Court extends police custody of Badlapur sexual abuse case accused till Aug 26
Thane (PTI): A local court on Wednesday extended till August 26 the police custody of the man arrested for allegedly sexually abusing two girls at a school in Badlapur town of Maharashtra's Thane district.
The accused, who was employed as an attendant at the school where the incident took place last week, was produced before a magistrate at Kalyan in the district this morning amid tight police security.
The court ordered the extension of his police custody till August 26, following which he was taken away by the police in a van, a senior official said.
The police had arrested the accused on August 17.
As per the complaint, he abused two kindergarten girls in the toilet of the school, the police have said.
A massive protest broke out on Tuesday after parents of the school children and local citizens blocked railway tracks at Badlapur station and ransacked a local school building to protest against the incident and to demand strict punishment for the accused.
Following the protest, the Maharashtra government announced formation of a special investigation team (SIT) headed by senior IPS officer Arti Singh to probe the incident.
Internet services in Badlapur town have been suspended in the wake of the protest and violence.
At least 25 police personnel were injured in stone-pelting at the railway station and other parts of Badlapur on Tuesday and the police have arrested at least 72 persons in connection with the violence.
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SC to hear on May 4 PIL seeking stringent guidelines for issuing Aadhaar to adolescents, adults
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six years, and frame stringent guidelines for its issuance to adolescents and adults to stop infiltrators from masquerading as Indian citizens.
As per the apex court's causelist of May 4, the plea would come up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to the authorities to install display boards at common service centres stating that the 12-digit unique identification number is only a "proof of identity" and not a proof of citizenship, address or date of birth.
Besides all the states and Union Territories, the plea has made the UIDAI -- which is the authority that issues Aadhaar -- and the Union ministries of home, law and justice, and electronics and information technology as parties.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, originally intended as a proof of identity, has increasingly become a "foundational document" enabling individuals to obtain other identification documents, such as ration cards, domicile certificates and voter identity cards.
"The UIDAI has issued 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 percent Indians have been enrolled. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this writ petition as a PIL under Article 32, seeking a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar to children only and frame new stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to stop infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens," the plea said.
It said the need to file the plea arose when the petitioner came to know the manner in which infiltrators are able to procure Aadhaar through a verification process that is weak and can be easily manipulated.
"Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the 'foreign' category. But infiltrators apply for Aadhaar under the 'Indian citizen' category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain a ration card, birth and domicile certificate, driving licence, et cetera, essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian citizens…," it said.
Besides seeking other directions, the plea has raised legal questions, including whether the Aadhaar Act 2016 has become "temporally unreasonable" for failing to keep up with the legislative intent of distinguishing foreigners from Indian citizens.
It said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
