No govt nod needed to challenge court order for adverse remarks: Hry AG

No govt nod needed to challenge court order for adverse remarks: Hry AG

Ajay.Sura@timesgroup.com

Chandigarh:04.03.2021 

The Haryana government has asked senior bureaucrat Ashok Khemka not to seek its permission to challenge an order passed by a single bench of the Punjab and Haryana high court in which some adverse remarks were made against him.

“The complaint made by Ashok Khemka IAS, which has been adversely commented by the high court in judgment dated January 29, 2021, was in his private capacity and not in discharge of his official duties as a member of the service. Ashok Khemka does not require any previous government sanction in this case and may have recourse to any legal remedy for expunction of adverse remarks against him in the judgment,” the advocate general (AG) office Haryana has clarified in response to Khemka’s request.

The matter relates to appointment of shooter Vishwajeet Singh, who is son of another IAS officer and former director of sports department, Haryana, Jagdeep Singh, in the coveted Haryana Civil Service (executive branch) under sports quota. The Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) had recommended Vishwajeet’s name for appointment as HCS officer but his appointment was halted after Khemka made a complaint, raising questions on the affiliation of tournaments for which Vishwajeet was issued the sports gradation certificate that helped him get the job.

However, Vishwajeet had approached the HC, which in its order dated January 29 directed the state government to give him the appointment. The single bench of the HC had also made some adverse comments on Khemka in its judgment.

Significantly, the state’s AG office as well as the office of chief secretary, Haryana, have already found the single bench judgment fit for appeal and to challenge the order. However, sources confirmed that the appeal from the state could not be filed till date because of the intervention of a senior leader of BJP coalition partner, JJP, who has requested chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar not to challenge the decision. The matter regarding the appeal, however, is still pending with the government.

As the remarks were made against Khemka, who was not even impleaded as party in the case, he decided to challenge the judgment of a single bench. Before filing the appeal in his individual capacity, Khemka, who is presently posted as principal secretary, department of archaeology and museums, Haryana, had sought the approval of the state government in view of the All India Services (conduct) Rules 1968.

What rules stipulate

Rule17 of the All India Services (conduct) Rules 1968 provides that no member of the service shall, except with the previous sanction of the government, have recourse on any court or to the press for the vindication of official act which has been the subject matter of adverse criticism or attack of a defamatory character. It further states that if no such sanction is conveyed to the government within12 weeks from the date of receipt of the request, the member shall be free to assume that the sanction sought for has been granted to him.

Thirsty girl enters house, is ‘raped’, killed and buried

Thirsty girl enters house, is ‘raped’, killed and buried

04.03.2021 

After working on a farm in UP’s Bulandshahr last Thursday with her mother and elder sister all day, the14-year-old girl was exhausted. She wanted water. The girl had a mild speech impairment, stammering while she spoke, but she knew a family that lived nearby.

After she entered the house, the girl was allegedly raped and strangled by Harendra (22), a labourer, when she tried to resist, and dumped in a pit. Five days later when police went to question him, they found the house locked. A cop scaled the wall and landed on loose, soft mud. When they dug a little deep, they found the girl’s body — naked, strangled and brutalised, reports Sandeep Rai.

Harendra was arrested from Shimla, where he had fled, on Wednesday.

Accused held from Shimla, admits to crime

Last Thursday, when the girl didn’t return home in two hours, her mother and sister went looking for her. Harendra was found lying inebriated on a cot. No one else was home. They couldn’t find out much. They again went to Harendra’s house on Sunday. It was locked.

Her father, a marginal farmer, then approached the Anupshahr police station to register a missing person case. On Tuesday, police took him along to question Harendra. “He worked as a labourer in Delhi and had come for a few days,” Anupshahr SHO Ram Sen Singh said. No one answered the door. One cop scaled the wall to enter the premises. By this time, Harendra had fled. “We detained his father and put Harendra’s number under surveillance,” he said. “It turned out he was in Shimla.” A police team was sent from UP to arrest him. Police said he was arrested on Wednesday, adding that he has confessed to the murder.

›UP boy, 17, kills Dalit girl for resisting oral sex ›₹1L for info on Hathras molester-killer, P 13

Vanniyar quota unconstitutional: PIL in Madras HC

Vanniyar quota unconstitutional: PIL in Madras HC

Chennai: 04.03.2021 

Then Naadu Makkal Katchi has moved the Madras high court challenging the validity of the bill passed by the Tamil Nadu assembly providing 10.5% internal reservation to vanniyars, hours before election was notified for the state.

On Tuesday, counsel for the petitioner made a mention for urgent hearing of the plea.

