 30 of the bill, which entitles an impeached judge to move the Supreme Court against the president's order of his dismissal passed on the basis of a two-third majority decision of both houses of parliament.

"The president's order of removal of a judge is the result of parliament's decision after due process and resolution of 2/3rd majority by each house. Therefore, allowing the president's decision to be challenged by a dismissed judge is totally unwarranted and uncalled for," said the panel, following a nine-month-long scrutiny of the bill.

The panel, officially known as the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Law and Justice, also fiercely disapproved other provisions of the bill, which would amount to curtailment of parliament's existing power on removing judges.

"The committee takes strong exception to the fact that the provisions of the bill have the effect of curtailing the parliament's right to discuss about the conduct of a judge," it said in a report.

"The committee categorically observes that the powers of the parliament with regard to impeachment of a judge should in no case be diluted or shifted to any other institution or body," the panel said.

In a suggestion, not related to the scrutiny of the bill, the panel also suggested providing for reservation for scheduled castes, tribes and other backward classes people for appointment as judges in the higher judiciary "to meet the ends of social justice and equity".

Consumer disputes redressal forum to be computerised: Pawar

New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) In a move to further streamline their functioning, consumer redressal forums in states would be computerised and networked by the year-end at a cost of Rs.486.4 million, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said Friday.

Inaugurating a two-day conference at Vigyan Bhavan marking the 20th Foundation Day of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Pawar said the project was in its final year and was being executed by the National Informatics Centre on a turnkey basis.

He said the government was in the process of strengthening the commission by increasing the number of members to nine from the existing five.

Though the overall performance of the forum has been satisfactory with nearly 88 percent of the 2.8 million cases filed so far disposed off, the minister said there was a need to "change the common man's perception that the consumer fora had slipped onto the path of civil courts, making litigation long drawn out and taking several years to dispose of even cases involving small compensation".

Pawar said it was time to change the common criticism that the orders of the consumer forum are not swift and do not hit the offenders where it hurts them most, and it is not even taken seriously by the offenders.

Though the state commissions and district forum are the responsibility of state governments to ensure that their functioning is not hampered due to lack of infrastructure, the central government has been extending liberal assistance in the form of grants so that there is no resource constraint, he said.

As part of the central government's encouragement to consumer courts in states and districts, the government was spending liberally in providing all requisite infrastructure and has already sanctioned Rs.980 million to 18 states and Rs.474.4 million to 16 state governments as the first tranche of assistance, Pawar said.

Supreme court raps government over food safety law

New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) The Supreme Court Friday pulled up the central government for its failure to implement a food safety law that makes it mandatory for soft drink majors Pepsi and Coca-Cola to mention the ingredients on their drink bottles.

A bench of Justices A.K. Mathur and Dalveer Bhandari directed the government to file a detailed affidavit explaining its failure in notifying the Food (Safety and Standard) Act, 2006.

Earlier, counsel for petitioner Centre for Public Interest Litigation, Prashant Bhushan, contended before the court that the government was deliberately avoiding implementation of the law.

Bhushan alleged that the government may be avoiding the notification of the law under the influence of multinational companies like Pepsi and Coke, which have been opposing statutory measures that might force them to mention the contents of their soft drinks.

The petitioner contended the companies had been opposing the law in the aftermath of findings that soft drinks had traces of harmful chemicals, including pesticides, which could damage the health of consumers, a majority of whom are children.

He also suggested that the court constitute a committee comprising of experts to examine the issue of enumerating all ingredients of a food product and soft drink on the packets.

Bhushan suggested the name of eminent scientists Prof Yashpal and P.M. Bhargava for inclusion in the expert committee.

The court adjourned the matter for further hearing on Sep 5.

Apex court stops Haryana from perforating Bhakra canal

New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) The Supreme Court Friday temporarily restrained the Haryana government from making a hole in the Bhakra Canal in Kaithal district to feed a water channel being built by the state to irrigate farm land.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice R.V. Raveendran, in an interim order, stalled the Haryana government till Sep 5 from making the canal, on an application by the Punjab government opposing construction of the water channel.

The bench issued notice to the Haryana government seeking its response to the Punjab government's opposition to the construction of the water channel.

The bench, however, refused to stay the ongoing construction of the 20-km-long water channel, called 'Hansi Branch Butana Branch of the Multipurpose Link Channel', being built to link with Bhakra canal through a perforation near Ajimgarh village in Kaithal, Haryana.

The water channel runs from west to east, adjoining the territory of Punjab. It is to have a 10.2-feet-high embankment for the first 11 km and taper to a seven-feet-high embankment along the subsequent nine km run.

The counsel for Punjab government Rajiv Dhavan contended that the embankment would obstruct the free flow of surface water from north to south and result in flooding the territory of Punjab.

He said the water deluge in turn would result in submergence of 20,756 acres of Punjab land in 32 villages and require displacement of over 100,000 people in the state.

Objecting to the construction of the water channel by the Haryana government, Dhavan said that the project would also ruin the existing irrigation system as well as communication system in the state and inflict other damages.

Terming the construction by Haryana as "violation of territorial rights of Punjab", Dhavan pointed out that even the farming land in the Yamuna basin that Haryana proposed to irrigate through the channel was not part of the areas identified for irrigation in the Bhakra Nangal agreement of 1959.

