Fiat to Army: decide on trial or court-martial

May 2, 2012
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New Delhi, May 2: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Army to decide whether its personnel involved in fake encounter killings in Pathribal in Jammu and Kashmir and Assam should be court-martialled or tried in regular criminal courts.

If Army authorities were not keen on court-martial proceedings, the Central Bureau of Investigation could seek sanction from the Centre for prosecution of the erring officers, said a Bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar.

The case of killing of five civilians in the March 2000 Pathribal encounter has been pending in a Srinagar trial court with both the Army authorities and the officers challenging the Magistrate's order which asked the Army to explain, under Section 125 of the Army Act, whether it would try its men or wanted the civilian court to do the job. As the Jammu and Kashmir High Court ruled against them, the Army personnel appealed to the Supreme Court.

The CBI maintained that no sanction was necessary to prosecute the erring officers under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) as the cold-blooded murders could not be said to fall within the ambit of their official duties.

In Assam, the CBI completed the investigation and filed charge sheet against seven Army personnel in the Court of Special Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup, under Section 302/201 read with Section 109 of the Indian Penal Code, for killing five civilians in a fake encounter. In this case, the Centre maintained that sanction from the competent authority was required for the prosecution of Army personnel.

Writing the judgment, Justice Chauhan said: “The competent Army Authority has to exercise his discretion as to whether the trial would be by a court-martial or a criminal court after the filing of the charge sheet and not after cognisance of the offence is taken by the court. A conjoint reading of the relevant statutory provisions and rules makes it clear that the term ‘institution' contained in Section 7 of the Act 1990 means taking cognisance of the offence and not mere presentation of the charge sheet by the investigating agency.”

Rejecting the Centre's stand that the Army personnel facing the CBI charge sheet could not be tried as they were discharging their official duty, the Bench said: “Facts of this case require sanction of the Central government to proceed with the criminal prosecution/trial. In case option is made to try the accused by a court-martial, sanction of the Central government is not required.”

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News Network
July 27,2020

New Delhi, Jul 27: India's COVID tally on Monday crossed 14 lakh mark with the highest single-day spike of 49,931 cases reported in the last 24 hours, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total COVID-19 cases stand at 14,35,453, including 4,85,114 active cases, 9,17,568 cured/discharged/migrated, it added.

With 708 deaths in the last 24 hours, the cumulative toll reached 32,771.

India had crossed 13 lakhs COVID-19 cases on July 25.

Maharashtra has reported 3,75,799 coronavirus cases, the highest among states and Union Territories in the country.

A total of 2,13,723 cases have been reported from Tamil Nadu till now, while Delhi has recorded a total of 1,30,606 coronavirus cases.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 5,15,472 samples were tested for coronavirus on Sunday and overall 1,68,06,803 samples have been tested so far.

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News Network
May 15,2020

Vishakhapatnam, May 15: LG Chem on Thursday said following the gas leak at its Visakhapatnam polymers plant, the company has started support measures and has begun the transportation of the Styrene Monomer inventory to South Korea to eliminate all risks factors.

The company would continue to work with government agencies to ensure all possible support for bereaved families and victims, LG Polymers, a step-down firm of LG Chem, said in a statement.

"We confirm the status-quo of the plant remains completely controlled by all measures. We have begun the transportation of the Styrene Monomer (SM) inventory within the plant as well as in the styrene tanks at the port by vessels to South Korea to prevent and eliminate all risks factors," the statement said.

The South Korean chemicals giant has sent an eight-member team from Seoul to investigate the Visakhapatnam gas leak incident and rehabilitate the victims of the tragedy that killed at least 11 people and forced the evacuation of thousands.

"The team of production, environment, and safety experts are currently investigating the cause of the incident and already supporting responsible rehabilitation which is their main objective," the statement said.

Furthermore, the team is working closely with related authorities to analyze the cause of the incident, prevent a recurrence, and support damage recovery in a prompt and expedient manner, it added.

On the support measures, the company said a special task force is currently supporting the bereaved victims and families and visiting them at the hospitals and their homes.

Besides, food and medical services have been organized for the returning residents. Various support activities such as supplying medical and household goods and sanitation of homes will be continued, it said.

"We assure everyone we will do our best to resolve the situation and prevent any incident in the future," the company said.

The company further said that "our teams will carry out mid-to-long-term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects that can contribute to the local community based on suggestions of the residents.

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Agencies
January 21,2020

New Delhi, Jan 21: With the IMF lowering India's economic growth estimate for the current fiscal to 4.8 per cent, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday claimed an attack on the world body and its chief economist Gita Gopinath by government ministers was imminent.

He also alleged that the growth figure of 4.8 per cent given by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is after some "window dressing" and he won't be surprised if it goes even lower.

"Reality check from IMF. Growth in 2019-20 will be BELOW 5 per cent at 4.8 per cent," Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.

"Even the 4.8 per cent is after some window dressing. I will not be surprised if it goes even lower," the former finance minister said.

IMF Chief Economist Gopinath was one of the first to denounce demonetisation, he noted.

"I suppose we must prepare ourselves for an attack by government ministers on the IMF and Dr Gita Gopinath," Chidambaram said.

The IMF lowered India's economic growth estimate for the current fiscal to 4.8 per cent and listed the country's much lower-than-expected GDP numbers as the single biggest drag on its global growth forecast for two years.

In October, the IMF had pegged India economic growth at 6.1 per cent for 2019.

Listing decline in rural demand growth and an overall credit sluggishness for lowering of India forecasts, Gopinath, however, had said the growth momentum should improve next year due to factors like positive impact of corporate tax rate reduction.

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