High Court asks man to plant 50 trees, agrees to close electricity theft case
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed a man to plant 50 trees as community service while agreeing to close criminal proceedings against him in a power theft case.
The court said trees shall be planted within a month and asked him to report to the Deputy Conservator of Forest (West), who shall assign him the duty to plant 50 trees in Central Ridge Reserve Forest, Budha Jayanti Park, Vandemataram Marg here.
"The plants/trees shall be of deciduous indigenous variety with a nursery age of three and a half years, and a height of at least six feet. Depending upon the soil type and topography, the DCF may consider the following types of trees for plantation...," Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said.
The type of trees mentioned in the order are Gular (Cluster Fig), Kadamba (Burflower Tree), Pilkhan (White Fig), Jaamun (Black Plum), Bargad (Banyan Tree), Mango, Amaltas (Golden Shower), Mahua (Butter Tree) , Putranjiva, Badh, Sagwan (Teak Wood), Safed Siris (Albizia Procera), Kala Siris, Anjeer, Kathal- Jackfruit, Palash, Arni, Bistendu, Rohida, Medshingi.
The court asked the man and DCF to file an affidavit of compliance of its order, failing which the registry shall list the case for directions.
It said aerial pictures, prior to and after the plantation, shall be obtained by the DCF and be filed along with his affidavit.
The officer will have to monitor and ensure upkeep of the plantation and he will file a report six weeks after the plantation with fresh photographs to show the health/status of the trees.
The court, which said a copy of the order be communicated to the DCF (West) concerned, passed the order on a man's plea challenging framing of charges against him for the offence of electricity theft.
The electricity department had lodged a complaint that theft of electricity was found in the premises of the man, whereby a wire was connected directly to the public pole outside his shop.
The high court set aside the trial court's order framing charges against the man and discharged him of the offence under the Electricity Act.
Keeping in view the facts and circumstances and also the fact that the parties have settled their disputes, the court said this was a fit case for putting an end to the proceedings as no fruitful purpose would be served in continuation of the proceedings.
The man had claimed that he had given the shop on rent and on account of non-payment of rent the services to the tenant, that is, electricity supply were got disconnected and the illegal work was done by the tenant without his consent and knowledge.
Proceedings were initiated against the tenant and he was convicted and had to pay the civil liability amount. Proceedings were also initiated against the man on the allegation that the wire was connected with his consent and knowledge.
The matter was settled between the man and the electricity department in mediation and he had agreed to pay the settlement amount of Rs 18,267.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
