Regional

Chennai, Feb 14 (IANS) Tamil Nadu police have constituted 9 special teams to crack the ATM heist at Tiruvannamalai district in which Rs 72.50 lakh was burgled.

According to police, the accused are outsiders. Northern Zone Inspector General of Police N. Kannan, who is in charge of the investigation, refused to divulge the details of the investigation but added that the culprits would soon be nabbed.

The heist took place early on Sunday in four ATMs in Tiruvannamalai district within a distance of 20 km.

Sources in police told IANS that special teams have been deployed in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The CCTV visuals on the road in Vellore, Ranipet or Tiruppatur districts are also being scanned as these could be the route taken by the culprits for escape.

Police said that all four ATM machines were cut within two hours. Welding machines  used for cutting them open have taken just 15 minutes. The investigating team is also probing this angle.

Meanwhile, the IG has ordered the transfer of six police officers, including Special assistant inspector and head constable and policemen from Tiruvannamalai police station to district armed battalion.

Tamil Nadu Director General of Police C. Sylendrababu held a meeting with 51 senior executives and officers of various banks and advised them to use high definition CCTV cameras in ATM kiosks. He also asked the bank officers to save the feed from CCTV to cloud storage rather than in hard disks.

The police chief also directed the bank officials to use CCTV cameras in a discreet manner for surveillance of the culprits and to get a closer image of the face of those entering the ATMs.

He has also instructed the bank officials to connect burglar alarms in ATMs to the local police stations so that the police are updated of any burglary or theft.

--IANS
aal/shb/

Bengaluru, Feb 14 (IANS) The Karnataka High Court has cancelled criminal proceedings against a man facing charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and rape charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) after the victim and the accused married.

The victim had married him after turning major and the couple even had a child while the case was pending.

The bench headed by Justice K. Natarajan, while looking into the petition by a resident of Mandya to quash the POCSO and rape charges under IPC sections against him, gave the verdict on Monday. The bench had opined that the decision in this regard was made considering the interest of the child and the mother.

The bench remarked that the victim has attained majority now and is capable of taking independent decisions and selecting a life partner. She had married the accused and had a son out of wedlock. She has also agreed to quash the case against the accused person, the bench said.

Considering the interests of the victim, child and their future, the quashing of the POCSO case against the accused is appropriate, the court stated.

The victim's father had lodged a complaint on January 27, 2021 with the Arekere police station that when the girl had gone to her grandmother's place she went missing. The girl was found later with the accused. The police had lodged a case under POCSO and IPC sections.

The case was under trial in Second Additional District and Sessions Court in Mandya. The accused had made an appeal in the High Court.

The counsel C.N. Raju representing the accused submitted to the court that the accused had gone to judicial custody and after coming out on bail, married the victim on May 31, 2021. The couple are leading a peaceful life and the wife, who is also the victim, does not have any objection to quash the case.

The public prosecutor submitted that the victim had voluntarily gone with the accused as she could not bear the torture from the father.

--IANS
mka/dpb

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday said a judge is judged everyday by the lawyers, litigants and the public, as the courts are open and the judges speak by giving reasons in writing for their decisions, while giving detailed reasons for not entertaining two pleas filed against appointment of L.C. Victoria Gowri as judge of the Madras High Court.

A bench comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna and B.R. Gavai said: "Principle of secularism and dignity of every individual - regardless of the religion, caste or creed, is the foundation of Rule of Law and equal protection of laws."

It further added: "Not only is the conduct and judgments delivered considered at the time of confirmation, a judge is judged everyday by the lawyers, litigants and the public, as the courts are open and the judges speak by giving reasons in writing for their decisions".

The petitioners alleged that Gowri made "hate speeches" against Christians and Muslims and therefore, she was unfit to the post.

The bench said there have been cases where the persons recommended for elevation have expressed reservations or even criticised policies or actions, but this has not been held to be a ground to treat them as unsuitable.

The apex court said Article 51A of the Constitution casts an obligation on every citizen, and more so on every judge, to promote harmony, spirit of common brotherhood among all transcending religious, linguistic, regional or sectional diversities.

