Just touching kid’s cheeks not sexual assault: Bombay HC

Just touching kid’s cheeks not sexual assault: Bombay HC

Rebecca.Samervel@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:29.08.2021

Observing that touching cheeks without a sexual intent would not attract the offence of “sexual assault” under the Pocso Act, the Bombay high court on Friday granted bail to a 46-year-old chicken seller who spent 13 months in jail.

The court said primary evaluation of the material on record does not suggest the accused touched the minor’s cheeks with a sexual intent. “In consideration of these facts, in my view, a case is made out for releasing the applicant on bail,” the court said. The high court, though, clarified that observations made “be construed as expression of opinion for the purpose of bail only and the same shall not in any way influence the trial in other proceedings”.

The accused was arrested in July 2020 after the eightyear-old girl’s mother lodged a complaint that the accused had touched her inappropriately when she went to his shop.

Bail pleas of the accused were earlier rejected by the trial court. Advocate Ram Prasad Gupta appeared for the accused and submitted that the accused was falsely implicated by the complainant over a business rivalry.

The defence said the accused was gainfully employed, had roots in society and had his family to look after.

“Thus, there arises no question of the applicant’s absconding and not available for trial,” Gupta submitted. It was also submitted that the offence is not punishable with death or life imprisonment. It said that maximum punishment provided for the alleged offence is seven years’ jail.

The FIR was lodged on July 29, 2020. It was alleged that at 1.30pm, the complainant, who lived in the neighbourhood, saw the accused signalling the girl to come to his shop. The girl went inside. It was alleged that after some time the accused came outside, looked around, went back in and pulled the shutter down.

It was further alleged that when with the help of another person, the shutter was opened, the accused was found behaving appropriately with the child.

The complainant took the child and parents to the police station and complained. After completion of the investigation, police filed a chargesheet.

HC says non-resistance at time of sexual assault amounts to pre-consent

HC says non-resistance at time of sexual assault amounts to pre-consent

K.Kaushik@timesgroup.com

Madurai:29.08.2021

Giving the benefit of doubt to a man who was convicted and sentenced in a sexual assault case, the Madras high court acquitted him, observing that the non-raising of resistance during the first time of sexual assault amounts to pre-consent and accordingly, the consent given by the woman cannot be held as a misconception of fact.

The man (appellant) from Madurai district allegedly sexually assaulted the woman from the same village and impreganted her. The Madurai mahila court in 2016 convicted and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment for offence under Section 376 (rape) of IPC.

The man had filed a criminal appeal before the HC Madurai bench in 2016 seeking to set aside the conviction and sentence. Justice R Pongiappan observed that the woman had specifically stated before the trial court that she fell in love with the appellant and regularly met him. The woman lodged a complaint about the sexual assault nearly after two and a half months, only when the man disowed his promise of marrying her.

The judge observed that the circumstances revealed the appellant had promised to marry her once after the completion of his brother's marriage. Only after this promise, the woman also continued her relationship with him. It was not found anywhere in the evidence that the appellant had given any definite date or any timeline to marry her.

The judge observed that eventually when she conceived, she insisted that the marriage should be performed soon and that is when the appellant suggested for abortion. Since the proposal was not accepted by the woman and the appellant disowned the promise, the case was registered.

Hence, the judge said this court has doubts as to whether the woman approached the police with the truth or with false averment. Observing that the accused is entitled to avail this benefit of doubt arising now, the judge set aside the conviction and sentence imposed by the trial court and acquitted him of all charges.

In 2016, the Madurai mahila court sentenced the man to 10 years jail for offence under IPC Section 376 (rape)

Deemed univs cut intake by 10% this yr, close some core courses Drop In No. Of Takers & Pandemic Reasons

Deemed univs cut intake by 10% this yr, close some core courses

Drop In No. Of Takers & Pandemic Reasons

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:29.08.2021

Deemed universities in Tamil Nadu have cut intake by 10% for 2021-22, compared to the previous year, due to the still raging Covid-19 pandemic, fewer admissions to core engineering branches and postgraduate courses. Sanctioned strength in 33 deemed universities in 2021-22 have come down to 49,197, from 54,573 seats in 2020-21, with 4,398 undergraduate (UG) seats and 978 postgraduate (PG) seats cut.

Deemed universities closed courses such as civil engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, electronics and instrumentation and architecture in the UG stream and shut down courses such as power electronics, automobile engineering, nano science and technology and VLSI design in the PG stream due to no takers.

Professors said the number of students joining from outside Tamil Nadu in these institutions had also reduced significantly which could have forced the managements to cut the intake.

“There is a decline in admissions to some programmes for all engineering institutions. For ranking and accreditation, the agencies consider only the intake for calculating faculty ratio and not the enrolled students. So, the deemed universities started to trim their intake to have better ranking and rating points,” said R W Alexander Jesudasan, pro-vice-chancellor of Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science in Chennai.

“Due to the uncertainty in view of Covid-19 pandemic, some students from outside the states prefer to join institutions closer to their residence. However, students from certain states are still showing interest and we expect the admission to be normal from next year,” he added.

S Vaidyasubramaniam, vice-chancellor of Thanjavurbased Sastra University, said institutions were reducing intake in core branches such as civil and mechanical engineering. “A majority of institutions also closed postgraduate branches which do not attract many students. However, the closure of core branches is not a good move,” he said.

He further urged the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to fix a cap on the maximum number of students who can be admitted in a course for all institutions to prevent the influx of computer science graduates after four or five years.

Career consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi said the institutes have reduced intake in core branches and integrated programmes due to fewer takers for these courses. “The Covid-19 pandemic is also one of the reasons for the cutting down of seats as the intake of hostel students has been coming down during the past two years,” he said.

