Umar Khalid at his home in 2018. (Express file photo by Praveen Khanna)
Delhi riots case: TV channels played edited video, say BJP IT cell chief tweeted it, Umar tells court
Former JNU student Umar Khalid’s lawyer told a Delhi Court that he was framed in the northeast Delhi riots UAPA case by the press which played an edited video of his speech initially tweeted by BJP leader Amit Malviya.
Senior Advocate Trideep Pais, who appeared on behalf of Umar was addressing arguments before Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat who adjourned the case for September 3. Pais began his arguments by telling the court that the police have registered a total of 715 FIRs and Umar was “not named in a single FIR”. He told the court that the UAPA FIR is “unnecessary and has been drafted and filed in order to target people selectively based on the opposition to CAA.” Pais told the court that in each of the riot FIRs, a cognisable offence was disclosed, however, in the present FIR there is no such thing.
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court Monday granted two weeks’ time to the Lieutenant Governor for filing of a reply to a petition seeking operationalisation of a high-powered committee to examine causes behind deaths during the Covid pandemic. The Delhi government’s decision to set up the panel was stayed by L-G Anil Baijal.
Senior advocate Rahul Mehra, representing the Delhi government before the division bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh, had earlier submitted that the L-G had not referred the matter to the President and primarily objected to setting up the high-powered committee on the ground that the Supreme Court has already constituted a sub-group committee.
Coming to Covid-related news, on Monday, the Delhi HC also granted additional time of six weeks to the Centre and Delhi government to file replies on a plea seeking CBI probe into the death of 21 COVID-19 patients at Jaipur Golden Hospital in April allegedly due to oxygen shortage. The court, which was hearing the plea filed by the families of some patients who died on the intervening night of April 23 and 24, also permitted the petitioners to file a rejoinder to the governments’ responses.
On the weather front, Delhi-NCR is likely to see cloudy skies, light rain and there is a possibility of thunderstorms on Tuesday, according to the India Meteorological Department. The maximum temperature is likely to be 36 degrees Celsius, with a minimum of 27 degrees Celsius. Relative humidity at 8.30 am was 89 per cent, and the temperature at the same time was 29.8 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, four persons were killed and a minor was injured in Gurugram, the Police said, adding that the incident took place in Rajendra Park area late Monday night and the accused has been taken into custody. The victims were allegedly murdered using a sharp object.
In other news, a Delhi Court on Monday pulled up the Delhi Police for its investigation into the farmers' protest and observed that it was carried out as per the authority's convenience rather than following the mandate of law. Additional Sessions Judge Gagandeep Singh was hearing the anticipatory bail plea filed by gangster-turned-activist Lakha Sidhana, who is an accused in the Republic Day violence at the Red Fort following the farmers’ rally. The matter has been adjourned to August 26.
DUTA members take part in the protest. (Express photo by Amit Mehra)
The 24-year-old woman who had allegedly set herself on fire along with her friend outside the Supreme Court last week has succumbed to the burn injuries.
The deceased was a student in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district and had come to Delhi with her 27-year-old friend on August 16. The two poured kerosene and set themselves ablaze outside the Supreme Court gate.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has issued legal notices to 20 DTC bus depots for allegedly failing to curb mosquito breeding during monsoon, the civic body said on Tuesday, reported PTI.
Municipal officials said the action was taken during a special drive of the SDMC's Public Health Department to detect mosquito breeding and check control measures at Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus depots located in the municipality's jurisdiction.
Four persons were killed and a minor was injured in Gurugram early on Tuesday morning. According to police, the incident took place in the house of a lawyer.
The prime suspect behind the four murders has been identified as Rao Raj Singh, a retired army professional.
Singh’s daughter-in-law Surabhi Tiwari, his tenant Krishn Tiwari (40), and his wife Anamika Tiwari (35) were found dead. One of the couple’s two daughters also died, while the other is in hospital.
An 18-year-old service boy at a restaurant in southwest Delhi's Chhawla area was shot dead by two people, police said on Tuesday, PTI reported.
The deceased was identified as Aman, alias Gulam Sabir, of JJ colony, Bawana, they said.
The Chhawla police station was informed around 7 pm on Monday about two people opening fire at a person inside a restaurant, Heaven On Earth, located on Khaira Road, a senior officer said.