Dhavan said Haryana's project was akin to "creating an extra-territorial nuisance" against Punjab and amounted to trespass into its territory.

The apex court restrained Haryana from perforating the canal, rejecting the contentions by its counsel Shanti Bhushan that the court could not restrain the government from perforating the canal without hearing its arguments.

The court, however, observed that it was an "original suit" between two states, where the court was empowered to restrain a state through interim orders.

Justice that is delayed is forgotten: chief justice of India

Delayed justice and the tardy disposal of cases could result in people losing faith in the judiciary, Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan said Wednesday after hoisting the tricolour at the Supreme Court.

"The people's faith in the judicial system begins to wane, because justice that is delayed is forgotten, excluded and finally discarded," the chief justice told a gathering on the occasion of India's 60th anniversary of independence.

He said the backlog of cases continued to mount despite the best efforts of the judiciary and urged the government to improve infrastructure so cases could be disposed of faster.

Balakrishnan called for setting up of "high quality and modernised training academies" for judges and lawyers to dispose cases faster. - IANS

Such academies needed to be set up at the lower judiciary level, he said.

"The lower judiciary is hindered with the problem of inadequate infrastructure, as well as poor working conditions in certain areas. This is a pressing concern, since most cases do not go beyond the lower judiciary.

"It is thus imperative to modernise the lowest rungs of the judicial system and introduce high quality and modernised training academies for the judges and lawyers. This will make for a better workforce," he observed.

He expressed his satisfaction at the innovative evening courts, mobile courts and e-courts set up by various high courts to make justice accessible to people living in the remotest parts of the country.

According to the latest figures, there are 25 million cases pending in the lower court, 3.6 million in the high courts and 43,580 in the Supreme Court.

Nithari killings: non-bailable warrants against two cops

Ghaziabad, Aug 16 (IANS) A special court here Thursday issued non-bailable warrants against two suspended officials of the Noida police for allegedly taking bribes to botch up the case relating to the Nithari killings in which at least 20 children and young women were raped and murdered.

Dinesh Yadav, then circle officer, and V.P. Singh, then station house officer, face arrests for allegedly accepting bribes from S.K. Sharma, employee of prime accused Moninder Singh Pandher, to conceal and destroy evidence.

Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli had been arrested last year after the recovery of at least 20 human skulls from a drain behind Pandher's Noida bungalow Dec 29.

Hearing the case of 24-year-old Payal, one of the victims, judge Rama Jain of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court found both suspended officials "prima facie accused" for concealing the case diary.

"After hearing the testimony of Payal's father Nand Lal who saw the official accepting bribes, the court finds them prima facie accused in the case and issues non-bailable warrant against them," the judge said.

The court has asked the Ghaziabad senior superintendent of police to produce them on or before Aug 29.

It was Payal's murder that had led to the unravelling of the sex-related butcheries in Nithari village in Noida, adjacent to Delhi.

Delhi HC notice to Ajmer shrine administrator

New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday directed the administrator of the shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer to appear before it Sep 26 to reply to charges of corruption and mismanagement levelled by an official committee.

A division bench headed by Justice T.S. Thakur asked the administrator, a government official from the ministry of minority affairs, to come to the court with all documents to reply to the charges made by a committee instituted by the government a few months ago.

During the hearing of a public suit filed by NGO Hum Aap Ke, the court observed, "The report alleged large-scale corruption by the committee and the administrator needs to explain this."

After the ministry of minority affairs received a large number of complaints about irregularities in the management at the shrine and the NGO filed the suit, a seven-member committee conducted an inquiry, examined documents and held hearings in Ajmer in February.

Headed by Ghayur-e-Alam and with Firoz Bakht Ahmed as its convenor, the committee noted in its report: "The very first impression is that of dingy lanes, haphazard shops, beggars and unhygienic conditions."

But the investigation brought to light more sordid aspects of the shrine management with money being spent without maintaining proper records, misuse of facilities, encroachment of the premises by unauthorised people and even sale of liquor in its vicinity.

Andhra Pradesh move to free 1,500 prisoners halted

New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) The Andhra Pradesh government's proposal to release 1,500 prisoners, including the convict husband of a Congress legislator, to mark the 60th anniversary of the country's independence was halted by the Supreme Court Thursday.

A bench of Justices B.N. Agarwal and D.K. Jain also issued notice to the government seeking its reply within four weeks, following a petition by R. Chandrashekhar Reddy, a lawyer from Andhra Pradesh.

The bench questioned the rationale of releasing habitual criminals, convicted on heinous charges.

"At this rate you might as well release the people involved in the Nithari killings and the Mumbai blasts," the bench remarked sarcastically, questioning the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy government's rationale for setting free 1,500 of the 6,500 prisoners in the various jails of the state.

Rejecting Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam's argument that the state was finalising the list of the prisoners for release after detailed evaluation of their behaviour and conduct in the jails, the bench shot back: "What about their heinous crimes outside the jail?

"Such habitual offenders are menace to society. We also need to consider the impact of their crime on the society," it said.