Bench clerk’s son now on SC bench as judge

Bench clerk’s son now on SC bench as judge

28.08.2021

Justice C T Ravikumar, who was elevated to the Supreme Court from the Kerala HC, on Friday recalled how much he owed his parents, especially his father, who had been a bench clerk. Justice Ravikumar, who had been a judge of the high court since January 2009 and had practised as a lawyer in the HC since the late ’80s, became teary-eyed during his farewell speech when he remembered his late father K Devan. He also revealed that it was ex-CJI KG Balakrishnan who asked him to shift practice to Ernakulam from Mavelikkara.

உத்தர பிரதேச மாநிலத்தில் ஒரே குடும்பத்தைச் சேர்ந்த 23 பேர், அரசு ஊழியர்களாக பணியாற்றுகின்றனர்.

DINAMALAR

லக்னோ :உத்தர பிரதேச மாநிலத்தில் ஒரே குடும்பத்தைச் சேர்ந்த 23 பேர், அரசு ஊழியர்களாக பணியாற்றுகின்றனர். உ.பி.,யில் முதல்வர் யோகி ஆதித்யநாத் தலைமையில் பா.ஜ., ஆட்சி நடக்கிறது. இங்குள்ள ஜான்பூர் மாவட்டம் சிக்ரா கிராமத்தில் உள்ள ஒரு வீடு, 'கவர்மென்ட் கர்னா' அதாவது 'அரசு வீடு' என அழைக்கப்படுகிறது.

இந்தக் குடும்பத்தில் உள்ள 50 பேரில் 23 பேர் மத்திய மற்றும் மாநில அரசு ஊழியர்களாக இருப்பதே இதற்கு காரணம்.மறைந்த ராம்சரண் யாதவ் என்பவர் இந்தக் குடும்பத்தின் முன்னோடி. இவருக்கு புல்லர், ராம்துலார், சந்திரபாலி என்ற மூன்று மகன்கள். இந்த மூன்று பேரின் மனைவி, குழந்தைகள், பேரக்குழந்தைகள் என தற்போது மொத்தம் 50 பேர் ஒரே வீட்டில் கூட்டுக் குடும்பமாக வசிக்கின்றனர். இதில் தற்போது 23 பேர் மத்திய மற்றும் மாநில அரசின் பல்வேறு துறைகளில் பணியாற்றுகின்றனர். ஏற்கனவே இரண்டு பேர் அரசு ஊழியராக இருந்து ஓய்வு பெற்று விட்டனர்.

இதில் சிவசங்கர் யாதவ் என்பவர் இந்தக் குடும்பத்தின் விவசாய நிலங்களை கவனித்துக் கொள்கிறார். அவர் கூறியதாவது: ஆரம்பத்தில் எங்கள் குடும்பத்துக்கு விவசாய நிலம் கிடையாது. அதனால் என் தந்தை தான் முதன் முதலில் அரசுப் பணிக்கு சென்றார்.அரசு வேலை தேடும் இளைஞர்களுக்கு எங்கள் குடும்பம் முன்னுதாரமாகவும் வழிகாட்டியாகவும் இருக்கிறது. எங்கள் குடும்பத்தில் அடுத்தடுத்த தலைமுறையிலும் அரசு ஊழியர்கள் உருவாக்கப்படுவர்.இவ்வாறு அவர் கூறினார்.

Mysuru varsity imposes 6pm curfew for girls

Mysuru varsity imposes 6pm curfew for girls

Bengaluru:28.08.2021

In a bizarre development, the Mysuru University banned the movement of girl students in the campus after 6.30 p.m. from Friday.

As the order issued by the Registrar, coming against the backdrop of gang rape incident in the city, evoked outrage, Vice Chancellor, Prof G. Hemantha Kumar, assured to rectify the order by Saturday.

The order said that the movement of girl students on the campus has been banned after 6.30 pm. They are also banned from sitting anywhere in the campus after the stipulated time. The direction has been issued after oral instructions of the police against the backdrop of the Mysuru gang rape.

The order also states that the entry of public to the famous Kukkarahalli lake premises, located adjacent to the varsity campus and frequented by nature lovers, will also be barred after 6.30 p.m. The university has also given directions to enhance patrolling and security systems in the campus. IANS

I-T raid: ₹350 crore black money found

I-T raid: ₹350 crore black money found

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Rajkot:28.08.2021

The investigation wing of the Income Tax department unearthed an unaccounted cash receipt of Rs 350 crore during its ongoing search operations at a Rajkot-based builder group’s premises. The operation had started on August 24 and is still continuing. According to a press statement issued by the department, I-T officials found many incriminating documents, loose sheets, and digital evidence indicating the involvement of the group in unaccounted transactions.

“Substantial evidence of transactions outside the regular books of accounts, unaccounted cash expenses, cash advances received and interest paid in cash, has been found. Evidence of on-money payments in real estate projects including flats, shops and land deals has also been found. Total unaccounted cash receipts in various projects of approximately Rs 350 crore have been unearthed, along with corroborative evidence. Further, evidence related to land purchase of approximately Rs 154 crore has also been found, of which Rs 144 crore was purportedly paid in cash,” an official said.

This group is among Gujarat’s prominent real estate builders and developers and is engaged in construction and land trading business in and around Rajkot. The I-T sleuths had covered more than 40 premises during the search operation including the group’s partners, contractors, key employees and some of its customers. According to officials, the search and seizure operation has resulted in detection of concealment of income in excess of Rs 300 crore spread over various assessment years and this figure is likely to go up. The officials seized unaccounted cash of Rs 6.4 crore and jewellery valued Rs 1.7 crore during1 search operation from various premises.