Gujarat HC extends relief from arrest to Teesta Setalvad in Rs 1.4 cr embezzlement case

Agencies
May 28, 2018

Ahmedabad, May 28: The Gujarat High Court today extended the protection from arrest to activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand till June 13, in a Rs 1.4 crore fund embezzlement case.

Earlier today, Justice A Y Kogje, in whose court the matter was listed, recused himself from hearing it saying "not before me." The matter was then taken up by the court of Justice Biren Vaishnav, who extended the activists' interim protection from arrest till June 13. The court has listed the case for next hearing on June 12. The Supreme Court had last month granted temporary relief to Setalvad and Anand, extending their interim protection from arrest and transit anticipatory bail from May 2 to May 31, granted to them by the Bombay High Court.

The apex court had said the duo will not be arrested till May 31, but before that they would have to approach the competent court in Gujarat which will decide the matter on merits. Setalvad and Anand had moved the Gujarat High Court after a lower court rejected their anticipatory bail plea in the Rs 1.4 crore fund embezzlement case related to their NGO Sabrang Trust. The duo had moved the plea for anticipatory bail after an FIR lodged against them on March 30 this year by complainant Raeeskhan Pathan. Opposing the bail plea in the lower court, the Crime Branch had claimed that the couple misused the money granted to their NGO by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development between 2010 and 2013 for their "personal and political cause".

In its submission, the Crime Branch said the accused misused the funds "to pay witnesses in serious cases in Gujarat (2002 riot cases) to make false deposition." During this period, Setalvad worked as the field co-coordinator for her NGO - Citizen for Justice and Peace, while her husband Javed Anand worked as the trustee of the Sabrang Trust. The ministry had granted Rs 1.4 crore between 2010 and 2013 to the NGO for a scheme under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Under the 'Khoj project', the Sabrang Trust had published literature and pamphlets that spread communal enmity which is "dangerous for the country's unity", the police said.

In their defence, Setalvad and Anand had told the court that the books published by them were written by some enowned writers, like Govind Pansare and Savitriben Phule, and were approved by the HRD Ministry. They also provided details of bank accounts related to the fund, saying all payments were made through cheques and were transparent. They claimed the police wanted their custody on "false complaint" and that the complainant, Pathan, had a "personal grudge" against them.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Nagpur, Jan 28: A 19-year-old woman was allegedly raped and an iron rod was inserted in her private parts by a man in the Pardi area here, police said on Monday.

The gruesome incident took place on January 21 and the accused, Yogilal Rahangdale (52), was arrested from Gondia district, they said.

The accused was working as a supervisor in a spinning mill where the woman was employed as a labourer, the police said.

The woman, her brother, the accused and another girl lived in rented accommodations in Pardi.

Inspector Sunil Chavan of the Pardi police station said that the woman's brother and her female friend had gone to their village on January 21 for some work.

As the woman was alone at home, Rahangdale attempted to rape her in the night. When she resisted, he stuffed a piece of cloth in her mouth, he said.

When she fell unconscious, the accused raped her and inserted an iron rod in her private parts, Chavan said, quoting from the complaint filed by the victim.

She narrated the incident to her brother on January 24 and they subsequently lodged a complaint with the police.

An offence was registered against the accused at the Pardi police station.

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Agencies
June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has said that CBSE board results can be declared by August 15. The results of both class 10 and 12 will be declared at an interval of just a few days.

However, the decision to open schools will be taken after August keeping in mind the current COVID-19 situation. At present, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has not set any date for reopening schools.

Nishank said during a discussion "We hope that the results of both 10th and 12th class will be declared by August 15. These include the results of previous exams and the results of examinations in July."

On the issue of reopening of schools, Nishank said "after August the process of opening schools will be started."

A final decision in this regard will be taken only after assessing the prevailing conditions. According to the HRD ministry, after August, new sessions will also start in universities.

Meanwhile, the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi has also written to the HRD ministry on the subject of reopening schools. Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia said in the letter, "Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said some time ago that we have to learn to live with coronavirus. So it would be better to open schools with proper safety measures."

Sisodia said that first of all, we have to assure every child that they are important to us. Everyone has equal rights over the physical and intellectual environment of his school. Education cannot progress beyond online classes only. It would be impossible to pursue education only by calling older children to school and keeping younger children at home.

Several private schools have also suggested measures to the HRD ministry to open schools and safety in schools during this period. However, the ministry is not in a hurry to reopen schools at present. According to senior officials of the ministry, at present, preparations are being made to conduct the remaining board exams of class 10 and 12 between July 1 and 15.

After the examinations, the first priority is to declare the results. Only then can the process of reopening school colleges begin.

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News Network
May 22,2020

New Delhi, May 22: India on Friday recorded its biggest spike in COVID-19 cases with 6,088 new cases and 148 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, taking the tally of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,18,447, as per the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

Out of the total cases, 66,330 are active cases and 3,583 have succumbed to the infection.

As many as 48,533 patients have been cured/discharged and one migrated till date.

Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state with 41,642 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu (13,967 cases), Gujarat (12,905 cases), and Delhi (11,659 cases).

While Rajasthan has confirmed 6,227 cases of which 3,485 people have recovered while 151 patients are dead, Madhya Pradesh reported 5,981 cases including 2,843 patients recovered and 270 patients dead.

Uttar Pradesh has 5,515 COVID-19 positive cases.

In Kerala, which reported the first COVID-19 case, 690 people have been detected positive for coronavirus.

Ladakh has confirmed 44 coronavirus cases, 1,449 people have infected by the virus in Jammu and Kashmir.

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