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BJP fields Ravi Shankar Prasad against sitting MP Shatrughan Sinha

Agencies
March 20, 2019

Patna, Mar 20: Putting all speculations to rest, the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency against the incumbent MP Shatrughan Sinha.

This is for the first time that Prasad, a four-term Rajya Sabha member, will be contesting a Lok Sabha election.

The rebel BJP MP from Patna Sahib, Shatru, who created more enemies than friends in his party through his diatribe against Narendra Modi, continues to be in the BJP, although the saffron camp has been treating him like a ‘persona non grata’. Shatrughan is likely to be the Mahagatbandhan candidate from his home constituency.

Who is Prasad?

Incidentally, both Shatrughan and Ravi Shankar Prasad were Union ministers in Vajpayee Government. However, the two proteges of BJP patriarch L K Advani will be locking horns from their home town in 2019.

Born in Patna, Ravi Shankar Prasad is a senior lawyer who shot to fame while pleading cases against Lalu Prasad in fodder scam in the mid-90s. Son of veteran RSS leader Thakur Prasad, who was Finance Minister in Karpoori Thakur Ministry in Bihar in the 70s, Ravi Shankar was made Rajya Sabha member from Bihar in 2000 and later inducted in the Vajpayee Government as Minister of State for Coal and Mines.

Currently, he is Union Minister for Law and IT. His sister Anuradha Prasad is a veteran TV journalist and is married to Congress leader and former Union Minister Rajiv Shukla.

Resentment

Meanwhile, supporters of another claimant for the Patna Sahib constituency, RK Sinha, BJP Rajya Sabha member, have expressed their resentment over denial of ticket to Sinha and said that Kayastha groups would not support anyone other than RK Sinha. Incidentally, all three – Shatru, Ravi Shankar and RK Sinha belong to upper caste Kayastha.

Welcoming the decision, Shatru said he would contest from Patna Sahib constituency come what may. “After Holi, I will let you know which party I would represent in the ensuing polls,” said Shatru, when asked whether he would contest as an RJD candidate or Congress.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Kottayam, Aug 7: A trial court in Kottayam on Friday granted bail to Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun in Kerala, with stringent conditions and directed him to be present on the dates of hearing of the case.

The Additional Sessions Court had cancelled the bail granted to the Bishop on July 13 for failing to appear for the trial and issued a Non Bailable Warrant against him.

Mulakkal was present in the Court on Friday when it considered the matter.

Granting bail, the court directed him not to leave the state till the chargesheet is read out to him on August 13 and to be present in court on the dates of hearing of the case.

The Court also directed him to offer fresh sureties and bail bonds.

On July 13, Mulakkal’s counsel had informed the court that his client could not appear as he had been in self quarantine due to his primary contact with a COVID-19 infected person.

The next day, the former Jalandhar Bishop had tested positive for coronavirus.

The prosecution informed the Court that Mulakkal had not produced the COVID negative certificate, to which the Court observed that the state Health Department can take necessary action on this issue.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday had directed Mulakkal to face trial as it dismissed his plea seeking discharge in the rape case lodged against him by the nun belonging to a congregation under Jalandhar diocese, saying there was no merit in his petition.

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde, A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian had told the counsel for Bishop that the court is not saying anything on merit, but is dismissing the plea on the issue of discharge from the case.

Mulakkal, in his plea had challenged the July 7 Kerala High Court order, dismissing his discharge plea in the rape case filed by the nun.

The High Court had asked the deposed Bishop of Jalandhar diocese to stand for trial in the rape case, which was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by the nun.

The senior priest of the Roman Catholic Church had filed the revision petition following the dismissal of his discharge plea by a trial court in March this year.

The rape case against the Bishop was registered by police in Kottayam district.

In her complaint to the police in June, 2018, the nun had alleged that she was subjected to sexual abuse by the bishop during the period between 2014 and 2016.

The bishop, who was arrested by the Special Investigation team, which probed the case, charged him with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation.

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News Network
February 17,2020

New Delhi, Feb 17: Four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder will be hanged on March 3 at 6 am a Delhi court said on Monday.

The Patiala House Court on Monday issued fresh death warrants against four convicts while hearing a petition by the state and Nirbhaya's parents.

Earlier, Delhi High Court on February 5 granted a week's time to the four convicts to avail of all legal remedies available to them and said that the convicts cannot be hanged separately since they were convicted for the same crime.

A Delhi Court had earlier issued a death warrant against the four convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, and Mukesh Singh -- on January 7 and they were scheduled to be executed on January 22 at Tihar Jail. Later, the execution was suspended indefinitely by a Delhi court.

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News Network
June 15,2020

New Delhi, Jun 15: With an increase of 11,502 cases in the past 24 hours, the COVID-19 count in India reached 3,32,424 on Monday, according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

The spike is marginally lower than the highest-ever spike of 11,929 new cases the country registered a day earlier.

With 325 deaths being reported from across the country, the toll due to COVID-19 has now reached 9,520.

The COVID-19 count includes 1,53,106 active cases while 1,69,798 patients have been cured and discharged or migrated so far.

Maharashtra with 1,07,958 cases continues to be the worst-affected state in the country with 53,030 active cases while 50,978 patients have been cured and discharged in the state so far. 3,950 deaths have been reported due to the infection so far from Maharashtra.

It is followed by Tamil Nadu with 44,661 cases and the national capital with 41,182 confirmed cases.

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