India

Surat, March 23 (IANS) A Surat district court in Gujarat on Thursday convicted Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case against him over his alleged 'Modi surname' remark in April 2019.

Gandhi was convicted under IPC sections 499 and 500. The maximum possible punishment under this section is two years.

The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate H.H. Varma sentenced him to two years in jail and also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 after finding him guilty; however, on Rahul Gandhi's plea, his sentence has been suspended and bail has been granted to enable him to move an appeal against his conviction within 30 days.

The lawyer representing Rahul Gandhi said that they will move to session court soon.

BJP MLA and former Gujarat Minister Purnesh Modi had filed the case against Rahul Gandhi for his alleged "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?" remarks while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The remarks were video graphed by the video surveillance team and video viewing team of the office of Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer, Kollar District.

The complainant claimed that the controversial remark was made at a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections which defamed the entire Modi community.

Chief Judicial Magistrate H.H. Varma last week had concluded hearing the final arguments from both sides and set March 23 to pronounce its judgment.

Gandhi has maintained that there was no mala fide intention on his part when he made the statement in question.

--IANS
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New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to constitute an appellate committee within two weeks' time to examine Shankar Mishra's appeal against Air India designating him an "unruly passenger" and banning him from flying for four months.

Mishra accused of urinating on an elderly female co-passenger on a New York-Delhi Air India flight, recently moved the High Court seeking constitution of an appellate committee to hear his appeal.

The court has asked the DGCA appellate committee to hold its first meeting on April 20 to hear Mishra's plea.

It also directed the petitioner Mishra to file an appeal in two weeks.

During the hearing, a single-judge bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh remarked that considering the facts of the case, the authorities have taken a very empathetic view in the matter.

In the last hearing, the DGCA counsel had stated that the committee is already in place.

The court had then asked the DGCA counsel to place the constitution of the appellate committee before the court within a week's time.

Mishra, who was arrested by the Delhi Police from Bengaluru on January 7 for allegedly urinating on a 70-year-old woman while in a drunken state on a flight last November, was granted bail on January 31 by national capital's Patiala House Court.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Harjyot Singh Bhalla had granted bail on the bail bond of Rs 1 lakh.

He had said that what Mishra has allegedly done is disgusting but the court is bound to follow the law.

Mishra has claimed in his plea where DGCA, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air India have been made respondents, that on December 20, 2022, the complainant woman filed a complaint against him on the Airsewa grievance portal.

Air India established an internal inquiry committee in response to the accusation. The committee issued an order on January 18, 2023, identifying him as a "unruly passenger" and banning him from flying for four months.

According to the petition, paragraph 8.5 of the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) for Handling Unruly Passengers provides that anyone who is unhappy with an inquiry committee's decision may file an appeal before an appellate committee established by the ministry of civil aviation within 60 days of the decision.

"The Petitioner, being aggrieved by the order dated 18.01.2023 on grounds of the aforementioned factual and legal infirmities seeks to prefer an appeal against the said order and has written emails to the DGCA [Director General of Civil Aviation] on 19.01.2023 and to the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 20.02.2023, 27.02.2023 and 06.03.2023. However, no such committee has been constituted as of the date of filing this Writ Petition," the plea stated.

The plea further said that it is an established position of law that a statutory right of appeal is a vested right and the non-constitution of the appellate committee by the Ministry of Civil Aviation is eroding his right to exhaust all his remedies available unto him.

"As such, the Ministry of Civil Aviation's inaction is directly infringing the Petitioner's rights under Article 21 of the Constitution," it was said.

--IANS
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New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) The BJP has issued a three-line whip asking all its MPs to be remain present in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and Friday.

The government may opt for 'guillotine' to pass the Finance Bill if the logjam continues.

Due to the uproar between the BJP and the opposition, no work could be done even for a day in the second phase of the budget session in Parliament.

The BJP is demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his statement in London, while the Congress is adamant on its demand for a JPC probe into the Adani issue. Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla have also called meetings to end the deadlock.

In the second phase of the budget session, the Parliamentary proceedings could not go on even for a day. In such a situation, many important bills are pending for passing. Therefore, the BJP has issued a three-line whip to all its Lok Sabha MPs to be present in the House.

--IANS
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New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) Two passengers onboard a Dubai-Mumbai IndiGo flight continued to consume alcohol despite multiple warnings after which they created a ruckus and verbally abused the crew and co-passengers.

"Two passengers travelling on flight 6E 1088 from Dubai to Mumbai were observed to be in an inebriated state and continued consuming alcohol onboard despite multiple warnings from the crew. They verbally abused the crew and co-passengers," an airline spokesperson said.

"As per protocol, they were handed over to the CISF security staff for unruly behaviour. Post the incident, a complaint has been filed at the nearby police station. We regret the inconvenience caused to other passengers," the spokesperson added.

Despite being drunk already, the two passengers, residents of Nalasopara in Palghar and Kolhapur, were demanding for more alcohol.

They were arrested by the local police and as per reports were granted bail by a local court.

Officials said that the drunk passengers were returning to India after working for a year in the Gulf and were in celebratory mood.

They added that the two misbehaved with the co-passengers when they objected to the ruckus, as well as with the crew when they intervened.

In the last few months, many such incidents of unruly behaviour by air passengers have been reported.

Earlier this month, a man was arrested for smoking in the lavatory in a London-Mumbai flight.

In order to deal with unruly behaviour, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued CAR, Section 3- Air Transport, Series M, and Part VI titled "Handling of unruly/disruptive passengers".

As per the procedure defined in the CAR, airlines are required to follow a prescribed procedure for holding passengers accountable before they are placed in the 'No Fly List'.

--IANS
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New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has made a formal request to Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri seeking allotment of Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) at Mathura Road, which has been served an eviction notice.