It, however, allowed the government to continue preparing the list of prisoners eligible for release after evaluating their conduct.

The prisoners set to be released included ruling Congress legislator Charitha Reddy's husband Gouru Venkat Reddy, convicted on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and jailed for 10 years.

Reddy had been given life sentence by the trial court on charges of murder, but the Andhra Pradesh High Court reduced his jail term after convicting him on the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

Reddy was in 2005 granted pardon by then state governor Sushilkumar Shinde, currently union power minister. Shinde's order granting remission to the legislator's husband, however, had been set aside by the Supreme Court last year.

The state government's move to set free a large number of hardcore and notorious criminals was challenged Tuesday by advocate Reddy who practises at the apex court.

In his petition, the lawyer has contended: "The release of such a huge number of prisoners has become a regular phenomenon in Andhra Pradesh. While releasing such prisoners the government pays scant regard to the sentiments of the victims of these criminals. It neither assesses its impact on the morale of the police force nor on the criminal justice system of the state."

He also challenged the state government's tendency to relax the eligibility criteria to grant remission to the prisoners.

"Earlier the lifers were eligible for remission of their sentences only after serving 14 years of jail term. But since 1995, the government has been consistently relaxing the norm for grant of remission to the prisoners," said Reddy.

"The government has now begun giving remission to lifers up to three years even after the completion of seven years of jail term by them," he said, adding that other prisoners, jailed for less than life term too become eligible for remission of their sentences after completing half of their terms.

The petitioner termed the government's decision to release 1,500 prisoners as irrational, illogical and illegal.

Create cells for problem NRI marriages: government report

New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS) A government report Monday recommended that special cells be set up with Indian missions abroad to address problem NRI marriages and that all marriages be registered so that women deserted by their husbands can fight their case effectively.

There is an urgent need to set up separate cells with Indian embassies to render necessary help in cases of problem NRI marriages, said the 12th report of the Committee on Empowerment of Women (2006-2007) on the "Plight of Indian women deserted by NRI husbands". The report was tabled in parliament Monday.

The report stressed that all marriages irrespective of religion should compulsorily be registered. In marriages with NRIs, such registration would help a woman fight her case more effectively and the concerned Indian mission would be in a better position to track the erring NRI husband, it said.

It also suggested that the Indian Passport Act be amended to incorporate a provision where the erring husband's passport could be cancelled.

The report was based on inputs from the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, National Commission for Woman, NGOs and aggrieved women.

The committee recommended that marriage certificates for NRIs be issued in duplicate to facilitate the deserted woman to fight her legal battle even if the original certificate was taken away by her husband on the pretext of getting a visa or updating other travel formalities.

A majority of the committee members felt that the services of various Indian associations should be utilised for getting complete background details of a prospective NRI bridegroom, including his marital and citizenship status.

The report added that of the budgetary allocation earmarked for the welfare of women, a suitable amount be apportioned for dealing with the problems relating to fraudulent NRI marriages.

SC cancels anticipatory bail to Gujarat police officer

New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS) The Supreme court Monday cancelled the anticipatory bail to a suspended Gujarat police officer allegedly involved in the November 2005 staged killings of Ujjain resident Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife, paving the way for his custodial interrogation in the matter.

A bench of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and P.K. Balasubramanyam annulled Deputy Superintendent of Police Narendra Kumar Amin's anticipatory bail after a first-hand scrutiny of an Ahmedabad court's order granting him bail.

The bench cancelled Amin's bail on an unusual special leave petition filed by the Gujarat government challenging the session court's order directly before the apex court, without first going to the Gujarat High Court.

With the cancellation of bail, the apex court paved the way for Amin's custodial interrogation to unravel his alleged role in the larger plot to eliminate Sohrabuddin, his wife Kausar Bi and his friend Tulsiram Prajapati.

On Friday, the bench had reserved its verdict on the Gujarat government petition. Amin is suspected to know how exactly Kausar Bi had been killed and how her body was disposed of.

Earlier Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam, who is assisting the court in the case, had pointed out that the charge sheet filed by the Gujarat police team, headed by its Inspector General of Police Geetha Johri, was silent on how exactly Kausar Bi had been killed.

Seeking continued monitoring of the case, even after the investigation is over, Subramaniam had argued that of the police officers Amin, who is suspected to have some knowledge in the case, had never been put to custodial interrogation as he had secured anticipatory bail.

He had argued that even the government was not interested in putting him to custodial interrogation as it never sought to challenge the Ahmedabad sessions court's bail order, despite the lacunae.

It was this argument which prompted the apex court to direct the Gujarat government to directly file a special leave petition before it to let it undertake a first hand scrutiny of the sessions court's bail order for Amin.

Supreme court slams Allahabad High Court for murder acquittals

New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS) The Supreme Court has severely castigated the Allahabad High Court for the "casual way" in which it acquitted three people - one sentenced to death and two to life imprisonment - convicted for double murder by the Hamirpur sessions court in Uttar Pradesh.

The high court had to face the apex court's wrath for the "casual and summary way of disposing the appeals against the sessions court judgement (made by two lifers) and the reference (made to it by the sessions court) for confirmation of the death sentence".

