Want fair and speedy trial in Unnao rape case, says Supreme Court
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday said it wanted "fair and speedy trial" in the cases arising out of the rape of a minor allegedly by ex-BJP legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar in Unnao.
The top court sought a report from the special judge Dharmesh Sharma, who is holding trial in cases arising out of the Unnao rape.
A bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose sought the report from the trial court judge by September 6, on how much time is needed for the completion of the trial.
"We want a fair trial but at the same time we also want a speedy trial in these cases," the bench said.
During the hearing, counsel appearing for Sengar and other co-accused Shashi Singh said that charge-sheet has not been filed by the CBI in the accident case.
The bench said that it would be better if it knows the views of the special judge on how much time was needed to complete the trial in these cases. The bench listed the matter for Friday.
On August 19, the apex court had granted CBI time till September 6 to complete the investigation into the road accident in which the Unnao rape survivor and her lawyer were critically injured and two of her aunts killed. The apex court, which had earlier given two weeks to the CBI to complete the probe, extended the time while noting that the probe agency has done "extensive investigation" in the case so far.
The CBI had told the top court that statements of rape survivor and her lawyer have not been recorded yet and it wants to analyse certain electronic evidence collected so far during the probe.
The court had also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to pay Rs 5 lakh to the lawyer, who is in a critical condition and undergoing treatment. The court had taken exception to some public statements made by the family members of the rape survivor in the media and said it might help the accused during the trial of the case.
On August 1, the apex court had directed Uttar Pradesh government to provide Rs 25 lakh to the rape survivor as an interim compensation. The top court had on August 2 directed the CBI to complete the investigation in the case within seven days, adding that the agency could avail additional seven days in exceptional circumstances, but in no case the time frame would be extended beyond a fortnight.
It had earlier ordered transfer of all the five related cases in the matter to Delhi but later modified its order putting in abeyance shifting of the accident case till the probe was completed. The modification was done stating that due to shifting of the case, the local court was facing technical hurdle in passing orders of remand for the accused who are being arrested in course of the probe.
The court had said the order transferring the accident case "shall remain in abeyance for the period during which the said case remains under investigation, which we have stipulated in the order dated August 1, 2019, to be completed in a maximum period of 15 days, preferably within seven days. The order dated August 1, 2019, is modified accordingly".
The woman, allegedly raped by Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor. In July this year, a truck rammed into the car she was travelling in with some family members and her lawyer. Two of her aunts died in the road accident.
She was airlifted from a hospital in Lucknow and brought to the AIIMS for better care as she continued to be critical.
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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.
