After rainwater, people in Bengaluru face rise in hotel rates
‘Hotels have doubled room rent, no more rooms till weekend’
Bengaluru: Even as people in parts of the city struggle to survive the incessant downpour and floods, some hotels have gone ahead and raised the charges for their rooms.
The star hotels in Bengaluru are charging two to three times the regular fare for a room. The rates for rooms in deluxe hotels, which had been Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 a day, have risen to Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 a day.
This has put many families in the city in a dilemma. People who can afford to book a hotel room to stay till the rainwater subsides are also struggling to pay the rent due to the hike.
A family of four people booked a room in a star hotel since their house in Yamalur was inundated. The family had to pay Rs 42,000 for one night, said Meena Girishballa, CEO and manager, PurpleFront Technologies.
Some families had initially decided to shift to the first floors of their respective villas till the water level subsided. “Unfortunately for us, the electricity connection collapsed, making things all the more difficult for us. The only solution at hand was to stay in a hotel room till the situation gets better. The room fare was not a worry when we decided to move to a hotel,” said a citizen.
Many families in residential complexes are willing to pay the new rates for the rooms, but they find that no more rooms in hotels are available for booking.
When contacted, managers of hotels in areas like Whitefield, Outer Ring Road, Old Airport Road and Koramangala said that their rooms had already been booked till Friday.
A third problem with hotels now for families in inundated places is that many hotel managers do not let the guests bring in pets to their rooms. The guests are also charged extra for the permission to keep pets with them.
“Our families are in a desperate situation with regard to stay,” said the residents.
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Lakhimpur Kheri violence case: SC expresses disappointment over non-production of witnesses in trial
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday expressed disappointment over the non-production of witnesses in the ongoing trial against Ashish Mishra, son of former Union minister Ajay Mishra, and others in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the status report filed before it by the Uttar Pradesh government has not assigned any reason whatsoever for the non-production of witnesses.
It noted that no witnesses have been examined in the trial for the last two months.
"We direct the presiding judge to take lawful measures to secure the presence of witnesses," the bench said.
It asked the trial judge to make an endeavour to conclude the trial in a time-bound manner, and also to file a status report before it.
The trials in two cases related to the incident are going on before a court in Uttar Pradesh.
The bench noted that in the first case, out of 131 witnesses to be examined, 44 have been examined, 15 have been discharged and 72 are still to be produced.
In the second FIR, out of 35 witnesses, 26 have been examined and nine were left, it said.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Ashish Mishra, said that as per the latest status report filed by Uttar Pradesh, 44 witnesses have been examined so far in the first FIR.
"No witnesses have been examined in the last two months," Dave said.
He argued that the last status report filed by the state in March also said that 44 witnesses had been examined.
"What have you done from March till today?" the bench asked the counsel appearing for Uttar Pradesh.
The state's counsel said that 3-4 witnesses were summoned for the recording of their deposition during the trial.
The bench said at least 7-8 witnesses should be summoned instead of three or four for a day, so that even if some of them do not turn up, the trial court could proceed with the recording of statements of those appearing before it.
The top court also wondered how official witnesses can remain absent during the trial.
"We are disappointed to note that the so-called status report does not assign any reason whatsoever for non-production of witnesses...," the bench said.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the relatives of the farmers who were allegedly mowed down in the incident, said the apex court will have to do something regarding the manner in which the trial was going on.
The bench noted that besides the two FIRs, another FIR was registered in October last year concerning alleged witness intimidation.
It said that, as per the state's status report, the chargesheet was filed against the main accused in that case.
The bench noted that the status report reveals that, as far as Ashish Mishra is concerned, his alleged role in the third case is still being investigated.
The top court directed the investigating officer of the third case to conclude the pending probe and ensure that the appropriate report is filed before the concerned court within four weeks.
The bench posted the next hearing in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case for July.
On October 3, 2021, eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Tikunia in Lakhimpur Kheri district during a protest by farmers against Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.
Four farmers were mowed down by a sports utility vehicle. A driver and two BJP workers were then allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence.
In one of the cases, the trial court in December 2023 framed charges against Mishra and 12 others for alleged murder, criminal conspiracy and under other penal laws in the case of the farmers' deaths, paving the way for the trial.