Expressing its rage over the high court's "perfunctory ways" in dealing with the issue, a bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and D.K. Jain said Friday: "To say the least, the approach of the high court is clearly unsupportable. This is not the way an appeal or reference for confirmation of death sentence is to be dealt with.

"The high court (while acquitting the convicts) did not even bother to analyse the evidence or to refer to any findings of the trial court (on the basis of which it had convicted the accused)."

The apex court bench made the caustic comment while hearing an appeal from the Uttar Pradesh government challenging the acquittal of two lifers and one condemned prisoner by the high court.

The Hamirpur court sentenced Govind Das to death for the murder of Loknath and Naval Kishore and gave life to two others while acquitting a woman.

While it referred the case to the high court for confirmation of the death sentence, the two lifers also approached the high court challenging their sentence.

The high court acquitted all three on the simple fact that the trial court had acquitted one of the co-accused.

Reminding the high court of the legal position that acquittal of one co-accused cannot be a ground of acquittal of all, the apex court bench directed the high court to adjudicate the two appeals and the trial court's reference afresh.

The apex court also asked the high court to dispose the matter within six months as it had taken "very long" in doing so the first time.

Supreme Court - Murders in 'fit of passion' don't deserve death

New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS) In what has alarmed friends of slain Delhi University law student Priyadarshini Mattoo, the Supreme Court has held that even a double murder committed "in a fit of passion" after an abortive rape bid does not deserve death penalty.

A bench of Justice S.B. Sinha and Justice Markandey Katju earlier this week upheld a Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling, which commuted a death sentence imposed on a double murder convict by a lower court to life term.

Kulvinder Singh had in August 2002 hacked Hardeep Kaur to death in a Punjab village after she resisted his bid to rape her. He also killed the girl's grandmother who tried to save her.

"While upholding the conviction of the accused for murder, we reduce the sentence to life imprisonment since it appears that the crime was committed in a fit of passion and does not come within the category of the 'rarest of rare' to deserve death penalty," the apex court bench ruled.

The sessions court had sentenced Kulvinder Singh to death saying: "The conduct of the accused depicted him as a person who constituted a threat to the society. He has forfeited his right to life by his barbarity."

The Supreme Court ruling has alarmed Priyadarshini Matoo's friends and relatives. The 23-year-old was raped and murdered in January 1996 by Santosh Singh.

Santosh, son of senior police officer J.P. Singh, had been allegedly stalking the girl for over a year.

Aditya Raj Kaul, who spearheaded the campaign 'Justice to Priyadarshini Mattoo' after a Delhi court acquitted Santosh, said: "It's a shocking ruling from the highest court of the country."

"At this rate, Santosh Singh's lawyer may also argue before the apex court that he committed the crime in a fit of passion after he failed to rape her and may escape the gallows.

"After all Santosh Singh and his lawyers can conveniently cite his past conduct of consistently stalking her and convince the court that he had a passion aflame for Mattoo," he added.

"This judgment has alarmed us. I will soon discuss it with our friends about what we should do in such a situation," Kaul said.

Sanjay Dutt Bail hearing scheduled for Aug. 20

Aug. 10 Supreme Court Issues Notice to CBI on Sanjay Dutt's Case

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the CBI and posted for August 20 Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt`s interim bail application.

"We are not going to pass any order now. We will consider all connected matter on August 20," a bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan said when senior advocate Fali S Nariman mentioned this matter for urgent hearing.

"We want to follow uniform approach," the bench said. Dutt was given a 6-year jail term in the 1993 serial blasts case by the TADA court on July 31.

The court declined Nariman`s plea that Dutt`s bail plea be heard on Monday.

While seeking early hearing, he said the actor is yet to receive a copy of the judgement and it was not likely to be available by August 24.

Some of the other persons convicted in the case have also applied for bail.

Source: ZEE news

Indian Share Market crashes on Global Meltdown

Mumbai, Aug 10 (IANS) Amid a depressing mood in the global markets and some heavy selling by foreign and domestic funds, Indian equities crashed Friday leading to a free fall of over 500 points, or 3.5 percent, in a key index.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened lower at 14,674.92 points, against the previous day's close of 15,100.15, was down as much as 529.26 points at 14,570.89 points in the early hours of trading.

After some range-bound trading, the index moved up slightly to 14,687.71 before noon - still down 412.44 points, or 2.73 percent, over the previous close. As many as 29 of the 30 stocks that make up the Sensex, were trading in the red.

Reliance Communications, Housing Development Finance Corp, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy, National Thermal Power, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Maruti Udyog, and Bharti Airtel were among the top losers.

Madras High Court restrains patent board in Novartis case

Chennai, Aug 9 (IANS) Swiss pharma major Novartis had some relief Thursday in its legal battle in India as the Madras High Court restrained the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) from hearing its appeal contesting the rejection of its patent application for a blood cancer drug. The same high court had thrown out Novartis's challenge to the Indian patent laws Monday.

A division bench of the Madras High Court comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justice P. Jyothimani Thursday granted an interim stay for four weeks on another Novartis petition questioning the IPAB's order.

The board had rejected the firm's demand that technical member S. Chandrasekharan withdraw from hearing its appeal as he was part of the process of rejection of its application before the Patents Office here.

