35 people detained for protesting against CJI at Mandi House
New Delhi: Thirty-five people, including 25 women, were detained Friday for trying to carry out a protest march at Mandi House against the enquiry procedure adopted in the sexual harassment complaint against CJI Ranjan Gogoi, a senior police officer said.
Heavy police force was deployed in the area in view of the protest which was organised by several women organisations. They were taken to the Mandir Marg police station, the officer said.
On Wednesday, 17 women were detained while they were protesting in Connaught Place.
Gogoi on Monday got a clean chit from the apex court's In-House Inquiry Committee which "has found no substance" in the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by a former woman employee of the Supreme Court.
Raising objection to the clean chit given to Gogoi, several protesters, mainly women, holding banners were protesting at Gate No 7 of the Connaught place metro station.
They were asked to protest at Jantar Mantar but they continued to protest at Connaught place. Seventeen women were detained and taken to Mandir Marg police station. However, they were released later, police had said.
That came a day after 55 protesters, mostly women lawyers and activists, were detained outside the Supreme Court here.
Activist Annie Raja said the complete negation and violation of legal procedure and existing rules of law is unacceptable.
"It will set a precedent that will have a very dangerous impact in the coming year," she added.
The three-member committee, which completed its task in 14 days, proceeded ex-parte as the woman had opted out of the inquiry on April 30 after participating for three days.
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SP has ended contract with I-PAC due to fund constraints: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party has severed its association with the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) due to a lack of funds.
He dismissed speculations that the termination of contract was because of recent election results.
Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said the party had engaged I-PAC for a brief period ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections but could not continue the arrangement.
"Yes, we had an association. They worked with us for a few months, but we are not able to continue because we do not have that kind of funding," he said.
The I-PAC is a political consultancy firm known for managing major election campaigns across the country.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has also been associated with the organisation in the past and has worked with multiple parties, including the BJP and the Congress.
In a lighter vein, Yadav took a swipe at the ecosystem of political consultancies. "We thought that if we have to work with a 'winning agency', then there are several big companies."
He said that some people suggested conducting surveys, hiring another firm, keeping a social media company, and even engaging agencies for negative campaigning against other parties.
"There are one or two more companies whose names are not yet known. I can get those for you as well," Yadav said.
Yadav rejected the suggestion that the decision to end the deal was influenced by recent election outcomes in states such as West Bengal.
"There is no such thing. Do not ask questions based on baseless reports. That is not true," he said.
"This is not the reason for ending the agreement. We simply do not have enough funds. If you (the media) give us funds, we can hire another company," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
