What to Watch Out ForSC asks lawyer to back claim that sexual allegation case against CJI is a ploy
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked lawyer Utsav Bains to back his claims that three former employees of the top court had come together to frame CJI Ranjan Gogoi in the sexual harassment allegations.
The bench had convened on the matter after Bains in an affidavit alleged that he had been offered money by some powerful lobbyists to aid the ploy against the CJI.
The bench comprising justices Arun Mishra, RF Nariman and Deepak Gupta, will convene for a second hearing on the matter today.The hearing: Wednesday’s hearing saw a heated exchange between Justice Nariman and Bains over the lack of evidence behind the claims of conspiracy.
The Attorney General rebuked Bains and expressed concerns as to why a person would file an affidavit of this nature but not produce evidence. The bench while directing Bains to file a second affidavit on Thursday said “it will inquire and go to the root of alleged claims of fixers at work and manipulating the judiciary."
The three-judge special bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra also summoned the chiefs of CBI, Delhi Police and IB to their chambers over a probe in to the matter. The Court directed the chiefs to “seize the relevant material in order to support the contents" of Bains’ affidavit.A simple ask: Meanwhile, activist-lawyer Indira Jaising told the Supreme Court that women advocates don't feel safe anymore in the top court and demanded a free and fair inquiry into the allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
“I am appearing in-person as a senior member of the bar. I wanted to convey that women lawyers don't feel safe anymore in this court. I am showing my anguish. I am with you on the free and fair inquiry. But there is more to be inquired," she told the bench.
Jaising said there should be an independent inquiry into the sexual harassment allegations against the CJI leveled by an ex-employee of the apex court.PM Modi to hold roadshow in Varanasi today ahead of nomination filing
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Rohit Shekhar's wife Apoorva Tiwari arrested for his murder, police cite ‘turbulent and unhappy marriage'
The Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested the wife of Rohit Shekhar Tiwari, son of the late veteran politician ND Tiwari, on charges of murder. Police said that Apoorva Tiwari, a lawyer practicing in the Supreme Court, killed her husband on account of a “turbulent and unhappy marriage".The investigation: From assumptions of a natural death due to alcoholism to postmortem report stating strangulation, the case has seen many twists before the spotlight came on lawyer wife.
Rohit Shekhar was brought to south Delhi’s Max Hospital on the evening of April 16, where he was declared dead on arrival. While initial reports suggested he had died of a heart attack, a police investigation suspected foul play.
It took four days for the Crime Branch and police officers to join the sequence of events and narrowed down on Shekhar’s wife.
During her interrogation, Shukla was confronted with facts and kept changing statements often. She even tried to mislead investigators by claiming that she might have accidentally strangulated Shekhar while they were getting intimate. She finally confessed to the crime.The motive: It is said that Shukla had often taken issue with her husband over his closeness to his cousin’s wife.
A senior officer also said that Shukla revealed that her husband told her that the woman relative and he were sharing the same glass.
An ambitious woman, Shukla claimed to be the president of Indian National Trade Union Congress in Indore and had political aspirations but after getting married to Rohit Shekhar in May, she realised that he did not have much of a standing and his political career was not going anywhere.
In addition to this, Shukla was apparently angered over a property matter, which her lawyer has denied.
Read Nitisha Kashyap’s story about the murky murder here.Madras HC lifts ban on TikTok after April 3 judgement
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In its report to the Supreme Court, the Election Commission has described Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biopic as a “hagiography" that may disturb the level-playing field if it is released during elections. The commission has emphasised that the Vivek Oberoi-starrer can’t be termed as just a biopic but it is a movie that “eulogises a political representative". Favouring the temporary ban, it also pointed out that the movie has shown opposition parties (Congress and others) in a "poor light". The Supreme Court will examine the EC’s report on April 26, and will take a call on the petition by the filmmakers, who have challenged the order of the EC to stall the movie.'Mamata still gifts me kurtas': in Interview with Akshay Kumar, Modi says he has friends in oppn
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said he had several friends in the Opposition as he revealed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, one of his harshest critics, still sends him ‘kurtas’ every year. Modi, in a “candid" interview with actor Akshay Kumar, said: “It may affect me during elections but I can admit that Mamata Banerjee still gifts me kurtas... When Banerjee found out that Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina gifted me Bengali sweets, she also started to send me those." The comment sparked controversy with Congress saying that it proved “Modi-Mamata’s friendly relationship. "Mamata Banerjee has not even once mentioned that while forming the government that she will not support BJP. She says Modi is bad BJP while Lal Krishna Advani is good BJP," state Congress president Somen Mitra said. Read more excerpts from Prime Minister’s interview.Will chop off hands of those who raise fingers at BJP leaders, warns BJP Himachal chief Satpal Satti
BJP state president for Himachal Pradesh, Satpal Singh Satti at a public meeting in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh said that he would chop off the hands of persons who dare raise fingers at BJP leaders. "Our leaders are sitting on the dais. If anyone dares to raise their finger, we would chop their hands off. We are not nincompoops. We are not a group of stupid people," he said. Satti's latest remark comes after he was barred by the Election Commission from campaigning for 48 hours last week.On Reel
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