The accused had come to the restaurant as customers and were sitting inside after placing their order, he said. As Aman was about to leave, one of them shot him and fled, the officer said.
The victim was taken to the Rao Tula Ram Hospital, where he was declared brought dead, he said.
The Delhi High Court Tuesday directed the Centre to consider as representation a PIL seeking to extend the ex-gratia assistance to the family members of Indian citizens who died abroad due to COVID-19.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to decide the representation as expeditiously as possible in accordance with the law, rules, regulations and government policy applicable to the case and disposed of the petition. (PTI)
The Delhi High Court was informed on Tuesday that a petition challenging the appointment of Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner has also been filed before the Supreme Court.
The submission was made in response to the high court’s August 18 query on whether any other plea concerning Asthana’s appointment is pending before any court.
The query was raised while hearing a petition by an advocate challenging Asthana’s appointment as Delhi Police Commissioner and extension of his service by one year.
North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari has urged Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to expedite the process of opening seven Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) in Delhi by convening a meeting of land owning agencies.
In a letter to Pradhan on Monday, Tiwari said the seven JNVs sanctioned for Delhi in 2016-17 could not be opened due to lack of land availability.
Earlier this month, Pradhan had informed Tiwari in a letter that the schools project was lying “inactive” since permanent land was not provide by the Delhi government.
Delhi High Court directed Delhi's Chief Fire Officer to ensure a mock drill is conducted at the Nehru Place and sought a report on the shortcomings.
The court also directed the authorities to ensure that approach and perimeter roads of the place are free from any encroachments and are in a good condition so that fire fighting vehicles can reach any part of Nehru Place within a short span of time in any emergency.
The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) protested outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office as a crucial Academic Council (AC) meeting, which will determine implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) in the university from the next academic year, began at 11 am Tuesday.
Supported by some student groups, the protest began at 10.30 am and will continue till 1.30 pm. DUTA has said that implementation of NEP will result in a “huge reduction of workload across the board and lead to retrenchment, which is totally unacceptable to the teaching community”.
At a meeting of the Standing Committee on Academic Matters on Monday, the NEP was passed with three of the 27 members dissenting.
Tired of online classes, a 10-year-old boy allegedly sent threatening messages to his relatives to get them cancelled.
Parents of a Ghaziabad-based class 5th student approached the police on August 10 stating that family members had been getting threatening messages concerning the minor. The police found after investigation that the minor himself had sent those messages in order to not attend online school.
“The parents of the minor filed a complaint with the concerned police station about threat messages to their relatives and other acquaintances. The Cyber Cell visited the house and obtained electronic evidence. It was found that the minor had been using phones available in the house and sending those messages for a pretext to not attend online classes. The boy will not be facing any legal action,” said Abhay Kumar Mishra, CO Indirapuram.
The Vishwavidyalaya station of the Delhi Metro will house a dedicated facility showcasing the growth and development of the metro railway in the country, along with technical insights on construction and day-to-day operations, according to a plan finalized by the Delhi Metro.
Under the plan, a ‘National Metro Rail Knowledge Centre’ (NMRTC) will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 46 crore at the station on a Public-Private Partnership basis, for which the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) floated a tender on August 19. The centre will be spread over an area of 3,000 square metres.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted cloudy skies, light rain and a possibility of thunderstorms in the Delhi-NCR region on Tuesday.
The maximum temperature is likely to be 36 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature is predicted to remain around 27 degrees Celsius. Relative humidity at 8.30 am was 89 per cent and the temperature at the same time was 29.8 degrees Celsius.
Days after a Delhi Police constable was dismissed from service after senior officers found that he was involved in “organised crimes” in central Delhi’s Paharganj, the Special CP (Central zone) has directed to shit or rotate beat staff who have been working in the same beat for more than one year. After the dismissal of the constable, Amit Kumar, the SHO (Paharganj) was also sent to district lines.
An order issued by Additional DCP (Central) Rohit Meena read, “It is stated as per special CP, all SHOs (have been) directed to shift/rotate the beat staff who are continuously working in the same beat for more than one year, and also to ensure that no police personnel is posted in the same beat for the more than one year…”