The bench said the person in question has been elevated as an additional judge and "on taking oath the person pledges to work as a judge to uphold the Constitution and the laws". On February 7, the court had dismissed the petitions.

The bench said it goes without saying that the conduct of the judge and her/his decisions must reflect and show independence, adherence to the democratic and constitutional values.

"This is necessary as the judiciary holds the centre stage in protecting and strengthening democracy and upholding human rights and Rule of Law," it added.

The bench noted that exercising power of judicial review upon the collegium decision would be contrary to the dictum of earlier decisions of the apex court, which are binding upon it.

"To do so would violate the law as declared, as it would amount to evaluating and substituting the decision of the collegium, with individual or personal opinion on the suitability and merits of the person," it said.

The bench said: "We need to state that after the collegium of the High Court makes a recommendation for elevation, inputs are received from the intelligence agencies, which conduct a background check, and comments from the government are considered by the collegium of the Supreme Court consisting of the Chief Justice of India and two senior most Judges. Opinion and comments of the Judges in this Court conversant with the affairs of the High Court concerned are called for in writing and placed before the collegium."

It further added that invariably a number of shoot down and dismissive letters and communications from all quarters are received.

"Only thereafter, and on consideration, the collegium of the Supreme Court takes a final call, which is then communicated to the government," the bench said.

--IANS
ss/pgh

Mysuru, Feb 10 (IANS) Two leopards prowling in a residential area and farms in Karnataka's Mysuru district were trapped by forest authorities on Friday.

The big cats were caught at a farm in Musuvinakoppalu village in T. Narasipura taluk.

The authorities had used a cow calf as bait to lure the leopards into the case. The big cats walked into the case but did not attack the calf.

A large number of villagers gathered to see the trapped leopards.

In the last three months, four people were killed by the leopards in T. Narasipura taluk, triggering fear and panic among the local residents.

In an attempt to trap the big cats, the forest authorities had installed CCTV cameras across the taluk and also placed cages at strategic points.

The timings of schools in K.R. Pattana had been changed after a leopard was spotted in the outskirts of the town.

Instead of early mornings, the schools were advised to begin from 12 noon.

--IANS
mka/ksk/

Hyderabad, Feb 10 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday announced that distribution of 11.5 lakh acres podu land among tribals across the state will begin by the month end.

He told the state Legislative Assembly that his government will provide not just 'pattas' (titles) to tribals tilling these lands, but will also supply electricity and extend benefits of Rythu Bandhu, the investment support scheme for farmers.

He, however, made it clear that after completion of this process, there will be no podu land and if the beneficiaries try to encroach forest land, their pattas will be cancelled.

The Chief Minister said a written undertaking will be taken from those being given pattas that they will stake no further claim on forest land.

Signatures of village committees and local public representatives will also be taken on the undertaking.

The beneficiaries will also be asked to work as protectors of forests and a written commitment will be taken from them in this regard.

KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known, said with the distribution of podu lands during the current year, the issue will be closed forever and the government would act firmly to protect forests.

He said after fixing the boundaries of forests, the state government would arrange patrolling of armed personnel.

"There should be an end to this issue. The government will not allow encroachment of even a yard of forest land because if we lose the green cover, the entire society will suffer," he said.

The Chief Minister also announced that for landless tribals, the government would launch Girijana Bandhu on the lines of the Dalit Bandhu scheme.

Replying to a query during Question Hour, the Chief Minister referred to the Gutti Koya tribe, whose members were allegedly involved in the lynching of a forest official in Bhadradri Kothagudem district in November last year.

"Gutti Koyas are not from our states. They came from Chhattisgarh. If they are not stopped, they will destroy the forests," he said.

KCR said police and forest personnel should not attack tribals while tribals should exercise restraint and also made it clear that the government will not keep quiet if some people take law in their hands and attack police and forest.

He alleged that some upper caste people were marrying tribal women to encroach forest lands in their names. Such people in Khammam district hold 20-30 acres of land.

