NCP leader and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik was arrested on February 23. (PTI)Mumbai News Highlights: NCP Minister Nawab Malik told the Bombay High Court that the Enforcement Directorate (ED), by alleging that he continues to have under his possession the property – Goawala Building in Mumbai’s Kurla – reportedly involved in a money laundering case, wants to keep him in jail by infringing his personal liberty. Malik was arrested by the ED on February 23 and remanded by a special court to the central agency’s custody. On Monday, a special court sent him to judicial custody till March 21.
Meanwhile, a sessions court on Wednesday rejected two pleas filed by actor Kangana Ranaut seeking to transfer proceedings between her and poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar to another magistrate court. Ranaut sought to transfer the proceedings on a defamation suit filed by Akhtar against her as well as her counter-complaint against him alleging extortion and other charges.
In other news, Mumbai on Wednesday recorded 54 new coronavirus cases and zero pandemic-related fatalities. The caseload of the country’s financial capital rose to 10,57,070, while death toll remained unchanged at 16,692, a civic official said.
BMC headquarters. (File)
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday appointed 1989-batch IAS officer A M Limaye as the new additional chief secretary of the home department, an official said. Limaye succeeds IAS officer Manu Kumar Srivastava, who was appointed as the state's chief secretary on February 28, in that post.
The state government transferred eight other IAS officers on Wednesday, including 1988-batch IAS officer Dr Sanjay Chahande, who has been posted as the additional chief secretary in the general administration department. S A Tagade (1991 batch) will be the new principal secretary in the home department.
Information technology department's principal secretary Abha Shukla (1993 batch) will now be the principal secretary of the social justice and special assistance department. (PTI)
The Bombay High Court has allowed the plea filed by a woman from the city, who had sought that her adopted son be granted a valid caste certificate based on her own such document.
A bench of Justices S B Shukre and G A Sanap on Tuesday allowed the plea and directed the concerned deputy collector in the city to issue a caste certificate to the boy within two weeks of the receipt of the court order.
The bench was hearing the plea filed by the woman, who is unmarried and had adopted her son in 2009. She had challenged the state government's decision denying her adopted son a caste certificate based on her caste. (PTI)
Neeraj Bishnoi, the alleged creator of the Bulli Bai app, had asked a co-accused to send photographs of 100 "famous non-BJP Muslim women" for putting them up for `auction', Mumbai police has said in its charge sheet.
The city police's cyber cell filed an over 2,000-page charge sheet in the suburban Bandra magistrate's court here last week. Its copy was made available on Wednesday. The police has so far arrested six people in the case.
Citing a statement given by Niraj Singh, one of the arrested accused, the police claimed that in June 2020 iGiyu (Bishnoi's user id) had told Singh that he was planning to do something big on their social media group. (PTI)
A 56-year-old man has been arrested by the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police for allegedly selling counterfeit diabetes testing strips of a well-known brand, an official said on Wednesday.
Police also seized 669 boxes of strips from Vijay Virajbhai Patel, the accused, he added.
He was booked under the Copyright Act. Further probe is on. (PTI)
Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 359 new coronavirus infections and zero pandemic-related fatalities, the state health department said.
This is for the third time this month that the state recorded zero coronavirus deaths. The caseload of the state rose to 78,69,857, and death toll reached 1,43,745.
Of the eight administrative circles (each comprising several districts), Pune circle recorded 178 cases, followed by Mumbai (87), Nashik (43), Nagpur (18), Latur(13), Akola (nine), Kolhapur (six) and Aurangabad (five). (PTI)
Mumbai on Wednesday recorded 54 new coronavirus cases and zero pandemic-related fatalities. The caseload of the country's financial capital rose to 10,57,070, while death toll remained unchanged at 16,692, a civic official said.
As many as 100 persons recovered from the infection during the day, taking the tally of recoveries to 10,37,074. There are 421 active cases in the city now.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's data update showed that 14,071 samples were examined since previous evening, which took the number of coronavirus tests conducted in Mumbai to 1,63,30,160. There are no sealed buildings or containment zones in the city at present. (PTI)
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Wednesday said the Bombay High Court dismissing the plea filed by BJP MLA Girish Mahajan challenging the procedure for selection of the assembly Speaker was a "slap" for the opposition party trying to create hurdles in the election.
Talking to reporters here, Patole said considering the High Court's order, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari should appoint 12 members to the Legislative Council from the gubernatorial quota and facilitate the election of the Speaker.
He said the HC has stated that the sum of Rs 12 lakh, including Rs 10 lakh submitted by petitioners Girish Mahajan and Rs 2 lakh by Janak Vyas, stood forfeited. "This is a huge setback for the BJP," Patole added. (PTI)
The Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) is ready to provide online education to medical students returning from war-hit Ukraine and some of them may also be allowed to appear for the NEET, officials said on Wednesday.
Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh held a meeting here on how these students, left in the lurch due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, can be assisted, they added.
The meeting was attended by Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant, vice chancellor of MUHS Lt Gen (Retd) Madhuri Kanitkar and Shiv Sena Member of Legislative Council Manisha Kayande. (PTI)
Over 68,000 complaints were received from COVID-19 patients across Maharashtra about hospitals overcharging and denying treatment to them, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope informed the state Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.
