HC stays Lokayukta hearing against Roshan Baig
Disproportionate asset case
Bengaluru, June 21: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday stayed a hearing in Lokayukta court against former minister and MLA Roshan Baig and his family members in amassing Rs 56 lakh worth assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
In their petition, Roshan Baig, his wife Sabeena Roshan and his son Ruman Baig Rehman have appealed the High Court to dismiss the hearing in the Lokayukta court and the summons issued to them. Hearing the case, a Single-Bench Judge Justice K N Phaneendra gave interim stay order for the Lokayukta hearing till further hearing of the case. The HC also served notices to Lokayukta police and private complainant Abdul Haq Surati before postponing the hearing.
About the case
Abdul Haq Surati had lodged a private complaint in Lokayukta against Roshan Baig on June 14, 2012 alleging that that the Congress leader had amassed assets through illegal means by misusing his power and position. Lokayukta court had ordered a probe into the complaint. Based on this, Lokayukta police had registered an FIR against Roshan Baig and his family members on July 12, 2012 and started investigation.
After the investigation, the Lokayukta police had submitted a B-Report to the Lokayukta Court on April 22, 2014 and dropped the charges against Roshan Baig, his wife and son. But the complainant opposed the B report. But the Lokayukta court had accepted the case after four years on May 5, 2018 for hearing and issued summons to Roshan Baig and his family members. It was challenged in the High Court.
However, it was mentioned in the appeal that as the investigating officers did not find suitable evidences on the charges made against Roshan Baig and his family members, the officers had submitted B report. Just for Rs 56.71 lakh disproportionate income, it was not fair to issue summons. But as per the Supreme Court order, if the disproportionate asset is less than 10 per cent, it would not come under the Anti Corruption Act. The case was filed with ulterior motive and though the complainant did not continue the case since 2014, the Lokayukta court did not take this into consideration while accepting the case. So, the case should be dismissed, it was appealed.
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Mathura boat capsize tragedy: Death toll climbs to 13
Mathura (UP)(PTI): With the recovery of two more bodies on Sunday, the death toll in the boat capsize incident in the Yamuna river in Mathura has climbed to 13, officials said on Sunday.
Search for three more missing persons is underway.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Suresh Chandra Rawat said renewed search efforts led to the recovery of the body of a college student, identified as Dinki Bansal, near Devraha Baba Ghat and that of a man identified as Rishabh Sharma approximately 3 km away from the accident site.
The incident occurred on Friday afternoon when a boat carrying over two dozen tourists, primarily from Punjab, hit a floating drum of a pontoon bridge and capsized near Kesi Ghat in Vrindavan.
Most of the victims were from Jagraon and Dugri areas of Ludhiana district.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) along with the district administration and local police were actively engaged in the search for the missing pilgrims.
However, strong currents of the Yamuna river and the significant depth of the water at the ghats are proving a hindrance.
Circle Officer (Mant) Sandeep Singh said the Yamuna river stretch extending from Keshi Ghat to Gokul Barrage has been divided into seven sectors.
The search for the missing individuals will now be conducted within this specific 20-square-km zone. A Station House Officer (SHO) has been designated as the in-charge for each sector.
Acting on the orders of the DIG (Agra Range), seven SHOs will oversee operations across the seven sectors of river Yamuna.
Giving details about the operation, Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Pankaj Kumar Verma, citing NDRF officials, on Saturday had said although the search for the missing persons is currently focused within a 14-km radius from the spot where the boat had capsized, there is a possibility that they may have been swept much further downstream.
SHO of Vrindavan police station Sanjay Pandey said boat operator Pappu was arrested late on Friday night.
He is accused of failing to provide life jackets to passengers before allowing them to board the boat, and operating the boat at high speed. This resulted in the boat losing control and colliding with a pontoon bridge's drum, which led to the accident, officials said.
Police have registered a case and also arrested the contractor, Narayan Sharma, responsible for the repair work on the pontoon bridge.
Rawat said that on Friday evening, police registered a case under section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the boatman Pappu (alias Dauji) and Sharma, and subsequently arrested them.
According to the case details, Pappu's boat did not have any safety equipment or provisions whatsoever.
Moreover, despite repeated pleas from pilgrims, Pappu operated the boat at high speed. By the time he realised the danger upon approaching the pontoons of the bridge, it was already too late.
Consequently, after colliding with a pontoon drum, the boat lost control and capsized. It has also come to light that he is among those operators who have not obtained the requisite license to operate a boat.
Sharma was carrying out the work of dismantling and reassembling the pontoon bridge without providing any prior notification.
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