Podu is the practice of shifting cultivation on forest land by tribal and non-tribal forest dwellers. They raise crops on a piece of land in one season and move to different location the next season.

The long-pending dispute led to clashes between the cultivators and the forest employees at several places in the state in recent years.

Stating that some political parties kept the issue alive to derive political benefits from it, KCR said his government was determined to put an end to this.

Realising the need to settle the long-pending issue once for all, the state government in 2021 decided to embark anAexercise to receive applications from eligible beneficiaries claiming podu lands.

The podu lands were identified during a state-wide survey undertaken last year. The authorities received over 4 lakh claims from both tribals and non-tribals.

The tribals and other forest dwellers claim that plantation by forest department on podu lands violate their rights, guaranteed under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (RoFR Act).

The government received 4.14 lakh claims in 2,845 gram panchayats for issue of pattas under RoFR Act. According to minister for tribal welfare Satyavati Rathore, 68 per cent of the applicants are tribals and remaining 32 per cent are non-tribals.

The claims were made for 12.49 lakh acres of forest lands by tribal and non-tribal farmers.

The Chief Minister had earlier suggested that tribals involved in the podu cultivation within the forest should be provided with an alternative government land nearby for cultivation.

If there is no government land available, they should be provided with land on the outer periphery of the forestland.

--IANS
ms/ksk/

Dakshina Kannada, (Karnataka) Feb 10 (IANS) The roadshow of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the communally sensitive Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka on Saturday has been cancelled owing to security reasons, a senior BJP leader said.

Shah, who will be reaching Karnataka on Saturday morning from Kerala, will participate in various programmes and address a public gathering in Puttur town.

About 3,500 police personnel have been deputed for the security of Amit Shah, during his visit to the district, which had witnessed revenge killings in the recent past. The disturbing development stirred a debate at the national level.

The cancelled roadshow was to be held at Mangaluru city in the evening.

Since Shah is reaching the city late after participating in the programmes in Puttur, the roadshow has been cancelled owing to security risks, according to Sudarshan Mudubidre, BJP District President.

Amit Shah is expected to wave at the party workers near Kenjaru briefly and chair the core committee meeting.

Party leaders from six districts will participate in the core committee meeting, which will be held in the Sridevi College of Kenjaru.

The preparations are in full swing in the ruling BJP camp to welcome Amit Shah for his first visit to the region on February 11 ahead of Assembly elections.

Amit Shah is visiting Puttur town of Dakshina Kannada district to take part in golden jubilee celebrations of the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Co-operative Limited (Campko).

He will also inaugurate Bharat Mata Mandir built by Dharmashree Pratisthana. Bharat Mata Mandir has been built to bring a sense of patriotism. This is the only temple of Bharat Mata after one in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.

The veteran party leader will garland the statue of Bharat Mata and also pay a floral tribute to Amar Jawan statue. He will visit Hanumagiri temple and pay obeisance to the deities.

--IANS
mka/shb/

Bhubaneswar, Feb 10 (IANS) President Droupadi Murmu on Friday arrived in Bhubaneswar on a two-day Odisha visit during which she will pay obeisance at Lingaraj temple, grace second convocation of Rama Devi Women's University and attend other programmes.

President Murmu arrived by a special IAF plane at Biju Patnaik International Airport around 11.35 a.m. Odisha Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das and MP Aparajita Sarangi welcomed her at the airport.

Soon after arriving here, Murmu left for Utkal Mandap to attend the foundation day of Jnanaprabha Mission as chief guest.

She will attend the second convocation of Rama Devi Women's University this afternoon. Murmu completed her graduation from Rama Devi Women's College in 1979. She will spend the night at Raj Bhawan.

On Saturday, Murmu is scheduled to visit Lingaraj temple and then proceed towards Cuttack to inaugurate the second Indian Rice Congress at ICAR. Then she will leave for Delhi from Bhubaneswar Airport on the same day.

As per the Blue Book rules, elaborate arrangements have been made by the state government in twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar for the visit of the President. Around 40 platoons of police force has been deployed for the President's visit.

