Charges framed against Varun in hate speech case

December 1, 2012

varun_hate_s

Lucknow, December 1: A court in Pilibhit district of UP has framed charges against BJP MP Varun Gandhi in one of the 2009 hate speech cases. Varun had allegedly made inflammatory comments against Muslims in his speeches at public meetings in Pilibhit during 2009 Lok Sabha election campaign.

The BJP leader has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the People's Representative Act for promoting enmity and acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony. The first FIR against Varun was lodged on March 17, 2009, at Barkhera police station for delivering inflammatory speech during a public meeting on March 8, 2009. The second FIR was lodged at Sadar Kotwali on March 18, 2009, again for allegedly making an inflammatory speech with communal overtones at Dalchand locality. The third FIR was lodged against Varun on March 28, 2009, when his supporters attacked the police after the court sent him for judicial custody.

The police have filed chargesheet in all the three cases. Charges in the case lodged at Barkhera police station were framed in May 2011. Now, the framing of charges has taken place in the case filed in Sadar Kotwali police station.

According to the police, Chief Judicial Magistrate Abdul Qyaum took cognizance of the chargesheet filed in Sada Kotwali police station in the presence of the BJP MP. The court has fixed December 10 and 11 as the next date of hearing. The court decided the charges against the MP on the basis of evidences produced by prosecutors in the matter. The court also directed the prosecutors to produce the witnesses in the matter.

The court also heard the 'Barkhera police station' case. A total of 10 witnesses were produced in the matter before the court. Of them, five witnesses testified in favour of Varun, while the others changed their statement they recorded with the police. The court has fixed the next hearing of the two cases on December 10 and 11.

Great-grandson of the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Varun had strongly denied the charges and termed the case as an attempt to malign his image. He had claimed that in one instance he was referring to bad elements and in the second one, the tapes have been doctored. The cases were registered against him on the directions of the Election Commission. Later, Varun surrendered before the court which sent him to jail under judicial custody.

In 2009, the Mayawati-led BSP government slapped National Security Act (NSA) on the 32-year-old BJP leader and he was shifted to Etah Jail. However, in May 2009, the NSA was revoked on the direction of the Supreme Court and he was released on bail. Varun also won the LS election from Pilibhit.

Significantly, Varun in September wrote to the SP government requesting withdrawal of cases describing them as 'politically motivated'. On his request, the state government had sought a report from the Pilibhit district administration on whether the cases could be withdrawn or not in public interest.


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News Network
June 27,2020

New Delhi, Jun 27: Fuel prices were hiked by the oil marketing companies for the 21st day in a row on Saturday. Petrol and diesel will now cost Rs 80.38/litre and Rs 80.40/litre respectively in the national capital.

The price of petrol is increased by Rs 0.25 per litre while that of diesel by Rs 0.21 per litre.
Rates differ from state to state depending on the incidence of value-added tax (VAT).

Notably, oil marketing companies have been adjusting retail rates in line with costs after an 82-day break from rate revision amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. These firms on June 7 restarted revising prices in line with costs.

The Congress party had called the increase in the price of petrol and diesel 'unjust', 'thoughtless' and demanded from the Central government to roll back increase with immediate effect and pass on the benefit of low oil prices directly to the citizens of this country.
In an official statement, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had said that no government should levy and impose such unacceptable strain on its people.

Before the nation entered the lockdown, the average price of petrol and diesel in Delhi was Rs 69.60 per litre and Rs 62.30 per litre respectively.

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Agencies
June 2,2020

Lucknow, Jun 2: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday said protests in the US after the death of George Floyd, an African-American man, is a clear message to the world that a common man's life has value.

She said this is also guaranteed by the India Constitution, but the governments don't follow it, resulting in the current plight of migrants workers.

Floyd, a 46-year-old restaurant worker from Houston, died in Minneapolis on Monday after a white police officer pinned him to the ground. Video footage showed the officer kneeling on Floyd's neck as he gasped for breath, sparking widespread protests across the US.

"Floyd's killing by police and the 'Black lives matter' agitation in the US have given a clear message to the world that a common man's life has value and it should not be taken for granted," Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi.

"India's constitution guarantees independence, security, self-respect and pride and governments should give special attention to it. If it was followed, crores of migrants labourers would not have to witness such bad days," she added.

She also demanded better coordination between states to check the spread of coronavirus and said Centre should intervene.

"While coronavirus patients are rising, there is lack of coordination between states and with the Centre, and allegation and counter-allegations are going on and sealing of state borders is unjustified and it is weakening the fight against the virus.  The Centre should intervene," she said in a separate tweet.

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News Network
February 4,2020

New Delhi, Feb 4: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday accused Arvind Kejriwal of having a "partnership" with Pakistan and appealed to the people in Delhi to not vote for the AAP chief as it will make Pakistan happy.

Ramping up his attack on the Shaheen Bagh protest, Adityanath said that the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is merely an excuse for people to vent their anger against the scrapping of Article 370.

"You must have seen their partnership on 370. Arvind Kejriwal used to speak in the same voice as Imran Khan on Article 370. You must have heard it.

"Now when elections are taking place in Delhi, who is speaking in favour of Arvind Kejriwal? It is the ministers of Pakistan. They are aware that Kejriwal is feeding 'biryani to protesters at Shaheen Bagh'," he said, referring to Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhry's tweet asking Indians to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Adityanath addressed three rallies on Monday in the national capital ahead of assembly elections.

"Will Pakistan decide who Indians should vote for. If voting for Kejriwal will make Pakistan happy, should it be done," he asked at a rally in Mehrauli.

Adityanath said his Delhi counterpart Kejriwal has become a "toy in the hands of anti-social and anti-India elements".

Addressing a rally in Vikaspuri in west Delhi, he said that Kejriwal is not bothered about key issues such as providing clean drinking water but is concerned about Shaheen Bagh, the anti-citizenship amendment act protest site.

At another rally in Uttam Nagar in west Delhi, Adityanath said Kejriwal has played with the emotions of the people of Delhi for the last five years.

"He obstructed the development of Delhi. And knowingly and unknowingly, he became a toy in the hands of anti-social and anti-India elements," Adityanath said.

The protest at Shaheen Bagh, he said, has disrupted traffic across the capital.

"A guest with an appointment to meet him at 9.30 am could only reach at 11. He told me he had left as early as 7 am but got stuck because of the traffic in Shaheen Bagh," he said.

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister also slammed Kejriwal for "sympathising" with elements who he said gave anti-India slogans in Jawaharlal Nehru University.

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