SC restrains trial court from taking note of chargesheet against Ashoka University professor
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday restrained the trial court from taking cognisance of the chargesheet filed by Haryana SIT in the FIR against Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was booked for social media posts on Operation Sindoor.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi also restrained the trial court from framing any charges in the case.
The SIT, constituted by the top court to investigate the two FIRs registered against Mahmudabad over his contentious social media posts, informed the bench that in one of them it has filed a closure report while in one a chargesheet was filed on August 22 after it was found that some offences were made out.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mahmudabad, termed the filing of the chargesheet as "most unfortunate" and said they have booked him under section 152 of BNS (sedition), whose validity is under challenge.
The bench asked Sibal to go through the chargesheet and prepare a chart of the alleged offences, saying it would consider the submissions on the next date of hearing.
The top court noted that in one FIR against Mahmudabad, a closure report has been filed and directed for quashing all the proceedings related to the case.
On July 16, the top court questioned Haryana SIT's line of investigation in the case, saying "it misdirected itself".
On May 21, the top court granted him interim bail, but refused to stay the investigation against him.
It had directed a three-member SIT to look into the FIRs against him.
Haryana Police arrested Mahmudabad on May 18 after two FIRs were registered against him.
His contentious social media posts on Operation Sindoor, it is alleged, endangered the sovereignty and integrity of the country.
The two FIRs -- one based on a complaint by the chairperson of Haryana State Commission for Women, Renu Bhatia, and the other on a complaint by a village sarpanch -- were lodged by Rai police in Sonipat district.
He was booked under BNS sections 152 (acts endangering sovereignty or unity and integrity of India), 353 (statements conducing to public mischief), 79 (deliberate actions aimed at insulting the modesty of a woman) and 196 (1) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion).
Several political parties and academicians condemned the arrest.
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Rupee settles 1 paisa higher to close at 94.15 against US dollar
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee settled with gains of just one paisa to close at 94.15 against the US dollar on Monday, as rising global uncertainty, escalating tensions in West Asia and soaring crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiments.
Forex traders said the INR/USD pair pared its initial losses, but the overall bias remains negative as FII sell-off and elevated crude oil prices restricted the gains for the local unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 94.25 against the US dollar, and touched an intraday high of 94.11 and a low of 94.28 against the greenback during the day.
At the end of Monday's trading session, the rupee was quoted at 94.15, registering a gain of just 1 paisa over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee extended its losing streak for the fifth day in a row, depreciating 15 paise to close at 94.16 against the US dollar.
"The rupee snapped a five-session losing streak, rebounding in tandem with a rally across regional currencies. However, the mood remains apprehensive as the market braces for a potential RBI intervention around 94.30 and higher crude oil prices," said Dilip Parmar – Senior Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
On the charts, the USDINR pair has reclaimed its upward momentum, carving out a classic bullish structure of higher highs and lows on the daily time frame, he said, adding that for the coming sessions, 93.80 serves as a support, with 94.40 acting as the primary hurdle.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.21 per cent at 98.32.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 2.36 per cent at USD 107.82 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 639.42 points to settle at 77,303.63, while the Nifty surged 194.75 points to 24,092.70.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,151.48 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, India's forex reserves jumped by USD 2.362 billion to USD 703.308 billion during the week ended April 17, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.
In the previous reporting week, the forex kitty had increased by USD 3.825 billion to USD 700.946 billion.