Following the rejection of its plea for a patent for the beta-crystalline form of imatinib mesylate, marketed under the brand name Glivec, by the Assistant Controller of Patents, Chennai, in January 2006, Novartis had initially filed the writ petition. The matter was transferred to the board after the central government constituted a bench of the IPAB.

The IPAB had on July 21 rejected the plea by Novartis to exclude the technical member from the bench.

Novartis raised objections to the presence of Chandrasekharan on the IPAB since he had originally taken a stand against the company.

The IPAB comprising chairman M.H.S. Ansari and Chandrasekharan had rejected the plea by saying that Chandrasekharan had earlier made his submissions in his official capacity as a statutory authority, but now he was an adjudicator.

Novartis moved the high court against this order of the IPAB.

The high court bench also issued notices to the central government and others Thursday and adjourned the hearing till Sep 10.

Medical Negligence - Delhi HC sends summons

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Wednesday summoned Delhi's principal health secretary and the medical superintendent of the government-run Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) Hospital to explain why its order on improving patient care was not implemented.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice M.K. Sarma asked the top officials to appear in person before it on the next date of hearing Sep 10 as the authorities had failed to execute the order to improve the condition of the hospital and provide better treatment to the patients.

The court-appointed commissioners - Rajiv Bansal and Varun Goswami - complained to the court that the authorities were not cooperating with them when they visited the hospital for inspection.

Despite repeated requests, the hospital authorities did not provide them with identity cards for facilitating their visit to wards and theatres, they said.

Advocate Varun Goswami had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking direction to the hospital for improving its condition as more than 500 newborn babies had died in the 'out-born nursery' there due to the lack of proper facilities for treatment few years back.

The petitioner alleged that newborn babies were treated in a "grossly neglected and unattended" manner in the nursery as it did not have proper and separate staff and the equipment installed there were obsolete.

Referring to the sole ventilator used for treatment of newborn babies, the petitioner said that it was procured more than two decades ago in 1987 and at present it did not display vital signs like the heart beat rate or pulmonary functions.

Most of the time, it showed error and was dysfunctional, Goswami stated.

Quoting some doctors of the hospital, he alleged that babies admitted to the nursery seldom survived when put on the ventilator, and about 500 babies had so far died due to the faulty medical equipment.

The hospital authorities had spent huge amounts of money on irrelevant activities but had not bothered to procure new ventilators, he alleged.

Also, the hospital had only two phototherapy machines to treat neonatal jaundice and sometimes as many as three babies were placed together in each machine exposing them to an increased and fatal risk of infection, the petitioner said.

Supreme court to hear Sanjay Dutt's appeal on Friday

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) The Supreme Court has fixed Friday for hearing Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt's petition seeking bail and challenging his conviction under the Arms Act in the 1993 Mumbai bombings case.

The day was decided after senior counsel Fali S. Nariman Wednesday mentioned the matter before a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan that is also hearing the issue of reservations for backward classes centrally-funded educational institutions.

The other members of the bench are Justices Arjit Pasayat, C.K. Thakkar, R.V. Raveendaran and Dalveer Bhandari.

Dutt, who is in a Pune jail, has been sentenced to six years by an anti-terror TADA court that convicted him for being in possession of illegal weapons, which he later destroyed.

The actor has sought interim bail pending a decision on his appeal challenging the verdict of the anti-terror TADA court in Mumbai.

He said he deserved relief from the court as he had earlier been on bail for about 12 years and had never given the investigating agency or the trial court any reason for complaint.

Dutt, who has served 16 months in jail, added that he had exhibited exemplary conduct while he was on bail.

He has also challenged his conviction on grounds that he could not have been convicted on his confessional statement for possessing weapons as he had retracted it later.

Supreme Court Refuses to revoke Stay on OBC QUOTA

Supreme Court says no to OBC quotas

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to revoke the stay on quota laws for other backward classes (OBC) students in centrally funded higher educational institutions.

The law had been suspended on March 29.

The Supreme Court decision has come despite the government offering a compromise formula for the same. Besides being embarrassing for the ruling UPA government, the refusal is especially disillusioning for Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh who had been trying to push the stay.

Refusing to lift the freeze, a five-judge Constitution Bench ruled that the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act 2006 cannot be implemented until the main petitions challenging the validity of the Act is decided.

"We are not going to pass any interim order," the Bench, headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, said.

The Bench said it will hear the main petition to examine the Constitutional validity of the Centre Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act 2006 soon.

Novartis' patent claims Dismissed by Madras HC

Chennai, Aug 6 (IANS) In a major victory for Indian pharma firms, a Madras High Court bench Monday dismissed a controversial claim by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis that it should be given the right to patent life-saving drugs and prevent their generic manufacture in India.

Justice R. Balasubramanian and Justice Prabha Sridevan summarily rejected Novartis' challenge against the constitutional validity of Section 3 (d) of the Indian Patents Act. The division bench also declined the multinational company's plea to declare the statue as non-compliant with the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the global intellectual property treaty.

The bench noted that TRIPS itself provided for a Dispute Settlement Board to adjudicate all issues relating to the treaty.

"As the participating nations themselves had created a dispute settlement mechanism, we see no reason at all why we must disregard it," the court said.

