SC DISMISSES PLEA BY POLICE AGAINST BAIL TO 3 ACTIVISTS
The Supreme Court on May 2 dismissed the Delhi Police’s appeal against the bail granted to activists Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal and Asif Iqbal Tanha in the northeast Delhi riots conspiracy case. A bench of Justices S.K. Kaul and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said, “The respondents have been on bail for almost two years. We see no purpose in keeping this matter alive.” It also remarked orally that the accused has been enlarged on bail for about two years and “after that nothing has come on record to say that the bail should be cancelled”. The Delhi Police had in its appeal raised concerns about the comments made by the High Court regarding Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 in the bail order. Addressing these concerns, the bench in its order said, “We, however, make it clear that observations made by the HC in the impugned judgment are only for purpose of grant of bail and shall not be treated as an expression of opinion during the trial…We have already observed in our order dated 18.6.2021 that the impugned judgment is not to be treated as a precedent and may not be relied on by any of the parties in any of the proceedings, more so in view of an elaborate discussion on the merits of the case. We are thus of the view that beyond the aforesaid, no further orders are required in the matter.”
SC PUNISHES JUDGE FOR BAIL DENIAL
The Supreme Court on May 2 asked the Allahabad High Court to withdraw judicial work from a sessions judge and send him to the judicial academy to upgrade his skill. The action was a result of trial courts continuing to show reluctance to grant bail to accused in cases where custody was not needed despite the Supreme Court’s various rulings to be liberal in their approach and not pass detention order in a routine and mechanical way. Despite the apex court’s clear warning on March 21 that in case of any non-compliance of its order, judicial work of the magistrate would be withdrawn and s/he would be sent to judicial academy for training, a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Ahsanuddin Amanullah was told that courts were not following it. Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae, brought two orders passed in April to the court’s notice in which bail was rejected. In one case of matrimonial dispute, a sessions judge in Lucknow rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a man and his mother, father and brother despite the fact that they were not arrested during the probe. In another case, an accused suffering from cancer was denied bail by a CBI court in Ghaziabad.
‘ENSURE MINIMAL DISRUPTION IN ADMINISTRATION OF WAQF PROPERTIES’
The Delhi High Court has said that the Union Government may carry out physical inspection of 123 properties, possession of which is being claimed by the Delhi Waqf Board, while ensuring minimal disruption in the day-to-day administration of the properties. Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri passed the order on April 26 in the petition moved by Delhi Waqf Board challenging the government’s decision to “absolve” the board from all matters pertaining to 123 properties. The court said that the Board’s application for interim directions will be kept pending for disposal after the completion of pleadings in the matter. “In view thereof, pending a final decision in the present petition, respondent may act upon its letter dated 08.02.2023 to carry out the inspection while ensuring minimal disruption in the day-to-day administration of the subject properties by the petitioners,” the court ordered while listing the matter next on November 6.
SENIOR DRDO SCIENTIST ARRESTED FOR SPYING FOR PAKISTAN
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has sacked senior scientist Pradeep Kurulkar from the post of laboratory director for his indulgence in leaking sensitive information to Pakistani operatives. This was done a few weeks before his arrest on May 4, a report said o May 6. Maharashtra Police arrested the outstanding scientist for leaking sensitive information through apps to foreign agents who had honey trapped him. The defence research agency had launched a probe against Kurulkar after input was received from agencies about his activities online, they said. He had been attached to some office, and we had taken action against him already, the report said citing officials. The ATS said the scientist was found to have had contact with the operatives of Pakistan’s intelligence agency through social media via WhatsApp messages, voice calls, and video calls. The ATS also said that despite holding a responsible position, the scientist allegedly misused his post by compromising sensitive government secrets, which could pose a threat to India’s security if it falls into the hands of the enemy nation.
JMI TAKES ACTION AGAINST 15 STUDENTS, EXPELS 3 FOR SCUFFLE
Jamia Millia Islamia has taken strict action against 15 students, including expulsion of three, for their involvement in last September’s scuffle between two groups that had resulted in a student sustaining bullet injuries, officials said on May 2. The punishments vary from expulsion, campus ban, no hostel accommodation and monetary compensation to furnishing a bond of good conduct depending on the student’s involvement. Three out of 15 students have only been allowed to give examinations with a 5-year campus ban and no admission to any other course at the university after completion of their course. “The disciplinary actions have been taken after due procedure and to set an example that the university will not tolerate any kind of indiscipline on the campus,” Jamia Registrar Nazim Husain Al Jafri said.
AMU FACULTY DELIVERS A LECTURE ON MULTILINGUALISM, NEP 2020
Prof. M.J. Warsi, Chairman, Department of Linguistics, Aligarh Muslim University, delivered a thematic talk on “Mother Tongue, Multilingualism and National Education Policy-2020” during the national conference on “Linguistic Equity, Inclusivity, and Directions for National Education Policy-2020” organised by the Centre for Linguistics and Culture Studies, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida. He said mother tongue plays a critical role in the cognitive and intellectual development of a child and studies have shown that individuals fluent in their mother tongue tend to have higher educational success rates than those who aren’t. Mother-tongue education needs to be prioritised in policy development to ensure more responsive and nuanced approaches that take into account the unique linguistic and cultural needs of learners. He said the dominance of English as a global language of education has derecognised the linguistic, cultural and epistemic identities of multilingual people.
HOMOSEXUALITY A DISORDER: RSS BODY SURVEY
Many doctors and allied medical professionals believe that homosexuality is “a disorder” and it will increase further in society if same-sex marriage is legalised, according to a survey by SamwardhiniNyas, an affiliate of the women’s wing of the RSS, a report said on May 6. A senior functionary of the Rashtra Sevika Samiti, a women’s organisation which parallels the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said the findings of the survey are based on 318 responses collected across the country covering medical practitioners from eight different pathies of treatment from modern science to Ayurveda. In their response to the survey, according to SamwardhiniNyas, nearly 70% of the doctors and allied medical professionals stated that “homosexuality is a disorder” while 83% of them “confirmed transmission of sexual disease in homosexual relations.” “From the survey, it is observed that the decision to legalise such marriages may promote more disorder in the society rather than curing patients and bringing them to normalcy,” the RSS body said.