Amit Shah’s son’s lawyer fails to appear; Court defers defamation matter till Oct 16

Agencies
October 12, 2017

Ahmedabad, Oct 12: A metropolitan court here today adjourned the hearing of the criminal defamation case filed by BJP president Amit Shah’s son Jay against The Wire as the complainant’s advocate was not present in the court.

A lawyer for Jay Shah sought time from additional chief metropolitan magistrate S.K. Gadhvi, saying that senior advocate S.V. Raju could not be present in the court as he was busy in the high court.

The court granted the time and adjourned the hearing to October 16.

Jay Shah had filed a criminal defamation case in a metropolitan court against The Wire on Monday over a report, which claimed his firm Temple Enterprise’s turnover grew exponentially after the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014.

The magistrate had ordered a court inquiry in the matter under CrPC section 202 (to inquire into the case to decide whether or not there is sufficient ground for proceeding).

In his application, Shah prayed for “criminal action against the respondents for defaming and tarnishing the reputation of the complainant through an article, which is scandalous, frivolous, misleading, derogatory, libelous and consisting of several defamatory statements”.

The seven respondents in the case are the author of the article, Rohini Singh, founding editors of The Wire, Siddharth Varadarajan, Sidharth Bhatia and M.K. Venu, managing editor Monobina Gupta, public editor Pamela Philipose and Foundation for Independent Journalism, a non-profit company that publishes The Wire.

The Wire‘s editors have described the defamation case as an attack on media freedom and said they intend to fight the matter vigorously.

The case seeks action against respondents under IPC Sections 500 (defamation), 109 (abetment), 39 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

The court will issue summonses to the respondents only after the initial inquiry establishes a case.

Shah is yet to file a civil defamation suit against the respondents. He had earlier announced that he will also file a Rs 100 crore civil defamation suit.

A political storm has erupted after the article was published.

The Congress has demanded an inquiry into the matter and ouster of Amit Shah, while the BJP called the article defamatory.

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News Network
June 20,2020

New Delhi, Jun 20: The government-imposed upper and lower limits on airfares may be extended beyond August 24 depending upon how the situation turns out, Aviation Secretary P S Kharola said on Saturday.

The government resumed domestic passenger flights from May 25 after nearly two months of suspension to combat the coronavirus outbreak, but placed lower and upper limits on airfares depending upon the flight duration.

It had said on May 21 that these limits would be in place for a period of three months.

"Depending on how the situation turns out, the fare band may have to adjusted beyond that (August 24) also. But right now, it is only for three months," Kharola said at a press conference here.

International passenger flights continue to remain suspended in the country.

However, the government started Vande Bharat Mission on May 6 to help stranded people reach their destinations through special flights.

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said at the conference that during phase 3 and phase 4 of the mission, private domestic airlines have been approved to operate 750 international flights to repatriate people stranded amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
April 3,2020

New Delhi, April 3: The total number of coronavirus cases in India on Friday climbed to 2301, including 156 cured and discharged and 56 deaths, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

At present, there are 2088 COVID-19 active cases in the country.

"A total number of COVID-19 positive cases rises to 2301 in India, including 156 cured/discharged, 56 deaths and 1 migrated," said the Health Department.

The highest number of positive cases of coronavirus was reported from Maharashtra at 335, including 16 deaths, followed by Tamil Nadu (309 and 6 deaths) and Kerala (286 and 2 deaths).

There are 219 coronavirus positive cases in the national capital, including 8 cured and discharged and 4 deaths.

The states which have crossed 100-mark for COVID-19 positive cases also include Andhra Pradesh (132), Karnataka (124), Rajasthan (133) and Telangana (107).

While 18 people were detected positive for coronavirus in Chandigarh, 70 cases were confirmed from Jammu and Kashmir and 14 from Ladakh.

In North-East, one COVID-19 case each has been confirmed from Mizoram and Assam, and two in Manipur.

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News Network
April 8,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 8: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked all universities and higher education institutions across the nation to set up helpline to combat mental health issues among students during the Covid-19 crisis and nation-wide lockdown period.

In an official circular, the UGC stated that, "It is important to address psychological concerns of students and to address mental health and for the well-being of students, universities/colleges and higher education institutions should setup mental health helplines."

These helplines need to be monitored by counselors and other identified faculty members. "It is important for students to stay calm and stress-free. This can be achieved through telephones, e-mails, digital and social media platforms," says UGC.

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