Nationally, the judgement is a major victory for campaigners who say MNCs try to patent life-saving drugs by merely producing new forms of existing compounds, or by twisting the intellectual property law by a process dubbed "ever-greening" - indefinitely perpetuating patent protection by passing off variants and derivates as fresh inventions.

Globally, the judgement is set to be welcomed a millions of patients, particularly in the poorest countries of the world, for whom Indian generic drugs often mean the difference between life and death.

Novartis had moved the court when the Assistant Controller of Patents, Chennai, rejected its application for a patent for the beta-crystalline version of its drug, imatinib mesylate, which is sold under the brand name Glivec and is used in the treatment of blood cancer.

In January 2006, the assistant controller had invoked Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act to deny the company's claims of discovery of a new form of a known substance because it had not resulted in "enhancement of its known efficacy".

Novartis challenged the controller's decision - its appeal is pending before the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB), Chennai - and questioned the validity of the relevant section, which was introduced in the Patents Act, 1970, through an amendment in 2005.

Novartis counsels argued that the section was vague, arbitrary and ambiguous and gave unbridled power to the authority to use or misuse it.

The bench upheld the contention of the central government, the Cancer Patients' Aid Association of India, Mumbai, and several other rival pharmaceutical companies which stressed that the section was neither vague nor arbitrary. The global pharmaceutical giant could not pretend to be unaware of what it meant by "enhancement of known efficacy".

"We reiterate that the amended section, along with its explanation, is capable of being understood and worked out in a normal manner not only by the patent applicant, but also by the patent controller. In other words, the patent controller would be guided by various relevant details, which every patent applicant is expected to produce before him, showing that the new discovery has resulted in enhancement of known efficacy and that the derivatives differ significantly in properties with regard to efficacy," the court pointed out.

The company's argument that the provision violated Article 14 of the constitution (right to equality before law) and its claim that it had been discriminated against were also turned down.

The right of Indian citizens to have easy access to life-saving drugs could not be denied, the bench added.

7/11 accused to be charged Tuesday

Mumbai, Aug 6 (IANS) A special court will frame charges Tuesday on 13 people accused in the July 11, 2006, serial bombings on the local rail network that killed 186 people and injured hundreds.

The Mumbai Police's crack Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), responsible for the probe into the deadly bombings in rush-hour commuter trains, had arrested the 13 and filed charge sheets earlier last month.

The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court Monday explained to the accused the charges that will be filed under the stringent MCOCA Act and also under section 120 B for criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The accused will also be charged Tuesday under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) besides several sections of the IPC, Explosive Substances Act, Railway Act, Passport Act and the Prevention of Damage to Property Act.

The accused include some alleged leaders and members of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a computer engineer and a unani medical practitioner.

Besides those arrested, the ATS had in its charge sheet also named 15 other suspects, including 10 Pakistan nationals and the Pakistan-based LeT chief Azam Cheema.

Of the seven suspected bombers, including Pakistan nationals, only four are on trial. One of the suspected Pakistani bombers, identified as "Salem", was the lone unclaimed bombing victim who was killed after the bomb went off at Bandra station.

Cheema along with three other Pakistani nationals are still at large and believed to have sneaked back to Pakistan after the bombings.

Supreme court probes bail to Gujarat police official

New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday initiated the process for first-hand scrutiny of a sessions court order giving bail to a Gujarat police official suspected to be involved in the staged killing of Ujjain resident Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife and a family friend.

A bench of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and P.K. Balasubramanyam began the process of scrutinising the bail to Gujarat police official Narendra Kumar Amin by admitting a special leave petition filed by the state government as per its directions last Monday.

The bench issued notice to Amin, deputy superintendent of police, who had been granted anticipatory bail by an Ahmedabad sessions court. Amin is presently posted in the Crime Investigation Department of the state's police force.

The bench fixed Friday to hear the petition against bail to Amin.

Last Monday, the bench had asked the Gujarat government to directly file an appeal against the sessions court order giving bail to Amin after Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam had pointed out a series of inconsistencies in the state government probe into the November 2005 killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife.

Elaborating on lapses into the probe, Subramaniam, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the case, had pointed out that the Gujarat government was so biased in favour of the erring police officers that it did not even challenge before the Gujarat High Court the anticipatory bail granted to Amin.

Reading the sessions court order, Subramaniam pointed out that the order virtually sounded like a character certificate to Amin, against whom a police head constable had given a statement that he might be involved in the killing of Sheikh's wife Kausar Bi.

At this, the bench had asked counsels, including the Gujarat government counsel K.T.S. Tulsi, if it had the power to directly entertain a petition against the order of a sessions court.

A petition against a sessions court generally goes to the high court, before reaching the Supreme Court.

As the counsel assured the apex court that it had enormous power under the constitution, the bench asked the state government to file a petition directly before it to challenge the sessions court bail order to Amin.

Salman appears in court in poaching case

Jodhpur, Aug 6 (IANS) Bollywood actor Salman Khan appeared in a court here Monday for hearing on his appeal against conviction for poaching of an endangered chinkara gazelle nine years ago.