In a written reply to a question by NCP MLA Rohit Pawar and others, Tope said amount to the tune of Rs 35.72 crore was deducted from bills or refunded to patients and their families.
As many as 68,651 complaints were received from COVID-19 patients about exorbitant bills and denial of treatment by hospitals and the government has resolved 58,631 such cases, the minister said. The remaining cases were being processed, he added. (PTI)
Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and other BJP leaders were detained by police here on Wednesday as they tried to take out a protest march to press for state minister Nawab Malik's resignation.
They were released later, said a police official.
BJP leaders tried to take out a protest march from Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, demanding that Malik, a senior NCP leader arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, resign or be sacked. (PTI)
A sessions court on Wednesday rejected two pleas filed by actor Kangana Ranaut seeking to transfer proceedings between her and poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar to another magistrate court.
Ranaut sought to transfer the proceedings on a defamation suit filed by Akhtar against her as well as her counter-complaint against him alleging extortion and other charges. Both the proceedings are before the Andheri metropolitan magistrate court.
Ranaut claimed she had “lost faith” in the Andheri court after the judge wanted her presence before it. Read more
Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday said Maharashtra NCP minister Nawab Malik should resign, in the wake of his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.
Talking to reporters, the Republican Party of India (Athawale) chief said the tradition of Maharashtra is sullied when a minister who needs to be sacked is not removed from his post.
"When he (Malik) is in jail, he should tender the resignation and produce whatever evidence he has before court. The Maha Vikas Aghadi's stand that Malik will not resign is very wrong. NCP president Sharad Pawar knows everything and he should ask for Malik's resignation,” said Athawale, whose party is an ally of the BJP. (PTI)
Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde on Wednesday informed the state Legislative Council that the state government will hold a review meeting regarding manual scavengers working in local governing bodies and issue a new guidelines.
The minister for social justice was responding to a question raised by BJP MLC Vinayak Mete.
“The Maharashtra government earlier had recommendations made by the Lad-Page committee and many of these are no longer relevant. I will hold a meeting with concerned departments to address the issues of manual scavengers in local governing bodies,” the minister said. (PTI)
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Wednesday sought to know under which rules the 12 BJP MLAs, who were suspended last year, were allowed in the Legislative Assembly.
The MLAs - Sanjay Kute, Ashish Shelar, Abhimanyu Pawar, Girish Mahajan, Atul Bhatkalkar, Parag Alavani, Harish Pimpale, Yogesh Sagar, Jaykumar Raval, Narayan Kuche, Ram Satpute and Kirtikumar Bhangdia - were suspended from the Assembly for one year on July 5, 2021, after the state government accused them of misbehaving with presiding officer Bhaskar Jadhav in the Speaker's chamber.
The Supreme Court earlier this year held that a resolution suspending these MLAs beyond the period of the remainder of the session held in July 2021 was 'unconstitutional' and 'irrational'. (PTI)
The NCP's youth wing on Wednesday questioned the authenticity of the video footage submitted by BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who alleged that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was hatching conspiracies against its political opponents.
The party's Maharashtra youth wing working president Suraj Chavan claimed that the date mentioned in one of the video clips aired by the media was January 1, 2019, when Fadnavis was the chief minister, while the ruling MVA was formed in November that year.
Fadnavis had on Tuesday submitted a pen drive containing video recordings to Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, claiming that the footage showed how conspiracies were hatched by the police and members of the MVA to frame BJP leaders, including himself and Girish Mahajan, in false cases. (PTI)
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope informed the state legislative Assembly that the availability of ambulances and hearses is a must in every municipal council and nagar panchayat jurisdiction.
Speaking in the House during Question Hour, Tope said the health department has procured a new fleet of 1,000 ambulances to ferry pregnant women to hospitals for delivery.
The minister was responding to questions about the non-availability of health facilities in Palghar district. The availability of ambulances and hearses is a must in every municipal council and nagar panchayat limit, he said. (PTI)
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday expressed displeasure over the ongoing tussle between Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and orally remarked “it is unfortunate that the two highest functionaries do not trust each other”.
The court was referring to the stalemate between the chief minister and governor over the nomination of 12 members to the Legislative Council.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Makarand S Karnik said that Thackeray and Koshyari can sit together and sort out the issues between themselves as it dismissed two public interest litigations (PILs) that challenged amendments made to the procedures of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly speaker election. Read more
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that the video recordings released by the Leader of Opposition (LoP), Devendra Fadnavis, in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Tuesday in a way show that the central agencies were involved in carrying out the recordings.
“I have heard that the recordings extend to 125 hours. If that is true, then you need to have the support of powerful agencies to execute this act. Such agencies are only available with the Union government. They have managed to enter a state government office and carry out hidden recordings for hours. I am sure the state government will probe the incident and also the veracity of the tapes,” Pawar said. Read more
The Mira-Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police’s cyber division has helped recover Rs 79,000 that was lost by a resident to cyber fraud.
A fraudster had impersonated a bank official and tricked the Bhayandar resident into revealing his bank details which were used to transfer money from his bank account.
After he approached the police on March 2, they found that the fraudster had used it for online shopping. Read more
Western India Automobile Association will celebrate International Women’s Day (March 8) with a car rally, exclusively for women, from Mumbai to Nashik on March 12, Saturday.
The rally will be flagged off at 8 am from Jio World Drive, BKC and more than 100 cars are expected to take part in it. Read more