Kerala court quashes charge sheet in Sabarimala case

July 13, 2012

actress_jayamala

Kochi, July 13: The Kerala High Court Friday quashed the charge sheet filed by police in the controversial Sabarimala ''astrological finding'' case, which included Kannada actress Jaimala among the accused.

While closing the case, the court also said that the charges against the accused were not legally tenable.

In June 2006, a team led by noted astrologer P. Unnikrishna Panicker conducted a four-day "devaprasnam" (a puja to invoke god) at the Sabarimala temple, following which Panicker revealed that there were signs of a woman having entered the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.

As per the rules of the temple, dedicated to bachelor Hindu god Ayappa, women of menstruating age are not allowed inside.

Soon after the noted astrologer's revelation, Kannada actress Jaimala claimed that she had entered the sanctum sanctorum and touched the temple deity in 1987.

Following this, a probe was launched and it concluded that the entire episode was staged to earn name and fame for Panicker.

Police filed a charge sheet against Panicker, his assistant Reghupathy and Jaimala for hatching a conspiracy and hurting religious sentiments of the people of the state.

The trio had filed a petition in the high court to dismiss the case.

Sabarimala is a popular Hindu temple located in Kerala's Western Ghats area at an altitude of 914 metres above sea level in Pathanamthitta district.

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March 14,2020

New Delhi, Mar 14: The central government on Saturday declared COVID-19 as a national 'disaster' and announced to provide ex-gratia relief of Rs 4 lakh to the families who died of the virus.

The Ministry of Home Affairs in a letter to states and union territories stated: "Keeping in view that spread of COVID-19 virus in India the declaration of it as pandemic by World Health Organisation, the Central government has decided to treat it as a notified disaster and announced to provide assistance under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)."

The Centre said that cost of hospitalization for managing COVID-19 patient would be at the rates fixed by the state governments. The state government can use SDRF found for providing temporary accommodation, food, clothing and medical care for people affected and sheltered in quarantine camps, other than home quarantine, or for cluster containment operations.

The state executive committee will decide the number of quarantine camps, their duration and the number of persons in such camps. "Period can be extended by the committee beyond the prescribed limit subject to condition that expenditure on this account should not exceed 25 percent of SDRF allocation for the year," the Ministry of Home Affairs notification stated.

The cost of consumables for sample collection would be taken from the funds which can be sued to support for checking, screening and contact tracing.

Further, funds can also be withdrawn for setting up additional testing laboratories within the government set up. The state has also to bear the cost of personal protection equipment for healthcare, municipal, police and fire authorities. Further SDRF money can also be used for procuring thermal scanners and ventilation and other necessary equipment.

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February 10,2020

New Delhi, Feb 10: After an hour-long standoff between the security forces and the students on Monday, the police resorted to a lathi-charge on the protesters near Holy Family hospital which is within walking distance of Jamia Millia Islamia.

A scuffle ensued when police confronted the protesters who tried to push forward towards Parliament. The lathi-charge was made to push back the protesters.

In the melee that ensued, many from both sides fainted.

Some security forces personnel resorted to the lathi-charge while others pushed back the protesters when they threw water pouches at the security forces and abused them.

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August 5,2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Ayodhya to lay the foundation of the Ram temple. He participated in the bhoomi poojan rituals at the temple site and offered prayers. He will shortly lay the foundation of the temple with a sliver brick.

From Varanasi to Tamil Nadu, many devotees have sent gifts for the ceremony, like silver bricks and coins.

Special prayers were started on Monday and will culminate with the PM laying the foundation stone for the temple. The city has been decorated with paintings depicting scenes from the Ramayana. The Uttar Pradesh government has also made elaborate security arrangement for the event.

Apart from the state police, the NSG commandos have also been kept on stand-by. The invitations for the ceremony have been kept limited due to the coronavirus pandemic. Veteran BJP leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi will witness the event from New Delhi via video-conferencing.

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