Salman, who arrived in the city Sunday evening, presented himself before the District and Sessions Judge of Jodhpur for the hearing.

"We almost completed our arguments today and tomorrow (Tuesday) the prosecution will put forward its case," Salman's counsel Hastimal Saraswat told IANS.

The actor had filed his appeal in April against the judgement of the chief judicial magistrate's court in Jodhpur which had sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs.25,000 for the 1998 poaching.

On April 10, the court had found the actor guilty under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Salman had to spend three nights in Jodhpur Central Jail before being granted bail by the district and sessions court.

The case was registered against Salman and five others under the Indian Penal Code, the Wildlife Protection Act and the Indian Arms Act at Mathania Police Station on Oct 11, 1998. Salman allegedly killed the chinkara at Ghoda farmhouse here.

"We have said that the forensic report of the animal does not prove it to be a chinkara and moreover if four people can be freed by the court on lack of evidence, then how can Salman alone be found guilty," Saraswat said.

Salman, who faces four cases in Jodhpur, has also been sentenced to one-year imprisonment in another poaching case in Bhawad. He has filed an appeal against that decision too.

Bush signs '9/11 law'

Washington, Aug 4 (Xinhua) US President George W. Bush has signed a bill to implement unfulfilled recommendations made by the panel set up to investigate the 9/11 terror attacks.

This legislation, dubbed as "9/11 law," requires mandatory screening of incoming freight shipments with a three-year deadline for air cargo and five years for sea.

It also increases federal aid for areas believed to be at the greatest risk of terrorist attack.

The bill "builds upon the considerable progress we have made in strengthening our defenses and protecting Americans since the attacks of Sep 11, 2001," Bush said at the signing ceremony Friday.

He also seized the opportunity to urge the Congress to act soon on changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which dates from the 1970s, predating cell phones and the Internet.

The measure is aimed to implement unfulfilled recommendations that the independent 9/11 Commission made three years ago in the wake of the terror attacks in 2001. It was passed the House and the Senate last week.

In 2004, the independent 9/11 Commission issued 41 recommendations covering domestic security, intelligence gathering and foreign policy.

Some of them have been implemented, including the creation of a director of national intelligence, tightening land border screening and cracking down on terror financing.

Xinhua

Medical Negligence - Delhi HC orders judicial probe

New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Friday ordered a judicial probe into the alleged medical negligence by doctors at a government-owned hospital which led to the amputation of a one-year-old child's limb earlier this year.

A division bench of Justices T.S. Thakur and S.N. Agrawal ordered the additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) of New Delhi to conduct the probe and file a report in three months.

"We direct the ACMM of New Delhi to conduct a fact-finding inquiry into the alleged medical negligence and submit a report to the court. The medical superintendent of the hospital has been directed to pay Rs.10,000 to the family of Jai, the child, as an interim measure."

In January, Jai was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital with a fractured leg. His leg was plastered below the waist, but the skin festered under the cast and his foot started to detach from the ankle, forcing doctors to perform an amputation March 5.

According to a preliminary report submitted to the court, the plaster cast was so tight that it pressed on a sensitive nerve and disrupted blood supply.

Pushpa, Jai's mother, said: "On Jan 21, we noticed boils showing through his (Jai's) plaster and immediately rushed him to the hospital."

When the plaster was cut open, the child's leg was covered with boils, and the skin had turned red and was peeling off, she added.

Jai's father Ram Babu, a tailor, added: "I went to all the senior doctors, but they refused to meet us. I went to the medical superintendent's office, but I was told he would not meet me. A senior official asked me to slug it out in the court if I had the money."

On Feb 21, to the horror of his parents, Jai's right foot began to detach from the ankle.

"I was horrified. I cried and pleaded with the doctors to save my only son," said Pushpa.

Jai's leg was then amputated below the ankle, leaving him crippled for the rest of his life.

However, the doctors said it is a common thing in orthopaedic cases.

"It happens. It is a common thing in orthopaedic cases. Every card issued to the patients bears a note saying that if they notice a boil or any sign of blood blockage, they should inform us," the doctors allegedly told the parents.

Metronow, a city-based tabloid, reported a doctor as saying, "Jai suffered because his parents did not inform us in time."

Refuting the allegations, Ram Babu told the tabloid that as soon as he saw a boil peeping out of the plaster, he rushed his son to the hospital Jan 21, but the doctors did not take proper care of him.

The tailor, who earns a meagre Rs.2,000 per month, has already shelled out more than Rs.40,000 on his son's treatment. Despite lodging a complaint against the doctors concerned, he said the police were yet to take any action.

SC dismisses petition against Indo-US nuclear deal

New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS) The Supreme Court Friday declined to entertain a petition seeking direction to the government to obtain parliamentary approval before implementing the Indo-US civil energy nuclear deal.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan dismissed the petition "as withdrawn" saying "these are all parliamentary procedures and that's why we will not interfere".

The bench, which also included Justices Tarun Chatterjee and R.V. Raveendran, refused to intervene in the issue, saying: "The government's treaty making power was beyond judicial review."

Former chief justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court P.S. Mishra, appearing for the petitioner, Bhopal resident Anil Chawla, had pleaded for directions to the government to seek parliamentary ratification of the joint Indo-US statement on the civil nuclear deal.