This is the second visit of the President to Odisha after she assumed charge of the highest office of India. She made her maiden visit to Odisha on November 10 and 11, 2022. She had visited Lord Jagannath temple Puri, her alma mater and attended the civic reception and launch of Odia textbook for engineering courses.

--IANS
bbm/shb/

New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday said that it cannot examine the suitability of Justice L. Victoria Gowri's appointment as an additional judge of the Madras High Court.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B.R. Gavai said the court has gone through the constitution bench judgments and "we cannot get into the suitability of the candidate". The detailed judgment will be uploaded later in the day.

On February 7, the Supreme Court had said it has a fairly robust scrutiny process and petitioners may be stretching it too much, as their counsel questioned the recommendation to appoint Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri as an additional judge of the Madras High Court by saying that her "views are antithetical to the values of the Constitution, it is hate speech pure and simple".

The apex court junked the petitions challenging Justice Gowri's appointment as an additional judge of the Madras High Court.

The apex court had told senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, representing the petitioners, that there is a difference between eligibility and suitability, as far is suitability is concerned one can say it can be made subject matter of writ petition, and the aspect of eligibility is the only issue as required under the Constitution.

Justice Gavai had said when collegium takes a decision, it also takes the opinion of consultee judges who have come from that particular high court and you cannot assume that judges of the particular high court are also not aware of all these things.

Ramachandran said the consultee judges may not be aware of social media posts and cannot presume every judge reads every tweet in public domain. Justice Gavai said, "We have also been consultee judges and when we give our opinion it is based on all the factors...I also have a political background and I have been a judge for the last 20 years. I do not think my political views at any point of time have come in the way..."

The top court order came on petitions filed by Anna Mathew, R. Vaigai, and others challenging Gowri's appointment as an additional judge of the Madras High Court.

The Supreme Court collegium on January 17 had proposed the elevation of advocate Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri as judge of the Madras High Court.

A group of Madras High Court lawyers have opposed Gowri's proposed appointment after reports emerged about her affiliation to the BJP and also certain alleged statements about Muslims and Christians, including 'Love Jihad' and illegal conversion.

--IANS
ss/dpb

Bhavnagar (Gujarat), Feb 10 (IANS) A minor girl was killed during clashes between two communities in Varal village in Bhavnagar, police said on Friday, adding that six people have been arrested so far.

The clash broke out on Thursday late evening following a dispute over the non-payment of rent for a cell phone tower.

District Superintendent of Police Ravindra Patel in a statement stated that "six persons were rounded up within hours of the group clash. In the said group clash a 16-year-old girl was murdered."

Both the groups lodged cross complaints against each other.

According to the complaints filed before the Sihor police station, "A group from the minority community attacked members of the majority community over a dispute of cell tower rent on Thursday night.

"A member of the minority community had installed the cell phone tower in the premises of a member of the majority community and had not paid rent for several months. Last evening first they had an argument over collecting the tower scrap without paying the rent, which later in the night turned into a group clash."

Arif Payak and five others have been arrested for murder, rioting, unlawful assembly. Whereas some majority community members have been booked for attempt to murder and unlawful assembly and rioting, said the police station officer.

--IANS
har/dpb

Srinagar, Feb 10 (IANS) The MeT office said on Friday that partly cloudy sky in Jammu and light rain, snow at isolated places is likely to happen in Kashmir during the next 24 hours.

"Partly cloudy sky in Jammu division and rain/snow at isolated places in Kashmir division is expected during the next 24 hours," an official of the Meteorological (MeT) department said.

Rain and snow occurred in the union territory during the last 24 hours.

Srinagar had 0.7, Pahalgam minus 0.3 and Gulmarg minus 4 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature.

In Ladakh region, Kargil had minus 9.2 and Leh minus 8 as the minimum temperature.

Jammu had 12.8, Katra 10.6, Batote 2.2, Banihal 2 and Bhaderwah 2.1 as the minimum temperature.

--IANS
sq/dpb