INSIDE INDIA 17-Oct-2021

Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav, who repeatedly pulled up Delhi Police over its “callous” investigation into the February 2020 Northeast Delhi riots cases, has been transferred from the Karkardooma Court, a report said on October 6. The communal riots in Northeast Delhi in February 2020 had killed 53 people. While discharging three persons in two…

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JUDGE WHO SLAMMED POLICE IN DELHI RIOT CASES TRANSFERRED

Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav, who repeatedly pulled up Delhi Police over its “callous” investigation into the February 2020 Northeast Delhi riots cases, has been transferred from the Karkardooma Court, a report said on October 6. The communal riots in Northeast Delhi in February 2020 had killed 53 people. While discharging three persons in two riot cases on 2 September, judge Vinod Yadav had said, “When history will look back at the worst communal riots since the partition in Delhi, the failure of the investigating agency to conduct a proper probe, using latest scientific techniques, will surely torment the sentinels of democracy”. The judge had also said that the “sort of investigation conducted” and the “lack of supervision” by senior officers showed that the capital’s police force had merely “tried to pull the wool over the court’s eyes and nothing else”. The judge had also been critical of investigating officers for not cooperating with the special public prosecutors.

 

COURT PULLS UP POLICE FOR ‘HARASSING’ DELHI RIOTS VICTIM

A Delhi court on October 5 pulled up the city police for “harassing” a victim of the north-east Delhi riots, by repeatedly serving him notice and asking for documents in relation to the investigation in his case, while noting that his grievance “seems to be real and not illusory”, said The Hindu on October 6. The applicant, one Mohd. Salman had moved a plea before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Arun Kumar Garg, seeking directions to the Investigating Officer (IO) in the case. Mr. Salman said documents had already been submitted by him to the police on two previous occasions but no acknowledgement was being given to him by the IO upon receipt of the documents. He also said he is being forced to disclose the details of his new landlord. The court ordered, “… the court is unable to comprehend the purpose of recording the said statement, when the aforesaid landlord is not a witness of the alleged incident… apprehension of complainant regarding the alleged harassment by the IO and SHO Khajuri Khas in the name of further investigation, prima facie seems to be real and not illusory.” The court also rapped the Delhi police for being “silent about the status of the investigation” being carried out by the IO in the present case.

 

ACTIVISTS, WHO FILED CASE AGAINST CM PEMA, FACE SEDITION

On July 20 this year, three people from Arunachal Pradesh were picked up in a joint swoop by the Delhi Police’s special branch and the Arunachal Pradesh Police from a flat in Safdarjung Enclave, reported The Wire on October 2. The single-column story published in the Arunachal Times on July 21 gained significance when Nabam Tagam, an Itanagar-based social activist, reportedly said that he was one of the three persons picked up by state police. Tagam, as the chairman of Arunachal Pradesh Justice Forum (APJF), had, this past March, filed a writ petition (criminal) in the Supreme Court, seeking a CBI inquiry into multiple charges of corruption brought against the BJP chief minister of the state, Pema Khandu. Tagam reportedly said that he and Yamra Taya, were arrested within three months of the SC’s decision to accept their petition. Tagam said Taya and he were charged with Section 124A (sedition) and Section 121A (conspiracy to commit offences punishable by section 121) too.

 

MOB VANDALISES CHURCH IN ROORKEE

An unruly mob, purportedly comprising right-wing activists, went on a rampage and vandalised a Roorkee-based church, attacking five persons during a Sunday prayer meeting, Times of India reported on October 4. Two women, who had sustained injuries in the attack, and one other had to be rushed to hospital and are said to be in a critical condition. The attackers alleged that they suspected some religious conversion-related activities were going on in the area. After the incident, police personnel were deployed outside the church. A case has been registered against at least six identified persons and 200 others who were yet to be identified. The mob reportedly entered the church situated at the Solanipuram locality at 10 am and started abusing and thrashing people who were inside. Some of them were carrying wooden bars with them. A case has been filed against a few officials of the BJP and VHP as well as 200 unidentified people under Sections 295, 296, 352, 395 and others of Indian Penal Code.

 

BJYM LEADER ARRESTED FOR ATTACKS ON MEDIA HOUSES IN TRIPURA

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Yuva Morcha leader was on October 3 arrested by the crime branch for purportedly attacking media houses in Agartala on September 8 and was later sent to judicial custody by a local court until October 5, The Wire reported on October 4. The man was identified as Raghu Lodh (32) and is a state co-spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s youth wing. Lodh was charged under the various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly vandalising the office of Pratibadi Kalam office. In a separate case, he was also accused of burning a vehicle and vandalising the office of a political party. The three media houses that came under attack were the Pratibadi Kalam daily and its TV channel PB24, the daily Desher Katha in Agartala, and Duranta TV channel based in Udaipur in Gomati district. The CPI(M) state head office and sub-divisional office in the Melarmath area of West Tripura district and a local party office in Bishalgarh were also attacked.

 

80-YEAR-OLD ASSAM WOMAN DECLARED ‘FOREIGNER’

Eighty years old Bhandari Das had fled from Bangladesh to India in 1967 along with her husband and two children. She had been living in a nearby district of Assam for the past five decades, and became an Indian voter in 1970. However, in a cruel twist of fate, she has now become a ‘foreigner’, a report said on October 8. After coming to Assam, Das was given a ‘Relief Eligibility Certificate’ by the central government in 1967. Then in 1970, she became an Indian voter. In fact, Das was named in the 2019 National Register of Citizens (NRC). However, in 2008 a case was filed against her in the Foreigners Tribunal by the Superintendent of Police (Border). In context of that case, the court ruled that she and her children are ‘foreigner’, NDTV reported. Now, Das will lose her right to vote. According to Clause 5 of the Assam Agreement, “streamline foreigners” are those who entered India between January 1, 1966, and March 24, 1971 – the last date for disclosure and deletion of nationality – and have to register with the FRRO, which is in the administrative office of each district.

 

JMI STUDENT TOPS ISRO EXAM, 3 STUDENTS SELECTED AS SCIENTISTS

Mohd. Kashif, an alumnus of the Faculty of Engineering & Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) secured the first position in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Centralised Recruitment Board-2019 Exam for the post of Scientist/Engineer ‘SC’-Mechanical (Post No. BE002). Results were declared by ISRO on October 4. Kashif completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from JMI in the year 2019. Apart from Kashif, three other students of his class, Amit Kumar Bhardwaj, Areeb Ahmad and Md. Jamshed Khan are also selected for the same position in the coveted space research organisation. ISRO Centralised Recruitment Board-2019 conducted the written test for the selection of SC level scientists in the month of January 2020 and interviews of the candidates who cleared exams were conducted in July 2021.