According to party founder S Ganesan, if the bill becomes an act, vanniyars and other sub-castes under vanniyakula kshatriya community will enjoy exclusive10.5% reservation in admission to higher education and government services while the other 25 castes under MBC and 68 castes under DC will have to share 7% of the remaining reservation. This exclusive reservation will affect the development of the state besides developing enmity among communities falling under MBC category, the petitioner said. TNN

Bihar medical school halts classes after student dies of Covid

Bihar medical school halts classes after student dies of Covid

V K Tripathi TNN

Patna:  04.03.2021 

A final-year MBBS student of Patna's Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) died of Covid-19 and eight others tested positive over the past three days, prompting the institute to suspend all classes from Wednesday until RT-PCR tests clear the remaining students and hostel inmates. All nine students infected with the virus had been administered their first vaccine dose around three weeks ago. Immunity kicks in only after the second dose.

Principal secretary of health Pratyaya Amrit visited the college and directed hospital superintendent Dr Binod Kumar Singh to ensure that everyone on the campus was tested. He also ordered rapid antigen testing at Aryabhatta Knowledge University, where several students are to write their first MBBS paper on Thursday.

Samples taken from those who have tested positive have been sent to the Institute of Life Sciences in Bhubaneswar for confirmation of the Covid strain.

The deceased had left for Bihar’s Begusarai on February 24 and was admitted to a hospital there with Covid-19 symptoms. He died on Monday.

One of 90 samples show UK strain

Out of 90 samples sent from Mumbai on February 17, only one showed the UK strain (B1.1.7), said preliminary reports shared with the civic authorities. Genome sequencing did not show any other significant variants at the moment. A final report is awaited. Over 350 samples from Mumbai and the districts of Vidarbha were sent to labs across the country for genome sequencing. TNN

Innocent man in jail for 20yrs walks free

Innocent man in jail for 20yrs walks free

Deepak.Lavania@timesgroup.com

Agra:  04.03.2021 

Vishnu Tiwari walked out of Agra Central Jail on Wednesday with three bags to start a new life. In them were his clothes, Rs 600 left over from the stipend he got in jail for his work and a copy of the high court judgment that had ordered his release after 20 years of wrongful incarceration on rape charges. He was wearing a T-shirt gifted by one of his fellow inmates.

As he made his way out, they cheered, garlanded him and applauded. He was finally getting justice and the inmates — the only friends he had had — were happy for him. The moment he stepped out, it all fell silent. No one had turned up to receive him. Two of his brothers and father had died years ago. His elder brother had long disowned him. His younger brother, 33, could not make it. “No one should go through what I did. Many innocent people are languishing in jail. The authorities should at least get them a fair trial,” Vishnu told TOI.

He had lost the fight in him while he was in prison, after trying once, in 2005, to challenge the trial court’s decision to sentence him to life. But prison authorities stepped in on his behalf, approached the State Legal Services Authority and placed his case in HC again which, on January 28, found him not guilty.

SC to decide on TN reservation law after Maratha quota ruling

SC to decide on TN reservation law after Maratha quota ruling

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:04.03.2021 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred hearing on constitutional validity of Tamil Nadu reservation law providing 69% quota in government jobs and educational institutions and said the matter would be heard after the issue of Maratha quota is decided by the Constitution bench.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Subhash Reddy directed that the case be listed after the constitutional validity of Maratha reservation is decided by the court, but turned down the plea to tag the case with Maratha quota case so that the Constitution bench decides both the issues.

“After considering the submissions of learned counsel for the parties, we are of the view that these petitions need not be heard along with Civil Appeal No.3123 of 2020 (Maratha reservation) and be listed after the judgment in the case,” the court said.

The state government opposed tagging of the case with Maratha reservation. It contended that 1993 Act has special protection under Article 31B of the Constitution and the case must be heard separately after the Constitution Bench delivers the Judgment in Maratha reservation case.

“The Act which is under challenge is Tamil Nadu Act, 1993 whereas the Maharashtra Act, 2018 was an enactment which was enacted after the Constitution 102nd Amendment. Hence the question pertaining to Constitution 102nd Amendment is under consideration in Maratha reservation case which has been referred to the larger Bench,” senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for state, said.

TAGGING NOT POSSIBLE

Law student posts obscene video on WhatsApp group

Law student posts obscene video on WhatsApp group

Yogita.Rao@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:04.03.2021 

A student from a leading south Mumbai law college posted an obscene video on a WhatsApp group created for coordination of online lectures. While immediate attempts were made to identify the student, the phone number could not be identified and others in the class could not establish the person’s identity too. Eventually, the number was blocked and a complaint submitted to the college principal who, in turn, sent a letter to Marine Drive police station seeking a probe.

After a month passed and the teachers began to moderate all online groups, the student allegedly started harassing a female classmate using the same number. The teachers have now written to the principal again seeking a complaint with the cyber cell, alleging no steps were taken to identify and penalise the student in the past.

The video, which outraged the modesty of women, was posted on the group on February 1. A teacher from the college said there has been a delay in action, both from the college’s side as well as the police. “If a person is not penalised for his actions, he is bound to repeat it,” said the teacher. While online classes have become a necessity in the pandemic, sharing of obscene content and abuses under the garb of anonymity have been a nightmare for teachers. “Many teachers still live with this fear every day. Colleges need to back teachers and take strict action against offenders to set an example,” said a teacher from another college.