Army Man Among Three Accused in Haryana Student's Gang Rape, Say Cops
Chandigarh, Sept 15: One of the three accused in the alleged gang rape of a 19-year-old woman is an Army man posted in Rajasthan and a police team has been sent to arrest him, Haryana DGP BS Sandhu said on Saturday.
Police also released the pictures of the suspects named Munish, Nishu and Pankaj — the Army personnel.
The trio allegedly abducted the woman from a bus stop and raped her in Haryana's Mahendragarh district on Wednesday. "Of the three accused, one is an Army man and a police team has gone to Rajasthan to arrest him. I am sure he will be arrested today," he said.
Sandhu said all the three accused were known to the victim. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been set up to probe the case.
According to the complaint, the woman was allegedly kidnapped by the accused, who arrived in a car, and took her to a secluded place where she was raped after being offered a drink laced with sedatives. The accused left her near a bus stop in Kanina later in the day.
However, the father of the young woman, a school topper who was felicitated by the government, told reporters on Friday that she could have been raped by 8-10 persons. Her mother has accused the police of failing to take action in the case. She said on Friday that her daughter was in a state of shock after the incident, while the accused were "roaming freely" after the incident.
Courtesy: www.news18.com
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‘Pay worker before sweat dries’: Madras HC invokes prophet’s teaching to settle lawyer’s dues
Madurai: Invoking the teachings of Prophet Muhammad to emphasise principles of fairness in labour jurisprudence, the Madras High Court has directed the Madurai City Municipal Corporation to settle the unpaid legal fees of a former standing counsel. Justice G.R. Swaminathan, in an order passed on Saturday, referred to the prophetic principle, “pay the worker before his sweat dries”, observing that this tenet is a facet of fairness eminently applicable to service and labour law.
The court was hearing a plea filed by P. Thirumalai, who served as the standing counsel for the Madurai City Municipal Corporation for over 14 years, from 1992 to 2006. Thirumalai contended that the civic body had failed to pay outstanding dues amounting to Rs 13.05 lakh for his representation in approximately 818 cases before the Madurai District Courts. The current petition was filed after the Corporation rejected a substantial part of his claim following a previous court direction to consider his representation.
Addressing the practical difficulties faced by the petitioner, who stated he could not afford to engage a clerk to obtain certified copies of the 818 judgments to substantiate his work, Justice Swaminathan devised a pragmatic solution. The court permitted the former counsel to approach the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) with a list of cases. The DLSA has been directed to procure the certified copies within two months, with the costs to be borne by the corporation and later deducted from the petitioner’s final settlement.
While the court acknowledged the Corporation's stance that fee bills must be in order, it ordered the civic body to settle the dues within two months of receiving the records from the DLSA.
However, citing the petitioner’s 18-year delay in challenging the non-payment, the court ruled that the settlement would be made without interest.
Beyond the specific relief granted to the petitioner, the single-judge bench made strong observations regarding the administration of legal fees and public funds. Justice Swaminathan termed the petitioner’s claim a "pittance" compared to the number of his appearances and expressed concern over the disparity in payments within the legal field. He noted that while "scandalously high amounts" are often paid to certain senior counsels and law officers by government and quasi-government bodies, others struggle to receive basic dues. The court observed that good governance requires public funds to be drawn on a measured basis and not distributed capriciously to a favoured few.
The Judge also flagged the "embarrassment" caused by the high number of Additional Advocate Generals (AAGs) in the state, noting that the appointment of nearly a dozen officers leads to work being allotted unnecessarily. He criticized the frequent practice of government counsel seeking adjournments on the pretext that an engaged AAG is appearing elsewhere. Justice Swaminathan expressed hope that such practices would cease in the Madurai Bench and that the Additional Advocate Generals would "turn a new leaf" from 2026.