The apex court, dismissing the petition, also said: "Your main grievance was that it (the Indo-US nuclear agreement) was not approved by parliament. But it may be placed before parliament in due course," observed the chief justice, apparently taking note of the government's proposed plan to table the deal in parliament.

"It's for the constitutional authorities like the prime minister and Lok Sabha speaker to decide," observed the bench, adding, "we cannot ask the parliament to conduct so and so business and pass such and such legislation.

"We are in a democracy and in a democracy, the executive is answerable to parliament," the bench observed.

"You cannot ask the judiciary to direct government to notify the agreement and invite public objections to it," the Chief Justice observed in the bench agreement.

As Mishra sought to raise public concerns over the deal on various counts, the chief justice observed: "We do not say these are minor things. They indeed are serious things, very, very serious things."

The bench however, sought to allay the petitioner's apprehension saying: "There are several scientists to advise the government also."

As Mishra again insisted that the court pass some positive direction on the issue, the bench gave him hints that he may leave the matter pending with the court to be undertaken later.

"You wait till the matter is laid in the parliament," said the chief justice, expressing his disinclination to pass any order at this juncture.

Gauging the bench's unwillingness to interfere, Mishra sought the court's permission to withdraw the matter so that he could approach the court later.

Kafeel dead, parents shut themselves away

Bangalore, Aug 3 (IANS) The aged doctor parents of British terror plot suspect Kafeel Ahmed shut themselves away from the outside world Friday as news reached that he had died of burns sustained in the horrific incident.

For Maqbool Ahmed and Zakhia Ahmed, the death may have compounded a traumatic dilemma - was he really their 27-year-old son?

Soon after it was known that the man who drove a gasoline filled jeep into Glasgow airport terminal June 30 and suffered 90 percent burns in the incident, the couple denied that he was their elder son Kafeel.

A few days later, Bangalore police quoted Zakhia as saying that from the TV grab it appeared that the injured man was indeed their son Kafeel.

Since then the couple and their daughter Sadia Kauser have not stirred out of their house in the upmarket Banashankari area in the city.

For the last three weeks or so, only their lawyer B.T. Venkatesh has been talking on their behalf. On Friday he told reporters that he could not offer any comment unless British authorities officially confirmed the news to him or his counterpart in Britain.

Kafeel's younger brother Sabeel, a doctor from Bangalore, who was working in a Liverpool hospital, has been detained and charged with having information about the terror plot and not informing the authorities about it.

There have been reports that the British authorities had conducted a DNA test of Kafeel and Sabeel to establish the identity of the former. There is no official word from the British on these reports so far.

The Bangalore police, who are going through material contained in a computer hard disc and CDs seized from his house in Banashankari to learn about Kafeel's possible links with extremist groups when he was here, declined to comment on whether his death will affect their probe.

"Our investigation will continue as our effort is to find out whether he was part of a sleeper cell of extremist groups or had helped establish such cells in the city," a senior police official involved in the probe said.

Information gathered so far from the hard disc and the CDs show that he was deeply interested in 'jehad' literature and the plight of the Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Chechnya, the officer said.

Kafeel did his mechanical engineering from a college in Davangere, about 250 km from Bangalore, and went to Britain for his PhD in aeronautical engineering.

Though described by his teachers and classmates at the Davangere college as intelligent, studious and reserved, Kafeel's actions have been controversial as he provided incorrect or false information during admission to the college.

For instance, in the column on religion he had mentioned "Hindu". This was noticed by the college authorities when the media started digging information on him following the Glasgow terror bid.

Kafeel and Sabeel were born in Saudi Arabia where their parents worked for a few years. The doctor couple now lead a retired life after closing down a nursing home they ran for several years.

Maqbool Ahmed was an active member of the Jammat-e-Islami group in Bangalore.

Delhi private schools oppose 'virtual admission quota'

New Delhi, Aug 2 (IANS) A group of private schools in the capital told the Delhi High Court Thursday that they will not implement a committee recommendation to grant an additional five points to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe students during admission in nursery classes.

Submitting their objections to the Ashok Ganguly Committee report, the schools said it was an indirect way of introducing reservation for socially backward communities in private institutions.

They also objected to several other suggestions saying that they would not be implemented in the schools while admitting students.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice M.K. Sarma directed the Delhi government to act upon the suggestions of the private schools and file a reply with in four weeks.

The Ganguly Committee was appointed by the court to look into the admissions procedure to nursery classes in public schools and submitted its second report on July 13.

"The committee carefully examined all the views and suggestions received from different stakeholders and discussed them at length. It also studied the particulars of admission to the nursery class in some private schools of Delhi made in 2006-07 (under the old practice) and 2007-08 (under the new norms)," said the report.

While assigning a maximum 25 points to the neighbourhood clause, the committee had also earmarked five points for physically challenged children.

It left 25 points to the discretion of the school management for deserving students.

On the recommendation of the committee's first report, the court in October 2006 had barred nursery schools from conducting any kind of interviews or interaction with kids or their guardians during the admission process.

While doing away with interviews, the court had fixed a points system ranging from one to 100 on the basis of which children were to be given admission.