In a letter addressed to the Minister, SCBA President Vikas Singh, Senior Advocate, emphasised the need for a dedicated club in the vicinity of the Supreme Court, which would be a welcome break for the members of the Bar Association.

It further says that SCBA is a unique and integral part of the top court with advocates from all corners of the country as its members. The traffic congestion in the city, particularly during morning and evening hours, is notorious. After spending laborious hours in the court, having a club for recreational facilities and gym around the vicinity of the court would be a well-earned laurel for the members of the Bar Association.

"The SCBA's request for the allotment of the Foreign Correspondents Club is expected to provide a much-needed space for advocates to unwind and take care of their health and well-being. The request is under consideration by the Ministry, and an affirmative response from the Ministry is eagerly awaited by the Bar Association." it said.

Notably, after the lease of FCC in Lutyens' Delhi expired, the Directorate of Estates has served notice for vacation of premises.

--IANS
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New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) Congress MP Manish Tewari on Thursday moved an adjournment notice to discuss the border row with China in the Lok Sabha.

"That this House do suspend Zero Hour and other businesses of the day to have a detailed discussion on the border situation with China.

"Since April 2020, China has engaged in what can only be described as a steady land grab. Seventeen rounds of Commander level talks have taken place between India and China with little success. All the while China continues to build significant infrastructure, including bridges, roads and accommodation for its troops. China is attempting to unilaterally change the status quo," the notice said.

The notice said the clashes in the Tawang Sector in Arunachal Pradesh were another indication of China's steady aggression aimed at changing the status quo on the border.

"What is more, such aggression is no longer limited in territorial scope as is
evidenced by the clashes that took place in Arunachal Pradesh, around 2000 kms away from the place of previous clashes. There is growing concern that China is unwilling to restore the status quo ante, a situation that puts India at a massive disadvantage. Despite this, China's large trade surplus with us has continued to surge since the military confrontations began in 2020."

He said the trade deficit for India stood at USD 101.02 billion, crossing the 2021 figure of USD 69.38 billion.

"I urge the government to take this matter with utmost seriousness and have a detailed discussion in Parliament with regard to the border situation with China," it said.

--IANS
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New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has gathered a few more crucial evidences in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam case, sources said.

Recently, the federal anti money laundering agency grilled a number of people and seized electronic and documentary evidences.

ED sources have said that they are all set to file a second supplementary charge sheet in which BRS MLC K. Kavitha and fomer Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia may be named as the accused.

The ED had mentioned in the charge sheet that all the accused were using a number of cell phones which they later destroyed or deleted entire data in a bid to remove the evidences.

During her questioning, Kavitha, who is also the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, handed over around nine cell phones to the ED which were sent to the FSL for forensic tests.

The sources said that she was also confronted with Sisodia.

--IANS
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New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) BJP National President J.P. Nadda will host a dinner for all the OBC Morcha MPs of the party on March 28 evening at Delhi's Western Court Annexe, a party source said.

"As per a top party source, Nadda will host a dinner for all the OBC Morcha MPs on March 28 in Delhi. It will be a dinner meeting with the MPs. These MPs will be given tips to work in their areas, especially for the community."

"The main focus of the party is 2024 Lok Sabha election. We have already been told to organise an outreach programme for the community and take all the schemes and policies of the Central government to the OBC beneficiaries."

The source also said, "If we talk about Karnataka, we are at pace and organising many events and gatherings among the OBC community."

BJP OBC Morcha is already engaged in connecting with the community through various ongoing programmes.

There many Central government schemes for the OBC community which the party is seeing an advantage in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

--IANS
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New Delhi, March 22 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Varanasi on a day-long visit on March 24, where he will address the One World TB Summit and dedicate and lay the foundation stone of various projects worth more than Rs 1,780 crore.

On the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day, marked on March 24, he will address the TB Summit, which is being organised by the Union Health Ministry and Stop TB Partnership.

During the event, he will launch various initiatives including the TB-Mukt Panchayat initiative, official pan-India rollout of a shorter TB Preventive Treatment (TPT), family-centric care model for TB and release of India's Annual TB Report 2023.A

Modi will also award select states and districts for their progress towards ending TB.

--IANS
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New Delhi, March 22 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will hear on May 9 a clutch of pleas in connection with the criminalisation of marital rape.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud. Jaising submitted before the court that common compilation and the order of arguments in the case is ready.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the Centre's reply is ready and it has to be vetted, and added that he would argue the case for one-and-a-half days as it pertains to an important issue. The bench said, "List this on May 9, 2023".

On January 16, the Supreme Court sought response from the central government on a clutch of petitions seeking criminalisation of marital rape.

The top court decided to take up the matter itself instead of letting different high courts take a call.

In May last year, after the Delhi High Court's verdict that expressed 'split views' on criminalisation of marital rape, an appeal was moved in the Supreme Court challenging the exception to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code.

Also, in July last year, the top court had stayed the Karnataka High Court judgment, which allowed the trial of a husband for allegedly raping his wife. In May, the apex court had issued notice in the husband's plea against the Karnataka High Court judgment, however, it had then refused to stay the high court's judgment and trial proceedings. And, petitions have also been filed in the apex court seeking criminalisation of marital rape.

On May 11 last year, a high court bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice C. Hari Shankar expressed different opinions in the judgment on the exception to Section 375 of the IPC, which exempts forceful sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife from the offence of rape.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher supported striking down the contentious law stating that the exemption of the husband from the offence of marital rape is unconstitutional to which Justice Hari Shankar did not agree.

"The impugned provisions in so far as they concern a husband having intercourse with his wife without consent are violative of Article 14 and are therefore struckdown," said Justice Shakder.

--IANS
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