Violence in Pune, due to which Muslim techie Mohsin Shaikh was killed on 2 June, was part of a conspiracy, a fact-finding exercise coordinated by the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO) has revealed. The fact-finding team, which spent three days in Pune, has found that in all 40 houses were attacked, out of which five mosques were burnt. Property worth Rs 4.5 crore owned by Muslims was destroyed in the violence that began on 31 May over a derogatory Facebook post mollifying the iconic king Shivaji and late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray. The fact that “so many places separated by large distances were attacked between 9-11 pm on 31 May and 2 June shows that the same group could not have done all these things. Clearly some high command had assigned duties to different places. There is a conspiracy behind it,” the report notes.
GOPAL SUBRAMANIUM OPTS OUT, ATTACKS NARENDRA MODI GOVT
Eminent lawyer Gopal Subramanium on 25 June opted out of being considered for appointment as Supreme Court judge after lashing out at the Narendra Modi government accusing it of ordering CBI to “scrounge” for “dirt” against him to scuttle his elevation. Subramanium, who had assisted the Supreme Court in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case in which Amit Shah, a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now an accused, said that he was being “targeted” because of his independence and integrity. He suggested that his role as amicus curiae, a friend of the court, in the Sohrabuddin case, could have been the reason for government opposing his elevation. Subramanium, a former Solicitor General, sent a 9-page letter to the Chief Justice of India R M Lodha withdrawing his consent to be appointed as a judge saying that he did not want his elevation to be “the subject matter of any politicisation”.
BHATT ACCUSES NANAVATI PANEL OF MISLEADING HC
Accusing the Nanavati-Mehta Commission, appointed by the Gujarat government, of misleading the Gujarat HC on the issue related to inspection of intelligence records pertaining to the 2002 riots, suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt on 23 June wrote to the Commission to take appropriate measures to clarify the “misrepresentation” before the HC. The issue is related to Bhatt’s demand to inspect some documents. On 16 June, a division bench of the HC had ordered the Commission probing the 2002 riots to let Bhatt inspect at least 38 documents since the state had stated that nine of those documents had been “destroyed” by it. But when Bhatt went to inspect the documents at the office of the Commission in Ahmedabad, the Commission did not allow him to inspect them. Accordingly, on June 18, the Commission moved a review petition before the HC, seeking to quash the 16 June 16 order, which has been dismissed.
CBI JUDGE SHIFTED AFTER HE PULLED UP AMIT SHAH
Days after special CBI judge J T Utpat pulled up BJP general secretary Amit Shah for failing to make an appearance before the court hearing the case pertaining to the alleged fake encounter of Tulsiram Prajapati in Gujarat in December 2006, the judge received his transfer order on 25 June. Sessions judge Utpat, who was transferred to Pune, has been replaced by judge B H Loya. The transfer order came on the day the special CBI court was expected to pass an order on the discharge application filed by Shah.
On 20 June, Utpat had reprimanded Shah’s lawyers for urging the court to exempt him from making court appearances. On 6 June, Shah had made a similar application before the court citing health reasons.
However, Registrar general of the Bombay High Court Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi reportedly said that the High Court had acceded to a request made by Utpat towards the end of May or early June. “He had made a representation to the High Court for a transfer to Pune because of his daughter’s education.”
CRIME BRANCH SEIZES EVIDENCE FROM HRS OFFICE
The Pune crime branch conducted a search of the Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS) office at Vile Parle in Mumbai and seized incriminating evidence in the Mohsin Shaikh murder case. “The evidence, including a computer, its hard disc, CCTV and documents among others, were seized while Desai was in police custody remand,” assistant commissioner of police (cyber cell) Gopinath Patil said in the remand plea filed before the Pune cantonment court on 24 June.
Mohsin was murdered by unidentified men travelling on seven-to-eight bikes at Satav plot, lane number 2 at Bankar colony in Hadapsar on the night of 2 June. HRS chief Dhananjay Desai was arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy on June 10. He was produced before the magistrate the next day and was sent in police custody remand for a day. The magistrate later refused to extend his police custody, following which the crime branch had filed a criminal revision petition challenging the court order before the district and sessions court.
CBI FILES FIR AGAINST ENTIRE POLICE STATION FOR MURDER, SEXUAL ASSAULT
The Central Bureau of Investigation on 25 June filed an FIR against all policemen working in the Wadala railway police station for the alleged murder of detainee Agnelo Valdaris and sexual assault of a minor, among other charges. This is also a rare case where alleged sexual assault perpetrated by policemen on detainees has been documented in detail in a First Information Report. While naming the 10 policemen identified by the victims, the specially constituted CBI team has also charged all the other personnel attached to the station.
The premier investigation agency has booked the policemen for murder, falsifying evidence, wrongful confinement, using force to get confession, kidnapping, unnatural sex. They have also been booked under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act for aggravated penetrative sexual assault on a minor.
AMU, THAMMASAT VARSITY SIGN MoU
The Aligarh Muslim University has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand to encourage close academic ties between the two universities. AMU Registrar Group Captain (Retd.) Shahrukh Shamshad has signed the MoU on behalf of AMU. Dr. Syed Ali Nawaz Zaidi, Deputy Registrar (Legal) was also present. Mr. Mohd. Faheem presented the papers on behalf of the Rector of Thammasat University, Bangkok for establishing programmes of exchange and collaboration in common areas of interest and benefit to both the universities. AMU has the highest number of Thai students in different courses.
MUSLIMS MAKE UP TO 3% IN CIVIL SERVICES
Of the total 8,417 candidates who have cracked civil services examinations, Muslims are around 3.46 per cent. Of 292 Muslim officers, 160 are among 5,862 who had cracked the UPSC exams, while the remaining 132 are among 2,555 who were promoted to the IAS or IPS from the state civil services on the basis of their commitment and performance. Muslims are more than 13 per cent of the total population as per 2011 census. Surprisingly, by that parameter, there is one Muslim IAS or IPS among every 5.73 lakh Muslims as against one in every 1.08 lakh non-Muslims.
SEX EDUCATION IS UNSCIENTIFIC, CULTURALLY UNACCEPTABLE: HEALTH MINISTER
Taking a critical stand on sex education, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan criticised sex education and termed it unscientific and culturally unacceptable. He opposed vulgarity in the name of sex education. As per reports available in media, this criticism was made on his personal website in the context of the UPA government’s 2007 decision to introduce the Adolescence Education Programme (AEP) in its original form. “I’m a medical professional who has embraced rationalism and I wholeheartedly support pedagogy that is scientific and culturally acceptable. Anything abrasive to common sensibilities and articulated as such by responsible persons should be discarded and replaced by consensually accepted learning processes,” he said.